Andrew K. Refused to Sell His Soul Out!
November 23, 2016 ( My comment posted at Amazon.com)
Andrew's honest descriptions of his spiritual struggles are so vivid and real. In this biography, we can also trace how the damage of Holocaust remained in his father's generations; it remained a haunting nightmare and produced forever a distorted worldview on a lot of survived Jews. His father was a popular radio comedian yet ironically, very cynic and bitter in his mindset; the chaotic state of New York city served his father well because he was always afraid Jews would be slaughtered again in an ordered society. He is also a very strange kind of father who was always afraid that Andrew would succeed where he failed to be, say, to become a writer, a novelist, and always interrupted his typing and writing by all means. Nowadays, anti-Semitism is still around us, it shows us how Hitler has still wielded his power from his grave even today.
On the bright side, Andrew's childhood nanny was full of Christian love and testimonies through her cooking and caring without saying much, that is very inspiring. What a warm memory of Christmas eve Andrew spent in her house! How she served as a surrogate mother for Andrew in his cold family life and planted the seeds for Andrew to know Jesus later on. Surely, I highly recommend this book.
(Having recommended this book greatly, I do have some uneasy feelings about this book; I have read some of the comments below this book at Amazon.com and I have to agree somehow with this 3 star comment below. It addresses somewhere that I am not totally comfortable with this book. Let me copy and paste Thomas' comment below too.)
He found the Great Good thing, but what strengthens his faith?, October 23, 2016
Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Great Good Thing: A Secular Jew Comes to Faith in Christ (Kindle Edition)
Three stars doesn't go towards his writing style, but rather content.
This is a snapshot of a man coming to faith. My only problem with this story is that there isn't a lot about the faith, or the doctrine he believes. One could argue that much of this book is based on feelings and mystical revelation. However, when looking at the process of all that is involved with putting your faith is Christ, a lot of Christianity seems strange to an unbeliever.
I personally did appreciate the times when he did spend time in his Bible, but I wish there were more moments in the book that focused on the truths that Andrew read in the Bible. And less about the situations that he reasoned his way through.
Some of the highlights were when he went to London, experienced antisemitism, reflected on the Holocaust.
Truly did appreciate his critic on post modern philosophy, he had a very common sense approach to viewing the inconsistencies.
This is a snapshot of a man coming to faith. My only problem with this story is that there isn't a lot about the faith, or the doctrine he believes. One could argue that much of this book is based on feelings and mystical revelation. However, when looking at the process of all that is involved with putting your faith is Christ, a lot of Christianity seems strange to an unbeliever.
I personally did appreciate the times when he did spend time in his Bible, but I wish there were more moments in the book that focused on the truths that Andrew read in the Bible. And less about the situations that he reasoned his way through.
Some of the highlights were when he went to London, experienced antisemitism, reflected on the Holocaust.
Truly did appreciate his critic on post modern philosophy, he had a very common sense approach to viewing the inconsistencies.
But I was hoping for more doctrine, more solid truth morsels. Some of his story seemed to be a battle of psychology. Reasoning and spiritual mysticism sometimes seemed to be his strongholds. But he did make it clear the truth about the Gospel, so he understands the basics of Christianity.
In his into he seems to understand what I'm referring to. "Would I descend into that smiley-faced religious idiocy that mistakes the good health and prosperity of the moment for the supernatural favor of God?"
At times i felt he was too focused on the philosophy, "I analyzed the philosophical steps that had led me to the brink of conversion, holding them to the light one after another like a jeweler with a set of gems, turning each one this way and that to study its facets and pronounce upon its qualities."
But then there were times I thought he was finally getting the picture: "If there is a higher, spiritual, supernatural world, it stands to reason that this everyday, material, natural world is only the language in which it speaks to us. So maybe my psychology was just Christ’s way of reaching me, his doorway into my heart."
Taken for what it claims, this is a good telling of someone coming to faith. However, once you have found your faith, what do you hold onto?
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