Andrew, <name removed> has put up a useful glossary for readers of this conversation to look into further. Thankyou <name removed>. Andrew, this is a constructive contribution to the discussion (whether or not others agree with it) and should be taken that way, the tone of your response is disappointing.
Thankyou also Andrew for your point that these do not "teach the same message", and the valuable background info on wild at heart. I note however that the primary objection raised in the review you link to is that it is too secular:
Wild at Heart is a notable example of the integration of secular ideas, theories, and practices with Scripture. As a result, clear Biblical teaching regarding the nature of man, how he should live, and how he changes is compromised, undermined, and obscured. This is not a reliable way of "Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul."
This is not a reason to reject it in favour of a book by an author that is entirely secular (e.g. Donovan). The whole point that Curtis and Ylop have been concerned about is that Donovan is secular rather than Christian. If we should not read "Wild at Heart" because it is too secular, we certainly shouldn't read "The Way of Men"! This is therefore beside the point.
The point that you have been making in this discussion Andrew is that Donovan has a good message, that Christians could benefit from hearing, and which you have not read in any Christian book.
If you recommend something I take that seriously, so I am adding the book to the list of ones I'd like to get through also. Some of the books <name removed> posts may also be valuable. I do agree that books targeted at the Christian market are often written to attract women buyers rather than men, because they're the actual market, I believe over 90% of such books are purchased by women to give to men, and most are then left unread... So many do have a feminised message. But again, that general principle isn't a reason to reject all such books, because some do have valuable content. You just have to be as careful to sift the good from the bad in the Christian market as in the secular one.
Ylop (& <name removed>), if your children ever read newspapers, secular novels, articles on the internet, mainstream school textbooks, statements by politicians... They've already read stuff by homosexual authors. Probably hundreds of times. But I'm sure their faith isn't dead yet. We need to teach our children to be able to sift the good content from the bad, regardless of the author. For instance, a homosexual libertarian politician may make good statements on taxation, and poor ones on morality - while a morally conservative Christian socialist may make poor tax statements but good moral ones. And if the homosexual politician proposed a public referendum allowing legal polygamy, while the Christian proposed 20 year jail sentences for polygamists, and your brother asked for a brochure outlining the best policy to support, what would you give him? The homosexual's brochure that allowed polygamy, or the Christian's that would forbid it? Would you decide based on the content, or the author's sexuality?
In what way is a leaflet discussing the legal status of polygamy different to a book discussing manliness? If Andrew has read a book by a Christian author that he disagrees with the content of ("Wild at heart") and a book by a homosexual author that he agrees with the content of ("The Way of Men"), which should he suggest we read? Should he decide based on the content, or the author's sexuality?
In both cases we must keep our brain working to sift the good from the bad, we must not reject everything one says and accept what the other says purely because of their beliefs on sexuality.
What sins are bad enough to cause us to reject everything someone says? Should we reject everything a Christian pastor says because he occasionally steals paperclips from the church office? If we have a book written by a Christian historian on the history of the Jewish state, that we find very helpful, then it turns out years later that he was actually a paedophile when he wrote it, or if years later he murders someone, do we now burn the book because it's suddenly become wrong? Everyone sins, including you. Should I reject everything that everyone on this forum says because I know we're all ultimately sinners even if I don't know what you've all done?
andrew said:
the belief that anything published by a "Christian" writer is safe and righteous is even more dangerous than the idea that anything written by a non-Christian and/or homosexual is deviant and will lead you astray.
Couldn't agree more.
