66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story [Hardcover]

Dr. Larry Crabb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 12, 2010

The story of God written in intimate love letters just for you.

Dr. Larry Crabb knows that if we could see the larger story of God and humanity, our world would never be the same. That story is found in large part in the sixty-six letters of the Bible.

Written in a conversational first person, as if God is speaking directly to us, Dr. Crabb looks at each individual book in scripture and boils it down to a one- or two-sentence message to us from that particular book. He then unpacks each sentence in a short chapter answering the question, What does God want me to hear from this love letter? The book's epilogue then fits all sixty-six pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together into one coherent paragraph and reveals the beautiful picture of what God has been about since the creation of the world. Far from being comprehensive, this is a personal approach to helping readers know God and his great love for them, his message for all mankind, and how their lives fit into His larger story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Psychologist and author Crabb (Connecting) serves up what could be his magnum opus, combining his passions for Bible teaching, counseling, and people healing one another in communities. Written as an ongoing dialogue between the author and God about the 66 books of the Bible, Crabb uses first person for both voices, taking to the nth degree the common idea that the Bible is a love letter from God. The author's persona progressively learns deeper truths about God's love from each letter, or book, of the Bible. Through the voice of God, Crabb takes on today's culture and Christian subculture. Section introductions and 66 summary paragraphs at the end tie all together well. The book addresses much for what skeptics ask but will serve Christians who have ignored or conveniently overlooked the arc of the Bible story and chosen a chirpy version of Christianity that Crabb calls good enough Christianity. His psychological and biblical perspective and decades of experience give the otherwise presumptuous attempt at voicing God credibility. (Jan.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (January 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849919665
• ISBN-13: 978-0849919664
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Larry Crabb is a well-known psychologist, seminar speaker, Bible teacher, author, and founder/director of NewWay Ministries. In addition to various speaking and teaching opportunities, Dr. Crabb offers a week-long School of Spiritual Direction and a weekend conference, Life on the Narrow Road. He is also Scholar in Residence at Colorado Christian University and serves as Spiritual Director for the American Association of Christian Counselors. His many popular books include Inside Out, Finding God, Becoming a True Spiritual Community, The PAPA Prayer, Soul Talk, and his life work, 66 Love Letters. For additional information visit www.newwayministries.org.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 66 Love Letters by Dr. Larry Crabb, February 15, 2010

By 

J. Bergmann (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story (Hardcover)

I recently read the book 66 Love Letters from author and psychologist Dr. Larry Crabb. This is a literary departure from the other works that Dr. Crabb has written previously. This volume is "presented as a dialog between one man and God." (quote from book sleeve)

The structure is simple: each chapter covers one of the 66 books of the Bible and does so to personalize and cut through the scriptural stories to expose God's encompassing desire to have a relationship with mankind and to hone in on Jesus' role of redeeming us to himself.

I processed several thoughts and adjusted my goals for this book as I read along:

~ At first, I hoped that this would be a non-stop amazing journey through the themes of scripture but after a few chapters found myself hoping that the next chapter(s) would be better. This didn't happen and was rather frustrating.

~ I then decided to read each chapter as a distinct conversation. One book made up of 66 individual writings... much like the Bible itself. After making this jump, the stories came to life.

~ As I read along, I decided to read chapters along with my daily devotion time. For instance, as I read of Israel's conquests in the Bible book of Joshua, I took the opportunity to read the equivalent chapter in 66 Love Letters. The text was only 4 pages long and gave way to another layer of devotional thought to my daily reading.

If you are looking for a book to read from cover to cover, this will seem like a compilation of scattered stories. However, if you use 66 Love Letters as a companion to your daily Scripture readings (especially if you are reading through the Bible in a year), it is a rather enlightening study. As a pastor, I plan to keep this volume with my study materials and commentaries to aid in my sermon/lesson preparations.

Last, I did go to Dr. Crabb's website and noted that there is a study guide available. I did not request the free study guide but am hopeful that a companion read would be helpful to get the most from this (almost) 400 page volume.

You can read this review and others on my blog at [...]

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 66 Love Letters, March 19, 2010

By 

A. Melton "Mandy" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story (Hardcover)

This is a book written as a conversation between God and the author that takes you through each book of the Bible [66 love letters] explaining to you in the author's point of view what God is saying to us in each book. It is written in simple dialogue and you feel like you are sitting in on a conversation between Dr. Crabb and the Lord.

I enjoyed this book & it sparked a lot in my spirit, although I do not recommend it to anyone that hasn't read the Holy Bible themselves or a new believer. It isn't a book that you can sit down and read from cover to cover, I would recommend reading 1 love letter [chapter] per day and even pair it with your Bible so that you can know what the actual word of God says for each chapter. My overall impression of this book was a good one. My only concern would be a person reading it in place of the Bible or taking what Dr. Crabb said in his book as being truth spoken from God. It did encourage me to read my Bible in more detail with better understanding and as God is speaking directly to me.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 66 Love Letters by Larry Crabb, March 14, 2010

By 

Clint Walker "Friar Tuck" (Hot Springs, SD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story (Hardcover)

Have you ever felt like you are reading through the Bible, but not really connecting with what it is saying? Have you ever felt like you read through a book in the Bible, and did not see how it fit into the big story of God's love and his grace? If you have, you need to know that you are not alone, and you need to know that Larry Crabb intends to help you have a whole new understanding of Scripture.

Many of us in church circles have heard people refer to the Bible as "God's love letter to us". Larry Crabb's book is entitled 66 Love Letters comes to Scripture with that worldview, and then spends each chapter sharing how each book of the Bible fits into the cosmic, global story of God's love for each one of us as individuals. He does this by formatting the book in the form of a conversation by letter between God and an anonymous believer struggling to understand God's Word.

This book was difficult for me to read or enjoy. I found this to be true for several reasons. First, I thought Crabb often played to lose with the meaning and narrative of Scripture as a whole. More than once, instead of engaging the text directly, Crabb makes some sort of figurative use of Scripture that I found questionable. Also, much of the book felt like I was a voyeur on someone's prayer life and personal spirituality. All writing is a little like this; however, with 66 Love Letters I often thought I was reading someone's personal stuff that should have been left between God and them. Finally, this book was a little bit too "touchy/feely" for me. By "touchy/feely" I mean that it seemed oversentimental and about trying to get me as a reader to feel something sentimental and affectionate. I often felt like the author was trying to manipulate my feelings by force of will. It just made me roll my eyes.

Nevertheless, I think for someone who is trying to fit all the different books in Scripture together, this might be a good resource. 66 Love Letters is helpful for seeing how God is at work throughout the Bible, and that his character and intentions for creation are unchanging. For some folks that are babies in the faith, this book might be a comfort. Thus, it is not a total loss.

I do not recommend anyone spending their hard-earned money for this book. If anyone wants to have the book, they can take it off my hands for the cost of shipping.

(I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson publishers in order to read and review it.)