Customer Reviews

Bruce & Stan's Guide to Cults, Religions, and Spiritual Beliefs: A User-Friendly Guide

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book was informative & a nice overview of the major religions and popular spiritual practices. I only give it three stars because in the beginning, the author's admit they are Christian, but claim that this will still be an unbiased look at world religion. I do not believe they back this claim, as I found much of the book CHristian oriented. (there is nothing wrong with that if that is what you are looking for) If you are a CHristian and want to better understand the faiths around, this is the book for you! However, if you are looking for a general look at faiths, you may want to dig further. I must admit that there is an amazing amount of information in such a small book.

Bruce and Stan's Guide to Cults, Religions, Spiritual Beliefs: A User-Friendly Approach

While I earnestly hope that they did not intentionally have flawed research while writing the book, it is obvious that they only read other people's books while reading it. It would have been much better if they would have just asked people about their religions while doing their research instead of just reading negative books on other's religions.

I find it hard to understand how they could get some basic facts about Mormon and Jehovah's Witnesses so incorrect when they are so willing to share their religion and belief's with anyone that asks... let alone the availability of information on their internet sites, their brochures, etc.

I checked into the references on the several chapters I read and noticed that in those instances, the books referred to were by books attacking those religions. I would assume that is where the inconsistencies come from. An honest approach would have included sources that were also pro that religion. If you want to know about someone's religion, ask them, not their detractors.

Based on the large number if blatantly incorrect facts that there easy to find, I could not trust anything that was said about the other religions.

As a Christian, I would implore others to seek after God as the authors suggest... I just could not even finish the book with a good conscious and recommend that others do not even try.

That said it was written in an easy, lighthearted fashion. If the authors ever decided to correct the inaccuracies and obvious negativity towards other religions, some of their writings in the future could be moved up to a fun to read, light hearted, barely grazing the facts literature.

A review of the book: "Guide to Cults, Religions, & Spiritual Beliefs" by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz.(with adviser Dr. Craig Hazen).

The copy that I bought is a 335 page paperback, with an informal design for it's cover that invites prospective readers with the statement: "A user - friendly approach". Inside the book the layout is, in fact, user friendly. I liked the overall layout of the book.

Bruce Bickel was a standup comic turned lawyer and Stan Jantz is a marketing consultant. Their advisor on this book was Dr. Craig Hazen, who is the associate professor of comparative religion and Christian apologetics at Biola University.

I have done quite a bit of study and research on the religions of Judaism, Judeo-Christianity, and Christianity. Therefore I was interested to see how they would handle the subject of Judaism, which is covered in Chapter 2 of their book. Their chapter on Judaism starts off on the wrong foot by asserting false or mistaken claims and statements. We could go paragraph by paragraph and show the errors in chapter 2 of their book, but a couple of examples should do.
Their book has Judaism starting in Genesis and being "the first great faith to believe in one God." Judaism began from the teachings of the Pharisees and they are not found anywhere in the book of Genesis. The word Pharisee is not found in the Bible until the 23rd Chapter of Matthew. Here are just three of many Jewish sources they could have (and should have) read concerning the beginning of Judaism.

"The return from Babylon and the introduction of the Babylonian Talmud mark the end of Hebrewism and the beginning of Judaism."
Rabbi Stephen F. Wise, formerly the Chief Rabbi of the United States

". . . Judaism . . . Pharisaism became Talmudism, Talmudism became Medieval Rabbinism, and Medieval Rabbinism became Modern Rabbinism. But throughout these changes in name . . . the spirit of the ancient Pharisees survives, unaltered . . . " from page XXI of "Pharisees, The Sociological Background of Their Faith", first edition. by Rabbi Louis Finkelstein, the head of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, often referred to as " The Vatican of Judaism "(as quoted on page 24 of "Facts Are Facts" by Benjamin H. Freedman)

"Judaism did not come into existence until A.D. 70. It is a mixture of the Mosaic religion of the Hebrew Torah (Pentateuch) which Jesus quoted, and the Pharisaism which Jesus condemned. The latter became written down in the Talmud, from the second to the seventh centuries A.D.
from page 57 of "The Six-pointed Star" by O. J. Graham

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Christendom existed for 1494 years before this term Judaism was even coined in English. That is another reason why Judaism not only was not in Genesis but was NOT "the first great faith to believe in one God.". The Hebrews later known as Israelites believed in one God and Judaism did not exist yet.

If the rest of their book follows how they handled their chapter on Judaism, it will be just repeating the same misinformation or standard belief about each subject that is commonly held. This is unfortunate because had they actually dug a little deeper into their subject, they could have had a very good and useful book.

If a person just wants the standard line on each of the religions covered, they will be pleased with "Guide to Cults, Religions, & Spiritual Beliefs". If a person want a better researched guide, they will need to look elsewhere.

This book is excellent for anyone who wants to learn more about the differences of the different beliefs there are out there. The writers put enough information in, but not so much that it became overwhelming. Excellent read!

This is one of the first religious books I read. I can't say it was too great. It was probably on the same level as books like The Idiot's Guide to... or ___ for Dummies. It is published by a publishing house which is known for its anti-Catholicism. However, I cannot recall any material which the Roman Catholic would be offended. If anything, it gave me an introduction to other world religions, and even the fringe Christian religions. In the end the authors make a case for Christ, obviously, but of course, it makes the case for the Protestant doctrines as well. That is, the relationship with God that has as its guideline, the Protestant system, is a bit different from the Catholic system. So, it is perhaps not a good idea for a recent convert to Catholicism or a young cradle Catholic.

-Laurence

One thing they are biased even though they say at the beginning they won't be. They are basically saying Christianity correct everything else no. But they are Christians and this book is sold quite a bit in Christian stores.
Even though they make Christianity sound the best and most truthful they do provide books and websites for you to read on the religon they are discussing, so you can see for yourself what they have to say.
They seemed to tear up Mormonism the most. They make it sound totally ridiculous, but when you go to Mormon sites they refute much of what these guys say. Bruce and Stan also tell you the Mormons will say that. So who do you believe?
I did like this book though they did not tear up every religon or belief they did make some sound pretty good which surprised me actually.
So, even though I got a biased view on other religons I do have the tools to "dig deeper" myself and see what the other side of the story is.

Let me start off by saying that I study world religions, and this book is a must. It covers Christianty, Judaism, and Islam the best. Mormonism, Jehovah's witrnesses, and the Mind Sciences were OK. Hinduism, Buddism, and Eastern Pholisophys were good, although somewhat basic. New Age and Atheism, were probably handled the most masterfully in the book. It isn't TOO biased, although there were passages in Hinduism that made me think that itr was in favour of Christianty. Which is fine, because I'm a Christian! It is UNBIASED, but also, seemed to be targeted toward Christian audiences.

3/4s of this book is SOLID GOLD! LDS, JW, and The New Age Movement r covered BEAUTIFULLY here. But the other parts are dry and didn't hold me.

Outstanding book for believers and non-believers. Purchased for my homeschool son for his junior level world cultures class (geography+history+religion+culture of the area); outstanding class. This book gave lots of information, yet there was still much more research that was needed online and given by the coop teacher. Great book though; even my son said so.

This book provides a very simple approach to understanding the various world religions. To some who may have difficulty comprehending Bruce & Stan's simplicity, on page 1 they disclose that they have written their book from a Christian perspective. Nevertheless, they succintly describe the essential doctrines of various world religions and allow the reader to make his/her own assessment of the validity of that religion. They take things further by providing the reader with a bibliography if he or she chooses to research a particular religion further. I strongly recommend Bruce & Stan's Guide to Cults, Religions, & Spiritual Beliefs. Unlike an earlier reviewer, I vigorously recommend that you avoid anything written by John Shelby Spong.