Communion with God (Paperback)

~ Neale Donald Walsch (Author) "This is not only The First Illusion, but the grandest..." (more)
Key Phrases: meeting with the creator, ten illusions, grandest version, Ultimate Reality, The Third Illusion, The First Illusion (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bestselling author Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations with God) moves beyond showing readers how to develop a friendship with God and instead offers a model for communion. Rather than using the dialog format, where Walsch shares personal conversations he has with God, he chose to write through the narrative voice of God--as if God were speaking directly to the reader. "I tell you this: You need nothing to survive," says God. "Your survival is guaranteed. I gave you everlasting life, and I never took it away from you." This format can feel a bit jarring, as if this was an attempt at channeling rather than Walsch's usual humble style of dialogue. Using a structure of top-10 illusions, Walsch has God speaking to illusions such as need, judgment, and superiority. At times God sounds scolding: "For I tell you this: Your idea of superiority could be the last mistake you ever make." Yet, the bottom-line message is that of unconditional love and the exhilarating promise of communion--a gift that is lavishly offered throughout the final chapters. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

A stand-alone title to complement Walsch's bestselling Conversations with God series, this too-general spirituality manifesto borrows from most major religions while chastising all of them for their judgmentalism, with Christianity getting the harshest treatment. Walsch continues his tradition of writing in the first person as God, but this time there is no human counterbalance, making this no longer a conversation so much as a prophetic indictment. He begins by describing the "ten illusions of man" that have been perpetuated in unhelpful "cultural stories"Ai.e., Biblical storiesAand then helps readers understand and use these illusions in an effort to make their own realities. Walsch reassures readers that such things as failure, requirement and ignorance do not actually exist, but are among the ten illusions. We are part of God, he explains, and since God is perfect, so are we. Walsch seems to believe that his ideas are groundbreaking, but they are garden-variety New Thought concepts adapted for a therapeutic age. His once-innovative technique of writing in the voice of God has also lost its luster; God's prose is having an off day, as evidenced by Walsh's predilection for sentence fragments and stream-of-consciousness thought patterns. A superior work in general spirituality is Andrew Harvey's The Direct Path: Creating a Journey to the Divine Using the World's Mystical Traditions, which is in harmony with Walsch's declaration that "all paths lead to God" but offers outstanding writing and a more humble tone. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425189856
• ISBN-13: 978-0425189856
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,489 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

265 of 269 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Sense, January 28, 2001

By	"jillm554343" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Communion with God: An Uncommon Dialogue (Hardcover)

I have never found my answers in church. Walsch's series of books like C. A. Lewis' An Encounter With A Prophet portray a loving God who makes sense. I would recommend all of these books to anyone wanting answers about God that fit the heart and the head.

167 of 170 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't get much better, October 28, 2000

By	paul jenks (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Communion with God: An Uncommon Dialogue (Hardcover)

This book adds more power to Walsch's message of God unconditional love for us. If you want more of this message I would recommend the book An Encounter With A Prophet

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Great Truths Here, December 9, 2000

By	C. Fletcher (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Communion with God: An Uncommon Dialogue (Hardcover)

I would recommend this book to anyone who feels that they have experienced life on a profound level on occasion, but has a hard time alligning those deep wonderfully-personal feelings with an existing system of beliefs. Even if you haven't read the first four "With God" books, this one is more than worth your time, I promise. It's basic message is a very simple but profound one, and one that may be difficult for many people to easily agree with. The idea is that we are all God, that everything in existence is a facet of God, and that we are not actually separate from each other or from "God," but that are rather under the illusion that we are in order to have the relative experience of ourselves.

There can't be light if there is no dark. If an artist drew a beautiful soul-filling, awe-inspiring drawing in white ink, you couldn't see it if it were on white paper. That's why we need darkness in order to fully experience ourselves.

In this book, Neale Donald Walsch does a very good, concrete job of laying out the 10 illusions that he believes have caused humanity the most pain and trouble throughout our history. It all starts with the necessary, but danger illusion that we are separate from each other. Each of the other illusion builds off the previous one.

I was not raised in a religious household, but I have enough religious experiences of passionate living to believe in God. Even though I am not religious, I feel I came to these books with the skepticism of one that might feel these writings are blasphemous. But I'll have to say, that even though Walsch has a tendency to get too cute in his wording, his basic concepts are very sound, and that while I don't always believe in his style of presenting his ideas, I think the ideas themselve are very sound, and very ispiring.

It's hard not to agree that you should trust yourself and find your truth in yourself.