The Covering: God's Plan to Protect You From Evil [Hardcover]

Hank Hanegraaff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

In a world where evil seems to lurk around every corner and our thoughts turn to worry about our safety and security, the armor of God is our Father's protection in the fight against evils of our temporary home. Best-selling author Hank Hanegraaff describes God's protective covering over his children by dissecting Paul's words in Ephesians 6: 10-18 commanding us to put on the armor of God and "take our stand against the devil's schemes." Hanegraaff moves through the passage, phrase by phrase, defining God's armor, explaining what it means to embrace God's covering, and the practical ways God delivers us from evil.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: W Publishing Group (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849917557
• ISBN-13: 978-0849917554
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #548,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good, concise book about a controversial Biblical doctrine, January 31, 2003

By 

Erik Olson "Seeker Reviews" (Ridgefield, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Covering: God's Plan to Protect You From Evil (Hardcover)

One of the more controversial aspects of Christianity is the belief in demons and their master, Satan. For those who subscribe to the reality of these beings, there is the Biblical warning that a constant state of conflict exists between them and the believer. In "The Covering," Hank Hanegraaff discusses this oft-debated topic, and provides solid insights into the Christian's Scripture-defined weapons and armor that enable him or her to successfully wage spiritual warfare.

Mr. Hanegraaff begins by debunking a couple of the more outlandish beliefs espoused by certain authors claiming inside knowledge about Satan and his minions. He then goes into some Biblical background about the topic of demons, and what they can or cannot do. For example, he examines Scripture to find out whether or not Christians can be possessed or controlled by demons. All of his points are made within the context of good Biblical exegesis, and not from hype or fanciful postulation.

However, the main thrust of "The Covering" is centered on the Bible's instructions that enable the Christian to successfully stand against Satan and his machinations. He centers on what is probably the best-known passage about this subject, Ephesians 6:10-18, where believers are instructed to put on "the full armor of God" for this very purpose. Mr. Hanegraaff deals with each component of the armor, such as the "sword of the Spirit" (the Bible), and how a Christian can wield it competently.

Despite its brevity (Mr. Hanegraaff has produced yet another one of those Christian "mini-books" that seem to be pretty popular these days), "The Covering" is an excellent primer on spiritual warfare. He sticks to the Scriptures, and thus avoids the lurid flights of fancy that have characterized other works on the subject. For additional exposition on this topic, Stu Weber's book "Spirit Warriors" would be a good complement to "The Covering."

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, July 30, 2003

By 

David T. Wayne "aka The 'JollyBlogger'" (Glen Burnie, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Covering: God's Plan to Protect You From Evil (Hardcover)

The value of this book is that it gives a fair amount of information on spiritual warfare in a small package. If you can get the amount you way-overpaid for such a small book and if you don't have the time to read a more in-depth treatment of the subject this is a good book to read on spiritual warfare.

I mention the high price because it is one of the new genre of itty bitty books that has hit the shelves ever since the Prayer of Jabez. All of these books are small and are over-priced. However, for those who have limited time some of these books (especially C. J. Mahaney's book on the Cross) are well worth reading.

Pricing aside, this book seeks to counter the modern deliverance model of spiritual warfare with the biblical discipleship model of spiritual warfare. To do this, Hanegraaff tells a few stories of some of the well known fakes and frauds in the deliverance industry and then turns his attention to exegeting the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6.

As regards the spiritual fakes and frauds he points out that modern deliverance warfare takes its cues from dubious movies and books like the Exorcist and Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. He also addresses the fabrications of people like John Todd, Mike Warnke and Loren Cunningham. Although all three were found to be frauds they got the deliverance train moving with enough momentum that the movement has been able to sustain itself without them.

Hanegraaff correctly points out that the clearest passage in the Bible dealing with spiritual warfare - Ephesians 6 - does not follow the deliverance model. In this biblical model one does not address Satan and demons, one addresses God and one's walk with God. He makes the point that the deliverance model of spiritual warfare dovetails nicely with modern irresponsibility. The great thing about the deliverance model is that you are not responsible for your own sin - you can plead the Flip Wilson line - "the devil made me do it." Ephesians 6, on the contrary makes the individual responsible for his actions, not the devil.

There are some things I wish he had said in his discussion about the pieces of armor, but with it being such a short book, its hard to fault him for that. You can only say so much in such a short space. Specifically I would have liked to seen the book give greater emphasis to the fact that all of the pieces of armor are things we have in Christ, they are not things we try to achieve. In other words, we rest in Christ's righteousness, we don't try to be righteousness. This is touched on, I just would have liked to seen it emphasized more.

Overall, not a bad book for such a short book.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Great Start, But Needs A Little More, July 8, 2004

By 

Donald S. Meador "imthman" (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Covering: God's Plan to Protect You From Evil (Hardcover)

The Covering is Hanegraaff's follow-up to his book "The Prayer of Jesus." The first book addressed prayer in the New Testament. In this brief volume, he addresses the armor of God made available to every Christian (see Ephesians 6:10-18).

In his Introduction, Hanegraaff reveals that his aim in writing is polemical (he is writing to correct erroneous teaching). He addresses the errant teachings found in the writings of Neil T. Anderson, Bob Larson, and the teachings of deliverance ministry advocates (I have not read these authors and cannot comment on the content of their works. Their errancy is Hanegraaff's opinion). The essence of his disagreement with these authors is the degree of power or influence these men believe Satan/demons have over Christians. Hanegraaff adequately shows from Scripture that a Christian cannot be demon possessed.

Hanegraaff argues that Satan only has power to influence people's minds. This is where I disagree with him. Scripture has several examples that show the power of Satan/demons manifest in the material realm (e.g., the showdown between Moses and Pharaoh's magicians). Even still, Scripture does reveal that Satan's power is limited and is no match for God's omnipotence.

Hanegraaff offers a chapter for each piece of the armor of God. His point in covering each piece is to show that a Christian who applies the armor will be more than adequately prepared for Biblical spiritual warfare. A Christian who does not don the spiritual armor of God walks into battle vulnerable and asking for defeat.

A final chapter entitled "The Covering as a Lifestyle" is Hanegraaff's brief summary of the armor. He gives examples of how one can be mindful of putting on the armor as one's gets dressed in the morning. However, he falls short of actually telling the reader how to put on the armor. He is not at all clear on the application side of The Covering.

I did enjoy this book. His research and information was informative, especially the section showing that the Bible is clear that a Christian cannot be demon possessed. That section alone will be worth the price of the book for many readers. In the end, I was left wishing he had given me just a page or two more in each chapter with a clear explanation of how one actually puts on the armor. I have enjoyed many of the little books of this size, but their limited size sometimes causes the author to omit the most necessary part of his topic. This book is a very good beginning, but the reader will likely want more in the end.