Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
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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."

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.

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.

A few of the good things about this book that I really enjoyed were:
- Very timely, considering many people's obscession with demons, "casting down strongholds," etc. With the rise of the charismatic movement sweeping the church, TRUE spritual warfare and putting on the full armor of God is often replaced with mantras, formulas, "deliverance," etc.
- Good introduction to the basics of spiritual warfare and the spiritual armor of God
- Corrects many misconceptions about spiritual warfare and the spiritual protection of Christians
- Very clear, readable, interesting, and concise

The bad:
- A bit on the short side
- Could be a bit more in depth
- Not particularly surprising or always that profound. I think that's because Hank focuses so much on the basics though. If you are looking for a very in-depth or academic cover, this is probably not the book for you. Again, I think Hank was just trying to be concise and stick with the basics here.

I would definitly recommend this book. It increased my faith and confidence in God. I think a lot of people live with a lot of unnecessary fear because they don't know about God's plan to protect them from evil. There are few things more encouraging (short of salvation itself of course) than realizing that God is sovereign and wants to protect you from evil, and of learning of how He wants to do that. Hank does a good job of explaining how God has given us spiritual armor to help us - He really will, in the words of the Lord's Prayer, "deliver us from the evil one."

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."

First remember Hank Hanegraaf writes like his radio show, building himself up as the 'Bible Answer Man' while putting other views down. For a thin book, he spends a lot of time discounting and discrediting other well known authors in the spiritual warfare genre.

The book is based on Hank's theory that modern Christians don't proplerly use 'the full armor of God' in Ephesians 6:10-18. When he finally gets to it, he does a good job explaining these verses in the context of basic discipleship habits that will protect us in the spiritual realm.

If you want an expensive commentary on 8 short verses as well as a lot of jabs other authors then buy this book used.

The book arrived in a timely manner and in the described condition. Great seller

The "Covering" by Hank Hanegraaff is a great book on spiritual warfare and it's really awesome because you can bring it with you wherever you go. Hank debunks the false notions of spiritual warfare and the misconception of demons taking over christians wills. It also shows you that if a demon can take your will captive as a christian , you can say "the Devil made me do it" in stead of calling it my own sin. This book gives you the real disciplines of the christian walk in warfare...
God bless CRI and Hank Hanegraaff...

The Covering is a great little book that gets the the heart of Pauls letter the the Ephesians. This small easy to understand book should be in every Christians library.

The principles outlined in this little book are sound and needed, but ultimately the book falls very short of the intended goal of equipping a Christian for spiritual warfare. A text on the subject would have to at least be three times the depth of this book. Very little practical advise was given on the day-to-day activities that constitute spiritual warfare.

I gave Hanegraaff a few stars for successfully debunking the deliverance ministry nonsense that has taken the evangelical movement by storm. I took a few away for the aforementioned reasons and that Hanegraaf's demonology is a little suspect on certain points.

If you want good books regarding Demonology, try:
Biblical Demonology, by. Merrill F. Unger, Th.D., Ph.D. (The standard work in Conservative circles.)
The Powers of Evil, by. Sydney H.T. Page (An incredibly well documented book on Satanic powers.)

As to a proper interpretation of the "armor of God" found in Ephesians, there are simply to many good resources to list. Ask your local Pastor or Deacon.