Faith That Hurts, Faith That Heals/Understanding the Fine Line Between Healthy Faith and Spiritual Abuse [Paperback]

Stephen Arterburn (Author), Jack Felton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0840796579
• ISBN-13: 978-0840796578
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #718,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Arterburn is the founder and chairman of New Life Ministries--the nation's largest faith-based broadcast, counseling, and treatment ministry--and is the host of the nationally syndicated "New Life Live!" daily radio program heard on over 180 radio stations nationwide. Steve is also the founder of the Women of Faith conferences, attended by over 3 million women.

Steve is a nationally known public speaker and has been featured in national media venues such as "Oprah," "Inside Edition," "Good Morning America," "CNN Live," the "New York Times," "USA Today," and "US News & World Report." In August 2000, Steve was inducted into the National Speakers Association's Hall of Fame. A best-selling author, Steve has written over 60 books, including the popular Every Man's series and his most recent book, "Healing Is a Choice." He has been nominated for numerous writing awards and has won four Gold Medallion Awards for writing excellence.

Steve has degrees from Baylor University and the University of North Texas as well as two honorary doctorate degrees. Steve resides with his family in Laguna Beach, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faith that Hurts, Faith That Heals: Required Reading, October 18, 2001

By 

Warden Memorial Library (Pulaski, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faith That Hurts, Faith That Heals/Understanding the Fine Line Between Healthy Faith and Spiritual Abuse (Paperback)

Faith That Hurts, FaithThat Heals is an excellent guidebook to
understanding what healthy faith is and is not.

So many books of this type seek to destroy or eliminate the
element of faith in a person's life or they are, in fact, taking
aim at one or more specific "ministries." Arterburn and Felton offer a view of religion that is liberating without insisting on unbelief. They encourage the reader to use the sense God gave
them to compare the gospel message to what they are experiencing
in a church, fellowship, friendship, class, or marriage and family situation. They encourage the reader to question and reason. Jesus always questioned and always reasoned and never
accepted that he should accept whatever was preached just because
someone said he should. In the spirit of Christ, these men encourage the reader to "come, let us reason."

The authors address the claims of popular religion and encourage
the believer to understand that "grace is free but it ain't cheap." They also warn of the dangers of religious addiction and
how easy it is to focus on religion while avoiding what are the
real issues of a person's life.

While all these issues and more are addressed, the good news of the book is that a person can recover from harmful addictive
behaviors and become a healthy person with a healthy faith.

_Faith that Hurts, Faith that Heals_ should be required reading
for every believer.

Donna Reagan at Warden Memorial Library

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Religion as a Punishing Addiction?, December 21, 1999

By 

M. White - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faith That Hurts, Faith That Heals/Understanding the Fine Line Between Healthy Faith and Spiritual Abuse (Paperback)

This book provides tremendous insight into an addiction: addiction to religion. Particularly helpful is the description of the structure of addictive religious groups. Read this book for a glimpse into the world of angry and power-grabbing religious leaders, steeped in denial; their hurting and victimized followers...and the ensuing results. The similarity between the illustrations in the book, and actual situations commonly found today will be clear. Not for the queasy or timid reader. This book will help you to clarify the distinction between faith and addiction. Challenging, informative, and highly recommended. For those who have been trapped in a destructive religious group of any kind, including an abusive church, this book will facilitate understanding and healing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderful book for people with faith difficulties, November 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Faith That Hurts, Faith That Heals/Understanding the Fine Line Between Healthy Faith and Spiritual Abuse (Paperback)

When people grow up with spiritual abuse, they woould definately benefit from this book.