Customer Reviews

More Than Equals: Racial Healing for the Sake of the Gospel

5 star:		(8)
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2 star:		(1)
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A wonderful book! Rice and Perkins hold nothing back as they show that the race problems in America cannot be worked out simply by passing laws. The only way true healing can take place between hostile races is through Christ's unconditional love for all of us. They strongly encourage churches to open their doors and arms to people of different races and cultures and to work out their differences through God's Grace rather than simply passing legislation. This book offers strong, proven examples of black and white Christians learning to live and worship together in Jackson, MS. Highly recommended!

A friend of mine and I read this book. We both have had experiences of being in all-Black and all-White congregations and the authors are right on target. This is definitely a must read for all that are concerned about reconciling the races for the greater cause of Christ. 5 stars!

Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice offer us a vivid portrayal of two men from extremely different backgrounds coming together with their families in true Christian community. The book is open and honest. It will help to lift the cultural blinders we all wear.

IS IT EASY? No, this book describes the self sacrifice, forgiveness, and difficulty of such an endeavour with great detail.

IS IT POSSIBLE? Yes AND No. The book ends happily ever after, but the true friendship between Spencer Perkins and Chris Rice did not. Only a week before he died of heart failure at the age of 44 Perkins spoke of his difficulties in dealing with "White Folks" and the need to forgive. In a July 13, 1998 issue of Christianity Today Perkins describes how after more than 10 years of partnership with Chris Rice they still came to what seemed like insurmountable obstacles in their relationship, but they worked through it.

WHY STRUGGLE? Because it is the right thing to do. God calls us to a ministry of reconciliation. Relationships are difficult, especially relationships with people from different backgrounds. It is not easy to remain married for 50 years, but the ones who make it are the ones who don't give up.

WHY READ THIS BOOK? It will encourage you to embrace the struggle. It will help you see others from a different perspective. It will help you to grow. It may change your life.

The most amazing and life-changing book I have read in the past several years!! I realized that when I am silent and passive about racism, then I am promoting it, and I have since asked forgiveness of and reconciled with some of my African American friends. The authors were incredibly honest about the issues on both sides of racism and about the need of the church to step up and be a fore-runner in reconciliation. I can't thank Spencer and Chris enough for their work.....I'm sad that Spencer is not with us any more to continue in this minsitry, though I understand that God knows best. I hope and pray that Chris will find another partner in the reconciliation ministry.

The revised editon of "More Than Equals" updates this provocative work telling the story of Caucasian Chris Rice and African American John Perkins. Different by race and culture, God bond them together in ministry. Their developing relationship provides a path that all Christian can follow for healthy cross-cultural relationships.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction , Soul Physicians, and Spiritual Friends.

This was a required text for one of my graduate courses and I didn't expect to enjoy it much. It wasn't far into the book that I began to resonate with some of the struggles for racial harmony articulated by Perkins and Rice.

In Chapter 1, Spencer Perkins states emphatically, "The Civil Rights Movement has run its course, and we've gotten just about all you can expect to get from a political movement." I, a white guy, took offense at the thought that someone would declare the struggle for civil rights obsolete. His point is well made through the development of this and subsequent chapters. The move toward reconciliation must move from race to grace.

Regardless of your religious affiliations, if you are engaged in civil rights causes or racial reconciliation you would be remiss to neglect this ground-breaking tome.

PAX

Erik

Every person needs to hear this message of racial reconciliation. Easy to read, challenging with a strong message. Read this book!

This is the book that began everything for me. Okay, so I was already living in the city--I had moved in as poor college student--but I hated it. I wanted to move out of the hood as soon as possible. Reading this book convicted me of God's calling in my life to embrace the city as my home--and to love my neighbor as myself.

I read this book just in time; shortly after, I was raped in my home while my husband was gone to a meeting at church and my children were asleep in the room next to me. I wouldn't have made it through that trial without having been deeply rooted in the awareness of God's will for me.

What I'm about to say may be conflicting, but I believe this from what I've seen. Although that reconciliation was much needed in previous years, it has become something else today. Rather than reconciliation between blacks, whites, and all races, it seems that today it is more about pronouncing who you are and what race you're from, making yourself seem a little more ambitious than you'd like.
Coming from a Mexican cultured background, racial issues arise only when, well, racial issues are brought up. People need to realize that true unity won't happen until we stop looking at people by a certain race. This book tries to emphasize the importance of keeping close to your culture and how strange it is to integrate to another, when in reality it's not as strange as it really is.
Marrying people from other national backgrounds is not bad; congregating with other churches of different backgrounds is not bad either; black and white Christians can live together. We don't really need proof. It's not as relevant as it once was.