Reflections of the Christ Mind [Hardcover]

Paul Ferrini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 20, 2000

For Paul Ferrini, there was a time when the very thought of Jesus left him cold. Instead of embodying the truth of Jesus' teaching, Christianity seemed to harbor the fearful thoughts and actions of people who were more committed to self-interest than to unconditional love. So when Ferrini felt Jesus' voice inside him saying, "I want you to acknowledge me," he resisted. In time, however, he came to realize that it was not Jesus he was rejecting but the untruths that had become attached to Christian teaching. Responding to the inner voice did not mean merely acknowledging Jesus as some great teacher who lived in the past, but also meant that he was opening himself up to a living presence within his own awareness. Once Ferrini reached this reconciliation, powerful words of spiritual truth began to flow through him.

Reflections of the Christ Mind presents the most important teachings the author has received through his spiritual awakening. Here at last is a gospel devoted solely to Jesus' teachings of love, healing, and forgiveness. The teacher readers meet in these pages is both compassionate and open-minded-he is the Jesus Christians know in their hearts. Repudiating religious hypocrisy, intolerance, and spiritual pride, Ferrini rejects the dogmatic position of the Church, offering instead words of hope and healing that form the new gospel for today.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Growing up in an atheist household, Paul Ferrini believed that Christ represented a religion dedicated to untruths, brutality, and self-interest. Then at the age of 23 Ferrini had an epiphany that forever changed his approach to Christ. "It took me awhile to realize he was not responsible for the lies or acts of cruelty," Ferrini writes in the preface to the book. "He was responsible only for what he thought, what he said, and what he did." In this vein, Ferrini has written the highly successful Reflections of the Christ Mind series (which includes Love Without Conditions and The Silence of the Heart), in which he represents Christ's voice and thoughts as if Jesus were speaking directly to the reader.

Rather than channeling, Ferrini explains that he connects with the "Christ mind" and writes what comes to him--a form of communion that anyone is capable of. The first-person tone of the teachings is intimate and inviting. Each reflection is about a paragraph or two long, so it can be relished in small bites. This collection of previously published material reads like a greatest hits album, with Ferrini offering his all-time favorite Christ mind reflections. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

This perplexed collection offers expanded selections from four of Ferrini's previous books: Love Without Conditions, The Silence of the Heart, Miracle of Love and Return to the Garden. Ferrini, the founder and editor of Miracles magazine, follows a stock New Age agenda here in emphasizing that God is a God of love, not judgment or anger, and that human beings need to strive to awaken our own God within. Ferrini is emphatic in noting that this book was not written through the usual New Age method of channelingAbut through Jesus actually talking to him. Despite such auspicious origins, the book is a disappointment, often sounding more like trendy psychobabble than a divinely inspired voice. According to Ferrini, we are here to overcome our "victimhood" and help others do the same. Some passages are self-contradictory; Ferrini asserts on the one hand that close relationships are essential to personal happiness, then claims that such relationships are intrinsically damaging ("When you live with other people, you are likely to trigger their unhealed wounds and they are likely to trigger yours"). Readers may have a hard time distinguishing between Ferrini's own voice and agenda and that of "the Christ mind." (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (June 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385499523
• ISBN-13: 978-0385499521
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #780,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Ferrini is the author of several books, including the bestselling Love Without Conditions, and is the founder and editor of Miracles magazine. Through his publications, lectures, and workshops, thousands have deepened their practice of forgiveness and opened their hearts to the divine presence in themselves and others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular Reflections, August 2, 2000

By 

Rev. Deborah Hogan (Newburyport, MA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflections of the Christ Mind (Hardcover)

Those of you who are accomplished Paul Ferrini fans will once agian be overjoyed with his clear gifts as a beholder of Christ in us all. This is one of the "if I had to take only one book to a desert island choices....."

A precise and well thought out teaching which encompasses writings and quotes,(very well marked), from his previous book; it allows all the wondorous substance of the Christ Conciousness to come together within one manuscript. To actually absorb all that this book offers, one would think a multi volume encyclopedia would be the only option!

Like many well read spiritual teachers, Paul Ferrini expands any religious limitations due to his gifts of unlimited expansiveness with the consciousness of Love; the true teachings of Jesus the Christ.

For the first time Ferrini reader to the experienced spiritual practitioner, "Reflections of the Christ Mind" is a must read, must live and must love text. You will want to share it with everyone you know, from new borns to elders. Thank you Paul Ferrini for holding our light so magnificently!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars essential reading, February 24, 2004

By 

Guinevere - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reflections of the Christ Mind (Hardcover)

Like Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love, this book is written by an author who acknowledges being influenced by the teachings of A Course In Miracles (ACIM), and it essentially condenses the thought behind those teachings into an easy-to-understand format. Despite its title, it's not a religious book nor is it dogmatic or conventional. I stumbled upon it while casually browsing in a bookstore in '01, and as soon as I picked it up and read the first few sentences in the "Authors' Prefaces," I found myself holding back tears. I knew, and still know, that this book resonates with truth, and it is one of the most important books I have ever read; every word is profound. I recommend this book for people who have a hard time wading through ACIM. In fact, I think everyone should read it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PROFOUND READING, October 20, 2000

By 

J. Duindam "Jilles Duindam" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reflections of the Christ Mind (Hardcover)

This book just blew me away. The information on these pages is very profound and has the ability to alter the way you view life. I never knew (not being very religious) that these teachings could have such a powerful effect on me, but it does. It really helps me to become a more fulfilled and more centered person. This is what they forgot to teach us when we went to school, 101 in living! If this is the only book you read this year you are lucky!