Customer Reviews

Short Meditations on the Bible and Peanuts

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This book uses the Peanuts characters to illustrate important points....that we all do get confused with. He not only helps us see things clearly....but shows us God's Love as well. This is not about hell.....but about human error and learning to love one another. People should not take every book so seriously...why not enjoy the book and learn from it....EXCELLENT

If believing in a "two-headed god", who commands you to forgive your enemies but says that he will torture his enemies into a burning pit forever without end doesn't bother you, then you will not like this book,and you will not do the research necessary to convince yourself of the truth of Christian Universalism. IF this two headed god has ever bothered you, you will love this book, and you will be shown the true meaning of the word "love", not this crap that most of modern Christianity believes in. Universal reconcilation of ALL creation to God through Jesus Christ IS and WAS the true Gospel. This mess that is taught nowadays is primarily a result of pagan influence on the church when a Roman general "coverted", and discovered the power he could wield and the money to be made by holding an eternal terror over the populaces' head. Sound familiar? It should, because it's still going on. Read the book and pay particular attention to the part where Mr. Short points out the evil that has resulted from people becoming atheists because they couldn't swallow this poison. Be careful of the "god" you worship, as all mankind turns into the "god" they worship. Make sure it's the real God who is defined in the Bible as Love. The Pharisees missed the boat in their time, don't make the same mistake.

Working in youth ministry, at times you tire of going over the same lessons. Personally, I found the concept of using the Peanuts comic strips as a lesson plan was one of the most rewarding spiritual journeys I could make. I strongly suggest that any fan one the Peanuts with any affiliation with a church.

This is a great book about the Bible, only through Charlie Browns eyes! This is beautiful book, and I would definitely recommend this for anyone, young or old!

I was warned by a bad review of this book, and bought it anyway because I liked the Gospel According to Peanuts by the same author.

Short has become an apostate. This book amoung other things claims that satan doesn't really exist, and is just another side of the almighty God.

I assure you satan does exist, and is going to be shortly bound a thousand years. This isn't a Christian book.

Which is too bad, because it takes away from Charles Shultz own Christian cartoons, and in particular the much beloved Christmas special, A Peanuts Christmas.

I suggest getting that video, and ignoring this book.

I had to read it to believe [the] review since I too read "The Gospel According to Peanuts" by Robert Short and found the same results when comparing these two books by Short. It's an ironic joke how Short emphasizes the importance of knowing the bible while he doesn't notice his own failure at knowing enough to write accurately upon Christian doctrine. For example, Short is correct about his explanation how man really doesn't have the free will to choose God since God is sovereign and elects whom He predestines. The problem comes when Short claims there is no future Judgment Day and no future hell. My question for him to answer is, "What has God saved His children from if it isn't eternal damnation?" Another confusion Short doesn't realize he creates through this book comes from the false doctrine of Jesus having died for each and every person who ever is/was conceived and using that as his explanation for why there will be no person to be punished by God's wrath for sin. He failed to point out how the context of how the word "all" is meant in the verses he focuses on. The sense of all as to eliminating the exclusion of certain groups of people compared to the meaning of each and every individual is an immensely vital concept to reveal for understanding the true humility behind, "Therefore but by the grace of God go I into heaven while others do NOT receive His gift of mercy." The fact is most people don't think they need mercy because they think there is nothing to fear from God and again this book doesn't help to bring someone to realize their need to drop to their knees in repentance begging for it before it is too late. True love warns others of imminent danger while the selfish person only seeks to be popular by talking about only things which are pleasing to hear and will make the speaker popular. The Old Testament contains plenty of examples of prophets rejected or accepted by people. Learn the lesson of what human nature tends to want to hear and then compare it against what God has to say. If only Short used his own advice on childlike faith to write this book rather than expressing childish faith in what he is teaching.

The content of this book shocked me: It seems Mr. Short has some revisionist views about salvation that may come as a surprise to God (well...of course not. Nothing surprises God.) According to Short, (and presumably, Charlie Brown), the Bible says we are all to be saved by Jesus, regardless of our actions or beliefs on this earth. If we were not, it would be a contradiction - why would God care enough to send His Son unless it was for everyone, no matter what? Short says God already knows who's going to Heaven and who isn't, which in turn invalidates free will. (He illustrates this by saying he has free will to choose any flavor ice cream when he goes out for dessert. He always chooses chocolate, which is presumably his "choice", except he didn't choose to like chocolate to begin with. Therefore, our so-called free will is already predetermined by God.) Short deals with the sticky problem of Hell by re-defining it as "a life without God on earth." Once we die, we're all saved, no matter what. This is clearly false teaching! How many people will buy this book, assuming the teaching is sound? We're reminded once again that the only absolute source for God's Word is...His Word.

Theologians don't usually get enough credit for showing all they know. In the case of Robert L. Short, this book, on THE BIBLE and Peanuts, may be expected to generate comments on religious doctrines, like my own tendency to suggest that it suffers from single savior syndrome, as churches tend to do. This can go on until the Hegelian cows come home, but the fundamental matter actually gets discussed in Chapter 9 of this book, on "the experience of a broken heart." (p. 38) The kind of sense which Short is trying to make comes out as an inner dialectic on precisely this point. "Indeed, it's the purifying and purging and hellish fires within the broken heart that boil down the Bible's message into what is most essential and necessary for us to understand for our heart's peace." (p. 41) For my own good, it is nice to know that a comic strip in which Lucy van Pelt offers flawless advice for 5 cents, with "THE DOCTOR IS IN" showing on the front of her neighborhood shrink booth in five of the panels of that strip, can be seen on page 45 of this book, and helps make psychiatric care a contender for those who need some support in order to seem more respectable, even if her final comment is "BACK ALREADY? WHAT HAPPENED?" The effort to deal with profound matters in the tensions of our times shows up best for me in the Notes on pages 141-2. Note 11 shows that his quote of Oscar Wilde was from the poem, "The Ballad of Reading Goal," not a matter to be taken lightly.