Customer Reviews

The Silas Diary (First-Century Diaries)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The book will really open your eyes about how the generations of well-meaning Christians have piled restrictions and traditions onto the basic message of the Church as the Body of Christ. If you are a regular church-goer, happy with the status quo, be prepared to be offended. Jim Rutz is more than willing to jettison 2,000 years of tradition and expectations and try to find out what Jesus and the apostles considered CHURCH. He points out all the things Christians do that aren't mentioned anywhere in the Bible, like church buildings, pews, steeples, church on Sunday morning,, etc., sometimes a little harshly, and encourages and nearly demands that we as the Body of Christ here on earth return to JESUS definition of CHURCH - helping our fellow man and worshipping our God. Mr. Rutz has been hurt by organized church, it is plain to see, but so have a lot of Christians. This will be an eye-opener for many - and a challenge to live an OPEN Church lifestle.

The basic premise behind this book is good (seeking to restore primitive, orthodox Christianity), and I applaud and encourage all who seek it. However, the book did not handle well or portray accurately the enormous amount of literature which we have from the first three centuries, much of which is written by disciples of one or more of the apostles. Much of the information in The Open Church is simply erroneous, and this is a verifiable fact. I would encourage readers not to accept anyone who is a second hand or third hand source, but go to the horses' mouth and read about the early church from the pens of people in the early church. I would recommend reading The Ante-Nicene Fathers, a collection of the Churches writings from before Nicea, and to recommend a single volume book that accurately handles the early church, I would recommend Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up. But please, don't judge me right or wrong just yet, but read the originals for yourselves and not a book that grossly misrepresents the originals. God bless.

I truly relished this book when first I read it. It answered a lot of questions as to why the local churches often languished in either boredom or lack of growth...or often both!

Jim Rutz has done a service to the Body of Christ in writing this informative and entertaining book. But and yet it is much more than this: It is a call for early New Testament Christian community as participatory and informal family-love relationships.

If you want to get back to the roots and the

"nuts and bolts" of REAL Community-Life in Christianity, read this book. It will challenge you perhaps like few others you will ever read.

LenBenHear. - Seeker and teacher.

Wow! I read this book in one day and couldn't put it down. It really fits in where God is leading our small church. We've been reading about home cell groups, we have no paid pastor and have been using lay ministry for ten years, we have been having open worship and open sharing. We sing acapella. We've already been doing much of what this books says is the biblical model. There is excellent guidance here to boldly use this model to experience koinonia in all your worship and fellowship times. There are cautions on how to avoid pitfalls. I ordered four copies today. I think God is preparing us to be a big church family and keep all the good aspects of what we've been.

If you are always confused why the various books of the NT particulary the Pauline epistles are written and put together, this is an excellent book to start. Reading the book is like meeting Paul, Barnabas, Silas and Timothy face to face. The biblicial characters come alive as Gene re-traced the missionary journeys of Paul. There is never a dull moment with the book. You may have read the NT many times but the book will present to you the story from the different perspective. It is so well written that surprises are in store at every (well, almost!) turn of the page. The First Century Diaries are the latest series that Gene has embarked on. Let me warn you; if you start reading this book, there are four more waiting for you. Want to know the heartbeat of a first century missionary and the blossoming of the NT churches? Read this book; you will never regret it.

Wonderful. Gene was able to bring the story alive for me. I feel as though I have met Paul, Barnabas, Mark and know the church in Galacia. I would recommend the Revolution, Silas and Titus diary to anyone wanting to know about the origin of the Christian Church and its purpose in this world.

The basic premise behind this book is good (seeking to restore primitive, orthodox Christianity), and I applaud and encourage all who seek it. However, the book did not handle well or portray accurately the enormous amount of literature which we have from the first three centuries, much of which is written by disciples of one or more of the apostles. Much of the information in The Open Church is simply erroneous, and this is a verifiable fact. I would encourage readers not to accept anyone who is a second hand or third hand source, but go to the horses' mouth and read about the early church from the pens of people in the early church. I would recommend reading The Ante-Nicene Fathers, a collection of the Churches writings from before Nicea, and to recommend a single volume book that accurately handles the early church, I would recommend Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up. But please, don't judge me right or wrong just yet, but read the originals for yourselves and not a book that grossly misrepresents the originals. God bless.

This book can change your life both in this present age and for eternity to come.

I believe that if you read this book, your worship and fellowship could be opened up in a very powerful way - you will really be refreshed and grow in spiritual maturity if you can apply some of the principles in this book. Don't let your spiritual journey grow stagnant; grow in Christian maturity as Christ intended all of us to, you're not a layperson (laymen) and never were meant to be, we are all called to something much more than bench warmers on Sunday morning - we're not called to be part of an audience but rather an active part of the Church body... now, how do we define "Church" and "body" and who are you in the Church... read the book and find out.

This could very possibly be one of the most profound writings in a very straightforward address to the church body. I think this book can be likened to Luther's standing up to the principles of Christianity to reform the church... here likewise, is a man writing to us on how we can reform our churches again and renew our relationship with God as brothers and Sisters in Christ. James (the Author) strips away the layers of tradition that seem to have created a separation between clergy and laypeople in today's modern churches. James offers us a view of how me might establish a more authentic worship and fellowship as we might have experienced had we been part of the early church as described in the book of Acts.

Read this book and get a refreshed view and even a revival in your own heart for the Church and your place in the body... This book will inspire you and renew your faith in the purpose and unity of the people that make up the Church of today.

Philip Newberry

Although I admit it has been awhile since I read this book, can still say that I found this book singularly unimpressive. He makes many poorly-defended claims and makes quite a few assumptions.

Throughout the book is a very disturbing anti-intellectualism. In more than one place, he refers to the intellect as the "enemy of true Christianity." This is a wild claim that is not only unsupported by Scripture, but runs directly contrary to it. Apparantly, he has never read the passage that commands us to be "transformed by the renewing of your MIND" (Romans 12:2) or the passage where Jesus commands us to love God with all our MIND (Matthew 22:37, etc.).

One of the big problems with the book is that we don't really have all that many specific details on the exact structure of the first-century church service, either from the Bible itself or from church history. Thus this book (and many others on similar topics) must speculate quite a bit in order to fill in gaps in our knowledge. That's a pretty big flaw, given that that's the main point of the book.

I don't think that the author adequately proves that the "open church" model is the only - or even the best or most Biblical way - of running a church. For example, even if we grant that the structure of the 1st century church was exactly as the author describes it, what does that prove? Are the Bible's descriptions here prescriptive or descriptive? How normative is Acts for the church today? How much of the structure of the first-century church was due to necessity rather than superiority? For example, did the early church meet in houses because that's the best way for the church to operate or because the early church was forced to do so by persecution? The author fails to adequately address these issues and many more like them.

Many of the arguments the author gives for this structure are not primarily Biblical but pragmatic, and even then he fails to demonstrate that the structure is actually practical. For example, he claims (without supporting evidence) that people will be more willing to attend a church that uses this structure. In fact, evidence seems to support the contrary position; the fastest-growing churches in America are not "open churches."

I do not particularly recommend this book. It is not very well researched and his arguments are not especially compelling.

Paul's letter to the Galatian churches will always be more exciting and precious after this moving account of the journeys and conflicts endured in the name of simple faith.