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They Never Told Me This in Church!

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I thought that everything had been written on the topic of Jesus the Messiah, the Godhead, the Eternal Kingdom of God, etc. The best works were classics that had been written 25, 50, 100 years ago. I thought that these writings could not be improved upon.

As the years went by, it became apparent that these writings, excellent though they were, had become dated and inaccessible to today's Christian seeker. As the generation of people like Robert Whitelaw and Z.B. Duncan began to fade into the past, I wondered who would come along to fill their shoes.

Into the gap steps Greg Deuble with this excellent piece that comprehensively addresses all of the above issues and more. In an era of cynicism - when books like "The DaVinci Code" can resonate so intensely with a post-modern public, Deuble delivers answers to our most burning questions.

Was there a cover up of the true gospel? Can it be that what we know as "orthodoxy" today, has been tainted by a history of "church"-sponsored persecution? If "by their fruits are they known", what does that tell us about the purveyors of doctrinal so-called essentials? Does an understanding of ancient Hebrew thought and culture matter when understanding the teachings of Jesus Christ and Paul the Apostle?

Deuble does not have an axe to grind. He is not on a mission to create discord and dissension. He argues that the follower of Christ must be left free to come to his or her own conclusions based on an honest reading of original writings and a study of the non-Christian influences that were prevalent in official circles in the pre-Middle Ages. Let the spirit of divisiveness fall on those who have too much at stake to challenge the status quo.

Reader: Read this book seriously and you may find yourself liberated from beliefs that you had taken for granted, but that deep down you always knew did not add up. You may find yourself on the cutting edge of much-needed reform in the Church of God. You may also find yourself at odds with others who have a vested interest in keeping things pretty much as they are in the church.

Either way - you will be changed.

"They never told me THIS in Church!" is really a book that will open your eyes to what has been missing in your Christian faith. It will be the missing link that will pull the entire Bible all together for you so that it FINALLY makes sense! This book will explain things that you may have always been confused about, questioned, or been afraid to question. This book will provide sound, biblical answers to questions that your bible study teacher or pastor just glimpsed over, telling you that you had to accept it by faith, when they were stumped themselves.

Deuble makes an excellent case for Christ in a way that is hard to refute. He reminds us of who Jesus really was while he was on earth and who he still is today.... not what modern religion has metamorphosed him into being, within their own definitions, to try to conform him into traditional beliefs prevalent in churches today.

Deuble is gutsy and bold in his attempt to re-examine his faith and what he has been taught since childhood. His writing will provoke you to take off your western view of things, and look at it with historical accuracy and Hebrew eyes and understanding. He brings Scriptures out that you may have never noticed before. He, both intelligently and logically, brings out what tradition has taught and what the Scriptures teach and compares them to find truth.

It really is a thought-provoking work that will stimulate you to search the Scriptures and not to automatically accept whatever church leaders are teaching you. It is important that YOU search out the Scriptures and not blindly trust the leaders to feed you something that may not be accurate and consistent with the Bible. It is important to question; to study; to search for truth; even if it might wake you up from your comfort zone and rock your world.

This book is a must have. It will cause you to re-examine Scriptures and lead you to a more accurate, Biblical truth that is lacking in churches today. The question is: Can you handle the truth???

Greg Deuble's book, "They Never Told Me This in Church!" is a blockbuster. In 50 years of bible study and having read hundreds of books I would rate this one among the top 5! What a thrill to read a book that pulls no punches and lets the truth fall where it may. Straight to the point and direct it lets one know in uncertain terms what it takes to become a future participant in the coming Kingdom of God under the Lord Messiah Jesus. This book should be on every believers book shelf and taken down and read, and re-read often. Hopefully thousand and thousands will order this book, if they do they will have a real treasure on their hands.

Its not just what Deuble says but the humility with which he says it. Other books on this subject left me feeling as if I was on the receiving end of the author's ego trip. Not so with Deuble. His simple Aussie humor and self deprecating manner mark him as an insightful "seeker". We all are a work in progress and the author is not ashamed to admit this of himself. I like that Deuble is willing to question his own Biblical understanding and does not purport to have all the answers. However, his conclusions were well conceived and backed by scripture with very little personal bias included. His real intent appears to be to help people come to a more accurate understanding of scripture. That is love at work. Bravo! I pray that God truly continues to bless this author's walk into the Kingdom. Looking for more from Deuble!

This book was an answer to my prayers.I was about to convert to Islam
because of the false and pagan practices of the main stream churches.
This book is truly a light to the christian world.I wish a million people
would read this book. We need a new reformation movement in the body of
Christ.I pray that books like this one get it started.

this book chalenges the common every day beliefs that we are raised with.. that are not actually IN THE BIBLE themselves.laced with honest humor and personal expericnce.. we learn much of what we have learned is a hangover from the Greek and Roman philosophy the Roman Church was birthed into.NOT IN the BIBLE at all! Any Real Jew would tell you.. YOU are a soul.. not YOU have a soul.. GOD is one.. not 3 parts.. or GOD squared..Messiah is a Divinely Appointed Decendant of DAVID and is the seed promised to Abraham..upon whome the governing of all the earth would fall.. who would ACT on GODS behalf like Moses did.. only greater than HE.. the great Prophet.. here you will learn, JESUS is the NEW MAN ADAM..no an Angel or a non human GOD man.. HE is the mouth piece of GOD on earth.. like the angels were agents of GOD.. recieving praise and speaking ON his behalf.. yet are not GOD themselves.. HE is a MAN whome the spirit of GOD is upon.HE is a New begining.. Created in Mary.. for this reason he shall be called the SON OF GOD.. Just as ADAM was called SON OF GOD.. yet.. adam.. is not considered DIVINE equal in nature with the Creator. So many other things.. that just CANT be ignored , if you LOVE THE BIBLE and HOLD TRUTH as the highest.. LOVE TRUTH~ dont be blind sheep.. sola scriptura was BASICALY BIBLE ONLY.. yet.. most of the major beliefs we hold.. are NOT in the bible at all.. this author shows this and chalenges us to SEE it IN a JEWS EYES. If you are afraid of it.. buy it for discussion purposes.. it could drop a firecracker into any christian religious discussion. See the BIBLE.. the WHOLE BIBLE as one piece.. from our fathers.. the JEWS Eyes.. with their words confirming what we are to believe.. EVEN JESUS says.. the highest command.. GOD is one GOD.. LOVE HIM and your Neighbor as yourself. this will show you HOW.

`Which is the first command of all?' 29 and Jesus answered him--`The first of all the commands is , Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one (Lord); 30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God out of all thy heart, and out of thy soul, and out of all thine understanding, and out of all thy strength--this is the first command; 31 and the second is like it , this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; --greater than these there is no other command.'

Mark 12:29-31 Youngs Literal Translation of 1889

Deuble's book aims to look past the post-biblical traditions that shape modern theology, to see the biblical Jesus afresh. He asserts that this Jesus is in fact not divine.

It is commendable to courageously do away with tradtions that are comfortable, yet errant. Deuble takes the right approach by studying the relevant Bible passages, while also taking note of historical and logical concerns.

However, I find his history, logic, and exegesis to be unsound, resulting in conclusions that are unconvincing.

In terms of history, he implies that he is reporting a scholarly "consensus" (see back cover), but in fact relies heavily on a few authors who do not reflect mainstream historical scholarship. The most important and scholarly recent book about earliest Christian devotion to Jesus is Larry Hurtado's "Lord Jesus Christ." Hurtado reaches emphatically different conclusions to Deuble, and backs them up very carefully, arguing that Jesus was treated as divine by the very earliest Christians, despite great odds against this happening.

In terms of logic, Deuble spends some time urging that Jesus was fully human - genuinely growing and earning his Lordship. But this does not vary at all from the historical doctrine of the trinity, which views Jesus as utterly human, as well as utterly divine. Another logical problem is the view that the trinity is too incomprehensible to be genuinely of God. I don't think this must be the case - Just because something has no familiar analogy and thus is hard to systematise in credal form does not mean that the biblical data is itself unclear.

In terms of exegesis, Deuble's arguments centre around the idea that we must view the New Testament through "Hebrew eyes." There is some important truth to this: We do need to recognise the influence of the Old Testament and Judaism. But it is naive to practically deny any influence of Hellenism. This naivete reaches absurdity when Deuble even argues that the Greek of John 1 should be understood in a "Hebrew" rather than a "Greek" way. Likewise, Deuble's linguistic comments (such as on the aorist tense or genitive case) are simplistic and uncompelling.

This is a useful book to read if you want to be challenged, and its aims are noble... but it is methodologically weak, and therefore its conclusions are not altogether convincing.