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rtoran's review against another edition
5.0
Anyone who is serious about their Christian faith, this is an absolute MUST READ! The authors do a phenomenal job of bringing to the surface so many of the things that go without being said in our culture and how different it is from ancient eastern culture that predominated the biblical narrative. It was incredibly insightful to have concise, but well thought out explanations of how and why our understanding and practice of Christianity and the Bible have drifted so far from the Jesus we strive to imitate. The chapters are well organized and include both thought provoking personal anecdotes as well as useful scriptural examples. Well done all around!
ellent's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
nickianderson1's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.0
As someone who has lived abroad many times and studied sociology and international studies, most of this was not new. But I loved the way they contextualized and named the phenomenons experiences when you leave the Western world. If you do not get the chance to travel and commune with people from other cultures, this book should be a requirement to expanding worldview.
blerdgirlromance's review against another edition
This is not a bad book. In fact, if you're a American Christian looking to analyze, and understand, the distinctly American Protestant way you've been taught to view and interpret the Bible, it's excellent.
However, I am not a Christian and the book is written from and centers a believer's perspective with little regard for the role American missionary work plays in the destruction of indigenous religious practices and cultural evolution. In fact, the author makes frequent note of how different the cultural views are while never really interrogating their own role in modern neo-colonialism. And, this is likely because of how prominent, and central, the role of evangelism IS to Christianity at its very base.
So, it made for an interesting read while I was into it but, eventually, the cognitive dissonance handed off to the reader just became a little too much.
However, I am not a Christian and the book is written from and centers a believer's perspective with little regard for the role American missionary work plays in the destruction of indigenous religious practices and cultural evolution. In fact, the author makes frequent note of how different the cultural views are while never really interrogating their own role in modern neo-colonialism. And, this is likely because of how prominent, and central, the role of evangelism IS to Christianity at its very base.
So, it made for an interesting read while I was into it but, eventually, the cognitive dissonance handed off to the reader just became a little too much.
scoticus_maximus's review against another edition
5.0
Such an eye opener. God is so much bigger than our western ideals, mores, morality, and experiences. The authors had every opportunity to write this as a smug and scholarly accusation of the American church and yet it is soaked with humbly, grace, and the tone of a teachers who deeply cares that their students would grasp these ideas. This book has me excited about the prospect of every tribe tongue and nation being unified in Christ in a way I didn’t see before. So grateful!
utalan's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It's not a step-by-step guide to reading the bible better. It's not a guide on how to remove cultural blinders, and now that I've read it I suddenly read it without bias. But it's a much needed challenge to approach Scripture with an open heart and in humility, recognizing that I have a filter I'm reading it through no matter what I do. The examples given in this book are excellent and were my favorite part.
kellian901's review against another edition
5.0
Extremely thought provoking! I enjoyed the cultural lessons of differences between west and east, individualist and collectivist, innocence-guilt and honor-shame cultures. I would highly recommend this as a starting point for anyone involved in multi-cultural ministry.