10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job)
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"How did it all begin?" "What happens when we die?" These are just two of the questions Reverend Oliver "Buzz" Thomas hears centrist Christians asking as he travels across the U.S. and he knows that their voices are not being heard. They're people of faith, not of politics, and they want more from their religion than a voter's guide. In 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: But Can't Because He Needs the Job, Rev. Thomas has written a book that will become the liberal Christian answer to The Purpose Driven Life. He writes sensitively about the reason we were put on this earth, the significance of the Bible and how one pleases God. He answers difficult, contemporary questions like "What about homosexuality?" and "What about other faiths?". In 10 Things, Rev. Thomas weaves a Christian theology for today that people will embrace as a guide to sensible, modern living. Publishers Weekly Christianity, "like Islam, is in danger of being hijacked by a militant minority of fundamentalists," writes Thomas, a Southern Baptist minister and constitutional lawyer active in public debates about religion, science and education. In this short book, he takes on today's big religious questions: homosexuality, the place of women, evolution vs. creationism, the plausibility of miracles, religious pluralism, life after death and others. Thomas's writing is clear and engaging, if occasionally flip ("This book is written for all the people who want to live lives of purpose... without having to put their brains in their pockets"). Taking on popular religious writers like Tim LaHaye and Rick Warren, Thomas argues against many conservative interpretations of biblical texts and sides with those who understand them as written by humans in a particular time and context far removed from the 21st century. Little in the book will be new to readers of contemporary religious newspapers or magazines, who may find its brevity disproportional to its price tag. But for those who have not yet been exposed to the religious debates taking place in the public forum, this concise book serves as a good introduction. (Mar. 22)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Acknowledgments ixAuthor's Note xiiiPreface xvHow Did It All Begin? 1Why Are We Here? 11What Is the Bible? 21Is There Really Such a Thing As a Miracle? 35How Do I Please God? 43What About Women? 57What About Homosexuality? 67What About Other Faiths? 77What Happens After We Die? 85How Will It All End? 95Epilogue: So What? 105
