BOOK REVIEW
The Godsend
by Greg Tharpe
Review by Ramaja Indie.
You can’t get much more ambitious than calling your book The Godsend. And you can’t promise a reader much more than “the secret to a happier, healthier, more prosperous, abundantly blessed and fulfilling life.” But that is just what author Greg Tharpe offers in his new book, which he considers a supplement to the Bible.
Now, the Bible itself warns that no one should add or take away from its pages, so many a Christian could be wary of a supplement right off. But The Godsend doesn’t pretend to add to or take away from the Bible. It simply encourages a new interpretation of both scripture and life.
This is one of the early keys to the book because, as the author rightly points out, letting a church or a priest interpret scripture for you simply means giving away your own power. Knowledge of this world is important in many ways, just for getting along from day to day; but your entire future — eternity — is developed through your relationship with God. Do you really trust another human to decide what that relationship should be based on his or her interpretations of something you can read for yourself? What gives them the inherent power to better interpretations?
The same is true in all of life. The author talks about how stuck we become in our interpretation of the world around us because we are trained by others to look at things from the physical side of creation. But we can gather a broader, more inclusive view by gazing from a more spiritual standpoint. And so it is in happiness, success, and all else — we may feel fulfilled for a time when approaching these materially, but that fulfillment cannot last because material is temporary. Only a spiritual approach allows anything to last. One of my favorite comments in the book on this general theme: “Some people spend so much time literally in church that they don’t have time to spend spiritually in church.”
The “Table of Contents” to this book is itself enormous, because the book really does try to peek at all the details of life that help lead to long-term and spiritual success and happiness. Sections include:
• The Key to Life • The Nature of Life • Know Thyself • The Law of Life
• Spiritual Insight and Truth • The Problem • The Solution
• The Ten Commandments for Success • The Prophecy
Each section has plenty of sub-sections, ranging from less than one page up to a couple of pages. Some cover the author’s thoughts on how life works and how to succeed at life; others look more specifically at Biblical passages, including a discussion on Jesus and Satan.
So what kind of merit backs up the ambitious claims of the book’s title? I think it is the inclusiveness. A lot of ideas in the book are already covered in other spiritual titles, but few cover such a broad range of topics and could be considered such a complete approach to holistic success.
I think that approach will be especially valuable for the modern spiritual seeker who, regardless of any affiliation with an organized church, still considers him or herself to be a Christian (a follower of the Christ). While I don’t think you’ll want to hand a copy of this to those with a conservative view of the Bible, for those who look to the Bible and yet feel open to new light shed on its content, The Godsend could be exactly what its title purports it to be.
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