Turnaround: The Orthodox Purpose Driven Life

[MrJim]

So this flyer comes in the mail yesterday from Regina Press advertising this new book by Forrest Long.

It's endorsed by Metropolitan ISAIAH of Denver.

I had to chuckle at the title:D ~anyone here heard or read it yet?

[Dorothea]

OMGosh! I adore Metropolitan Isaiah! I haven't heard of this book. I must look into it!!

[MariaRegina]

Funny.

Is there an excerpt from the book in the flyer?

[Dorothea]

Just ordered it. LOL :P

[Dorothea]

Funny.

Is there an excerpt from the book in the flyer?


Regina Orthodox Press has just published TURNAROUND-THE ORTHODOX PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE by Forrest Long. It is a one month life strategy for spiritual growth perfect for individual or group study. The advance praise for the book has been wonderful.

“Many Orthodox Christians know about their faith, but they have no concept of how to live their lives in Christ. TURNAROUND is truly refreshing in that it allows all Christians believers to apply the teachings of the Orthodox Church to their daily lives. It takes us back to Apostolic days. This book is a must for those who seek to live a Christ-like life.”
Metropolitan ISAIAH of Denver

http://www.reginaorthodoxpress.com/turnaround.html

[MariaRegina]

Did you order this book over their website?

If so, do you have the URL and could you post it here?

;)

Sorry, we posted at the same time. Thanks.

[Dorothea]

Did you order this book over their website?

If so, do you have the URL and could you post it here?

;)

Sorry, we posted at the same time. Thanks.
:D No problem.

[Mary of Bethany]

So this flyer comes in the mail yesterday from Regina Press advertising this new book by Forrest Long.

It's endorsed by Metropolitan ISAIAH of Denver.

I had to chuckle at the title:D ~anyone here heard or read it yet?

That does sound kind of funny. But as long as the advice is in line with Orthodox teaching/practice, then I guess whatever works is good.

From what I've heard of the original "The Purpose Driven Life", it has quite a different focus from Orthodox living. But I haven't read it, of course, so I don't know for sure.

Mary

[Dewi Sant]

:cry:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/Christopher88/asfd.jpg

I'm going to check Amazon.
Why does the Atlantic have to be so wide?:scratch:

[Dewi Sant]

Nope, it's not there. :(
I guess I'll have to wait till stock floats over here.

[QuantaCura]

It's good to see the East getting in on the act :D

For Catholics, Fr. Benedict Groeschel wrote "The Virtue Driven Life." :holy:

[Monica, child of God]

Oh my...

I really hope it is nothing like the Purpose Driven Gimmick--I mean Life.

M.

[-Kyriaki-]

ramesses -

what I normally do when shipping is outrageously expensive is get it shipped to a friend in the states, then get them to ship it to me and pay both shipping. It usually ends up considerably cheaper - and I'm in Australia.

HTH! :wave:

[Jacob4707]

Please give us a review.

I thought the original PDL was really, really lame. I couldn't get through more than a few pages before realizing that I'd have serious problems with the book - and I was still a Protestant Evangelical at the time.

So ... please don't sugarcoat your thoughts just because the author and publisher are Orthodox. I want to know whether it's worth $14 + shipping, because I will likely not be able to preview it first.

Thanks!

[MariaRegina]

Right, I got a few books from Regina Press that were not worth it.

One book in particular had all kinds of grammatical and typographical errors. And the research wasn't even at a college level. He used encyclopedias as a reference. I couldn't believe it.

[SeraphimSarov]

One book in particular had all kinds of grammatical and typographical errors. And the research wasn't even at a college level. He used encyclopedias as a reference. I couldn't believe it.

Really, truly frightening.

The Purpose-Driven Life frightens me as well. Flipped through a few pages and immediately saw Scripture twisted around and all kinds of stuff. Without some shining reviews, I wouldn't touch anything that even resembles it with a 100' pole. Call me paranoid... :blush:

[Dorothea]

I don't know. According to the reviews...from Metropolitan Isaiah and some others, it sounded worthwhile. ???

[MariaRegina]

Hopefully it will be.

I'm hoping that Regina Press has improved.

[Jacob4707]

Right, I got a few books from Regina Press that were not worth it.

One book in particular had all kinds of grammatical and typographical errors. And the research wasn't even at a college level. He used encyclopedias as a reference. I couldn't believe it.

Would that be TWO PATHS?

I wrote/sent the following to Regina Orthodox Press in April, but never got a response:

Dear Regina Orthodox Press:I recently purchased at a local bookstore a copy of TWO PATHS: Papal Monarchy -- Collegial Tradition, by Michael Whelton.In the "Acknowledgements" the author writes: "Without the help and support of my wife Marguerite, this book would never have seen the light of day. Her typing, editing and endless proof reading (sic) were invaluable."I am extremely disappointed in the poor editing this book displays as evidenced by the abundant typographical and punctuation errors it contains, beginning with the just-quoted ironic misspelling of "proofreading" as two words. The book is almost painful to read because of the lack of careful editing it underwent before publication and printing, and it's almost sufficient to make me reluctant to share or recommend it, for when the presentation is so flawed, it can raise questions in the mind of the reader about the validity of the arguments presented.(My edition is copyright 1998 and is ISBN 0-9649141-5-8, and I don't see anything on your Website that indicates that there is a newer edition.)I would suggest that someone do a thorough edit of this book to correct its many typographical and grammatical errors (which include incomplete sentences and misplaced or omitted punctuation, and many other errors as well) before reprinting it.E.g., on p. 53:- The last sentence in the large paragraph under THE SECOND ECUMENICAL COUNCIL says "Leo Donald Davis S.J" instead of "Leo Donald Davis, S.J."- For the next sentence ("While the British historian...") to make sense, it should either be rewritten or should be a continuation of the sentence containing the quote from Davis; otherwise, there is no clear antecedent of "it" in "it conceded ... it implied" ("it" in fact refers to the third canon of the council).- In the same large paragraph, Constantinopolitan is misspelled as "Constantinopilitan."These are a few of the many glaring errors in the book.I regret having to bring this to your attention, but I wanted you to know what one reader thinks about this so that you can hopefully rectify the situation.This Orthodox review of his later book (by Conciliar Press this time) was not too complimentary:

http://www.cjoc.ca/pdf/Vol2-W-3%20Popes&Patriarchs3.PDF

Besides criticizing the content of the book, it also takes Whelton to task for spelling and grammatical errors.

*sigh*

These books and some other things I've read have made me a bit reluctant to accept what some of these converts to Orthodoxy say and write in their popular attacks against, or criticisms of, the Roman Catholic Church.

[Shubunkin]

I'm still trying to read through the basic books as a Catechumen. :D

I'll get the extras soon, though. I can't wait to start reading "Mountain of Silence" by Kyriacos C. Markides.

:)

[Kristos]

Bandwagon?

The last thing we need is another version of the PDL...

Hopefully, it's just in the unfortunate title...

[Protoevangel]

The first time I read the Purpose Driven Life was before it was really popular, or at least, before I knew anything about it. A friend of mine wanted to go through it with me. It was unfortunately simplistic, but I figured some people need a milk diet. Then I started seeing how the Scriptural references were twisted to support whatever Mr. Warren was saying, and before I completed the book, I was completely disgusted with it.

Circumstances made me read it twice more <shudder>. The congregation I was part of (ELCA Lutheran) started a "study", and I wanted to ensure that the people were informed of the most glaring problems in the book, so I read it again, this time taking notes for the "study." Then we all read it during the "study". In the end, I think my efforts were fruitless.

Then, after I began attending St George Antiochian, I saw PDL in the Church bookstore. One time, one of the congregants pointed it out to me while we were talking, and he said, "this book is thoroughly orthodox". All I could do was smile, and ask him if it was orthodox in it's treatment of the Sacraments. He didn't have an answer to that question.

I mentioned the problems with the book to the lady who runs the bookstore, and she pulled it off the shelf immediately. Apparently, she never bought it for the bookstore, someone had just come in and put it on the shelf.

[Jacob4707]

I mentioned the problems with the book to the lady who runs the bookstore, and she pulled it off the shelf immediately. Apparently, she never bought it for the bookstore, someone had just come in and put it on the shelf.

Did the person who put it on the shelf look like this?

http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/577/1679/lo/cof.jpg

[Protoevangel]

Did the person who put it on the shelf look like this?
Lol!

[MariaRegina]

Would that be TWO PATHS?

I wrote/sent the following to Regina Orthodox Press in April, but never got a response:
Dear Regina Orthodox Press:I recently purchased at a local bookstore a copy of TWO PATHS: Papal Monarchy -- Collegial Tradition, by Michael Whelton.In the "Acknowledgements" the author writes: "Without the help and support of my wife Marguerite, this book would never have seen the light of day. Her typing, editing and endless proof reading (sic) were invaluable."I am extremely disappointed in the poor editing this book displays as evidenced by the abundant typographical and punctuation errors it contains, beginning with the just-quoted ironic misspelling of "proofreading" as two words. The book is almost painful to read because of the lack of careful editing it underwent before publication and printing, and it's almost sufficient to make me reluctant to share or recommend it, for when the presentation is so flawed, it can raise questions in the mind of the reader about the validity of the arguments presented.(My edition is copyright 1998 and is ISBN 0-9649141-5-8, and I don't see anything on your Website that indicates that there is a newer edition.)I would suggest that someone do a thorough edit of this book to correct its many typographical and grammatical errors (which include incomplete sentences and misplaced or omitted punctuation, and many other errors as well) before reprinting it.E.g., on p. 53:- The last sentence in the large paragraph under THE SECOND ECUMENICAL COUNCIL says "Leo Donald Davis S.J" instead of "Leo Donald Davis, S.J."- For the next sentence ("While the British historian...") to make sense, it should either be rewritten or should be a continuation of the sentence containing the quote from Davis; otherwise, there is no clear antecedent of "it" in "it conceded ... it implied" ("it" in fact refers to the third canon of the council).- In the same large paragraph, Constantinopolitan is misspelled as "Constantinopilitan."These are a few of the many glaring errors in the book.I regret having to bring this to your attention, but I wanted you to know what one reader thinks about this so that you can hopefully rectify the situation.This Orthodox review of his later book (by Conciliar Press this time) was not too complimentary:

http://www.cjoc.ca/pdf/Vol2-W-3%20Popes&Patriarchs3.PDF

Besides criticizing the content of the book, it also takes Whelton to task for spelling and grammatical errors.

*sigh*

These books and some other things I've read have made me a bit reluctant to accept what some of these converts to Orthodoxy say and write in their popular attacks against, or criticisms of, the Roman Catholic Church.

Yes, that was one of the books.

The other badly composed book was also written by Michael Welton. It was far worse and seemed to be written by an 8th grader, maybe his son?
Ugh.

[Jacob4707]

Yes, that was one of the books.

The other badly composed book was also written by Michael Welton. It was far worse and seemed to be written by an 8th grader, maybe his son?
Ugh.

A publisher is known by the books it publishes.

If Regina Orthodox Press wants to gain a good reputation, I think it's going to have to screen its writers more carefully, and do a better job of editing its books.

I have read some online critiques and comments by knowledgeable Roman Catholics of the some of the things that are promoted in popular Orthodox literature by persons like Frederica Mathewes-Green and Clark Carlton and others. It does neither us nor potential converts any good to do less than a first-rate and respectable job when it comes to apologetics and critiques of non-Orthodox Christianities. I cringe when I think of some of the things I read and believed as a Protestant when it came to Catholicism and, by implication (where they share common or similar beliefs, e.g.: Eucharist, baptism, liturgy, episcopacy, etc.), Orthodoxy. Converts or potential converts to Orthodoxy don't need to write or read anti-"Western" diatribes that are simplistic and at times wrong in their characterizations and denunciations.

[Shubunkin]

I've never read it, for some reason.