How People Grow

Rating:
Summary: Syncretistic, pop-psychology blather
Review: "Now the serpent was more subtle...."

So goes the quote from Genesis 3:1 (KJV). "Subtle" also describes the errors in "How People Grow". Like many books passing themselves off as Christian, this latest effort from Henry Cloud and John Townsend has a worldview that in no way resembles classical Christianity. So thorough is the deception provided in the words of these two disciples of modern day psychology that many are unable to see how cleverly off this book actually is.

Pop-psychology and true Christianity are two competing worldviews. One is correct and the other is a deception. Psychology appears to offer answers and help, but it actually only takes people further away from God. Most of this is due to the fact that psychology's main focus is propping up the self through manmade fixes. The Bible, on the other hand, claims that in order to find true peace and salvation in Christ, self must die - it has become so utterly distorted by the Fall of Man that it cannot be fixed, only crucified.

That Cloud and Townsend try to shoehorn these two utterly incompatible worldviews into each other results in a syncretistic disaster. Sadly, it is a disaster that we have become so used to seeing passed off as reality that we have become numb to its true nature. We have a tendency to believe anything we hear often enough - and most Christian books today are filled with this kind of pop-psych pap - so "How People Grow" goes down smooth and easy. Unfortunately, we can't have it both ways. And though they speak of the Holy Spirit working in this process, the third person of the Trinity comes off as more a self-help group leader than the one who can burn the dross out of someone's life.

Part of what makes this book so subtle is the preponderance of Scripture quoted in it. But this book uses the Bible errantly. Hundreds of verses are quoted to shore up the authors' presuppositions, but many are way out of context or interpreted in odd ways, always proving the authors' points even when those points are off base.

Many examples of people struggling to overcome their problems (mostly self-inflicted) are included in the book. Cloud and Townsend anecdotally discuss how these people worked through their issues. Tellingly, few overcame their issues through acknowledging their sin, repenting, and crucifying self.

A case in point would be appropriate. In Chapter 15, the authors tell the story of three wives. One of the wives is a Christian in a stagnant marriage. She eventually has an affair, divorces her husband, and - as Cloud and Townsend note - claims now to have peace with God. She's growing, and as the authors say, and I quote, "[She] did a lot of good things. She grew emotionally and relationally."

Doesn't the fact that she ignored God, committed adultery, divorced her husband, and is now living a lie catch anyone as doing a lot of BAD things that created emotional and relational chaos? Isn't this the kind of person that absolutely needs to die to self? Just what kind of growth is this? Not the kind God approves of. Cloud and Townsend do add that this is not an optimal way of growing, but still, guys, just what are you endorsing?

I was also put off by the constant references to their other books, especially the "Boundaries" series. It came off as a cry to buy more of their books. And sure enough, there is an ad for other books of theirs right there on the last page.

This book also serves as a model for the self-help groups so common in the Seventies, but now almost entirely discredited in mainline psychology. The groups in the book appear to be like your standard Christian accountability group, but the level of disfunction of the group members is extreme from what the examples the authors give us show. And while the writers soundly endorse the method, we must ask just where all these trained leaders/facilitators are coming from. The average small group leader would be hard pressed to lead a group like this in the manner the authors endorse. Perhaps they also want you to take their extensive training courses at a few thousand a pop so you can lead like they do.

For those looking to overcome their problems there is some Truth here (enough for two stars), but it is so buried in glop as to be hardly recognizable. For a truly Scriptural and far superior alternative see D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones' "Spiritual Depression - Its Causes and Its Cures." Please, as Cloud and Townsend extend their "ministry" to every corner of evangelical Christianity, take their advice with a grain of salt, a wary eye, solid doctrine, and a boatload of Scripture.

Rating:
Summary: Page 29 "Man was incomplete with God alone"
Review: Authors are very intelligent people with humanistic writings that cater and minister to the mind (& itching ear of man) and not the heart of man.

Also, unfortunately this sentence is unbiblical (Genesis 1) and put Jesus as the unsufficient One. "God is our refuge and strength a very present help .. The earth is the Lord's ... God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus the Christ.."

Am surprised that the publisher Zondervan question these humanistic ideas.

May the Lord bless and give us all great wisdom as we write and minister unto Him "The all sufficient One".

Rating:
Summary: Makes you think!
Review: I enjoy the use of personal journey at the beginning of the book. The author's frustrations pan out to have real answers that are cleanly defined with the clarity only hindsight and rare perception can capture.

I am finding the book tremendously useful, neither simplisticly nor weighted with academic analysis. Joe regular-Person will enjoy it. Psychologists and that ilk will benefit by it. Theologians may even have revelations as they read.

Rating:
Summary: The complex made simple - to read, at least!
Review: I enjoy the use of personal journey at the beginning of the book. The author's frustrations pan out to have real answers that are cleanly defined with the clarity only hindsight and rare perception can capture.

I am finding the book tremendously useful, neither simplisticly nor weighted with academic analysis. Joe regular-Person will enjoy it. Psychologists and that ilk will benefit by it. Theologians may even have revelations as they read.

Rating:
Summary: Very good, but questionable at the same time
Review: I read this book in 2001, and I must say that it is a very interesting, very encouraging and very uplifting book. It does offer one a lot of insights.

My one issue with it are the authors' taking lines from Scripture and interpreting, translating them into a psychological perspective, basically saying this means this and that means that. I picked up an NIV bible, looked up some of the lines referenced in the How People Grow book, and got a totally different interpretation in the footnotes of the NIV bible. Now, I am not saying the authors are wrong or that the NIV is wrong; but they both can't be right - let alone all of the other interpretations out there, of which one of those may be actually right. And some of the authors' psychological interpretations did seem to be stretching it. But you won't feel like you wasted your money though.

Rating:
Summary: Back to the fundamentals
Review: In the short time I have seen this book pass through several hands, I have seen it change lives. My wife has used it to understand and overcome a stalled relationship with her mom. My Salvation Army friend says it is essentally the same approach used by them to treat addictions and alcohol abuse. In short, it is an excellent presentation of two basic truths:

- A personal relationship with God, through Christ, is the necessary first step for spiritual growth...which is the only real growth.
- All growth after that first step is in relationship with others.

If anyone is looking for an in-depth understanding of why they can or cannot overcome personal limits, this is the best resource I've seen. And if you follow John Townsend or Henry Cloud's work, this is a decent summary of all they have been teaching over the years.

Rating:
Summary: A Clear Integration
Review: Just as popular author and psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck, M.D., (The Road Less Traveled, etc.) contends, Cloud and Townsend resoundingly conclude that "All growth is spiritual growth" (p. 9).

The authors face the classic dilemma of theological and psychological integration: "It seemed to me that there was the spiritual life, where we learned about God and grew in our relationship to him, and then there was the emotional and relational life, where we learned how to solve real-life problems" (p. 19). Cloud and Townsend answered the challenge head-on by seeking the Bible as their sole authority in all of life and behavior and now teach wholeheartedly "the Bible as the source for teaching about growth and healing" (p. 10).

The book, therefore, examines three areas of growth: (1) Knowing God more deeply [what we traditionally have called 'spiritual growth']; (2) Knowing yourself more deeply [emotional growth]; (3) And knowing others more deeply [relational growth].

Rating:
Summary: A Clear Integration
Review: Just as popular author and psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck, M.D., (The Road Less Traveled, etc.) contends, Cloud and Townsend resoundingly conclude that "All growth is spiritual growth" (p. 9).

The authors face the classic dilemma of theological and psychological integration: "It seemed to me that there was the spiritual life, where we learned about God and grew in our relationship to him, and then there was the emotional and relational life, where we learned how to solve real-life problems" (p. 19). Cloud and Townsend answered the challenge head-on by seeking the Bible as their sole authority in all of life and behavior and now teach wholeheartedly "the Bible as the source for teaching about growth and healing" (p. 10).

The book, therefore, examines three areas of growth: (1) Knowing God more deeply [what we traditionally have called 'spiritual growth']; (2) Knowing yourself more deeply [emotional growth]; (3) And knowing others more deeply [relational growth].

Rating:
Summary: Very effective tool for small group ministry
Review: My wife and I went through "How People Grow" last fall and were energized and encouraged by the fresh and relevant insights revealed in this book about how the bible speaks to personal growth. I grew up with a notion that the bible was not applicable to every day life, and this book has helped to turn that notion on its head. We kicked off a men's ministry group at our local church going through this book and now have as many as 12 men (including one professed atheist) coming together weekly to go through a chapter and "Confess our sins to one another and be healed." (James). I am amazed at what God is doing through the authors and the New Life Live ministries radio program. I have read many of the authors other books and I think this is their best work yet.

Rating:
Summary: True Spirituality
Review: The authors may have influenced my thinking and life profoundly in the 5 years I have come to listen and read them, but there was no way I would let anyone get away with clunky spiritual assertions.

But I didn't have to as there weren't any in 'How People Grow'.

Now this is difficult for me. Cloud and Townsend have themselves suggested and promoted that if we agree with someone about nearly everything, then there is probably something wrong.

I would in an instant flame them, but 'How People Grow' just keeps getting me to appreciate and honour God more and more as I learn to walk in truth and grace. All I can do is thank God it was written. (I will let the flak be fired by the so-called heresy-hunters. They get spookier all the time.)

From the first day 2 years ago, this book has always managed to to point me back to a God of loving and truthful holiness, grace, acceptance, unconditional love and majesty.

It hardly seems possible that they write about the same Christian God who has been misrepresented in the legalistic and 'holier-than-thou' evangelical and Charismatic circles, and the One skewed beyond recognition by the liberal camp.

Much of what I read in their books and listen to in their messages hark to the works of Henri Nouwen and Philip Yancey in the spirit and tenor of the themes.

'How People Grow' is ultimately about accepting that we desperately need God and His resources and His ways to accomplish life as He has planned it for us. People play an integral part in God's plan for us.

Also, without humbly asking each other for help and support, we negate and cut-off a crucial resource of God to our detriment.

'How People Grow' is already the best devotional in my room among an impressive array of old trusted standards and it has spoiled me. I won't be able to read anymore "you-better-comply-or-God-will-be-mad-at-you" books. Neither the "look-at-me,aint-i-great-and-blessed, it-was -just- God- and-me-all-the-way" offerings.

Thank God for tender mercies