Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: Every pastor, elder, and deacon should read this book (if they can handle it). And every person who feels like they are being forced into a church mold rather than a biblical mold should read this book. And those who are living in the freedom of the true Christian life should read this book as an encouragement and for ideas to help others escape the clutches of the unbiblical packaging of God and His Church.God does not fit into our neat LITTLE finite packages in which we require God to dwell. Biblical life does not fit into our legalistic, narrow-minded, self-proclaimed conservative interpretations of scripture. God and the Bible are not servants of our corrupt cultural norms. This and more is the subject of this story. There isn't much I can say about this book except you've just got to read it for yourself. It is rare that I pick up a story book and read it. But this particular one is one of two cases in which I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I am a reader who takes my time, reads slowly and tries to absorb everything in one reading. This 315-page text was read by me in 2 nights. In the first half of the book, I read much about myself and the changes that are now taking place in my life. I believe God put this book in front of me to encourage me to continue in the same direction and to give me ideas and new thought patterns. There was a freedom handed to me through the reading of this book that every believer needs to experience---BECAUSE IT'S BIBLICAL AND NECESSARY. Let me just say this about the story line: The first half of the book emphasizes the issues and consequences of the legalistic and culturalized, "God in a convenient package" church (which, by the way, is a different package for each culture and each denomination; so who's right?). Within this first half is a thread which concerns a man's search for a granddaughter and a woman he fell in love with at first sight. The second half of the book swaps the emphasis. The emphasis becomes the search and then changes to the man's new life after a long unsuccessful search. The thread is the issue of the messed-up church. But when this thread pops up in the second half, it's beautiful. Sometimes, it's just a single sentence, so you have to watch for it. But they are sometimes statements that are packed with wisdom. The suspense that builds in the second half of the book is well done. You figure out what's going to happen, but you don't know how it will happen, and the anticipation, at least for me, was overwhelming. It was truly exciting to read, and it has become a springboard to send me far beyond the convenient, unbiblical practices of today's culture-serving, self-glory serving church. Let me qualify one thing: when I say culture serving, I do not mean that the book teaches that believers should abandon culture. Rather, the book teaches that those moral standards that we demand of other believers, that are based on our culture, but won't work in another culture, are not biblical but legalistic. In fact, the church that comes to be front and center in this story is a multicultural church, on the one hand leaving everyone to their individual cultures, but on the other hand making sure that the cultural standards don't get read into the scripture as law. Go for it! Read it! I dare you to let it challenge you.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Every pastor, elder, and deacon should read this book (if they can handle it). And every person who feels like they are being forced into a church mold rather than a biblical mold should read this book. And those who are living in the freedom of the true Christian life should read this book as an encouragement and for ideas to help others escape the clutches of the unbiblical packaging of God and His Church. God does not fit into our neat LITTLE finite packages in which we require God to dwell. Biblical life does not fit into our legalistic, narrow-minded, self-proclaimed conservative interpretations of scripture. God and the Bible are not servants of our corrupt cultural norms. This and more is the subject of this story. There isn't much I can say about this book except you've just got to read it for yourself. It is rare that I pick up a story book and read it. But this particular one is one of two cases in which I picked it up and couldn't put it down. I am a reader who takes my time, reads slowly and tries to absorb everything in one reading. This 315-page text was read by me in 2 nights. In the first half of the book, I read much about myself and the changes that are now taking place in my life. I believe God put this book in front of me to encourage me to continue in the same direction and to give me ideas and new thought patterns. There was a freedom handed to me through the reading of this book that every believer needs to experience---BECAUSE IT'S BIBLICAL AND NECESSARY. Let me just say this about the story line: The first half of the book emphasizes the issues and consequences of the legalistic and culturalized, "God in a convenient package" church (which, by the way, is a different package for each culture and each denomination; so who's right?). Within this first half is a thread which concerns a man's search for a granddaughter and a woman he fell in love with at first sight. The second half of the book swaps the emphasis. The emphasis becomes the search and then changes to the man's new life after a long unsuccessful search. The thread is the issue of the messed-up church. But when this thread pops up in the second half, it's beautiful. Sometimes, it's just a single sentence, so you have to watch for it. But they are sometimes statements that are packed with wisdom. The suspense that builds in the second half of the book is well done. You figure out what's going to happen, but you don't know how it will happen, and the anticipation, at least for me, was overwhelming. It was truly exciting to read, and it has become a springboard to send me far beyond the convenient, unbiblical practices of today's culture-serving, self-glory serving church. Let me qualify one thing: when I say culture serving, I do not mean that the book teaches that believers should abandon culture. Rather, the book teaches that those moral standards that we demand of other believers, that are based on our culture, but won't work in another culture, are not biblical but legalistic. In fact, the church that comes to be front and center in this story is a multicultural church, on the one hand leaving everyone to their individual cultures, but on the other hand making sure that the cultural standards don't get read into the scripture as law. Go for it! Read it! I dare you to let it challenge you.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wise Choice
Review: I can not say enough good things about this absolutely wonderful book. Not only was it entertaining, it was also full of practical and profound wisdom. Along with Frank Peretti's The Visitation and Bill Myers' Blood Of Heaven, Wisdom Hunter was a page turner from begininng to end.
Randall Arthur has written a book full of characters that one will come to care about and be moved by. I found myself in tears at one point in the book. I can not recall ever crying while reading a book. As I read I could hardly wait to see how everything turned out in the end, however at the same time I did not want the book to end. As I read the last few words I was almost sad that I was no longer sharing a journey with the book's main character.
I am not one to reread a book once I have finished it, however along with The Visitation and The Blood Of Heaven, I do plan on rereading Wisdom Hunter. I would highly recommend this book!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Christian Fiction Classic
Review: I first read Wisdom Hunter back in 1993 and it blew me away. I've read it multiple times since then and it is no exageration to say that its powerful message has not diminished. Randall Arthur took a difficult subject, legalism, and somehow spun it into a fantastic read. Follow the journey of a southern fundamentalist pastor, Jason Faircloth, who, due to a life-shattering tragedy, is forced to re-examine his entire worldview. He comes to the point where he has to decide what in his life is truely important and of God, and what is self-created and able to be shed. This search for wisdom and his grand daughter (his lone surviving family member) takes him across the world. And it takes you right along with it on a soul searching trip. Wisdom Hunter vividly comes alive with real characters, conflict, emotion, and a contemporary, relevant message. I'm not sure that it is possible to read a book like this and not have your walk faith challenged to its very core. For we all are guilty, at least to a point, of mistaking our personal opinions or our church's unique teachings for being the will and truth of God. Wisdom Hunter's message is one of freedom and, ultimately, of grace. It is a rare novel that can combine solid Biblical principle so seemlessly into a story that truly moves. A true Christian fiction classic in every way.
Rating:
Summary: Simply amazing
Review: I have read few authors that gripped me the way Randall Arthur has in his three stories (Brotherhood of Betrayal, Jordan's Crossing, and Wisdom Hunter). I could not put any of them down and lost a lot of sleep the week I read them. I cried and laughed and prayed my way through each of them. Randall, if you're reading this, thank you for letting God write through you. Though it has a been a good six months since I read them I am tearing up as I remember then now and how God used them in my life. Thank you for being honest about the good and the bad in the "church" and our lives, and about God's grace and His presence through both. I truly thank God for you, brother, I really do.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST READ!!!
Review: I read this book in one day. Literally could not put it down. HIGHLY recommended to ANY fiction fan. Excellent!
Rating:
Summary: Good expose' of extreme fundamentalism
Review: The protagonist of this book, Pastor Jason Faircloth, was everyone's worst nightmare as a pastor. He fit the caricature of the arrogant, self-absorbed, uncaring, unfeeling fundamentalist pastor that we often hear about. He was one who felt that he knew the Bible well, he knew God's will, he was called by God and as such, he was unassailable. He ruled his church and his family with an iron fist. This worked well in the church - his church was able to grow. The mindless people who followed him accepted and appreciated his demagogery, but this didn't go over too well in his family. I'll stop there so as not to tell the whole story, except to say that he ends up losing his family. This loss of family forces a crisis in his life - he re-examines his faith and nearly abandons it. What he ends up abandoning is his extreme fundamentalism. What he ends up embracing is a faith that is more relational and compassionate, less structured in terms of theology and less denominationally oriented. He completely abandons anything that smacks of tradition in favor of what seems to be a pure biblical faith. This pure biblical faith is lived out in the lives of the pastor and members of a church he joins in Norway. It is there that he is exposed to what he perceives to be true and pure Christianity. The backdrop for his search for an authentic faith is his search for a granddaughter he has never met, and his search for a stunning Norwegian blonde he meets on an airplane while searching for his granddaughter. Along the way he makes stops in London, Cyprus, Norway and New York City. The book has a very poignant ending that is worth waiting for. All in all it is a very enjoyable and fast paced book. It is hard to put down. It grabs your attention at the beginning like a good fiction work should and does a good job of holding it. The book's value is in showing the dark side of extreme fundamentalism. I use the adjective "extreme" here because not all fundamentalists are as extreme as Jason Faircloth was. However, I have been around a few of the extreme fundamentalists and know enough to know that some are pretty close to Jason Faircloth. However, even though most fundamentalists are not as bad as Jason Faircloth, most share one important similarity - the focus on externals. Fundamentalism started as a good and proper doctrinal reaction to modernism but in its extreme forms it has descended into an externally based version of Christianity where one's spirituality is measured in terms of what they do or don't do. Although most real life people will never experience the extremes that we see in Jason's family, this story does do a good job of showing the impossibility of living by legalistic externals. What is missing in the life of Jason Faircloth is grace, and this is where the book has value for those who are caught up in fundamentalism. While this book tells a good story of the dangers of extreme fundamentalism there are some caveats that should be mentioned. First of all, if you are not a fundamentalist, please don't assume that all fundamentalists are like Jason Faircloth and the people in his church. Most fundamentalists are sincere Christians seeking to be faithful to Christ as best they can. They may err on the side of legalism from time to time but most folks are sincerely seeking Christ. Also, in his search for authentic Christianity Jason throws off everything that smacks of tradition. It is true that traditionalism can be as binding and deadly as extreme fundamentalism, but a rejection of all tradition is as dangerous as becoming a flaming traditionalist. Those who reject tradition usually do so out of a desire to find pure Christianity and they assume that they can find it on their own with just their Bible and the Holy Spirit. What they fail to realize is that the Holy Spirit didn't begin speaking when they became a Christian, He has been speaking and teaching the bride of Christ for thousands of years, and it won't hurt to listen to the voices of Christians who have gone before. Also, there is a subtle downplaying of the importance of preaching in this book. It is subtle - the author contrasts churches which are mere preaching stations with churches that are alive with what I would call body life. This is a false dichotomy - the preaching of the Word of God is central in any church and it can foster body life, rather than hinder it. I have two favorite quotes from the book - at one point, Jason's mentor says this: "If Christianity present in a country for a long time, and becomes tightly intertwined with the culture, is it possible that Christianity in that country could become more defined by the culture's qualities than by the actual teachings of the Bible." <P... Overall, this is a good book - if you keep the caveats I mentioned in mind this book can help you see any legalistic tendencies in yourself and follow Jesus more fully.
Rating:
Summary: Good expose' of extreme fundamentalism
Review: The protagonist of this book, Pastor Jason Faircloth, was everyone's worst nightmare as a pastor. He fit the caricature of the arrogant, self-absorbed, uncaring, unfeeling fundamentalist pastor that we often hear about. He was one who felt that he knew the Bible well, he knew God's will, he was called by God and as such, he was unassailable. He ruled his church and his family with an iron fist. This worked well in the church - his church was able to grow. The mindless people who followed him accepted and appreciated his demagogery, but this didn't go over too well in his family. I'll stop there so as not to tell the whole story, except to say that he ends up losing his family. This loss of family forces a crisis in his life - he re-examines his faith and nearly abandons it. What he ends up abandoning is his extreme fundamentalism. What he ends up embracing is a faith that is more relational and compassionate, less structured in terms of theology and less denominationally oriented. He completely abandons anything that smacks of tradition in favor of what seems to be a pure biblical faith. This pure biblical faith is lived out in the lives of the pastor and members of a church he joins in Norway. It is there that he is exposed to what he perceives to be true and pure Christianity. The backdrop for his search for an authentic faith is his search for a granddaughter he has never met, and his search for a stunning Norwegian blonde he meets on an airplane while searching for his granddaughter. Along the way he makes stops in London, Cyprus, Norway and New York City. The book has a very poignant ending that is worth waiting for. All in all it is a very enjoyable and fast paced book. It is hard to put down. It grabs your attention at the beginning like a good fiction work should and does a good job of holding it. The book's value is in showing the dark side of extreme fundamentalism. I use the adjective "extreme" here because not all fundamentalists are as extreme as Jason Faircloth was. However, I have been around a few of the extreme fundamentalists and know enough to know that some are pretty close to Jason Faircloth. However, even though most fundamentalists are not as bad as Jason Faircloth, most share one important similarity - the focus on externals. Fundamentalism started as a good and proper doctrinal reaction to modernism but in its extreme forms it has descended into an externally based version of Christianity where one's spirituality is measured in terms of what they do or don't do. Although most real life people will never experience the extremes that we see in Jason's family, this story does do a good job of showing the impossibility of living by legalistic externals. What is missing in the life of Jason Faircloth is grace, and this is where the book has value for those who are caught up in fundamentalism. While this book tells a good story of the dangers of extreme fundamentalism there are some caveats that should be mentioned. First of all, if you are not a fundamentalist, please don't assume that all fundamentalists are like Jason Faircloth and the people in his church. Most fundamentalists are sincere Christians seeking to be faithful to Christ as best they can. They may err on the side of legalism from time to time but most folks are sincerely seeking Christ. Also, in his search for authentic Christianity Jason throws off everything that smacks of tradition. It is true that traditionalism can be as binding and deadly as extreme fundamentalism, but a rejection of all tradition is as dangerous as becoming a flaming traditionalist. Those who reject tradition usually do so out of a desire to find pure Christianity and they assume that they can find it on their own with just their Bible and the Holy Spirit. What they fail to realize is that the Holy Spirit didn't begin speaking when they became a Christian, He has been speaking and teaching the bride of Christ for thousands of years, and it won't hurt to listen to the voices of Christians who have gone before. Also, there is a subtle downplaying of the importance of preaching in this book. It is subtle - the author contrasts churches which are mere preaching stations with churches that are alive with what I would call body life. This is a false dichotomy - the preaching of the Word of God is central in any church and it can foster body life, rather than hinder it. I have two favorite quotes from the book - at one point, Jason's mentor says this: "If Christianity present in a country for a long time, and becomes tightly intertwined with the culture, is it possible that Christianity in that country could become more defined by the culture's qualities than by the actual teachings of the Bible." Overall, this is a good book - if you keep the caveats I mentioned in mind this book can help you see any legalistic tendencies in yourself and follow Jesus more fully.
Rating:
Summary: I Dare You to Read This!
Review: This is a great book. I soon learned of the impossibility of not being drawn into the story line.
Fundamentalism is not a bad principle; however, most of the fundamentalists I know have no place for grace--as is the case with Jason Faircloth. The author's brilliance caused me to examine my faith more closely; any person who reads this book probably will experience the same.
I am a female minister. Except for 2 years (college rebellion) I have been in the church all of my life. However, as I worshipped this morning, I checked myself.
Regardless of your faith tradition (or lack thereof) I dare you to read this book. You will be changed for the better.
Rating:
Summary: We need more novels dealing with this
Review: This is an exciting story about a pastor who is concerned with keeping rules, looking good, and was putting true spirituality on the back burner. It dealt boldly with the problem of "Legalism." That's the term commonly used in churches for trying to be a good Christian through keeping rules, regulations and laws.Although it is fiction, things like this can and do happen. It shows the wreckage that can come into a family because people follow rules that are not in the Bible. There are international chases and lots of action that will keep the reader spellbound. During the story the rule-bound legalistic pastor begins to change -- something that happens with true Christianity. And that's the best part.
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