Beyond Radical

Rating:
Summary: Radical ideas, radically stated
Review: 'Beyond Radical' was a timely & refreshing view (for me) of some insights about the disciples in the 1st century, & their 'view' of church 'government'... Or as Edwards makes the case; the lack of church government, ie. pastors & elders as we would think of them today. He lays a quickie foundation of church history, & then travels chronologically through Acts while paralling that story with Paul's epistles, focusing on the terms & ideas expressed by the writers to bring home his points. He brings his points out 'rapid fire', and however, is sometimes heavy with what sounds like bitter sarcasm.

As a 'layman', I've long been troubled by the fact that there doesn't exist one single example of a full time pastor in the New Testament; yet the local 'christian' church is built on that cornerstone. Edwards sheds light on this reality & other realitys like it, and although everyone won't agree with all his conclusions & what they imply, (myself included) I think everyone SHOULD consider his insights & arguments.

B.A. Davis

Rating:
Summary: It is about time...
Review: As I walk through life seeking the truth, I find that the "churches" I have attended are not ever interested in that truth. They are only interested in building their own little kingdoms and supporting their little baal god that they have put in the pulpit to 'teach' them.

This book shows us that we don't NEED the pastors and other self proclaimed "learders" of the Christian faith.

As the Israelites of old voted to have a King over them as the other nations, we Israelites of today have done so all the way down to the "church" we attend. I have met more tyrants that preach from the pulpit with their watered down understanding of the scripture than I could ever count.

However, I have found that if you do follow the original design of having Yahshua, (Jesus) over you, instead of a preacher or pastor, that the bonding that takes place and the understanding of the word that has been imparted to EACH PRIEST is able to be tapped into for a higher understanding of the truth as well as Yahshua (Jesus) himself. I believe that Gene Edwards has hit upon ONE of the reasons that the modern church is going to hell in a handbasket. Why, in my county, which is a small one near Harrison Arkansas, there are over 189 "churches" with their own little men "teaching" their watered down understanding of the word every week.

Maybe the bride still is not ready to hear what sons have to say...

Rating:
Summary: It is about time...
Review: As I walk through life seeking the truth, I find that the "churches" I have attended are not ever interested in that truth. They are only interested in building their own little kingdoms and supporting their little baal god that they have put in the pulpit to 'teach' them.

This book shows us that we don't NEED the pastors and other self proclaimed "learders" of the Christian faith.

As the Israelites of old voted to have a King over them as the other nations, we Israelites of today have done so all the way down to the "church" we attend. I have met more tyrants that preach from the pulpit with their watered down understanding of the scripture than I could ever count.

However, I have found that if you do follow the original design of having Yahshua, (Jesus) over you, instead of a preacher or pastor, that the bonding that takes place and the understanding of the word that has been imparted to EACH PRIEST is able to be tapped into for a higher understanding of the truth as well as Yahshua (Jesus) himself. I believe that Gene Edwards has hit upon ONE of the reasons that the modern church is going to hell in a handbasket. Why, in my county, which is a small one near Harrison Arkansas, there are over 189 "churches" with their own little men "teaching" their watered down understanding of the word every week.

Maybe the bride still is not ready to hear what sons have to say...

Rating:
Summary: Be Prepared!
Review: Beyond Radical is precisely that! It asks the questions we always took for granted such as, why do we meet every Sunday at 11:00 am for church, why do churches have stained glass windows, pews, pulpits and yes even PASTORS! What! Aren't pastors scriptural? Well, after reading this book, much of modern day Christianity is left empty, naked and shallow w/ the Lord nowhere to be found. It will challenge everything you were taught about Christianity and "church". But do not fear, Gene also unfolds a beautiful alternative, namely church life the way it was meant to be experienced, New Testament style! If you are content w/ modern church life and all it's cliche formulas, then this book is not for you. However, if you are seeking a radical and exciting new way to live church life, than this book is for you! Gene will be your guide through history and scripture, revealing why we do all the things that are supposedly in the "clear teachings of God". After putting it down you will have to re-evaluate EVERYTHING you ever learned about church life and it's offices.

Rating:
Summary: A bone-rattler, this one...
Review: I can't even begin to describe the shake-up this book is causing and will continue to cause. It's a straight-up, stream-lined preach on what is (and why it's like that) the fundamentals of church life.

If you're a believer who *knows* that what there is in 'church' is not all that it should be, or could be, then read this book. If you're a believer who senses the coming revolution and want some solid insight, read this book. If you want a bone-rattling read regarding your faith and its tenets - READ THIS BOOK. You'll not view your church (institution) life the same ever again.

Can't recommend this title highly enough. Read the full body of Mr. Edwards' works; they're all gems.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly reasoned and argued
Review: I'm a Christian who agrees one hundred percent that the questions asked in this book deserve critical consideration. Unfortunately, rather than objective and critically considered responses supported by referenced research, we find a presentation, excessively sarcastic much of the time, of Mr. Edwards personal opinions. It is clear that Mr. Edwards has done a bit of research and has formed his own conclusions, but there is not a full or even a partial presentation of the evidence. If the subject matter were presented as opinion then I suppose this would not be of great concern, but the opinions are mixed with a sufficient smattering of uncited facts and scriptural references that an undiscerning reader will probably percieve the text as authoritative. In spite of the author's apparent good intentions to help make Christians aware of the issues surrounding the practices of the modern protestant church, I was turned off by the lack of any support for the presented arguments, and especially by the "holier-than-thou" attitude and negative sarcasm that pervade the text.

Rating:
Summary: An evaluation of Beyond Radical
Review: The history of where we get all of our familiar items in the religious institution is quite interesting. However, there are two areas where he shows verse numbers and the ordering of the books of the New Testament are apparently not of God, in that we have them this way by man and of man's traditions. Gene seems to leave out the crucial part about God being sovereign over and over again. Did not God promise to keep His Word pure and preserve His Word? In my studies I have found the verse numbers to be inspired of God. As far as the arrangement in chronological order of the books, Gene apparently was able to understand this and I believe that God had purposely placed them in this order. Gene has a tendency in these areas to deny the sovereignty and power of God to do what He has promised. It is not only apparent that Gene denies the sovereignty of God, but that of Jesus as well in being the head of the Church as in this, the brethren displace Jesus to do what they see fit in every situation. There is never shown a waiting on the Lord, but the decisions of the brethren to do what they will.
Gene shows the seminaries to not be of God and then turns right around later in proving his reasons for supporting the order of the books of the Bible, by these seminary trained religious scholars. This seems like some type of circle logic, in that a thing is supported by things that have been denied as being false. Shouldn't we stand on the truth and measure all things by the truth, the very Word of God?

It would seem that Gene is able to understand all things, even though God did not do His job right in preserving the Word of God through man, as God had promised. Gene has been able to compensate for the failings of God, by showing how God should have, not numbered His verses and that He should have placed them in the chronological order that Gene wants.

Where does Gene praise the Lord or lift up Jesus? Where does Gene give glory to God? Is this praise and glory to continue to go to the "brethren" instead of the head of the brethren, Jesus Christ? Why is it that God and Jesus are denied thought the whole book?

The experiencing of "church" life is in experiencing Jesus, lead and direct His Church through the obedient brethren in any proper group under Jesus Christ as the Head of the body of Christ. Remember He is the author and finisher of our faith.

Gene is right in studying the things of God and placing them in a chronological order in the mind of the believer, but remember that Jesus spoke in parables, so are these things in our Bibles, not in chronological order. Thinks of the books of the prophets in the Old Testament. Some of their prophecies are not yet come to pass and would have to be split up in order to put all that is written in a chronological order. Many of these things have more than one meaning as well as for different time periods.

The general concepts are correct in that the church does not need leaders as in pastors or priests, however Gene is wrong in not showing the that the head of the Church is Jesus Christ and the brethren are to obediently follow and operate in the leading of Christ in all they do.

As Gene has written here, the praise and the glory are to be given to the brethren instead of Jesus as the head of the "Church".

Rating:
Summary: asks the right questions, gives the wrong answers
Review: This book starts out with a great premise, which is that the fundamental ways we practice church today don't have any theological basis. Edwards' shows that such practices as meeting in a church building, having a pastor, sermons, liturgy, pulpits, pews, etc., all have origins outside the original early church. Where the book goes wrong is when he offers a solution. His solution is to look back at the New Testament and try to see how they practiced church, and tell us to do it. The problem is that living the way the early church did means believing what they did about God. Unfortunately, Edwards' offers nothing in the way of the theology behind the early church's practices. He just asks us to do what the early church did, just because. If he had explained WHY the early church lived the way they did, I would have listened. Also, if he hadn't misrepresented the early church's practices by saying they had NO LEADERS, when they obviously did, I would have listened. And if he hadn't written his book as if nobody else in 2,000 years ever thought of this, I might have listened to him. As it is, this book is poorly written, poorly researched, and arrogantly written. 'Paul's Idea of Community,' by Robert Banks is a much better book if you're interested in the subject, because Banks is actually intelligent, begins with the theology of the early church, and has actually started house churches that are based on something, not just against something else.

Rating:
Summary: asks the right questions, gives the wrong answers
Review: This is an incredible book that raises serious questions about how Christians practice their faith. After reading many scholarly (i.e. dry and boring) books on the history of the church and how we got our present practices, this book offered everything in one well packaged, irreverent, humorous book. If you are bored sitting in a christian cathedral or temple (which doesn't exist in the Bible or in archeologic findings before 300 a.d.) every Sunday morning listening to a sermon (which pales incredibly to the riches spoken by Jesus and the apostles), and never being allowed to say or do anything unless by the grace of elders or a pastor who control God's church, then I recommend you read this book to find out why these things are done today - and why this wasn't the way our brothers and sisters in the first century did these things.

As to the "prideful quote":

"Most of the things we Protestants practice had their beginnings long after the first century. None of them began with any thought of being scriptural. _No one_ was thinking of the Word of God when they started these practices."

Having been involved in christian leadership, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement because this mentality continues today. Everything I have read about Church history supports Edwards' information, and in a way more accessible to the common "man in the pew" than dry scholarly writings.