Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance from Evil Spirits

Rating:
Summary: Book Review of Neal Lozano's UNBOUND
Review: This summer, having taken a course on the History of Spirituality, I had occasion to study Walter Hilton's The Scale of Perfection. In perusing it, I was struck by the fact that for a text of its time and the depth of its topic, it was eminently readable. One commentator described it as belonging to the Handbook Tradition of Spirituality. Before taking the course, and while doing my other assigned readings during it, I was reading a thoroughly contemporary work by Neal Lozano entitled "Unbound: A Practical Guide To Deliverance". Having completed my first reading of it - it is a book which bears reading again and again - I decided that this book, though different from The Scale of Perfection in several ways, is also eminently readable and even more practical than Hilton's classic. I would suggest that "Unbound" may well become a classic in its own right, and here is why I think that.
Neal Lozano articulates and renders concrete an extremely important aspect of Christian spirituality, being freed from the restraints and hindrances of evil, specifically, the demonic. Now before you begin imagining scenes from Hollywood horror films, let me assure you that Lozano's book on deliverance is the very opposite of what many in 'pop culture' imagine such a book would be. "Unbound" is centered not primarily on evil but on Christ. It is balanced, nuanced, eloquent and written to inspire not fear of the devil but hope in Jesus and the "fullness of life" offered by Him. The author not only brings to bear his lucid grasp of Scripture, theology, psychological factors and the human capacity for self-deception, he writes also out of his impressive experience in ministering to people locally, nationally and internationally. His recognition of the reality of evil is realistic and informed by genuine faith. Throughout this book, Neal Lozano insists over and over on contextualizing the process known as "deliverance". As C.S. Lewis observed perceptively, human beings make two mistakes about demons: overestimating them and pretending they pose no danger. By insisting that freedom from evil spirits is part of the larger context of the ordinary life of Christians: prayer, community life, service, healing, sacraments, Scripture and loving people as God loves them, Lozano avoids both extremes. Moreover, his book is not sensationalistic and the author demonstrates his ability to critique some methods of deliverance that could lend themselves to sensationalism. The focus of "Unbound" is on discerning God's loving plan for one's life and receiving the power to live that providential plan in freedom. This message is essential. It's one our world needs to hear.

Neil Kane

Rating:
Summary: A book that reads you
Review: You know how sometimes you really get into a book? Well this book really got into me. It was uncanny how while I was reading the book, it seemed as if the book was reading me. If you do read it, do so with caution because it has the mysterious ability to make you uncomfortable while at the same time providing solutions that free your soul.
How can a book do that? Well, that's what happened to me, it could't possibly be the same for you - could it?

Rating:
Summary: A book that reads you
Review: You know how sometimes you really get into a book? Well this book really got into me. It was uncanny how while I was reading the book, it seemed as if the book was reading me. If you do read it, do so with caution because it has the mysterious ability to make you uncomfortable while at the same time providing solutions that free your soul.
How can a book do that? Well, that's what happened to me, it could't possibly be the same for you - could it?