Rating: 
Summary: A terrific book
Review: this book gives the reader an excellent view of how we should be as Christians. It reinforces my belief that we should be as Christ like as we can and still be human.
Rating:
Summary: Dare you to open your eyes..
Review: Here's a book that doesn't come along very often. A retired priest expressing (confessing?) his opinions and ideas about what the Church should be. If you're extremely religious, you may find this disturbing; but if you have an open mind and heart, you'll find that a great deal of the prospects in this book make wonderful sense. This is especially true if you've had experience with the Catholic church, and are having doubts. Though this isn't meant to tear you away from your beliefs, it certainly forces you to think about what has meaning and what doesn't. A definite five stars.
Rating:
Summary: eye opening
Review: I loved this book. I am not a very religious person and found this book very interesting. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Jesus were to come back today. What would he think of our modern conveniences? Joshua answers this in a very easy and loving way. This is a very easy reading book. It made me take a second look at my life and the direction that is was going in.
Rating: 
Summary: Urrgh!
Review: "Christ is among us..." Nice to think so, but do we really need it rammed down our throats in such a preachy, insipid piece of literary flotsam? I found the symbolism in "Joshua" painfully obvious, the story simplistic, repetitious and trite. I actually had to force myself to read further than page 5! If I could have voted under 1 star, believe me, I would have. It's obvious that Fr. Girzone needs to vent a little priestly angst against Mother Church, and takes aim at every other church he can think of in the bargain. He could have chosen a much better vehicle than "Joshua". He could have done much better than to insult his readers' intelligence with the pat, stereotypical characters, (bring in the sexually repressed, lonley alcoholic Catholic priest, stage right!) and all too predictable dialogue. By all means, buy this book, (if you're the type of reader that doesn't like thinking for yourself, that is), just make darned sure you check your brain at the door and have a pancreas donor ready when you go into the inevitable religion sugar shock from "Joshua"'s candy coated spiel. You'd do better to read Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods" or the Pratchett-Gaiman collaboration "Good Omens" for a fitting parable on modern religion, but it does require a sense of humor and a modicum of common sense. Judging from the glowing reviews Joshua has been receiving, Fr. Girzone is lucky that so many of us out there have neither.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I am a teenage girl and read this book in one weekend. It has made me think about life through a different angle and realize that Jesus comes in all forms.Joshua provided a lead of how I should live my life, plain, simple, and humble. A good book for those on a quest for a closer relationship with God.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Changed My Life
Review: I purchased JOSHUA only because I knew Father Girzone many many years ago and I was curious about what he may have written. JOSHUA is a simple story about Jesus (Joshua) living in modern times. The message Joshua delivers gives comfort to those of us who have been raised with the strict rules of the Catholic church accompanied by the feeling that you can never quite "measure up." THE BOOK CHANGED MY LIFE ! JOSHUA strengthened my faith by giving me a simplistic version of Jesus' message without all of the "excess baggage" that accompanies organized religion. Many thanks to Father Girzone for the gift he has bestowed on his readers -- a clearer understanding of God's love for us. I read reviews that pointed out "flaws" in the writing. If the message shines through (which it obviously did by reading the reviews) - then the writing was perfect ! ! A must read for EVERYONE ....
Rating: 
Summary: Guidelines For Living
Review: I think that everyone should read Joshua because it tells you how God wants us to live and how clergymen are teaching religion differently from how God intended it to be taught. How priests and ministers try to rule their congregations by force instead of with love. And of course Joshua is a character who lives a very simple life and everyone is attracted to him. This book was great!
Rating:
Summary: Joshua changed my life
Review: Joshua was a book I've treasured for years. It was a great tool to use in a bible study of sorts. It opened a lot of discussions and helped the group clarify their viewpoints on many issues including people of different faiths working together, discrimination, AIDS, and other pertinent political issues. As a result, we all felt it a truly life-changing experience. Highly recommended. I enjoyed it so much I read it to my three teen-aged children. They too seemed touched by the challenging ideas in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Ack!
Review: What a sermon! The author is a priest who retired for health reasons, I can only guess we are talking about mental health here! The dialogue is so forced, I could hear nails screeching down the chalkboard. The author may have a few good points, but this book seems mostly to have been written as a way to avenge himself against people and policies that he perceived to offend/injure him in some way.
Rating:
Summary: Moving
Review: I first found this story as an audio book, other than the bible, this was my first story that dealt with religion. For me personnaly, it was very moving, it was simple and straight forward, and spoke in a way that made me listen. I liked what I heard, it spoke of a God that is for people not the church, but people. It made me feel the way I have always felt about God, that you will not find it in a church, but in yourself. I have enjoyed Joshua and all the books that followed. I look forward to reading the fifth book in the series. Thank you very much for Joshua.
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