As a recent subscriber to Aaron’s blog, Blogging Theologically, I had high hopes for this small book since Aaron’s other writings are so theologically sound, and usually written in an easy-to-read manner. Everyday Theology did not disappoint in either one of those regards. The main thesis of this small book is that Christians (especially new believers and immature believers who have not been firmly rooted in the Word of God) should not believe everything they hear (or read), and that it is both wise, and biblical, to test everything by the Word of God and to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Aaron proceeds to apply the Biblical test to a number of popular sayings/mantras in current society, and consistently disproves them (or shows that they are in fact partial truths that lead to error). The sayings are listed below:
– “God won’t give you more than you can handle”: The origins of this saying trace back to Aesop’s fable, Hercules and the Waggoner, where the moral of that fable is “the gods help them that help themselves.”
– “God won’t give you more than you can handle”: Comes from a misrepresentation of 1 Cor. 10:13
– “Preach the Gospel always, if necessary use words”: The quote is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi even though we have no record of him using these exact words, but it does correspond with much of his Roman Catholic theology.
– “God wants your best life…now!”: Thanks Joel Osteen and other prosperity gospel teachers/preachers.
– “Listen to your heart”: Of course, this saying has been around a long time and is routinely published in songs such as “Listen to your heart” by the 80’s Swedish pop group Roxette.
– “It’s ‘just’ cultural”: I am in agreement with Aaron that most civilizations have said either these exact same words, or something very similar to them since every generation has this misguided notion that things are different for them in their current generation, and that they should either disregard completely what the Bible has to say about sex, gender roles, sin, marriage, and God’s wrath, or modify it to make it culturally relevant for the times.
– “You need to feed yourself”: Why do some Pastor’s feel the need to stand up in their pulpits and announce, “It’s not my job to feed you-you need to feed yourself.”? Pastors need to quit making excuses for not getting into the Word and knowing what it says and thereby adequately feeding their “flock” (John 21:15-17).
I think there are some people that might be put off by the relative small size of this book and think that the content of the book was not worth $.99. However, I would caution them that they need to read this book the way that Aaron intended for it to be read, and that is mostly through the eyes of a brand new christian. Is there anything in this book that I (a person who has been saved over 10 years and been members of theologically solid churches) didn’t already know? Not really. However, I went into this book trying to read it through the eyes of a young believer (6 months to 1 year after I was converted to Christ), and I found myself wishing that someone had written a book exactly like this and given it to me. A book like this would have saved me from a ton of headaches and heartaches. I will definitely recommend this book to other new believers, or those who have not grown up in a theologically solid church.
Josh is a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, staunch defender of Reformed Theology, husband to Candis, Dad to Jaeden, avid book reader, Leader of the College Ministry at Perimeter Road Baptist Church, and Contract Manager at CPS, Inc.
