Christianity in Crisis; Twenty First Century
Hank Hanegraaff
Reviewed by Teresa Konopka
Hank Hanegraaff’s “Christianity
in Crisis: Twenty-first Century” is a remarkable heap of a book.
Hefty
and hardcover, the book seems impossible to get through--wrong.
The
way in which Hanegraaff writes with candid frankness and flowing
acquiescence makes the pages fly by.
The main purpose of the
book is to dispel common myths about Christianity, as well as the
tellers of those lies. Everything from televangelists to money
scams
in the name of Christ are covered. Some spokespersons deemed
blasphemous are obvious, while other more popular ones come as a bit of
a surprise. Still, in defending his point, Hanegraaff utilizes
copious
quotations from speakers and their books. He even inserts
detailed
sections that explain the difference between what spokespersons say and
what the Bible itself states. Readers become astonished how much
change can come when people twist Scripture by just altering a word or
two.
While shameful blasphemy is covered, some parts of the book
are humorous and intriguing. For one, a specific spokesperson
claims
Jesus wore designer robes and lived in a grand home with riches.
In
another scenario, one evangelist kicked a man in the gut to divinely
remove his colon cancer. Others have claimed that they knew the
time
of the apocalypse in vain. In another case, an evangelist cheated
on
his wife and blamed it on the demons of lust. Some have even
claimed
to have had holy encounters with Jesus Christ; they say He told them
they are in charge, not Him. The ridiculous stories go on in the
book
and give the serious crisis a lighthearted tone.
In terms of
structure, the book has seven parts, as well as introductory and
concluding remarks. Each part is divided into three to four
chapters.
Then, the chapters themselves are subdivided with bold letters that
organize specific arguments. In this fashion, readers are never
faced
with chapters that are too long. They can choose to either read
all
the parts in a week or all the chapters in a month; either way, it is
easy to measure progress. Furthermore, it is very easy for
readers to
reference certain topics whenever they feel the need to.
One
does not have to be Christian to read this book. One merely has
to be
in the twenty-first century, equipped with the technology or resources
to
have heard of the myths dispelled in this book. After all, it’s
plausible that pagans might not turn on the television to see
televangelists, but they most likely have seen certain books climb to
the top of the bestseller’s list that claim to be Christian. For
true
Christians, this book serves not only to strengthen faith but also to
strengthen arguments. Many a time, Christians are bombarded with
questions. Do you practice what that guy says on
television? Do you
send in money to prosper like the radio personnel says? How can
Christians be credible when that moron is representing you? The
questions go on. However, now readers have the knowledge to come
up
with intellectual rebuttals quickly that are historical, accurate,
innovative, and sincere. For non-Christians, they will get the
answers
to the questions that have probably asked their friends and colleagues
(the questions they never got a straight answer about).
Overall,
“Christianity in Crisis: Twenty-first Century” by Hank Hanegraaff is
definitely worth reading. He clears the Christian name and
enables
readers the ability to distinguish between pure Christianity and pure
heretics.