Review: Four Letter Words

Four Letter Words: Conversations on Faith’s Beauty and Logic by Bill Giovannetti

Summary: Thou shalt tolerate every opinion… except the Christian’s. Today’s postmodern “prime directive” leaves many followers of Jesus tongue-tied. In the global village, isn’t it unreasonable, and even dangerous, to suggest that the Bible has a monopoly on truth?

My Thoughts: When I read the description of this book, I knew I had to read it. I have long been quite distressed by the increasing hostility toward Christianity in today’s society, so this seemed like the perfect book for me. I think my instincts were right.

The Four Letter Words are terms for today’s hot-button issues:

• True ~ What is truth?
• Know ~ How do you know?
• Pain ~ Why is there pain?
• Ouch ~ Pain, part 2.
• Evil ~ Is there evil?
• Word ~ The Word of God.
• Damn ~ Let’s talk about Hell.
• Wait ~ Why sex is for marriage.
• Hope ~ Our hope in Christ.

It looks like a lot, but it reads fast. It’s written in a way that’s easy to read and fully understand. I found myself wanting to read it. Not wanting to stop. With nonfiction, this is EXTREMELY rare for me. Especially self-help/how-to books. I often find them somewhat dry, and generally more apt to put me to sleep than to make me want to keep going. So not the case here. I was pleasantly surprised. (I’ll be honest. I generally approach nonfiction with some trepidation. I expect the reading to be a bit of a chore, regardless of how much I want to read the book. This was no different, but I soon discovered that my “fears” were unwarranted.)

My only complaint is that I wasn’t always sure who he’s talking to. For whatever reason, I thought this was aimed at today’s Christians, helping us learn how to navigate in today’s world. And often that is how it reads. But there are times where it seems like he’s talking to those who need to be convinced of the Truth that is the Bible. As a lifelong Christian, I almost felt talked down to. I don’t think that was the intent in any way. It was just my feeling. But, I think this book was written with the hope that it’d make its way into the hands of someone not entirely convinced of the Biblical Truths and maybe help them understand.

I highly recommend this book for all Christians. And for anyone who isn’t Christian but wants to better understand our faith. If nothing else, I think it could help guide us in presenting ourselves better and help others maybe – hopefully – gain a little more respect for Christians in general. (Although, knowing what Christ has said about persecution as we get closer to the events of Revelations – well, let’s just say I’m not holding my breath.) Anyway, this is very well-written, and gives you a lot of food for thought.

Source: Received as part of a blog tour promotion on Litfuse Publicity Group. Find more tour stops on the page HERE.

Read It: You can get your own copy HERE. (Yes, this is an Amazon Affiliate link, but not for me. Purchase through this link would benefit Litfuse.)

Challenges: Counts for Free Reads 2012 and Off the Shelf 2012.

About the Author: Dr. Bill Giovannetti is a professor at A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary and the senior pastor of Neighborhood Church of Redding. An experienced speaker and author, Bill informs the mind in ways that touch the heart. He enjoys life with his wife and two kids in northern California. For more information about Bill and his other books, visit  http://maxgrace.wordpress.com  and http://fourletterwords.org.

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**GIVEAWAY**

FTC Disclosure: All items reviewed were either obtained by me for my own enjoyment or sent (from the author, publisher, publicist, via tour sites, etc.) in exchange for an honest review. I receive no monetary compensation for my posts. All opinions expressed are my own.

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