QVOF

5 Comments (and 2 trackbacks)

• #1 by james8254 on December 16, 2009 - 3:37 pm

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  I guess I was hoping for a book that contained more intuitive insight instead of the simple rehashing of religious doctrine. There is more to spirituality than Judeo-Christian myth. It seems that most “Christians” believe that the only way out of addiction is through religious dogma.
  Rating: 1 / 5

• #2 by Dave on December 16, 2009 - 4:04 pm

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  Great book with great insight as to the fact that ALL are sddicted to SOMETHING. The book came in fantastic shape and I would recommend not only the book but the seller to ANYone!!
  Rating: 5 / 5

• #3 by ecaiv@hotmail.com on December 16, 2009 - 4:08 pm

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  I found this book to be helpful and enlightening but it unfortunately contains numerous errors. So many errors that I was greatly troubled by the time I got to page 120 or so. The problem I had was if so many obvious errors exist, then what is the value of the entire text? Ultimately, as in a matter of faith, I had to make a decision based upon the entire message and concluded that the book is worthy–warts and all. So I rate the book as five stars for message and three stars for production–a total of four stars.

  Dr. May quite carefully points out in the Preface that he is neither a “trained theologian nor a scriptural scholar.” Much of his theology is quite good and consistent with the body of existing literature. Never-the-less the book is replete with numerous errors of interpretation and omission. And almost all of these errors could have been identified and corrected if a more careful editing job and review had been performed–this process was poorly done. And coincidentally, fixing these errors would strengthen, rather than weaken the book’s message. I list some of the more serious errors below in the hopes that they will be fixed in a future edition of this book.

  1) The discussion of the Garden of Eden tree of life and tree of knowledge contains errors and contradictions. Dr. May states on pg. 11 (par. 3) that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from both trees. He then reasons that God didn’t want them to eat the fruit from the tree of life (pg. 111, par. 2). Both statements are wrong–see Genesis 2:16. Also see the highly rated: Victor Hamilton, “The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17,” New International Commentary of the Old Testament, William B. Eerdmans, 1990, pp. 162-166.

  2) In discussing the Exodus, Dr. May says that “we know that we do not want to go back to imprisonment”… (pg. 105, par 2). This is contradicted by Exodus 16:2 and his own statement on pg. 133 (par. 2)–”longing for the old days of slavery.”

  3) He says the text at the end of pg. 120 closes the New Testament (Rev 22:17)–it does not! In fact the actual closing text (Rev 22:21) is much closer to the message of the book than the text that he used, so I assume that this again was sloppy editing (”The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.” (NIV).)

  4) He nowhere discusses several key Bible versus that relate to sin, grace, and election. For example, there is no discussion of Romans 3: 10-12 (Psalms 14: 2-3 and Psalms 53: 2-3). Here, Paul effectively says that in our unregenerated state we do not search for the true God–even if as Dr. May points out we are affected by our attachments and addictions. He also doesn’t mention 1 Corinthians 15:21-22–that it is the seed of Adam (sin) that affects all, but through Christ we are made alive. And that all have sinned but can be redeemed by God’s grace through Jesus (Romans 3:22-24). Similarly, the whole issue of election (”to choose”), as how God chooses us by grace not works, is not well treated (see: Ephesians 1: 4 and many others).
  Rating: 4 / 5

• #4 by Gerard Reed on December 16, 2009 - 4:45 pm

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  Gerald G. May, M.D. is a practicing psychiatrist who writes out of his professional background and personal experience. One of his books, Addiction and Grace (San Francisco: Harper & Row, c. 1988), supports and blends nicely with Keith Miller’s treatise on sin. He too finds the human tapestry dyed by Sin. We’re born into and permanently colored by it. Simply “To be alive is to be addicted,” he says, “and to be alive and addicted is to stand in need of grace” (p. 11). Though created by the God Who Is Love and inwardly (if perhaps unconsciously) aware only His Love will satisfy us, we insist on charting our own way and in the process idolize our addictions, thereby avoiding the God Who Is Love. “After twenty years of listening to the yearnings of people’s hearts,” he writes, “I am convinced that all human beings have an inborn desire for God” (p. 1), yet by the millions they (like Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden) hide from Him, basically taking refuge in innumerable addictions.
  
  With great skill, May describes the various kinds of addictions and the ways they affect us. In successive chapters he explores “MIND: The Psychological Nature of Addiction,” “BODY: The Neurological Nature of Addiction,” and “SPIRIT: The Theological Nature of Addiction.” Psychologically, addiction leads to all sorts of self-deception–rationalization, hiding, and delaying tactics–designed to insulate us from the truth. Thus many addicts, May finds, try to live according to one of two simple formulae: “I can’t handle it” or, conversely, “I can handle it.” In the face of life’s difficulties, some just give up trying to do anything, taking refuge in irresponsibility. Failing to overcome an addiction, they just surrender to it, drowning in a sea of negativity, saying such things as “Who cares? What difference does it make?” Or they may take refuge in cynical criticism: “Yeah, I may be no good, but neither is anything else.” Such addicts live like drifters, tossed about by whichever wind’s the strongest. Others claim they’re perfectly in control of everything, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. Whatever they face, such addicts pretend to have the strength to handle everything, to control their world, to stay propped up like a petty dictator on the throne of their private kingdom. Some play the role rather well, “succeeding” in business, “con¬trolling” their family, apparently “doing well” in life. But in fact they’re out-of-control, putty in the hands of their addictions . . . and of their mainline addiction to self.
  
  Neurologically, May shows how the body adjusts to addiction. Habitual behaviors, such as drinking alcohol or eating endless snacks, drinking coffee or relishing the adrenaline highs of stress, initi¬ally invite the body to embrace them. But then the repeated behavior awakens a neurologi¬cal hunger for the addiction, a powerful if stran¬gely self-destructive attachment to it. The be¬havior becomes an indelible part of our memory, for “the brain never completely forgets what it has learned” (p. 90). Physical desires thus become a deeply-embedded part of the controlling addiction. Spiritually, through addictions we give up the freedom which is our birthright as God’s children. We’re designed to live freely, to respond to love. “Ultimately,” May says, “our yearning for God is the most important aspect of our humanity, and our most precious treasure; it gives our exis¬tence meaning and direction” (p. 92). Sadly enough, “we try to fulfill our longing for God through objects of attachment” (p. 92). We get hooked on addic¬tions! Addictions which take God’s place!
  
  The spiritual remedy for addiction, as the book’s title suggests, is God’s grace. From us, what’s needed is a simple, childlike request. “As the giver of grace, God deserves a straightforward request. As children of God, we have the right to make that request. We can also search for grace, in both obvious and hidden places. The obvious places … include the sacraments, Scripture, and community of our faith, as well as personal prayer and meditation. The hidden places include times of turmoil and failure, encounters with people we dislike, daily drudgery, boredom, and, of course, our addictions” (p. 126). Marvelously, the grace we need, the grace we should ask for, is neither remote nor impersonal. It’s not a purely forensic reality, hidden within the being of God, which we hope for. “It is the active expression of God’s love” (p. 120). It’s God’s Holy Spirit’s empowering Presence. As May states: “For the power of addiction to be over¬come, human will must act in concert with di¬vine will. The human spirit must flow with the Holy Spirit. Personal power must be aligned with the power of grace” (p. 140). “Addiction cannot be defeated by the human will acting on its own, nor by the human will opting out and turning everything over to the divine will. Instead, the power of grace flows must fully when human will chooses to act in harmony with the divine will” (p. 139).
  
  This becomes possible when we totally sur¬render ourselves to God–for “consecration is our assent to God’s transforming grace” (p. 150). In the midst of all our struggles, there are moments when we can say “yes” to God. If we do, that lit¬tle assent means “our struggle becomes consecrated. Consecration means dedication to God. It occurs when we claim our deepest desire for God, beneath, above, and beyond all other things” (p. 149). Fully consecrated to God, we learn to participate in His life through prayer, meditation, and action. The only way to know God, the only way to live immersed His love, is to “try to be present to the mystery in a gentle, open-handed, and coopera¬tive way. This is the contemplative option–not any system of complicated exercises, but the simple and courageous attempt to bear as much as one can of reality just as it is” (p. 107).
  
  Many of our difficulties remain rooted in our desire to manipulate rather than contemplate, to master things rather than surrender to the mystery of things. So the day-by-day solution is to stay open and surrendered to God’s will. And “Here we find another meaning of consecration: the willing¬ness to participate in mystery through faith instead of through comprehension” (p. 156). True surrender involves the unknowns as well as the knows, the hidden surprises of the future as well as the clarified actualities of the past.
  
  Such consecration, he suggests, “is the bridge between reformation and transformation, the integr¬ating choice that assents to God’s homeward call” (p. 162). For all of us have a hunger for God, a hunger to live with Him for ever. By living constantly consecrated to Him, by living prayerfully, honestly, obediently, lovingly, we discern His ways with us and His world. And we discover, to our delight, the personal wholeness for which we’re designed.
  
  Other works by Gerald May (Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology and Care of Mind, Care of Spirit: Psychiatric Dimensions of Spiritual Direction) merit the attention of anyone concerned with the intersections of psychology and theology. He is one of the more openly Christian psychiatrists I’ve read, and he has a wealth of learning and insight to share. His psychologically-oriented diagnoses and prescriptions do not always fit tidy theological categories. Yet much he says rings true, enlightening the way we think and live. Though I don’t think “addiction” fully ex¬plains “original sin,” it certainly helps illustrate its nature. And imparted grace, the Presence of God’s Spirit, certainly seems the only solution to the sin problem.
  
  Rating: 5 / 5

• #5 by Anonymous on December 16, 2009 - 7:45 pm

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  I found this book to be very insightful and informative. I had a bit of a problem with what I feel are extremely wordy paragraphs that take too long to get to the point. However, I found all of the answers I was searching for and then some.
  Rating: 4 / 5

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