The Reason Driven LIfe-book review

The Purpose Driven Life written by Pastor Rick Warren of the 7,000 member Saddleback Church in Irvine, California has enjoyed phenomenal success. Its use of easy to understand bible translations and basic concerns of life has made it a best seller for much of the past 5 years. Reading it is almost like having your own personal pastor helping you understand what God has in store for you and how you can use the Bible to give meaning to your life.

There's only one slight problem: The Purpose Driven Life (hereafter called simply "Purpose") follows the Fundamentalist Christian doctrines. A large percentage of Christians including Catholics, main-stream Protestants, and Mormons will find much to complain about in the language and examples. Jews and other non-Christians will likewise find the book less helpful than it might be. A Catholic has written "A Catholic Perspective on The Purpose Driven Life" as an attempt to "translate" Purpose for the use of Catholics.

"The Reason Driven Life." by Robert M. Price is not so much a translation or adaptation of Purpose as it is a refutation, an alternative way of looking at the same problems and having the same goal in mind. The Reason Driven Life (hereafter called simply Reason) covers the same general topics in the same order but the chapter headings come from a little different direction and the content is oh, so different.

While Purpose is very God-centric and explains that your purpose in life is really God's purpose, Reason is centered on the God-given facility of reason and claims that we all have different purposes in life that we will have to find through reason and hard thinking. Purpose assumes the Bible is the direct, literal word of God while Reason assumes that inspired men wrote inspired words which have become the Bible.

But Price goes even further by attacking Christian Fundamentalism, Christianity, and sometimes even theism. Certainly an atheist or secular humanist will enjoy Reason much more than Purpose. A mainstream Christian might be just as uncomfortable with Reason as with Purpose.

For example in "Day" 6 (chapter 6) Purpose says: "This world is not my home. " While Reason says: "This world is fleeting, and so am I. Maybe I should learn to surf instead of drowning."

On Day 7 Purpose says: "It's all for Him." While Reason says: "What difference could it possibly make to an all-sufficient Being whether I worship him or not?"

Although Price has impeccable credentials for biblical criticism, he has chosen not to use his ministerial ability to make his theology warm and fuzzy like Warren does. Reason thus comes across as cold and businesslike with much of the responsibility for a person's happiness and success placed firmly on that person's shoulders. Warren, on the other hand, is definitely from the "give your burdens to the Lord" school of religion and Purpose is full of warmth and welcoming.

In the end I found neither book completely satisfying. I could only read a couple of chapters from either book before needing to switch to the other one for respite. However, if I had to choose only one book for my library it would definitely be The Reason Driven Life.