Anyone read the book Conversation with God and other books by Neale Donald Walsch?

Question

How do you feel after reading them?

Answer 1

I'm sorry you haven't received more responses to your question from people who feel more strongly about the Walsch books than I do. They are best sellers, so there must be Y! A folks who have read them and would be willing to share their ideas with you.

I have read three, or maybe, four of his books--not in order. It just so happened that I picked up Friendship with God first, or maybe it was Communion with God--in a used bookstore, as I remember--and read it out of curiosity.

You ask how I feel after reading them. Well, obviously I was somewhat interested, or I would not have read more than one; and obviously not incredibly inspired, or I would have read them all and I would remember them better.

I, too, was brought up a Christian, a Southern fundamentalist, in fact. I, too, have come to the point that I think the most meaningful name for the Christ is Immanuel=God-with-us, or God-within-us. (You might want to read my answer to the question, "Who is Jesus's father?") Therefore, I was engaged by Walsch's insights into the immanence of God, or the indwelling of Spirit in each human being.

His use of the dialogue form is particularly clever, allowing him to speak for both the divine and the human, the god-within and Walsch-the-man, which also becomes, if you will, the New Age view and the traditional view, the Right Way and the old right-wing way.

The parts of the book(s) that I found most sincere and credible were the autobiographical comments, in which Walsch shows how his emerging sense of faith helped him deal with the despondency into which he had fallen and find a new, fulfilling life. After all, faith in a "god-within" is also a renewal of self-confidence, an enhancement of self-image, of Walsch-the-man.

But I must tell you that about three factors that left me skeptical about the books, not altogether cynical, but dubious:

(1) When Walsch speaks with the voice of God in his books, he almost inevitably seems presumptious--more authoritarian than authoritative; furthermore, while "god-within" upbraids Walsch-the-man, he also praises and uplifts him and that, too, seems self-centered, if not downright arrogant.

(2) The dialogue, as clever as it is, also prevents a straight-forward presentation of his arguments, creating a roundabout way of bouncing from one idea to another and avoiding the questions one inevitably must ask. Is the immanent God also a transcendent God? Are wicked, deceptive, violent men who claim to be inspired also speaking with the Voice of God? Are they also trusting their own "god-within," and are their messages also trustworthy? And, if so, what about those who would discount Walsch as an agnostic, if not an outright pagan?

(3) And, finally, there is just a little too much of Walsch the salesman, the radio talk-show host, the circus barker, selling his own wares. As the article on him in Wikipedia says, "Walsch has met with some criticism for what some see as appearing overly zealous in finding ways to make money for his spin-off organizations." Granted this is equally true of such orthodox, evangelical Christians as Rick Warren (A Purpose Driven Life), and others; and they speak with an even greater sense of authoritarianism and arrogance. But Walsch, too, when he starts hawking his wares, seems to substitute ego for theo.

So how did I feel after reading Walsch's books? Not so much sold, I guess, as sold out--just as I did by Warren. Depak Chopra's books of the same order are just a bit more authoritative, just a bit less self-aggrandizing--just a bit. I feel better informed, more enlightened by my old favorites: Marcus Borg, Karen Armstrong, Philip Yancey (also an evangelical), Elaine Pagels, Gary Wills (a questioning Roman Catholic)--and, most important of all, Sheldon Cheney (no, not that Cheney!!), whose book, Men Who Walked with God, came out in the 1940s but has recently been reissued in paperback.

Blessings!