THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE

'''The Purpose Driven Life''' (2002) is a devotional book written by Christian author Rick Warren and published by Zondervan. The book has been on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list for advice books for 174 weeks (as of May 2006). The book offers readers a 40-day personal spiritual journey, and presents what Warren says are God's five purposes for human life on Earth.^[1] As of November 2005, ''The Purpose Driven Life'' has been translated into 56 languages and was the bestselling book in the world for 2003, 2004, and 2005. It has been a controversial book among the Christian community.
Since September 2002, over 30,000 congregations, corporations, and sports teams across the United States have participated in a "40 Days of Purpose" emphasis. A May 2005 survey of American pastors and ministers conducted by George Barna asked Christian leaders to identify what books were the most influential on their lives and ministries. The ''Purpose Driven Life'' was the most frequent response. ''The Purpose Driven Church'', Warren's previous book, was the second most frequent response.^[2] The book has sold over 24 million copies (as of October 2006).^[3]
After hostage Ashley Smith read Chapter 32 to her captor Brian Nichols (who shot four people in Atlanta on March 11, 2005), the book hit number one on several religion and advice best-seller lists - including ''The New York Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''USA Today'' and ''Publishers Weekly''. However, this wholesome advertisement for the book was undermined in September of that year, when Smith admitted in her memoirs that she had also pacified her captor with crystal methamphetamine.^[4]

Contents

Content

Criticisms

Other books by Rick Warren

See also

External links

References

Content

The book is intended to be read as a daily inspiration, with each of the forty short chapters read on consecutive days. Each chapter contains a personal application section at the end with a "point to ponder," a verse to remember, and a question to consider over the course of that day. Rick Warren described his book as an "anti-self-help book." The first sentence of the book reads, "It's not about you,"^[5] and the remainder of the chapter goes on to explain how the quest for personal fulfillment, satisfaction, and meaning can only be found in understanding and doing what God placed you on Earth to do.^[6] The book's 40 chapters are divided into six major sections, with the following titles:^[7]

★ What on Earth Am I Here For?

★ Purpose #1: You Were Planned for God's Pleasure (Worship)

★ Purpose #2: You Were Formed for God's Family (Fellowship)

★ Purpose #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ (Discipleship)

★ Purpose #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God (Ministry)

★ Purpose #5: You Were Made for a Mission (Mission)
Each of these is meant to build on the previous - that is, Warren wants the reader to see that each purpose is sequential and foundational for the next step.

Criticisms

In spite of its widespread use and endorsement, including Reverend Billy Graham calling it a classic devotional, some in the Christian community have been critical of the book for various reasons. Jimmy Swaggart and John MacArthur criticized the book as "pop gospel." Others have expressed concern that Warren's methods do not adequately account for individuality, providing a one-size-fits all approach to spirituality.
Another common complaint is that Warren fails to present the evangelical Christian gospel accurately--failing to accurately represent the nature of sin, repentance and hell and the blood sacrifice of God's son Jesus as the means to be forgiven by God for sins and allow man to have a relationship with God. Critics also frequently complain that ''The Purpose Driven Life'' contains many examples of inaccurate exegesis, and that it makes frequent use of loose and inaccurate paraphrases, as opposed to more faithful translations. Critics likewise contend that when citing Scripture, Warren jumps from one Bible version to another, cherry-picking whichever paraphrase or translation supports whatever point he attempts to convey.^[8] Yet another common complaint pertains to Warren's statement that "Whenever God wanted to prepare someone for his purposes, he took forty days"^[9]--a claim which critics affirm to be both overly broad and contradicted by Scripture.^[10]
Atheist philosopher Daniel Dennett said he admired the book's stated goal of bringing purpose to the lives of millions; however, he criticized the author's implicit acceptance of intelligent design, his rejection of rational criticism of religion, and his assertion that morality derives exclusively from religion.^[11]
Theologian Robert M. Price has written a critique of the book called ''The Reason-Driven Life''.

Other books by Rick Warren

★ ''The Purpose Driven Church'' (ISBN 0-310-20106-3)

★ ''Answers To Life's Difficult Questions'' (ISBN 0-9660895-2-9)

★ ''The Power To Change Your Life'' (ISBN 0-9660895-1-0)

★ ''What on Earth Am I Here For?'', booklet (ISBN 0-310-26483-9)

★ ''Personal Bible Study Methods'' (ISBN 0-9660895-0-2)

See also

★ Saddleback Church

★ Christian literature

★ Purpose Driven

External links

★ Rick Warren

★ Purpose Driven Life

References

1. ''The Purpose Driven Life: The Book'', 2002-2005, at Purpose Driven Life website
2. ''Survey Reveals The Books and Authors That Have Most Influenced Pastors'', May 2005, The Barna Group
3. Nussbaum, Paul, ''The purpose-driven pastor'', 2006, Philadelphia Enquirer, reproduced at freerepublic.com
4. ''Shooting suspect’s hostage: I gave him meth'' September 27, 2005, Associated Press
5. Warren, Rick, ''The Purpose Driven Life'', 2002, p17
6. Warren, Rick, ''The Purpose Driven Life'', 2002, p25
7. Warren, Rick, ''The Purpose Driven Life'', 2002, Table of Contents
8. ''The Purpose Driven Life: A beautiful bouquet? Or an accidental assortment?'' at purposeverses.com
9. Warren, Rick, ''The Purpose Driven Life'', 2002, p9
10. Todd, Tim, ''Observations about The Purpose Driven Life''
11. Dennett, Daniel ''Can we Know our Own Minds'' video lecture at TED.com