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Book review
Purpose-driven life
by Rick Warren

Full description of book:
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I here for? (Originally published Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Zondervan, 2002; IMPrint Edition, Singapore, Singapore: Campus Crusade Asia Limited, 2004). ISBN 981-05-0849-2.

Rating:

Scholarship: 3/10
Information content: 9/10
Spiritual content: 6/10 (Error-ridden, not exactly heretical but bordering on heresy in some cases)
Overall rating: 6/10

Summary:

In this book, Rick Warren (founding pastor of Saddleback church in California, USA) proceeds to answer the most basic question in life — Why I am here for? What is my purpose? He then explains to the reader that his purpose is to be found in God, following which he elaborates, with quotations from the Bible, on the five purposes (purportedly based on the Great Commandment and the Great Commission) that we are made for: Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship, Ministry, Evangelism, which would lead to a purpose-driven life when applied. These purposes are explained as follows:

We were planned for God's pleasure, so your first purpose is to offer real worship.
We were formed for God’s family, so your second purpose is to enjoy real fellowship.
We were created to become like Christ, so your third purpose is to learn real discipleship.
We were shaped for serving God, so your fourth purpose is to practice real ministry.
We were made for a mission, so your fifth purpose is to live out real evangelism.
(Taken from purpose driven website)

For a more complete description of the product, see http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/thebook.aspx

Short review:

This book has a few good points and many errors within it. For a fuller review of this bok, get my new book Driven Away by Purpose — An analysis of the Purpose Driven Life and Related Issues (2nd Ed.) here.

As for the ratings, it has quite a lot of information so it is given a rating of 9. Its poor scholarship warrents a rating of 3. Since there are a few nuggets of truth in the sea of errors and subtle errors, it is given a rating of 6, and thus the overall rating if 6.