[.ca] The New Revelations: A Conversation With God (ISBN 0743528379)

Preaching to the Choir:
When I first read this book, it struck me that it would probably be the last of the CWG series that I would purchase. I do not wish to take away from the very sincere and positive comments of the other reviewers, because the basic message of the book is sound. But I am sensing that Mr. Walsch is increasingly preaching to his choir. Seems highly doubtful that the folks whose ideas this conversation is directed at exposing (exclusionary and fear-based religious groups) will ever hear the message. So, other than gaining Mr. Walsch a lot of self-satisfaction at having impressed other like-minded souls, how is it that this dialogue will reverse the disturbing trend for fear-based religious adherents to destructively act on their beliefs? I wrote to the author not long after I had read the book and asked him why it is he only speaks in forums where he is sure to have an agreeable audience, i.e. predominantly New Thought and New Age churches/gatherings, folks who from my personal observation are not causing a whole lot of trouble in this world. After all, I suspect that the obvious targets of this particular discussion with God (religiously conservative Christians, religiously conservative Jews and the vast majority of Moslems) will probably never be drawn to his dialogue in large numbers, if at all. I even offered to Mr. Walsch that if he would go speak at a church, synagogue or mosque of his choice where such religious adherents are likely to worship, that I would pay his airfare and go there myself to sit in the front row and actively support him. (That was a very sincere offer, by the way, not intended in any way to minimize his message.) I did not receive an answer. But the dialogue that would likely ensue between Mr. Walsch and the congregations of those groups is something I WOULD be willing to invest money to listen to. And, to borrow from a portion of the titles from his earlier books, THAT would be an "uncommon dialogue"! In closing, I wonder if I am the only one picking up on Mr. Walsch's increasing sense of self-satisfaction. Ironically, it seems to me he has developed an exclusionary attitude towards those he does not consider as enlightened as himself. As evidence, I will offer a personal story. Some time ago, when I still actively supported the CWG foundation (including financially), I had two different friends, both women, remark about their memorable experiences in meeting Mr. Walsch at two different events. One woman described him as "haughty", the other said "he is getting a little big for his britches". Both comments took me by surprise, because I know that both women, just like me, have read his books and essentially agree with the message in this particular book. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for a response to my offer to allow him to go to the next level of the discussion...for to paraphrase what Jesus said, if you have an issue with your brother, take it up with HIM...God and all your friends already agree with you, Mr. Walsch.

challenge yourself:
It's been several years since I've read the CWG series including Books 1-3, Friendship W/God, and Communion w/God, and reading those can be both interesting and frustrating at times. I don't necessarily agree with everything that has been said in those books, but this one is different. The primary focus this time around is organized religion. This is a must-read for people of ALL backgrounds, and to me, the premise (that these words are coming more or less directly from "God") is basically irrelevant. The message, however, is everything. Every message or truth in the world of relativity and perception must always come through a human filter. Because of this, the details and format of these messages will vary, but the Truth remains timeless and unchanged, and that's what this book represents. As an honest, informal critique of religous, spiritual, and sociopolitical issues, it's logical, practical, and catchy all at the same time w/less punning and play on words than in previous books of the series. While it is characteristically repetitive and Walsch clearly brings up issues that he doesn't side with in order to provide a more well-rounded argument, this helps to drive the point home, which is to say that our collective, worldwide society should examine and question its religious beliefs and values more carefully and modify or discard some of these old beliefs because they're simply not working. This book presents a challenge to its readers; it calls for a paradigm shift in not only how we think of God but how we think of religion in general. Personally, I couldn't agree more. It is also appropriately preceeded by a quote from one of the greatest (and my favorite) transcendentalist thinkers of our time, Emerson, but don't let the obvious New Age categorization deceive you. The ideas in this book are truly worth considering.

Don't Throw Out the Baby with the Bathwater:
I listened to the audiobook "A Converstion with God" by Walsch and thought it was interesting how he used an elderly male and female voice to read the words of God. It is obvious that he doesn't want to sterotype the gender of God since that would make it too traditional. Reading the other reviews, I noticed that readers either loved the book and the messages or they didn't at all. The ones who didn't obviously were quite fundamental in their belief and the ones who did were quite secular. I feel there is an obvious trend toward eastern philosophy in this book. That is neither good or bad. No judgement on my part. All it means to me is that Walsch is giving what people want. The old testament of the Bible is full of bloodshed. Understanding the bible and the ancient times described how the people were coming out of paganism and into monotheism. Not once did he mentioned how Jesus did away with the laws and sacrifices which was needed in the times before Christianity and the Love your neigbors as yourself. I don't agree with the 5 fallicies about God because not everyone sees God in that light. Many have a very positive image of God. I do agree with his 5 fallicies about Life. In the audio book, god speaks about the fallicies about life in a very sympathetic tone. When god speaks about the fallicies about God, the tone is very harsh and condescending. There is a slant toward eastern philosophy and I feel there is a lack of scholarly intrepretation of the bible when he speaks out against the bible or the Torah or Koran. If the readers haven't study exegesis, it is difficult for the readers to think critically. Depending on what lens you read this book, you will see things differently. The fallicy I see is that not every Christian sees God the way Walsch describes in his book of new revelations. Many believers believe that God created the world in perfect harmony and that the cause and effect of our choices threw the world into caos. That is not too far from Walsch description of his God. Yet he says in his "A Conversation with God" one should live in alignment with his or her own truth. What if Christianity, Muslem or Judaism is your truth? The put down on those religions in the book may cause one to not see those truths as choices? Therefore, I felt that this God was speaking out of both sides of his/her mouth. There were many good points in this book that I felt were inspiring, but I would encourage one to have their critical thinking cap on. That does not mean you do not listen to your heart. I would do both. Food for thought. The 9th revelaton of his book, was "you cannot die and be condemned to eternal damnation". In genesis 3:4 and the serpent(satan) said to the women, "you will not surely die".

A wake-up call:
After reading through the CwG trilogy throughout my teen years, I stumbled upon The New Revelations during a sale and decided to pick it up. I'm very grateful that I did, as it contains a broader sense of inspiration and wisdom presented in the Triloy, which I love, however this book shifted gears a bit and focused on the fact that we as a collective people are in trouble- and ignoring this fact won't go away. There are numerous steps to be taken to give ourselves (essentially, each other) a higher quality of life filled with love and happiness. I was highly disturbed by some of the negative comments presented in this product review list- don't let the words of narrow-minded religious conversatives make you stray from this dialogue. In my opinion, their comments only further prove Mr Walsh's point- that our current beliefs about God and Life are no longer working. Instead of embracing exclusivity and denouncing freedom and celebration of life as works of Satan, let The New Revelations help you along a path of conversation with God (or whatever version of God that aligns with your inner truth, no matter what spirituality you create or adhere to).

Revelation 'Change Self':
Books of Neale Donald Neale Walsch is based on spirituality and practical applications in every day. I happened to read his interview in a mag and read his first book Conversations with God Book I which was translated in 27 languages. In this Book 'The New Revelations' Neale Walsch reveals that God has given humanity nine new revelations to help change the present beliefs about God and Life. He says 'Do not seek first to change the world but change 'self' and in doing so, you must first decide some important things about yourself, come to new conclusions within and about who you are, about God and about Life and live on those Decisions.' This inner process changes world around you and because we change, people too change around us and Change itself is an act of freedom. The author focus attention that Group action is required now in the changing global crisis and advises how we can not only avoid despair but also help to repair the world. It is not time to follow individual master but master collective consiousness individually. Then work collectively to awaken the collective called 'Humanity'. The author says that the whole world is now linked and entire planet is connected. The rapid advanced technology is threatening to destroy humanity and also which can save it. Whatever the beliefs but the change in self would undoubtedly change the world around and make one work for a humanitarian cause with the perspectives and good thoughts. A great author Neale Donald Walsch and good thoughts. Nice Pick.