[.ca] The Covering (ISBN 0849917557)

Not Bad:
The value of this book is that it gives a fair amount of information on spiritual warfare in a small package. If you can get the amount you way-overpaid for such a small book and if you don't have the time to read a more in-depth treatment of the subject this is a good book to read on spiritual warfare. I mention the high price because it is one of the new genre of itty bitty books that has hit the shelves ever since the Prayer of Jabez. All of these books are small and are over-priced. However, for those who have limited time some of these books (especially C. J. Mahaney's book on the Cross) are well worth reading. Pricing aside, this book seeks to counter the modern deliverance model of spiritual warfare with the biblical discipleship model of spiritual warfare. To do this, Hanegraaff tells a few stories of some of the well known fakes and frauds in the deliverance industry and then turns his attention to exegeting the spiritual armor of Ephesians 6. As regards the spiritual fakes and frauds he points out that modern deliverance warfare takes its cues from dubious movies and books like the Exorcist and Hostage to the Devil by Malachi Martin. He also addresses the fabrications of people like John Todd, Mike Warnke and Loren Cunningham. Although all three were found to be frauds they got the deliverance train moving with enough momentum that the movement has been able to sustain itself without them. Hanegraaff correctly points out that the clearest passage in the Bible dealing with spiritual warfare - Ephesians 6 - does not follow the deliverance model. In this biblical model one does not address Satan and demons, one addresses God and one's walk with God. He makes the point that the deliverance model of spiritual warfare dovetails nicely with modern irresponsibility. The great thing about the deliverance model is that you are not responsible for your own sin - you can plead the Flip Wilson line - "the devil made me do it." Ephesians 6, on the contrary makes the individual responsible for his actions, not the devil. There are some things I wish he had said in his discussion about the pieces of armor, but with it being such a short book, its hard to fault him for that. You can only say so much in such a short space. Specifically I would have liked to seen the book give greater emphasis to the fact that all of the pieces of armor are things we have in Christ, they are not things we try to achieve. In other words, we rest in Christ's righteousness, we don't try to be righteousness. This is touched on, I just would have liked to seen it emphasized more. Overall, not a bad book for such a short book.

A Great Start, But Needs A Little More:
The Covering is Hanegraaff's follow-up to his book "The Prayer of Jesus." The first book addressed prayer in the New Testament. In this brief volume, he addresses the armor of God made available to every Christian (see Ephesians 6:10-18). In his Introduction, Hanegraaff reveals that his aim in writing is polemical (he is writing to correct erroneous teaching). He addresses the errant teachings found in the writings of Neil T. Anderson, Bob Larson, and the teachings of deliverance ministry advocates (I have not read these authors and cannot comment on the content of their works. Their errancy is Hanegraaff's opinion). The essence of his disagreement with these authors is the degree of power or influence these men believe Satan/demons have over Christians. Hanegraaff adequately shows from Scripture that a Christian cannot be demon possessed. Hanegraaff argues that Satan only has power to influence people's minds. This is where I disagree with him. Scripture has several examples that show the power of Satan/demons manifest in the material realm (e.g., the showdown between Moses and Pharaoh's magicians). Even still, Scripture does reveal that Satan's power is limited and is no match for God's omnipotence. Hanegraaff offers a chapter for each piece of the armor of God. His point in covering each piece is to show that a Christian who applies the armor will be more than adequately prepared for Biblical spiritual warfare. A Christian who does not don the spiritual armor of God walks into battle vulnerable and asking for defeat. A final chapter entitled "The Covering as a Lifestyle" is Hanegraaff's brief summary of the armor. He gives examples of how one can be mindful of putting on the armor as one's gets dressed in the morning. However, he falls short of actually telling the reader how to put on the armor. He is not at all clear on the application side of The Covering. I did enjoy this book. His research and information was informative, especially the section showing that the Bible is clear that a Christian cannot be demon possessed. That section alone will be worth the price of the book for many readers. In the end, I was left wishing he had given me just a page or two more in each chapter with a clear explanation of how one actually puts on the armor. I have enjoyed many of the little books of this size, but their limited size sometimes causes the author to omit the most necessary part of his topic. This book is a very good beginning, but the reader will likely want more in the end.

A disappointing little book:
When I opened the box that "The Covering" was shipped in, my first thought was that from now on I would check the product details for the size of the book and the number of pages it contained before purchasing it. Being an optimist by nature, I hoped I was not prejudging this "Jabez"-sized book by it's cover. Opening it, I found that the book was about "The Full Armor of God" which is a topic that has been beaten to death by nearly every radio preacher in the past year. Optimistically, I hoped Hank would shed new light on the subject. Hank did--I learned that Shaq played basketball poorly when his toe hurt. Actually the same thing happened to Calvin Hill during the hayday of the Dallas Cowboys, but that observation did not need to take up space in such a short book. Reading further, Hank could not resist denegrating other writers' views on scripture. Being an infrequent listener to his radio show, it was not a surprise to me that he would attack other points-of-view in his usual Pharaseic style. It might have been appropriate in a book of literary criticism, but I suspect it was filler for a book that was lacking in substance. Last, Hank encouraged readers to memorize all the biblical passages they could. He even explained some memory tricks for remembering which piece of armor goes with which spiritual trait. I have always viewed memorizing scripture as a way to sound authoritative without having to develop an understanding of the "big picture". In summary, I feel I was \ocheated\c, and the book was a minor disappointment. I would have given it one star, except there will be times where I will want to find a certain biblical passage, and it is much easier to look in this tiny book than in the entire New Testament.

SPIRITUAL WAR-FARE:
'The Covering' is a wonderful and useful material to read in-equivocally to ascertain the spiritual war-fare we are now confronting in this 21st century of uncertainly, un-identity crisis, calamaties everywhere, bisitudes, and much more negative imploring capacities in life,to over-come the evil-workers of malignancy, negatively speaking atrocities in this world. nd warns of a special un-dentifiable covering to use, personally in the spirit/soul/and we live in a body-- Hank Hanegraaff's author, lets us know how we can live with the continous 'SPIRITUAL-WAR-FARE' and continuous wresting in the mind spectrum--then he quotes 'FOR WE WRESTLE NOT' AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS OF THIS WORLD, PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD (the head has to be covered (a special helmet,the chest, and feet) this quote is from the Word of God interpreted by the Holy-Spirit forces inside the Divine trinitarian person of God, God-Jesus Christ-Holy Spirit - After reading this statement, I will certainly wear this armor, no matter what it looks like, feel, or fits to my own size- either inside ourhomes, outside, or anywhere we travel, or facing any other fatal circumstances unable to handle. I recommend this book 'The Covering' End**** Amy**

Limited use.:
The principles outlined in this little book are sound and needed, but ultimately the book falls very short of the intended goal of equipping a Christian for spiritual warfare. A text on the subject would have to at least be three times the depth of this book. Very little practical advise was given on the day-to-day activities that constitute spiritual warfare. I gave Hanegraaff a few stars for successfully debunking the deliverance ministry nonsense that has taken the evangelical movement by storm. I took a few away for the aforementioned reasons and that Hanegraaf's demonology is a little suspect on certain points. If you want good books regarding Demonology, try: Biblical Demonology, by. Merrill F. Unger, Th.D., Ph.D. (The standard work in Conservative circles.) The Powers of Evil, by. Sydney H.T. Page (An incredibly well documented book on Satanic powers.) As to a proper interpretation of the "armor of God" found in Ephesians, there are simply to many good resources to list. Ask your local Pastor or Deacon.