The book Conversations with God, by Neale Donald Walsch is published by Hodder & Stoughton and the edition I am quoting from here is copyrighted 1995.
Like many books written these days that move away from mainstream Christianity the author prepares the reader for criticism,
“Thus will this very book be called blasphemy – the work of the devil – by some” – p.196.
However, that is not the statement I want to make without evidence, I want us to look logical at what is written within its pages and the claims it makes about itself.
What is interesting is when we discover the claims made about this book and consider the basis carefully we can only come to one conclusion – to believe what is written here is illogical and no one should be taken in by it. Please note from the points below – this is the conclusion from Walsch’s own writing not a biased outside view. Why do I say this?
1. We read on page 3 that God says in response to Walsch’s questioning that he
“… communicate(s) with thought… I often use images and pictures. For this reason, thoughts are more effective that mere words as tools of communication.”
In other words the book was dictated by God but the author was thinking the words in his own mind. However the Bible also makes such a claim,
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…” Hebrews 1:1-2.
If this book is true and can be accepted then how much MORE should the Bible be taken as the words of God. Yet this is not the case indeed the book often belittles and indeed denies the truth of the Bible.
“Leaders, Ministers, Rabbis, Priest, Books. The Bible, for heaven’s sake! (God answers) Those are not authoritative sources.” – p.8.
However, here we have the first problem – the Bible that claims to be the words of God, in the same way as this book does, cannot be trusted in the eyes of the author. Neither then can his own book which is built on the same foundation.
2. Another aspect of this book that shows its lack of credibility and illogical reasoning, is its subjectivity.
“So I have given you other tools of knowing. And these are called feelings. And so too, thoughts. Now the supreme irony here is that you have all placed so much importance on the Word of God, and so little on the experience.”
I really wonder what the irony is because the Bible is objective in its stance and the information it contains can be tested and shown to be true. Not so Conversations, because the subjectivity and feelings would change with each person. You can never have a clear foundation and nothing is absolute and so nothing is a solid foundation.
3. On page 5 we are told that what is from God “contains truth” but we still have to ask as Pilate did, “What is truth?” Truth cannot be subjective because one man’s truth would be another man’s lie. Truth must be objective and absolute so as to be a proper tool of judgement. But there are no objectives or absolutes in Conversations. On p.39 God says,
“I have never set down a ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ a ‘do’ or a ‘don’t.’ To do so would strip you completely of your greatest gift – the opportunity to do as you please…”
With such a God, without absolutes, there can be no truth because it is always changing. Hence the ‘God’ of this book is not communicating truth and it is illogical to accept it.
4. Amazingly, the claim is, that God inspires books such as Conversations and Course of Miracles but not the Bible. In several instances (see pages 45 and 95) the Bible is even misused in an effort to prove Conversations to be acceptable.
When logical reasoning is applied to the claims of this book we see that it is far more reliable to accept the Bible. We then must conclude that it is dangerous to rely on the teachings of Conversations because it is leading us into a totally different direction than the True Scriptures.
Below we look at just a few examples of the error of Conversations. All of the quotes below teach the opposite of the fundamental belief of Scripture. What are you going to choose – this book that cannot be checked out or ‘proven’ in any way or the Bible that can be established as true by test internal and external.
Person of God
“If you believe that God is the creator and decider of all things in your life, you are mistaken. God is the observer, not the creator.” – p.13
“Excuse me, but why not eliminate the events? (God answers) A very good suggestion. Unfortunately, I have no control over them.” – p.105.
Conversations shows God to be subservient to events and not the creator of all things. However the Bible shows that He is the Creator and indeed the Sustainer of all life.
Person of Christ
“So who said Jesus was perfect?” – p.192
Conversations as many such books, seeks to belittle the person of Christ. However check out both the historical evidence and the Biblical evidence and we find that Christ was perfect and He is the only man ever to live such a life.
The Devil and Hell
“And so you have created in your mythology the being you call the ‘devil'” – p.14.
“I tell you there is no such experience after death as you have constructed in your fear-based theologies… I do not send you there (to hell)… You, yourself, create the experience… Yet even this experience is never eternal.” – pp.40-41
Conversations wants us to believe the devil does not exist and so we need not worry about hell. Not only does the Bible show this to be untrue, but look into the world and see the evil of man against man – this is not normal this is supernatural evil.
The Devil is real, and an eternity in hell, is also real for those who choose to follow him. He will be there and those that choose to follow him will also be there.
Man’s failure and Man’s future
“No wait a minute! Who’s seeking to be like the devil? (God answers) You are! You all are! You’ve even created religions that tell you that you are born in sin – that you are sinners at birth…” – p.85
“There is no such thing as ‘getting to heaven.’ There is only knowing that you are already there.” – p.98.
“You never do die. Life is eternal. You are immortal. You never die.”
Man did not fail – man has no problems – just think your way into an eternal future, says Conversations. The Bible reality is that there is sin and as a result there is death, not just physical but spiritual. We do not all have eternal life with Christ automatically we need to accept the way that God offers us.
Fall of Man and the Redemption of Christ
“You are saying that My Son – who you called the One Perfect One – has saved you from your own imperfection – the imperfection I gave you. In other words, God’s Son has saved you from what His Father did. This is how you – many of you – say I’ve set it up. Now who is mocking whom?” – p.137
“You have had 647 past lives, since you insist on being exact. This is your 648th.” – p.204.
Of course if there is no problem then there is also no need of an answer. Reincarnation sounds so easy but again it is totally illogical because it puts you at the mercy of fate and you never know how many lives you have to live. You might never make it and the world might end with you still in limbo.
However history, archaeology and the Bible all show that Christ died and He died for a purpose. He is the One who can pay off your ‘karmic debt’ and set you free.
If you think there is no disease then you need no cure. If you accept that there is a disease called ‘sin’ then you need to take the correct cure. In this case as we have seen by comparing Conversations and the Bible, the only cure is salvation through Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
I ask again, what are you going to choose – this book that cannot be checked out or ‘proven’ in any way or the Bible that can be established as true by test internal and external. Our eternal future depends on our answer.
