Would you like to Start a Book Club on this Book "Hinds Feet on High Places"?

[Nice & Wavy]

This is an excellent book to do a Book Club with. I read this book about 13 years ago and I loved it then and I just ordered it again to read and thought that maybe, whoever wanted too, would like to read it with me and then we can talk about it. There is a part two to it called "Moutain of Spices" that is great as well.

Here is a preface of what the book is about:

"Hinds' Feet on High Places" is one of Hannah Hurnard's best known and best loved books. This book is a beautiful allegory dramatizing the yearning of God's children to be led to new heights of love, joy, and victory. Follow Much-Afraid on her spiritual journey through difficult places with her two companions, Sorrow and Suffering. Learn how Much-Afraid overcomes her tormenting fears as she passes through many dangers and mounts at last to the High Places. There she gains a new name and returns to her valley of service, transformed by her union with the loving Shepherd.

Here is the some of the beginning of Part 1 of the book:

This is the story of how Much-Afraid escaped from her Fearing relatives and went with the Shepherd to the High Places where "perfect love cast out fear."

For several years, Much-Afraid had been in the service of the Chief Shepherd, whose great flocks were pastured down in the Valley of Humiliation. She lived with her friends and fellow workers Mercy & Peace in a tranquil littel white cottage in the village of Much-Trembling....

This book is phenominal! It will cause you to see yourself, as if looking in a mirror. I love this book and so will you!!!

It is inexpensive...somewhere around $6.99-$8.00.

Please let me know if you want to do it. I'm going to put my name first on the list:

Nice & Wavy

 

[Nice & Wavy]

Ok...guess no one is interested...so, I will begin to read this excellent book by myself.

Mods, can you delete this thread please. Thanks.

 

[PinkPebbles]

I agree that this is an excellent book! Grad school is occupying most of my time at the moment...

 

[Mocha5]

I'll read it with you Wavy! Going to check Amazon.

ETA: There are 3??? Which to get???

 

[SEMO]

I wouldn't recommend you do a book club reading with this book. I don't believe it is of God . I've read the book before myself. I posted about this book and my problems with it on another forum. I'll repost what I wrote there so you can see why I don't like it.

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I really liked the allegory the first time I read it, and know that it's considered a Christian classic. I once decided to re-read it during a difficult time in my life (for encouragement) but I felt prompted to do a little research online and see what others thought of it. I came across this site: http://home.i-plus.net/thorpe/Zion/Hindsfeet.htm

The review of the book reveals New Age themes, which are even more apparent in the two sequels to the book (ex. Mountain of Spices and another one). I was shocked. That experience taught me that even if something is considered a classic you always have to be discerning when you read stuff.

Here is an excerpt of the review to illustrate what I mean:

Buddhism Reborn?

Buddhism is an ancient and Christless religion. It is full of the wisdom of this world. To advance in Buddhism the seeker must sacrifice all -- both physically and mentally. All thoughts, desires, and feeling must be emptied. Only then can inner peace and contentment be realized. Only then can man find the higher level of consciousness.

The Christian walk is the opposite of Buddhism. After conversion we do not empty ourselves of all but rather nourish the new man and direct his love toward God and a lost world. Our salivation is expressed in receiving Christ, growing in God, strengthening our inner man, and building us up in knowledge and faith! Born Again Christianity starts with a saving Christ and continues in the daily renewing of the Holy Ghost. The only thing we lose is old dead Adam, his corruption and sin. In Christianity we are already in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:" Ephesians 1:3

The Ultimate Sacrifice!

The high water mark of Hannah’s Hinds’ Feet was a Buddistic like emptying in which Hannah’s heroin yields herself upon the last of many altars. She had previously surrendered self-will and other negative human attributes. Finally, she sacrifices her human affection so completely that sorrow and suffering also disappear. Imagine, becoming so distant from all humans that no pain is felt when parting! This reflects cultism at its worst! As believers, we put Christ first and in putting Christ first we gain perfect love for our families and all of mankind. Love causes us to give, to touch, and to be there while sharing Christ. True love does not run to a monastery to avoid human temptation. Love is not to lose our feeling as humans. New creatures in Christ are not transformed into zombies but saints. Zombies feel nothing saints love to the fullest!

Hanna tells how the priest (Christ) thrust his steel hand into her heart.

"There was a sound of rending and tearing." Next her "human love, with all its myriad rootlets and fibers, came forth."

The priest examined it and said, "Yes, it was ripe for removal, the time has come. There is not a rootlet torn or missing." (No human love was left!)

Next the priest "cast it down on the altar and spread his hands above it. Suddenly, "there came a flash of fire which seemed to rend the altar; after that, nothing but ashes remained," Nothing was left, "either of the love itself. . . or of the suffering and sorrow." (These had been her companions throughout her journey.) Finally, "a sense of utter, overwhelming rest and peace engulfed Much-Afraid. At last, nothing left to be done." Finally, the priest "unbound her ... and she said with complete thanksgiving, ‘it is finished.’ " 6

Here is some of the review about one of her sequels (which shows the wrong teaching even more clearly):

Undoing the Deity of Christ.

Hannah ascribes Christ’s unique origin to Adam's entire race. She gives to every man that which Christ alone possesses as the "Logos" of God!

Grace asks: "What is a self?"

The Shepherd answers, "an individual will is really a part of the Will and Consciousness of the Creator himself," the will is "a part which he has made free so that it knows itself to be distinct in some lovely and mysterious way from all other individual wills, even from the will of the Creator Who sent it forth." 5

HANNAH’S UNIVERSALISM

We understand that Christ died for whosoever will believe but all will not believe. Universalism states that in the end all will be saved and released from Hell. Our next two citations from Mountains of Spices, seem to show Hannah’s acceptance of Universalism. The third citation from Eagle’s Wings clearly puts forward Universliam.

The Shepherd explains that Christ was crucified so that he, "might be able to overcome the disease of sin in the whole suffering body or race of men. 6"

Next the Shepherd sings and this is part of his song.

"He descended into hell
The deepest depths God’s Love knows well
One with us he will not part
E’en from the hardest self-willed heart ..." 7

In Hurnard's out of print 1981 book, Eagles' Wings to the Higher Places, Hannah teaches that the love of God will at last deliver all men from hell. Her fictional character Aletheia discovers this higher truth from an encounter with one she assumes to be Jesus:

First, Aletheia cries in confusion. She cannot understand why God is not able to save everyone. How could she follow a God of such little power?

Then, the Good Shepherd comes to her and says: "I will lead you to a place where you will behold the higher truth which will solve completely all your sorrowful questioning. 8"

She is informed that all of humanity will be saved in the end. With this revelation she exclaims, "Oh, what a victory! The only victory truly worthy of the Great God and Creator Who "did not make anything in vain but in the end" (as she wrongly interprets Scripture) "restores all things unto Himself." (Acts 3:21) Oh, it is the best News possible, the only possible News, if we are truly to love and trust Him fully." 9

While it is true that all in Adam die (and all are in Adam) not all are in Christ and therefore, not all have life. All who are in Christ are made alive but we know that this is not true of refuse-nicks. Hannah has universalized the "all" and ignored the all important IN CHRIST!

 

[Sasha Fierce]

I read this book for the first time about 5 months ago. I would love to stick my head in from time to time if y'all decide to get a discussion going.

 

[Nice & Wavy]

I wouldn't recommend you do a book club reading with this book. I don't believe it is of God . I've read the book before myself. I posted about this book and my problems with it on another forum. I'll repost what I wrote there so you can see why I don't like it.

-----------

I really liked the allegory the first time I read it, and know that it's considered a Christian classic. I once decided to re-read it during a difficult time in my life (for encouragement) but I felt prompted to do a little research online and see what others thought of it. I came across this site: http://home.i-plus.net/thorpe/Zion/Hindsfeet.htm

The review of the book reveals New Age themes, which are even more apparent in the two sequels to the book (ex. Mountain of Spices and another one). I was shocked. That experience taught me that even if something is considered a classic you always have to be discerning when you read stuff.

Here is an excerpt of the review to illustrate what I mean:



Here is some of the review about one of her sequels (which shows the wrong teaching even more clearly):

Well, thank you SEMO for sharing this with me. Although I did not know any of this, it makes sense to me that something like this could be regarding the author of this book.

When I read this book, many years ago, I was blessed by it and it helped me overcome some things that were messed up in my life. Even if it does have those underhanded things in there, the Lord protected my heart and many other christians that I know who have read this book.

I do appreciate you and your love of the body of Christ to warn us about this. You are a blessing and I thank God for you.

To the others...I've decided not to do a book club on this book. Not because of what SEMO revealed to us, but because I realize that I wouldn't have the time to do one at this time. That is another reason why I asked the Mods to delete the thread.

Loving you all with the love of the Lord!

 

[SEMO]

Well, thank you SEMO for sharing this with me. Although I did not know any of this, it makes sense to me that something like this could be regarding the author of this book.

When I read this book, many years ago, I was blessed by it and it helped me overcome some things that were messed up in my life. Even if it does have those underhanded things in there, the Lord protected my heart and many other christians that I know who have read this book.

I do appreciate you and your love of the body of Christ to warn us about this. You are a blessing and I thank God for you.

To the others...I've decided not to do a book club on this book. Not because of what SEMO revealed to us, but because I realize that I wouldn't have the time to do one at this time. That is another reason why I asked the Mods to delete the thread.

Loving you all with the love of the Lord!

I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news but the enemy has tricked me a shameful number of times in the area of what I read. In the last 2 weeks I've had to remove that book and like 4-5 other supposedly "Christian" books from my book shelf b/c I later realized that they were not of God.

I just posted what I did b/c I didn't want anyone to be taken in like I was.

 

[Nice & Wavy]

I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news but the enemy has tricked me a shameful number of times in the area of what I read. In the last 2 weeks I've had to remove that book and like 4-5 other supposedly "Christian" books from my book shelf b/c I later realized that they were not of God.

I just posted what I did b/c I didn't want anyone to be taken in like I was.

I have been saved quite sometime now and I have read many books that are not of God, to get an understanding of the minds and hearts of people so that I can be better prepared to minister to those that I come into contact with who deal in these areas. When your heart is protected by God, nothing can penetrate that...no, not even words from a book.

Like I said before, I do appreciate you sharing with us your heart. I don't think you were a bearer of bad news...but remember, there are people that may read it and get something from it, just as I did when I read it almost 20 years ago.

Blessings, always.