Reviews for The Sathya Sai Baba Compendium: A Guide to the First Seventy Years

The average rating for The Sathya Sai Baba Compendium: A Guide to the First Seventy Years based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-10-28 00:00:00 Jimmy St-germain Sadly, "The Adversary at Home" was a disappointing book, but prior to sharing the reasons for my disappointment, let me highlight the book's positives. The author does a good job toward the middle of the book of identifying the importance of a happy, communicative, and loving relationship between mother and father and the positive impact of such a marriage on children. The author also makes a valid point that parents are responsible for establishing the proper environment within the home. As an example, we shouldn't be surprised if our children struggle with anger if we as parents struggle with anger around our children. Now, to my frustrations with the book: 1) Much of the author's premise in the book relates to his concept of generational sin, a briefly discussed topic in the Bible. While an obscure concept, the author bases much of his teaching around a concept of the sins of the father being handed down to following generations . . . and even begins asserting demonic oppression and possession being handed down generationally. Simply put, his anecdotal evidence both from the Bible and from personal counseling do little to lead me to the same conclusions the author reaches. Instead, Scripture consistently demonstrates personal responsibility for capitulation to sin, and I see no indication of demonic affliction being passed generationally. 2) I also disagreed with the author's assertions concerning demonic influence upon believers. While we do see a few obscure references to demonic affliction upon believers in Scripture (Paul's thorn, Peter sifted as wheat, etc.) their manifestation in Scripture do not match the examples that the author provides, many of which tend toward the fantastic (visions, bumps in the night, etc.) and Scripture definitely refutes the notion that a believer could be possessed by by a demon. 3) The author misuses and misinterprets some passages of Scripture to "prove" his points concerning generational sins, going as far as asserting that the Holy Spirit intended certain passages to mean things that they don't say when read in context. 4) If the author is to be believed, then instances of demonic possession and oppression are occurring everywhere (even among believers), an assertion that I would contest. After 4 years in the mission field, I would agree that demonic oppression and possession are real, but are rare occurrences. Of the 1,200+ former street children that we have ministered to in Kenya, we only have come across one definite case of possession and a small handful of cases of possible oppression. In each instance, the child had a history of involvement in witchcraft and/or devil worship. The author paints a picture of demonic possession and possession occurring on every street corner in the US. While there is danger in ignoring the designs and intentions of our enemy, it is equally dangerous to think too highly of Satan's power and influence. 5) The author lists a series of "prayers" that parents should pray to fight demons in their homes that seem at times to be incantations in their own right. The author seems to recommend the use of "the name of Jesus" as a magic word to fight demonic forces. The author teaches people to renounce Satan's generational rights to children . . . it all seems a little too "hocus-pocus" to me. If in fact a demonic attack is occurring in a situation, what are we relying upon? Speaking certain words to make the evil spirit leave, OR do we earnestly approach our Father in prayer asking for relief in the situation, asking for His will to be done, asking that He be glorified even in a scary and uncertain situation. From my perspective and in my understanding of Scripture, the latter approach holds more closely to God's Word. As we approach the spiritual battlefield, our status as God's children through faith in Christ carries sufficient authority to battle the worst our enemy could throw at us. If interested in reading a good book on this topic, take a look at Leahy's book, "Satan Cast Out." Leahy does a much better job of using Scripture as his foundation when handling this topic.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-08-29 00:00:00 Adrian Hill Like Fahy's first book, The Tree That Survived the Winter, this allegorical story is one of truth, love, and light. Beautiful...