"Joshua" Books: Yay or Nay?

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Belcanto

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Has anyone read the “Joshua” books by Joseph Girzone? I know a little bit about them, but not much. Does anyone think that they’re good, theologically sound literature? Why or why not?

Pax Tecum,
Jay
 
While visiting my mom, I picked this up off her shelf to read. After the first few chapters, I could not stomach any more of the heretical blather. I threw it away, in the trash, where it belongs.
 
My aunt and uncle rave about these which would lead me to believe that they’re garbage.
 
Belcanto,

NAY

I think they are anti-catholic, anti-clerical, anti-magisterium, anti-church.

But that’s just my little 'ol opinion. 😃
VC
 
I’ve only read the first one and I say nay. It’s anti-Catholic.
 
Another “Nay”. It’s heretical fluff, if heresy can be fluffy.
 
**NAY! :mad:

THEY ARE HERETICAL AND ALSO, ISN’T HE AN EX- PRIEST?

So I did a quick search…
** Stepping down from being an active Catholic priest in 1981 due to health reasons, Girzone discovered a second vocation: writing light, popular religious novels with a contemporary Jesus character. chestnut hair." You’ve probably seen him in the Banana Republic catalogue–the Messiah collection…

Whatever the original four Gospels leave out, Girzone fills in. We know what Joshua is thinking and feeling, what he looks like, what he sounds like, and exactly what he wants: peace, love, inclusion. And let us not settle for even an appearance of failure like at the cross. Joshua tackles the big problems, such as ecumenism (“Joshua,” 1983), the Irish and Mideast stalemates (“Joshua and the Children,” 1989; “Joshua in the Holyland,” 1992), and, in one book, overcomes poverty, racism and AIDS (“Joshua and the City,” 1995). Last year we saw a greatest-hits version (“The Homecoming”) where Joshua revisits his friends from the earlier books.

Girzone’s ah-shucks Messiah is so likeable and so popular, in fact, that people are being tempted to trade in the real Jesus for Joshua. And this, I suspect, is what is bothering Joseph Girzone. How else can we explain Girzone’s latest book, “Jesus: His Life and Teachings As Recorded by His Friends Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.” If the latter four names sound familiar to you, then so will the book. Girzone has taken the four Gospels and stitched them together chronologically–and that’s all. No chestnut hair or khakis, just plain Jesus, with stories in a slightly different order than the version you will find in your pew and without those pesky little numbers getting in the way.
beliefnet.com/story/21/story_2126_1.html
 
The author lets his true colors slip in “Joshua and the Shepherd” about a Joshua supporting dissident bishop that gets treated harshly by the church after abandoning much catholic teaching in his diocese. In the end, we find this priest being elected pope…

Agenda revealed.
 
The Catholic bookstore in my area does not sell the Joshua books.

There are some subtle and some not so subtle criticisms of Catholic teachings in the books.
 
when the first book came out FIL gave it to me as a gift, I could never finish reading it, the characters were so bland and the writing banal. When the movie came out several catechists wanted to promote it, pastor said no way, absolutely not.
 
Aside from being something I could have pecked out in the sixth grade, it is full of baloney. Girzone’s “Jesus” is a failure, as His death on a cross wasn’t good enough. Indeed, He has to break His word about His second coming, come to Earth as an everyday feel-good Joe, re-do the miracles, and slam His church, the Catholic church, time and time again. Even the “good” Catholic priest in Girzone’s first Joshua book drinks too much and laments celibacy. Joshua/Jesus agrees and encourages the priest’s resentment of The Church’s teachings. It is blasphemous.
Our in-laws sent us this book, and my husband felt betrayed. He said it best when he exclaimed that no Magisterium-loving Catholic would have this book as casual reading in thier house.
Everything that Girzone writes is garbage. His other books mock Fear of the Lord and have an underlying new-age pulse.
If one must read this book, I would recommend one be strong and knowledged in their faith, so as to recognize the heresy in these pages.
 
Wendy-Kay said:
Aside from being something I could have pecked out in the sixth grade, it is full of baloney. Girzone’s “Jesus” is a failure, as His death on a cross wasn’t good enough. Indeed, He has to break His word about His second coming, come to Earth as an everyday feel-good Joe, re-do the miracles, and slam His church, the Catholic church, time and time again. Even the “good” Catholic priest in Girzone’s first Joshua book drinks too much and laments celibacy. Joshua/Jesus agrees and encourages the priest’s resentment of The Church’s teachings. It is blasphemous.
Our in-laws sent us this book, and my husband felt betrayed. He said it best when he exclaimed that no Magisterium-loving Catholic would have this book as casual reading in thier house.
Everything that Girzone writes is garbage. His other books mock Fear of the Lord and have an underlying new-age pulse.
If one must read this book, I would recommend one be strong and knowledged in their faith, so as to recognize the heresy in these pages.
Click to expand...
Thank you Wendy!

Peace,

Dorothy
 
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