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Overview:

The Pharisees were well-meaning Jews who were zealously trying to serve God in
faithfulness and righteousness. In fact, the Pharisees in Jesus' time were the
descendants of a great spiritual renewal movement several generations earlier.
Many Christians today are unaware of that fact, and so they write off the
Pharisees as spiritual fakes. But many of the Pharisees were very sincere (this
can be demonstrated from the New Testament accounts).

In fact, the Pharisees were so committed to their faith that many orthodox Jews
to this day hold them in high regard. But, according to Jesus, the Pharisees were
also misguided. That's the problem: if the Pharisees, rich in their heritage of Old
Testament teachings, could be so sincere, yet become so misguided that Jesus
had to confront them so often, then how do we know that our own faith is on the
right track?

And to make matters worse, these pharisaic and legalistic problems in our lives
can cause people around us to become "turned off" to Christianity, just like many
of the people in Jesus' time were disillusioned with and skeptical of the
Pharisees' religion. Even many Jewish believers in their time held back from
being as zealous as the Pharisees. Could our own commitment to Christ be
pushing people away from us and from Christ? (I don't mean because we are
committed to Christ, but because of our assumptions and the ways we express
our commitment). Could we be causing people to become disillusioned with
Christianity? Maybe it's time to take a closer look…

The only way to know is to walk through the passages where Jesus confronted
the Pharisees, and allow Him to show us which of their subtle errors have crept
into our lives. Spiritual passion is a good thing, but it can also be fertile ground
for these pharisaic errors. That is because these errors can only grow in "soil"
that is very committed to serving God.

The author has identified over a dozen of these subtle but dangerous errors along
with biblical remedies for each one. He has taught this material in various
settings (as The Pharisees Project ©), including in small groups. And now, he has
put it down in useful form in this book, complete with a very practical study guide
for both personal and/or small group use. This book helps Christ-followers
identify these pharisaic tendencies in our own lives and ministries, and to help us
learn how to overcome these errors. Click here to request more information.

Contents: (actual table of contents from the book):

Suggestions for Personal or Small Group Study
Preface
Introduction: The Pharisee within Me

PART I - UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC PROBLEM
1 - Who Were the Pharisees?
2 - How the Pharisees Got Started
3 - Confusing Scripture with Tradition

PART II - UNCOVERING THE RESULTING ERRORS
4 - Assuming "Stricter" Is Better
5 - Putting God in a Box
6 - Pleasing Our Peers
7 - Distorting Biblical Holiness
8 - Overlooking the Heart
9 - Focusing on Performance
10 - Making Faith Superficial

PART III - LIVING BEYOND PHARISEEISM
11 - Growing a New Heart
12 - Rethinking Our Ministry
13 - Conclusion: Overcoming the Pharisee within Me

Appendix A - Thinking Biblically
Appendix B - Pat Answers
Appendix C - Handling Disagreements in the Church

Acknowledgements
Notes

For Personal Reading:

This book puts the cookies on the bottom shelf where we all can reach them. The
author's strength is in taking the complexities of biblical material and explaining
it in plain English, with practical application to our lives. Every chapter includes
an insightful study of one or more passages where Jesus confronted the
Pharisees. Then it draws out the truths that are there to illustrate another
pharisaic error. Then each chapter goes on to show some of the ways this error
affects Christians today, and goes on to give helpful solutions that are both
biblically sound and practically useful.

Each chapter also includes several helpful features:
· A short summary (bullet points) of the chapter.
· A set of reflection questions that help us reflect more on the "mirror" of
Scripture-and are helpful for both personal or small group study.
· A section "For Further Study" for those who want to dig deeper.
· A journal page to allow us to reflect on "what God is nudging me about in this
chapter."
· (The "For Further Study" and discussion questions sections even double as
extra resources for college students using the book to supplement biblical
studies classes, either on the Gospels or on the Life of Christ).

For Small Groups:

This book is especially helpful for small groups. The items at the end of each
chapter (see Personal Use description above) help each participant to maximize
their learning and life-changing application of the principles in each chapter. Then
the discussion questions, when shared with others in a small group, facilitate
further learning, exploration, and support in applying these principles for life
transformation.

In the front of the book is an easy-to-follow plan for using this book in any of
several small group schedules and formats, with plans for 6-week, 8-week,
10-week, and 13-week learning experiences.

Even for Serious Study:

For those who want to study Christ's interactions with the Pharisees in greater
depth--such as mature Christians, pastors, missionaries, and others--the book
includes extensive endnotes documenting the in-depth research which the
author developed in preparing the book. These endnotes also engage some of
the issues of concern to those in ministry leadership.

With its subject material, along with the author's writing style, the book takes
some of the more complex issues of New Testament studies and explains them in
a way that helps even the beginning student to understand the issues involved in
each chapter topic.

Also, the "For Further Study" section and the Discussion Questions section at the
end of each chapter (along with the appendices) makes the book even more
useful as a resource for college or seminary level studies in the Gospels or the
Life of Christ, as well as studies in the Christian Life and Spiritual Transformation.

Finally, this book also relates to studies in translating our Christian faith into our
cultural context. By drawing the reader to live by grace rather than legalism, and
then leading him or her through the principles in the ministry chapter, the book
helps readers understand how to implement post-pharisaic grace in our culture
today.