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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780385517133
ISBN number: 0385517130
Label: Image
Manufacturer: Image
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 256
Printing Date: September 18, 2007
Publishing house: Image
Release Date: September 18, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 313966
Studio: Image
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Product Description:
The author of the bestselling Joshua series and other popular inspirational books chronicles his own spiritual journey and describes with stunning honesty the difficult decisions he made along the way.
Joseph Girzone has attracted a tremendous following with his series of novels that imagine Jesus living in the contemporary world. His nonfiction writings and talks on spirituality have affected audiences around the world. Girzone’s ability to capture the meaning of faith in simple, direct language is more apparent than ever in this moving book about his personal journey through a dark night of the soul.
In My Struggle with Faith, Girzone recounts the long, complicated, and often painful process he went though as he sought to find peace with his beliefs. He writes about hard decisions that set him on unexpected paths and about the immense feelings of loneliness he experienced in making those choices. In thoughtful and thought-provoking reflections he brings to life the years of searching and the deep, critical thinking that gave him the courage to embrace his beliefs, opening a world of excitement and adventure for him.
In writing about what his beliefs have meant to him and about the intimate relationship with God that has sustained and guided him, Girzone illuminates the universal human struggle to find meaning in life. My Struggle with Faith offers readers insights, inspiration, and encouragement to follow their beliefs and create a more meaningful spiritual life.
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Rated by buyers 
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In "My Struggle With Faith," Joseph Girzone, retired priest and author of the best selling Joshua series, retraces the steps in his faith journey, spanning over sixty years. "It has been a painful yet joyful faith journey, and a most productive one. I have attained not only a deeper understanding of God and the critical role of Jesus in our destiny, but many rewarding insights into our journey through this life. I have learned that sinner is a name we call people...they are the ones whom Jesus would have befriended."
Girzone pulls no punches and bares all as he maps his life (he entered the seminary at age fourteen), the evolution of his beliefs childhood, and his struggles - with faith, Christianity, and the Roman Catholic Church.
Key questions addressed by Girzone should provide ample interest for most readers: What about the Universe? Was it created by God? How was it created? Is the bible history or myth? Is the New Testament inspired? Was Jesus a myth? What is Mary's role? And his answers are those he found after years of searching and a personal struggle with faith.
He writes about his coming he to peace with the Catholic Church and how he has gained great admiration for its resistance to the changing fashions in morals and its insistence that only the original sources can be used to ascertain Christian truth. But he cautions that the Church was set up to be the medium for the message, not the message. Those who believe the institution is our religion are wrong. He asks, "Where is the living Jesus in our churches today?" People desperately need and are looking for the flesh and blood Jesus - a Jesus who can fill one's soul with divine love. This Jesus is our religion.
Grizone exhorts us to understand the pain in peoples lives and to give strength to others in times of weakness and desolation, light in times of darkness, joy in times of great sorrow and pain, and the will to struggle when all seems futile.
Rated by buyers 
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What is faith and what does it mean to us? No matter what the denominational title or popularity, one fact remains undeniable; every person of any kind of faith yesterday must find within themselves what their faith means to them as well as discovering their own reason for holding their beliefs. Esteemed author of "Joshua" and retired catholic priest Joseph Girzone recounts his own questions, doubts, & perplexities facing his own faith with his latest praiseworthy read aptly titled "My Struggle With Faith".
If you're skeptical of reading a spiritual book written by a priest, possibly under the impression Girzone's book is 29 chapters of a Sunday sermon, the vivaciously surprising structure and substance of book will most likely appease even non Christians alike. He approaches the two thousand year old theology with many questions all of us ask sometime in our lifetimes; from questioning if God exists or just who really was Jesus. His unique down-to-earth frankness, in which no subject affecting the church yesterday is not touched upon; from fundamental spiritual questioning of how the Universe was created to contemporary church issues such as priest celibacy or marriage and divorce, are of invaluably important to be addressed in the modern day age.
Captivating and clear cut, Father Girzone's book is easy to read and asks provocative questions about our faith today. His questioning and deepened understanding of his faith will undoubtedly awaken you to understand yours. If we begin to address our own questions or demurrals it will strengthen the conviction of why we believe at all.
Rated by buyers -
Prior to reading My Struggle with Faith, I had been familiar with the "Joshua" character by Father Girzone. I came to learn about this book through an excerpt appearing in another publication, which piqued my interest in purchasing this book. I had also read some online comments (both good and bad) about Girzone and his other works and thought I'd experience him on my own.
The book is not for everyone, especially not for those who don't like their age-old beliefs challenged. Girzone brings many thought-provoking questions (and good answers) to the discussion. He explores his questions in ways that aren't available to many Christians, namely, through extensive examination of Scripture, the early Fathers, even Reformation writings, and finally his own experience.
The chapters are nicely organized and the book progresses along a steady pace from early issues in childhood through the more complicated challenges in his priesthood and ministry, and those which face all of us in this day and age.
The best advice is to approach the book with an open mind and let Girzone take you where he wants you to go. You can decide later if that is where you need to be. Even if it isn't, the subsequent leg of the journey might be the exact turning point you were looking for! That kept me going throughout.
The book helped me recognize that I have not been traveling on a well-worn path, but it has been, at least, a path on which others have journeyed. That reassurance came at an opportune time for me. His descriptions of his experiences hit home with me - often the exact thoughts I had had.
My take-away from the book is that we are all on our way to "The Way." The frustrations he experienced along his way to The Way enabled me to examine my own frustrations in a new light, and to put in perspective the challenges facing the people I encounter each day.
Rated by buyers -
It helped me to better understand why I believe in Jesus, rather than church
Rated by buyers -
I wasn't familiar with Girzone's other books at all when I snatched this title from my public library's new book shelf last week. Also, I am a former Catholic (ages 20-40) who has been inactive for 20 years. However, I have lately been interested in autobiographical or academic books about the value of faith, and this volume fits into my recent reading. I found the second half more compelling than the opening part of the memoir, but I'm glad I read this. Girzone, a "retired" priest (rare in these days of shortages), is not afraid to criticize the human failings of Catholic clergy and laiety, and indeed, the flaws of Protestant institutions and believers as well. However, he also argues for the validity of the founding documents of what became the Catholic Church. He tells us that one does not blame the pure water of faith just because the rusty human buckets to whom God has to entrust it leak and spill and soil it. I think another recent book, "What Jesus Meant" by fellow Catholic Garry Wills, is even better than "My Struggle With Faith" but Amazon seekers looking up this title probably are going to enjoy both of them.
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