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|  | Author: Joel C. Rosenberg
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
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Rating:  82 reviews
Sales Rank: 9755
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 576
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.9
ISBN: 1414319312
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.054
EAN: 9781414319315
ASIN: 1414319312
Publication Date: February 11, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 76-80 of 82
 Empirical data finally overwhelmed by religious faith June 14, 2009
andris virsnieks (Seattle, WA USA)
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
Part One; the Radicals, provides an alarmingly clear explanation of the threat we face from terrorists. The well written explanation is supported by facts and statistics.
Part Two: the Reformers, provides an explanation of who the Reformers are based on interviews (people in significant positions of power). In general these interviews present a more hopeful view of the Islamic World. The depth of these interviews, however, is questionable. For example, the author did not ask Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, about his brother, a major linchpin in the drug trade, but nevertheless concludes that Karzai is a consummate reformer.
Part Three: the Revivalists, has a different quality to it. The author's supernatural gift seems comes to the forefront. Based on a number of stories he seems to detect that the Muslim World is turning to Jesus Christ. There is no evidence for a statistically significant trend like that, other than the handful of stories in this book. On page 357 of "God is back", an objective book about religion in the modern world, the authors write: "Islam too is surging outside its borderlands". In Part Three an intriguing sense of Rapture and wishful thinking seems to have clouded the hard facts on the ground.
Informative, but Overly Biased March 10, 2009
Scandalous Sanity (Texas)
35 out of 62 found this review helpful
Inside the Revolution is Joel Rosenberg's latest work on the current events transpiring in the Middle East and what affect they have on the Western Evangelical world. It is reminiscent of his previous work, Epicenter, but this time Rosenberg focuses on three revolutions that he has labeled that are occurring in the Muslim world today.
The first revolution that Rosenberg identifies is that of Islamic Radicals, more specifically the current regime in Iran. Rosenberg gives a brief history of Iran's power struggle in the late seventies, including the fall of the shah and the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini. More modern story lines are detailed, such as the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a short biography of Osama bin Laden. He discusses these Radicals' theology and what methods they are employing to spread their revolution.
The second revolution is that of Reformers, as Rosenberg calls them. These are devout, practicing Muslims who embrace democracy, more specifically a Jeffersonian brand of democracy. He gives the examples of several Muslim kingdoms that are succeeding by using Western ideas combined with Islamic ideology, such as Morocco and Jordan.
The third revolution is being promoted by what Rosenberg calls Revivalists. These are Middle Easterners of Muslim and Christian descent who have become evangelicals and are now spreading the gospel throughout their respective countries. They are using many tools, such as satellite television and underground churches to gain converts.
I feel as if Rosenberg portrays the Radicals one dimensionally, never really giving their side of the story. There is a reason why Radical Muslims are so hateful toward Westerners. I would like to know why, but Rosenberg never addresses that issue. Rosenberg also makes prophetic claims regarding the current events in the Middle East, claiming that what is happening right now is predicted in the Bible. The scripture portions he uses to support those claims don't work for me, and I disagree with his interpretation. I feel that Rosenberg is well-connected and has insight into Middle Eastern affairs, but he is not a Biblical scholar.
This book is full of wonderful stories of Muslim people escaping tyrannical dictators that use religion to enslave, politically moderate Muslims that are ignored by the media and shouldn't be, and Arab Christians who are risking their lives to show their fellow citizens the love of Jesus. Rosenberg's research was extensive (perhaps too extensive: this book is over 500 pages long). He interviewed countless intelligence officers, ministry leaders, and Muslim government officials.
It's an informative read, but too slanted toward Rosenberg's point of view. I realize it is impossible for any author to be completely objective, but Rosenberg's agenda is quite transparent.
 Hellfire and Brimstone Revisited April 9, 2009
Maria R. Stanley (San Diego, CA USA)
13 out of 32 found this review helpful
Great information about the Muslim religion, it's internal differences, nuances, etc. It was a fast read but I struggled with copious amounts of doom and gloom from the get-go, setting you up for the whammy. The middle section, probably the best in terms of factual data was good, but brace yourself for the final third of the book. I felt like I was trapped at a revival, the odd man out, having born again Christianity shoved down my throat- over and over, in my face, page after page, with no end in sight. The repetition is stifling-- there was absolutely no let up; countless examples of radical Muslim clerics who have found Jesus, one after the other after the other until you feel so saturated you want to throw the book against the wall- (bad idea if you have a Kindle so I somehow managed to restrain myself- but believe me, it was tough). Less is more, one or two examples would have been plenty to get the idea across. Reminded me of a "work at home" ad, where they claim you can make tons of money and show you pics of people relaxing on the beach-- but you know all the while that the last line will say it all. Then the final appeal: give money to the organization the author has founded which provides support to fledgling, wannabe Christians in the Middle East. Complete with guilt, gore, gut-wrenching and gruesome details of how these people are treated because of their newfound beliefs, it conjures up sadness in a detached sort of way...tears and fears notwithstanding, the underlying drama is set to obviously separate you from the contents of your bank account. Disclaimer aside, it's sad becaues this author has obviously done his homework and understands of which he writes. However, he could have taken this work to another level, leaving the hellfire, guilt, over-the-top passion, fear of armageddon and endless repetition behind. It was all just a bit too much for me, I would not recommend it to anyone except for someone who I knew ahead of time was a zealot. I am a devout and practicing Catholic-- strange how this book was introduced right before Easter coinciding with Holy Week. A few typos and misprints suggest it was thrown together in a hurry for quick publication.
 Chock full o' errors, misconceptions and more February 17, 2010
Stephen J. Snyder (Lancaster, Texas United States)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
First, I'll confess that if I had read the inside of the dust jacket, or even seen the Tyndale imprimatur, I never would have looked at this book. But, I did check it out from my library, so I'm going to tell you to make the same mistake. Here's why:
Page 10: No, Shi'ite Iran would NOT give missiles to Sunni al-Qaida.
17: Iran isn't so dumb as to fire nuclear missile all around the Middle East and certainly not at Israel. It knows Israel has 300 nuclear weapons of its own, enough to obliterate Iran as a nation. For the same reason, it's not giving a nuke to Hezbullah.
19: Contra Bibi Netanyahu, "radical Islam" is not as monolithic as he claims, nor is all of it "messianic."
30: Rosenberg's "triumphalist West" vs. "decaying" Islam, with a timeline starting at the end of the Middle Ages, conveniently overlooks the Ottoman Empire.
48. His Muslim "angst" over the uncertainty of good works for salvation vs. "Christian assurance"? Well, Mr. Rosenberg, that could be equally applied to the "Judeo" half of the "Judeo-Christian" ethic/history you repeatedly mention. Ooopssss... (I love petard hoistings!)
68. The "torture" of the American embassy hostages in Iran in 1979-81? The actions he mentions pale before the waterboarding and other real tortures committed by Americans, including many a good Christian one.
Skipping ahead a number of pages, to other sections, to find other errors at this point...
368. "First century, New Testament Christianity" was NOT "so prevalent" in the area before the rise of Islam. Outside the borders of the Byzantine Empire, in the last century before the caliphate, Zoroastrianism and Manicheanism were the dominant religions. Beyond that, the only varieties of Christianity with any strength outside Byzantium to the east (and within parts of it that full first to the Muslims) were varieties that had already been declared heretical, like Nestorianism. That said, "first-century Christianity" had had layers of philosophical accretions by this time anyway, and wasn't what it was the.
476ff. Rosenberg lays his Christian theological cards down as a premillenial tribulationist. Hey, all you "Judeos" fig-leafing in the "Judeo-Christian" umbrella. It's about time for your mass conversion! That includes YOU, Mr. Prime Minister Netanyahu.
If you want anything close to a serious understanding of today's Middle East, or today's broader Muslim world, read somebody like Juan Cole. Or any of a couple hundred other books.
If you want religious wet dreams of red heifers and Temple Mounts, though, by all means, read this one!
Extreem bias..history omitted December 4, 2009
M. Wayne (Bellingham, WA.)
4 out of 14 found this review helpful
The author treats the Shah of Iran as a benevolent "Nice Guy" a true friend of the USA without (how very self serving)any critical examination of the fact that the Shah was put in power by the US and British after the CIA run coup d'etat that unseated the beloved demoraticaly elected Iranian predident Mohammed Mosaddeq because he had the unspeakable nerve to raise taxes on US and British oil companies that paid next to nothing in royalties for extracting the wealth of the country. The author refers to the dreaded SAVAK as
"and at times torture political opponents" (how generous to the CIA
backed regime). The Federation of American Scientists FAS has stated that thousands of politcal prisoners were brutaly killed in Savak prisons. The author uses the word "radical" hundereds of times in this book leaving the reader to feel that anyone who isnt a right wing Neocon with a selective use of history is a dangerous "Radical'
These are the same good Christian folks who believe that minimum wage,Social Security and public Schools are all the work of communist "Radicals". The author speaks of Morrocco privatizing its public utilities as being a positive step to becomeing a friend of the west..this is the same thought that took over the water system (Bechtel) in the city of Cochabamba ,Bolivia then tripeled the rates for water to its citizens (the poorest in South America) and had a law passed that the people couldnt even collect rain water for thier homes or thier homes would be taken away. The author is clearly a "Free trader" with a positive view of US imperialism and historic exploitation of the worlds poor while partnering with wealth and power in third world countries to the bad of the majority of its citizens. When does the author speak of Human rights or fair play in our dealings with the middle east..?
Showing reviews 76-80 of 82
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