Handbook Charges Churches with Misleading Millions



May 4, 2005 -- In "The Heretic's Handbook" Leo V. Cheeseman lashes out like John the Baptist charging the institutional church with worshipping Mammon and leading millions astray for the last 1600 years. The newly published book encourages American church members and other heretics (people who make choices) to improve the ways their choices impact their relationship with their neighbors and the creator/savior god.

Cheeseman decries the lack of spiritual growth among American church members, including those he calls "stillborn again Christians," and offers exercises to help stimulate that growth. He blames the church for letting members confuse membership with salvation and church busy work with spiritual growth.

More controversial than "The DaVinci Code," the handbook identifies some of the ways Satan has influenced the Bible and the development of the church . The author accuses the church es of being political animals that often ignore the teachings and examples of Jesus Christ to gain political power and wealth. And he points out some of Satan's greatest lies in the gospels.

The book discusses principles and promises in the gospels and ways the church has ignored them. Addressing people who are afraid to die it stresses that our eternal life depends on our beliefs and what we do about those beliefs in this life.

Cheeseman criticizes the Old Testament as filled with a multitude of inconsistent gods invented to serve the purposes of the Jews and often ignored by the Jews. He suggests that much of the New Testament is politically expedient in its approach to governments and the treatment of women.

"Christ is the filter that can help us recognize God," Cheeseman says. And he encourages readers to correct their personal heresies to help restore the church of Jesus Christ to better serve the creator/savior god.

The book looks at characters in the Bible (and the church ) and discusses the 'bum rap' Judas gets in the betrayal accounts. It also looks at conflicts in accounts of Jesus' prayers in the Garden of Gesthemene and how those conflicts have impacted 'Christianity' over the centuries. It challenges the 'false shepherd' role often played by ministers in their eagerness to build the kind of earthly kingdom Jesus so adamantly resisted.

The author especially decries church members' confusion over what constitutes 'Christian works.' He claims that if a non-Christian can do it (think positively, cater a church dinner, send a card, maintain the church grounds, etc.) it's probably not 'Christian work' as Jesus intended it, no matter how helpful and desirable it is. And he encourages readers to surrender their wills to the revealed will of the creator/savior god in order to be better servants.

Available from lulu.com/cheeseman @ $11.57+S&H. ISBN 1-4116-2636-2

Contact Information:
Leo V. Cheeseman
678-482-8193





Handbook Charges Churches with Misleading Millions