Hank Hanegraaff - Truth Matters, Life Matters More: The Unexpected Beauty of an Authentic Christian Life

ADVANCED PRAISE FOR TRUTH MATTERS, LIFE MATTERS MORE

Hank Hanegraaffs Truth Matters, Life Matters More is a remarkable tapestry of vast historical and scriptural knowledge, woven from personal experience, chronicles of faith journeys, and marvelous spiritual insights that mesh to create more than a compendium of theology. Indeed, he pulls the strands together with deftness and devotion, such that they form a map, a sacred topography of the life in Christ. And as a good cartographer would do, Hanegraaff makes sure that the reader has all the keys and legends to read his map. He knows how to point the reader in all the right directions, but he also knows that it is grace that will lead us home.

FR. ALEX KARLOUTSOS, VICAR GENERAL OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA

Quoting from a wide range of sources, Hank Hanegraaff makes an impassioned case for calling the church back to her earliest roots in this book that is sure to stir and provoke any reader. Participation, union, and even the controversial word deification have been making a quiet comeback in the wake of more and more calls to broaden our collective understanding of what salvation entails. In this book, Hanegraaff wages a battle on two fronts. On the one hand, he wants to maintain that biblical truth matters. On the other hand, he insists that this truth is neither abstract nor impersonal, but a living truth because it is anchored in the living Christ. As someone passionately interested in recovering the reality of our union with Christ, I hope readers will thoughtfully engage with Hanegraaffs challenging conclusions.

RANKIN WILBOURNE, PASTOR OF PACIFIC CROSSROADS CHURCH LOS ANGELES AND AUTHOR OF UNION WITH CHRIST AND THE CROSS BEFORE ME

As Hank has masterfully pointed out, there can be no life without truth, but above all, no truth without life, deification is Gods greatest gift. It is the high peak truth of redemptive revelation. Hank elucidates this life-changing lesson revealing that while truth is necessary, it is hardly sufficient. That the map is not the territory. That the menu is not the meal. That we must never mistake the cradle for its occupant. And that we are destined even now to experience life that is life to the full. This book will further allow us to take His life as source of our living, in our church life, for His satisfaction, to bring to light the Kingdom of God on earth.

SAMUEL NEE, A FELLOW LOVER AND PARTAKER OF CHRIST, NEPHEW OF WATCHMAN NEE

In this moving and compelling book, Hank Hanegraaff recapitulates the apologetic themes that he has spent decades honing and defendingfrom human origins, to the reality of the resurrection, to the reliability of Scripture. But, more than that, he shows how this vital defense of truth must be part of the larger cause of uniting our life with the life of God. This is a theme that for too long has been missed by millions of believing Christians. Hank shows, with characteristic precision, how the traditional Christian idea of deification is not some doubtful sidelight, but represents the culmination of the Christian life, and the source of Christian unity. Whether youve read all of Hanks books, or none of them, I urge you to read this one.

JAY RICHARDS, PH.D., O.P., ASSISTANT RESEARCH PROFESSOR AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, SENIOR FELLOW AT THE DISCOVERY INSTITUTE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR OF THE STREAM, AND A NEW YORKTIMES BESTSELLING AUTHORHIS MANY BOOKS INCLUDE THE FORTHCOMING EAT, FAST, FEAST

Truth Matters, Life Matters More is a cornucopia of good, nourishing things, the fruit of Hanks many decades of reading, reflection, and prayer. His gift for taking in complex ideas, digesting them, and then presenting them to readers clearly and briefly make his latest book a wise companion and enjoyable friend.

FREDERICA MATHEWES-GREEN, AUTHOR OF WELCOME TO THE ORTHODOX CHURCH: AN INTRODUCTION TO EASTERN CHRISTIANITY

This book portrays what the flower of a beautiful life looks like when it blossoms from the rich soil of Christian truth. The author is widely read and theologically astute in his articulation of selected doctrines of classical Christian faith. The book instructs, inspires, and bears witness to a godly life that blooms from our union with the Incarnate God.

BRADLEY NASSIF, PH.D., PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES, NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY, AND CO-EDITOR OF THE PHILOKALIA: A CLASSICAL TEXT OF ORTHODOX SPIRITUALITY

Truth Matters, Life Matters More is an extraordinarily wise and thoughtful book, magnificent in its scope and inspiring in its presentation. From the way to detect counterfeit religions (and the importance of doing so) to the true meaning of the all-important but poorly understood Orthodox Christian concept of deification, Hank Hanegraaff brilliantly elucidates the pure joy of living a life in fidelity to truth, and to Truth Himself, the Author of all life. I thank God for my fellow Orthodox believer and for his unparalleled guide to the wonderful happiness of living as a Christian.

ROBERT SPENCER, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE POLITICALLY INCORRECT GUIDETOISLAM (AND THECRUSADES) AND THE HISTORY OF JIHAD

Hank Hanegraaffs Truth Matters, Life Matters More is a wonderfully written reminder that we are made for more than merely knowing the truth about Godwe are made to be Christs brothers and sisters, and the Fathers sons and daughters, through deification. This is a forgotten, deeply biblical truth that the early Christians well understood, and one that all Christians must recover.

BENJAMIN WIKER, PH.D., AUTHOR OF MANY BOOKS INCLUDING A MEANINGFUL WORLD AND PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND DIRECTOR OF HUMAN LIFE STUDIES AT FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY

Hanegraaffs masterpiece guides us toward ultimate Truth in the context of Christs promise that He has come to give us lifedeified life that is life to the full.

NORRIS J. CHUMLEY, PH.D., AUTHOR AND EMMY AWARD-WINNING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR, MYSTERIES OF THE JESUS PRAYER

Truth Matters, Life Matters More details Hank Hanegraaffs life journey from his childhood to the present day, a voyage guided by Providence. Hanegraaff rightly recognizes salvation as a step towards a higher statedeificationwhich is not a reality to be expressed conceptually but lived out through the transformation of our life in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, by means of the grace communicated in the Church by the sacraments and the personal practice of spiritual disciplines.

What makes Hanegraaffs approach interesting is that it is not a theoretical presentation but a testimony of his personal journey. Though Hanks reflections are rooted in personal experience, there is a clear desire for others to experience similar spiritual growth, exhibiting a youthful enthusiasm for evangelism. In traversing the stages of the long way that led him to True Life, he does not forget to pay homage to those who, often without knowing it, illumined his path.

JEAN-CLAUDE LARCHET, PH.D., PH.D., PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN A FRENCH LYCE IN STRASBOURG AND AUTHOR OF MANY BOOKS INCLUDING THE THEOLOGY OF ILLNESS

My wife, Marsha, and I have known Hank and his family for over twenty-five years. We have traveled together, played golf, and experienced much time sharing our lives and the love of Christ. Years ago, Hank shared with me the revelation he received from Elijah Widjaja that truth matters, but life matters more and the impact that statement has had on his life.