Andrew Farley's book was given to me in 2011. I let it sit on the shelf until the summer of 2014. I just decided to read it at this time for no apparent reason. Only after I began reading it did I realize how much I needed the honest insights and truth in these pages. His first chapter is "Obsessive- Christianity Disorder". He gives an honest account of his own religious behavior activities and how this extreme effort to achieve for God only left him empty and depressed. Farly's book addresses Christians who are trapped into keeping the "Law" of the Bible and forgetting about the Grace we have all received at the Cross. My favorite excerpt from the book is, " The secret is that grace deactivates our pride. " ....This book came to me after a 7 year struggle to obtain a goal that is just out of my reach. The words of this book helped me let go. If you read it, you will hear a about God's grace to the human race. A much needed message in this time. ( )

Very disappointed. The author raises a few good points which is what gained the second star. it is too bad he felt it necessary to do such radical deconstruction to make his point. ( )

I recently completed Andrew Farley’s book The Naked Gospel. I really enjoyed this stripping away of theological debate and fuss about the gospel and Farley’s reliance on scripture to form his opinion. Let me start by saying this: this book cover and jacket are really great and very pleasing to view. In this book, Farley aimed to summarize and present the heart of Christ’s gospel in a way that someone who is new to the faith could easily pick up and understand. Farley strips away doctrine in many instances and presents the scriptures in their purest form. Time and time again I found myself going back and reading paragraphs a second and third time so that I could better remember what it was that Farley was saying. Farley’s often personal analogies to help explain concepts he discussed in the book were not only timely and well written, but often entertaining and worthy of repetition. While there would be a few things I would like to ask Farley for further discussion on after completing this book, Farley presents the gospel of our Lord and Savior in a manner that would increase the faith and understanding of Christ in both a new Christian or one who has had their mind flooded with years of religion and legalistic teaching. I would recommend this book to almost anyone and it would be good for a small group or book club review as there are questions at the back of the book that correspond with each chapter. I look forward to reading more of this young author

To read this review and others log onto my website www.thispilgrimland.com ( )

I think I understood the concept of this book before (Jesus plus nothing), but I’m not sure if I ever really thought about it as much as I have since I finished The Naked Gospel. I don’t feel like a particularly “religious” person — I know that rules aren’t my rescue and I don’t go to church because it’s just what I do on Sundays. But, Like pretty much every other Christian out there, I recognize and follow a lot of the Christian “rules.” On the other hand, my faith is a living, breathing connection with the Almighty, and I think that’s what Farley is trying to get his readers to look for. The whole thing, for me, boiled down to one thing — do we trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us in all things? Or is He not enough, so we look to guidelines and rules to figure out how we should live as Christians? Trusting in something that you cannot see or fully comprehend is HARD, especially when there are all sorts of other guidelines to follow that make life a lot easier. Do I trust the Holy Spirit like that? Not as much as I should. Do I look to rules to tell me how I should behave? Of course. But this book has made me think about what I trust to guide me in my daily walk. Since I finished the book, I’ve been more aware of when I’m being “religious” and when I’m really asking for and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Pros: Really, really makes you think — especially if you come from a background of religiosity. I think this would be a great book for non-Christians who think that Christianity is just a bunch of rules, although some of the Christian jargon might scare of potential readers.

Cons: Loose analogies and stories that clumsily relate to the rest of the content in the book. When your thesis is so simple, there isn’t a lot of meat and the filler is sometimes obvious.

Read my full review here: http://letseatgrandpa.com/2010/05/07/35-the-naked-gospel-by-andrew-farley/ ( )

I received a free copy of this book through The Blog Tour Spot. I did not receive any money for this review.

This book got my interest with the whole concept of taking the Gospel at face value nothing added, nothing subtracted just the Gospel. My husband and I have within the last few years have gotten dissatisfied with the way the modern churches have gotten into programs and gotten into the newest things and have kind of gotten away from the teaching of the Bible.

This book is in no way a bashing of the church. It is just a straight forward challenge to us as Christians to take the Gospel as is and not try to add anything to it.

I wasn't really surprised at the results of the survey that was taken at Willow Creek Community Church in Illinois. Just because you are very active in church doesn't automatically lead to feeling fullfilled.

I was also not surprised at the story of the author's father asked to give his testimony and the father wasn't even a Christian at the time. Yes he attened church but had not made the decision to follow Christ yet, He recieved a great response. I have recently had a conversation with my oldest daughter about this. She recetnly moved out and meet some new people at a local church's singles ministry but none of this young people are Christians!!.

This book is really good at getting you to see the difference between the Old and the New (referring to the Old Testament and New Testament).

I would encourage anyone who wants to just get back to the Gospel to read this book and keep your mind open. There are many things that author brings out that goes against what we have always been taught or learned in church, but then again didn't Jesus go against the religious traditions of his day? ( )