"The Cross and the Swichblade" by David Wilkerson.
This book created an unusual diversity of opinion in the book Club, ranging from “The Worst book I have ever read” to “Worth reading for the questions it raises”.
Whilst the overall rating of the book was unusually low, the discussion was lively and interesting.
Peter chose this book having read it as an early input to his journey of faith slightly over 50 years ago.
The book, first published in 1962, recounts the story as told by the prime mover, Rev. David Wilkerson,
with the help of John and Elizabeth Sherril, of how he came to work amongst the teenage gangs of New York in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The story is catalysed by the publication in
life magazine
of the murder trial of seven teenage boys.
The book recounts David Wilkerson’s journey of faith and the impact it had on a variety of individuals.
The approach developed in New York in 1960 has now spread to 129 countries (according to Wikipedia).
On the positive side, this is an amazing story of the power of prayer, especially via the Holy Spirit, to change lives.
(NB. The teen challenge centres are also needed as an environment to provide support and encouragement to people who are undergoing change.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit may be necessary as a first step, but is not sufficient to combat backsliding).
Various negative comments from club members were noted including:
- The author’s viewpoint was self-indulgent
- The book was badly edited
- Hard to read
- Boring
Various Positive comments from club members were noted including:
- An amazing read
- An easy read
- Enjoyed the stories, glad I read it.
Various points of interest were noted during the discussion:
Human beings have a problem of perception.
It is easy to be fooled by a limited viewpoint, the quoted example being the flat earth.
It is then hard to extrapolate from our time-limited experience to the eternal, and our 5 senses to the enormity of the universe.
Doorly score: From zero to 4.5, average: 2.9
NB. This is not the lowest ever Book Club score, several books only scored 2.
PC. 11th January 2025
The Back Story
Peter first read this book over 50 years ago, having concluded that if the Holy Bible is not a giant Fairy Story then miracles must still be happening.
The point of conviction in The Cross and the Switchblade, for Peter, was the point at which the fund raising for $4,200 received exactly $4,400.
God knew what David Wilkerson did not know, was that two legal fees would also need paying.
In preparing for the book club I also looked for more recent miracles, and with little effort found the following seven:
These are all well worth the few minutes they take to watch.
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