I debated for a long time over whether to start or end with my criticism and finally decided I'd do both.

Likes: Bruxy Cavey is passionate about wanting people to catch a fire-breathing dragon of a relationship with Jesus. He's also a great communicator.

Dislikes: The title and every reference in the book towards it. It should have been the end of (legalistic or idolatrous) religion. The argument is draining at best and condescending at the worst. Lastly, the rhetoric of religion he tries to redeem near the end of the book falls flat because of constant hammering. I know religion gets a bad wrap but if the practices you are describing look and quack like a duck of religion.... then it's a religion.

Putting it together: I get where he's heading and coming from. I'm of like mind and Cavey has some exquisite gems. One part in particular is the way we've been idolatrous and legalistic to our religious denomination to the point of strangling the gospel from those that desperately need to hear and see it lived out today. One need not look further than the way the so-called "orthodox" Methodist Christians have decimated The United Methodist Church. They spent several years creating district and dissension to win the fight for a more legalistic and constraining representation and then when their side won at General Conference decided it wasn't enough.

Recommended for anyone wanting to break away from the legalistic and idolatrous hold your denomination may or may not have on you and for anyone stuck in a tribal religious stronghold.

**This was a review copy provided of the updated version by NetGalley for an honest review** ( )

This book is clearly written for seekers, non-believers, and those who are disenfranchised with institutionalized religion. But, there is a caveat. It is also written for Christians who have institutionalized their brand of Christianity. Who have relinquished their faith to the status quo rather than the radical counter-cultural teachings of Jesus Christ. For those who have made a life in Christ... a religion.

Cavey gets right to the point and gouges at the very core of what is wrong with Christianity... yesterday and today. In the latter half of the book he uses Scripture to show how Jesus demolished religion. Very well written, succinct, and relevant to a post-modern generation. Warning: If you are a fundamentalist of any religion, you won't like this book. ( )

NCLA Review - Don’t miss the delicious nutmeat inside this shell of an audacious title! It’s not only safe to add this book to the church library; it will upgrade the spirituality of those who follow the author’s precepts. The key is in defining “religion.” Cavey believes that the wondrously freeing message of Jesus has been straitjacketed in interpretations, rules, and forms. He goes after the wax in our ears, challenging our comfortable restraints of doctrine and tradition by pointing time and again to what Jesus actually taught. There was no religion, he notes, in Eden , nor will there be any in Heaven, and Jesus came to do away with it on earth. This is why, unlike other religious leaders, Jesus does not “point the way” to God—He IS the Way. Cavey’s radical fresh perspective aligns hearts with Jesus instead of with “ Christianity.” He is not anti-church, unless a church’s teachings and regulations interfere with true worship and discipleship, which is not uncommon. Decidedly thought-provoking. Rating: 4 —DKW 263p, paper, Navpress 2007, $13.99 [230] ( )