The Great Dance

I purchased this book not knowing the contents of the book or the author. The main thesis of the book is the perichoresis of the Trinity. Perichoresis is a greek word referring to a great or divine dance. The word entered the Christian vocabulary in the eighth century when John Damascene used it to highlight the dynamic and interpersonal character of the Trinity.Since reading Kruger’s book, I have read other books and listened to discussion groups talking about perichoresis. Kruger’s book, while passionately presenting the topic, is not worth reading. The book is sloppily written and edited. On several occasions, Kruger sets up straw men that we all find objectionable so that we would accept his model. For instance, on pages 31-32, Kruger talks about the Western model or Western Gospel. He claims that we are left “clueless about the staggering reality that has overtaken human existence in Jesus Christ. A great veil covers our eyes…we cannot see…no idea… a desperate search…” The Church has no spiritual meaning to give to the Western world. Again on page 83, Kruger says that Western church people are “sad and empty and bored and angry and depressed, and most seriously confused about Jesus.” And then he goes on to ask “Could it be that the disinterest of the world in Christianity is owing to the fact that the world sees that denial and the religious nothingness it produces and wants nothing of it?” In the last sentence alone there are several things that can be challenged. First, is there disinterest in the world in Christianity? There are 2.2 Billion people in the world who identify as Christian. That is 50% more than the next largest religious group, Islam. While Christianity in the Western world is declining, other areas like subsaharan Africa grew from 9 million adherents in 1910 to 516 million in 2010. World wide Christianity is growing at a rate of 1.36% per year from 1990 to 2000. Second, we could challenge that “the world sees…” is a fact. Third, we could question that Christianity produces religious nothingness.Another problem with Kruger is that he emasculates many orthodox doctrines. They are left without power and nuanced meaning. On page 102, repentance is said to be a “profound change of seeing, of understanding and thinking.” On the next page, Kruger speaks of faith, using the word only once. The rest of the paragraph says “everything now hinges on what we (his italics) believe. To persist in believing…To believe the lie…But to believe in Jesus Christ, to see him as he is and to see ourselves included in him, is to come into our right minds.” So, it all sounds very cerebral, intellectual, even Gnostic. Faith is believing the right thing. There are many other undertones of Pelagianism and a leaning toward a therapeutic Christianity. Although Kruger is trying to bring us into a close personal relationship with the Triune God, we do this on our own by repentance (pg 102) which leads us to faith, which is believing the right thing (pg103), “faith…produces hope” (pg 104), “hope means assurance (pg 104), and assurance changes our perspective” (pg104). Voila, we come to the Great Dance without a need for God!Kruger spends way too much time apparently griping about the church situation in which he was raised (and projecting it upon the Western Church in general) and not enough time talking about the perichoresis of the Trinity. Don’t waste your time with this book.

This book helps to bring proper perspective to the Great Dance of the Father, Son and Spirit into our lives. I cant say enough about my enjoyment and enlightenment as a result of this book! CBK - thank you for sharing your thoughts on the heart of The Father, Son, Spirit, the problem of our pain and the Christological truth in relation to our everyday dance! This book is very readable & composed well!

I love this book - so deep yet with a beautiful simplicity. I gave away my first copy and got this one for myself!

Such easy-to-read but thought-provoking exploration of Trinity. I am now using it to lead a study for a group of women, developing a study guide for ourselves out of every thought provoker and every question this book is raising for us. I wish I had owned this book 36 years ago when I was a new Christian. I could have saved me a lot of heartache and misunderstanding.

Dr. Kruger has a gift of painting a beautiful picture for us with his words...explaining our inclusion in the fellowship of the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit...it is precious.I would recommend this book to every person on earth...whether you regard yourself as a believer, unbeliever, or whatever.I trust that you will find joy in reading this....this info resonating with what you already have in you...... the way I did.

What my heart has always known and dreamed to be true! Thank you, Baxter Kruger and Thank You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit!!! Pure Grace! Pure Love! Pure Delight!!!

Very insightful ...have given this book away to many

Ordered as a gift. Haven't had any feed back yet

It's okay. A little simplistic in places.

I'm currently 30 years old and I was born and raised within the church. This book was so simple and came at this points he was making from many different ways. (Some view this as repetitive, however for me, I needed it to try and unlearn some things that were barriers in my thinking.) If you've never really known how the 'Father, Spirit and Son' are relevant for your life and what that looks like and means (and just how mind blowing this truth is) then this book will be a phenomenal read for you. Everyone who calls themselves a christian (someone who follows and loves the person of Jesus Christ) would be doing themselves a great service by reading this book.

Issa book