A Critical Analysis of

RICHARD WARREN’s
THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE

A Paper

Presented to

Miss IRYN E. CAVITY

Professor

SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Surigao City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

of the Course

Eng. 213

Literary Theory and Criticism

By

RANDY P. LAMANILAO
MAEd-English

January 2015
 Table of Content

Preface

Acknowledgment

The Author

THE ANALYSIS

I. Lexical Analysis
A. 5 Important Words in the Book
B. Etymology of Most Mentioned Words in the
Book

II. Question Frames

A. Literal
B. Interpretive
C. Applied

III. The SQ3R Method

A. Survey
B. Question
C. Read
D. Recite
E. Review

IV. Literary Interpretation

(Using Symbolism)
V. Summary
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

My in-depth gratitude to everybody who have introduced this book for me to read:

To my beloved family who never fails to extend their support;

To my ever dynamic Ma’am Iryn who undoubtedly explained to me how to stand

in my criticism;

To RICHARD WARREN, the author of the book for being God’s instrument for
enlightenment;

And to GOD who deserves the highest form of praise.

PREFACE

Of all the books I am planning to scrutinize for the

critical analysis required in my course, I choose this book
as my core source of having the battle in the arena of
literary criticism. Looking into the positive and negative
side of this book is truly, NOT THAT EASY.

Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life is a runaway

bestseller, having already sold over ten million copies,
making it one of the best-selling Christian books of all
time. Thousands of churches have committed to leading their
congregations through the Forty Days of Purpose program. I
decided to spend forty days journaling my way through this
book to try to determine what they hype is all about.

The format of the book is simple. The book is divided

into six parts: an introduction followed by a section for
each of the five purposes Rick Warren has discovered. Each
day’s reading is only a few pages long and is followed by a
verse of the Bible to memorize, a point to ponder and a
question to consider. The book is packed with over 1200
quotations from the Bible.

There are many positive aspects to this book. The

author obviously loves the church and views the local
church as a beautiful institution. He speaks of the value
and necessity of Christian community that can only be
gained through the local church. He is firm on this point,
stating that there is no such thing as a lone Christian. He
has many good things to say about worship and how so many
people view worship as being about themselves rather than
being an outpouring of praise and obedience towards God. He
speaks of the value of identifying and utilizing our
spiritual gifts.
ANALYSIS

I. Lexical Analysis

A. 5 important words from the book

1. Estrangement (pp. 109

Noun
the fact of no longer being on friendly
terms or part of a social group.
"the growing estrangement of the police from
their communities"

2. Disillusionment
Noun
a feeling of disappointment resulting from
the discovery that something is not as good
as one believed it to be.
"the high abstention rate at the election
reflected the voters' growingdisillusionment
with politics"

3. Denomination
Noun
a recognized autonomous branch of the
Christian Church.
"a Christian denomination"
 4. Parachurch organization.
Parachurch organizations are Christian
faith-based organizations that work outside
of and across denominations to engage in
social welfare and evangelism, usually
independent of church oversight.

5. Petty
adjective
of little importance; trivial.
"the petty divisions of party politics"

B. Etymology of words from the book

1. evangelism (n.)
1620s, "the preaching of the gospel,"
from evangel + -ism, or else from Medieval
Latin evangelismus "a spreading of the
Gospel," from Late Latin evangelium "good
news, gospel," from
Greek euangelion (see evangelist). In
reference to evangelical Protestantism, from
1812.
2. gospel (n.)

Old English godspel "gospel, glad tidings

announced by Jesus; one of the four gospels,"
from god "good" (see good) + spel "story,
message" (see spell (n.1)); translation of
Latinbona adnuntiatio, itself a translation of
Greek euangelion "reward for bringing good
news."

The first element of the Old English word had

a long "o," but it shifted under mistaken
association with God. The word passed early
from English to continental Germanic languages
in forms that clearly indicate the first
element had shifted to "God," such as Old
Saxon godspell, Old High German gotspell, Old
Norse goðspiall. Used of anything as true as
the Gospel from mid-13c. Gospel-gossip was
Addison's word ("Spectator," 1711) for "one
who is always talking of sermons, texts, etc."

3. church (n.)

Old English cirice, circe "church, public

place of worship; Christians collectively,"
from Proto-Germanic *kirika (cognates: Old
 Saxon kirika, Old Norse kirkja, Old
Frisian zerke, Middle Dutch kerke, Dutch kerk,
Old High German kirihha, German Kirche),
probably [see note in OED] from Greek kyriake
(oikia), kyriakon doma "Lord's (house),"
from kyrios"ruler, lord," from PIE root *keue-
"to swell" ("swollen," hence "strong,
powerful"); see cumulus. Phonetic spelling
from c.1200, established by 16c. For vowel
evolution, seebury. As an adjective from
1570s.

4. grace (n.)

late 12c., "God's favor or help," from Old

French grace "pardon, divine grace, mercy;
favor, thanks; elegance, virtue" (12c.), from
Latin gratia "favor, esteem, regard; pleasing
quality, good will, gratitude" (source of
Italian grazia, Spanish gracia),
from gratus "pleasing, agreeable," from PIE
root *gwere- (3) "to favor" (cognates:
Sanskrit grnati "sings, praises, announces,"
Lithuanian giriu "to praise, celebrate,"
Avestan gar- "to praise").

Sense of "virtue" is early 14c., that of

"beauty of form or movement, pleasing quality"
is mid-14c. In classical sense, "one of the
three sister goddesses (Latin Gratiæ,
GreekKharites), bestowers of beauty and
charm," it is first recorded in English 1579
in Spenser. The short prayer that is said
before or after a meal (early 13c.; until 16c.
usually graces) has a sense of "gratitude."
II. Question Frames

A. Literal

1. What do people get attached to on earth that

keeps them from living for God’s purposes?
(from Chapter 1)

It’s the riches that solely take away the

heart of the people from the real purpose of
God into their life. Others are due to
vices, and anything that they think would
give them happiness, though temporary.

2. How is friendship with God similar to other

friendship?
(from Chapter 2)

The friendship of God remains the best

friendship that a man has to possess. Unlike
the friendship we have with man, it’s some
kind of friendship where there are no
limitations when it comes to love.
 Nevertheless, the best thing we would
experience in having friendship with the
Lord is that, just like the friendship we
used to have, HE cherishes and saves the
best thing for the one He love the most.

B. Interpretive

1. How is “being as committed to each other as

we are to Jesus Christ” different from the
way most people understand “fellowship”?
(from Chapter 3)

The quotation simply expresses the real

essence of having Jesus Christ as the center
of our life. Fellowship doesn’t just mean,
having united in worship with co-believers
but also, it means about our commitment with
Him who gave His life to set us free.

2. How is “becoming like Jesus Christ”

different from the way most people
understand “discipleship”?
(from Chapter 4)
 Becoming like Christ is something that would
drag us into a deeper relationship with the
Lord. Others define discipleship as to
doings things more than CHRIST which is
absolutely wrong. Becoming like Christ is
doing what is the best for us to glorify HIM
deeply more than what we used to do.

3. How is “using your shape to serve others”

different from the way most people
understand “ministry”?
(from Chapter 5)

How you are shaped become the reason why we

really need to engage into a more committed
paradigm for the gospel, which from the very
start, we oath to extend to others.

Ministry is a way of serving the Lord by

means of serving others.

C. Applied

1. Who does God bring to mind that you could

share the life-changing message of this book
with?
Family. Friends. Relatives. People who have
never encountered yet the message of this
book.

Having this book doesn’t mean, you replaces

this book with the Bible. It simply serves
as the core reason why we would really have
to read the Bible, which is for now, more
meaningfully.
III. SQ3R Method

1. SURVEY

 As told by my friends who have read this

book, I also predicted that the book will
emphasize on the ways God has wanted for
man to have since the existence of the
world.

2. QUESTION

 What is really the purpose of man’s

existence in this world?

3. Read

 After reading this book, I realized how

important it is to have the reason of
living in this world. It simply adds color
to your existence. Circumstances may
attack your faith, but as long as you know
that it happens for a reason, the purpose
would remain as it is.
4. Recite

 The reason of man’s existence is not about

man’s reason why he exists. It is because
GOD has a purpose.

5. Review

 A friend and a colleague of mine, Mr.

Marley T. Migullas, after seeing the cover
of the book told me, that book is for the
people who wanted to change their usual
way of living. Well, we had the same
expectation on the book, and after reading
it, it tells me more than my mind had
predicted.
IV. Literary Interpretation
(Using Symbolism)

Great book authors, Christian evangelists,

Magazine writers, and famous publishers around
the world were struck over its victory in the
arena of publication as it sells over ten million
copies released all over the world, and how this
book emphasizes the meaning of one’s existence.

According to a certain commentator from

wwww.challies.com dated January 12, 2004, “The
Purpose Driven Life proclaims itself to be “more than
a book; it is a guide to a40-day spiritual
journey that will enable you to discover the answer
to life’s most important question: What on earth am I
here for?” We see that the author is setting his
sights high; he is going to attempt to answer the
greatest question we can face – that of our meaning
and purpose. He promises that at the end of the
journey “you will know God’s purpose for your life
and will understand the big picture – how all the
pieces of your life fit together.” The results of
this will be amazing. “Having this perspective will
reduce your stress, simplify your decisions, increase
your satisfaction, and, most important, prepare you
for eternity.” It is a courageous man who would write
a book that claims it will do all of that. Of course
these lofty standards help us realize why this book
has attracted such great attention!”

This has urged me to read the book and which many of

the finest critiques in the world of literature are
interested to scrutinize its teachings. Well, for me,
the author simply suggested the right ways (he think)
could help people discover their sole reasons of
existence; giving hopes to those who are depressed;
showing best ways to fight against the problems in
life; and of course, develop the right way of dealing
life’s purposes with GOD’s company.

As to Christian teachings’ reliability, Billy and

Franklin Graham, two of the world’s most famous
evangelists hailed this book as “Make sure you’re not
missing the point of your life—read this book!”

Bruce Wilkinson, Author, The Prayer of Jabez, on the

other hand, courageously proclaims the book as,
“destined to be the classic of the Christian Life…”

However, many of the critiques have formed intrigues

with regards to how Rick Warren uses the scriptures.
Acoording to Merv Tucker, “Rick Warren does a lot
of what bible scholars call ‘proof texting’, that
means he often takes scripture out of context to
back up his point or to sound persuasive.” He
made it bold to the readers of his post that
Warren has many errors in giving literary
quotations from the Bible.

But as to how I read it and interpreted it, I

believe that Warren’s purpose is only to make
everything visible to the readers the point he
wanted to express in most of the parts of the
book. There’s nothing wrong with the use of the
scripture as long as it edifies a Christian
believer; as long as it gives hope to the
depressed and encouraged once again to live life
with a purpose; and develop confidence to those
who losses their inner hopes of living and
develop of living and develop the sense of
knowing the importance of his existence.

The book illustrates the inmost reason why we are

here on earth; why do we need to know our purpose
of living; and why do we need to stick on God’s
principles in dealing with the game of life.
Personally, I would commend the author of this
book for having such a tremendous work of
literature that encourages millions around the
world to live life with God’s purpose.
 SUMMARY

Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life is a runaway

bestseller, having already sold over ten million
copies, making it one of the best-selling Christian
books of all time. Thousands of churches have committed
to leading their congregations through the Forty Days
of Purpose program. I decided to spend forty days
journaling my way through this book to try to determine
what they hype is all about.

The Purpose Driven Life proclaims itself to be “more

than a book; it is a guide to a40-day spiritual
journey that will enable you to discover the answer to
life’s most important question: What on earth am I here
for?” We see that the author is setting his sights
high; he is going to attempt to answer the greatest
question we can face – that of our meaning and purpose.
He promises that at the end of the journey “you will
know God’s purpose for your life and will understand
the big picture – how all the pieces of your life fit
together.” The results of this will be amazing. “Having
this perspective will reduce your stress, simplify your
decisions, increase your satisfaction, and, most
important, prepare you for eternity.” It is a
courageous man who would write a book that claims it
will do all of that. Of course these lofty standards
help us realize why this book has attracted such
great attention!
The format of the book is simple. The book is divided
into six parts: an introduction followed by a section
for each of the five purposes Rick Warren has
discovered. Each day’s reading is only a few pages long
and is followed by a verse of the Bible to memorize, a
point to ponder and a question to consider. The book is
packed with over 1200 quotations from the Bible.

There are many positive aspects to this book. The

author obviously loves the church and views the local
church as a beautiful institution. He speaks of the
value and necessity of Christian community that can
only be gained through the local church. He is firm on
this point, stating that there is no such thing as a
lone Christian. He has many good things to say about
worship and how so many people view worship as being
about themselves rather than being an outpouring of
praise and obedience towards God. He speaks of the
value of identifying and utilizing our spiritual gifts.