I bought this book based on the review hoping it would help my 26 year old daughter. After reading the first few chapters, she brought it to me and said "I can't seem to get anything out of this. You want to read some of it and see what you think". I browsed through each chapter reading a little of each chapter. It made no sense to me, and I was very bored with it. I said to myself, "If someone really needs help with negative emotions, I can't imagine how this book would help them. If someone is looking for a simple, down to earth book that is easily understood, this is not the book for them." Maybe this would help someone who is highly educated and used to reading this kind of stuff, but for someone looking for basic answers in a simple, easy readable form, I don't think this book is for them.

This book is a mishmash of half-formed Freudian sound bites wrapped around a framework of Bible-belt Revival Christianity. I have never had higher hopes for a book based on a title, and never been more deeply disappointed in the resulting contents.

Persons incapable of critical thought or reasoned behaviour may find this book deeply comforting. I wrote my purchase of this book off as a learning experience and threw it away. I found Master's criticism of "psychobabble" particularly ironic, since the book is a rambling unfocused series of babbles.

I read in one review that 'Persons incapable of critical thought or reasoned behaviour may find this book deeply comforting'. I wonder if that person has read the book, because it certainly is NOT one of those superficial, comfort offerings that sell so well.
This is one of the deepest forays into the human psyche, it show very accurately how our emotional reactions to life set us up for the situation we find ourselves in today, it shows how our emotional reactions set us up to produce a conditioned response to certain situations we encounter in life, and how even certain details can trigger responses beyond our control. To name an example, suppose as a child you have been humiliated by a teacher in front of the whole class, and this teacher smelled of cigars. Suppose that your emotional response to this situation transforms it into a traumatic experience. You may discover later in life that whenever you meet a man who smells of cigars produces negative emotions, anger in you, yet you cannot see how this irrational anger is related to the original incidence of the humiliation by this teacher. Likewise, our entire lives can be shaped around emotional triggers like that, causing us to be like biological robots instead of the human beings we were supposed to be. Entire lives can be wasted UNLESS we find the key to overcoming our conditioned responses. This is the positive message of the book, there IS a way of overcoming our conditioned responses, there IS a way of returning to who we were meant to be. The book comes up with many examples of what I just stated, and also points towards the solution. It is very profound, and you may find it therefore hard to read. As with all books written by Roy Masters, I find it best not to read it all at once, but read something, think about it, and then take up the book again to read some more.
It is a deep, profound book, and it is very rewarding to have read it, it brings you face to face with yourself. Maybe that is why Masters produces such negative reactions in some people, maybe they do not like what they see when they look into the mirror of their souls. Well, hiding your head in the sand and cursing the one holding the mirror is not going to help you.
I loved reading it, and I certainly can recommend it to you. 5-stars well deserved.

Este libro parecia ser un libro de apoyo para los padres de nin~os pequen~os por el titulo; pero apenas lo abri, empezaron a aparecer parrafos de la biblia (mayormente el "Nuevo Testamento") y esto me decepciono. Yo creo en D'os pero en este libro esperaba encontrar mas acerca de como el titulo menciona: La crianza de los hijos... Lo senti un engan~o y para colmo no lo lei ni lo leere...

It has a wonderful teaching. Every parent should read it and apply it. Very good!!

I don't mean to argue with someone's interpretation of the Bible, but I think it's at least worth considering the scientific research on this topic as well.

In an extensive meta-analysis recently published in a leading scientific journal (Psychological Bulletin, 2002), psychologist Elizabeth Gershoff found links between spanking and 10 negative behaviors or experiences, including aggression, antisocial behavior, and mental health problems. The only positive result of spanking that Dr. Gershoff identified was quick compliance with parental demands.

This is why the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other child health organization, are officially against spanking.

An excellent book on this subject is Dr. Murray Straus' "Beating the Devil Out of Them: Corporal Punishment by American Families and Its Effects on Children" (2002). If you think you must hit your child, please at least read this first.

This book has been the best thing that has ever happended to me (and my husband)as a parent. I read the first edition and actually got to sit under the teaching in the author's home in 1997 and I don't know what I would have become as a parent if I hadn't had this teaching. It has been the KEY to giving us a peaceful and pleasant home.

Before having kids I was dreading becoming a parent because I was afraid of the responsibility of raising children. This book has the keys to raising children who are obedient and truly happy. They are (usually) peaceful inside when I consistently apply the principles that Roy brings out. It is amazing. I have many friends who also use these principles and the results are consistent.

It is based on many Bible verses and I never realized how clear the Bible is in giving us guidance for raising kids. Folks who are not followers of Jesus may not agree with all of it, of course, because they may not use the Bible as their standard, so this book would not be for them.

It has given me such a clear picture of how to raise children. The spanking is just an aspect of child rearing and Roy Lessin shows us how to integrate it as a training tool and when and how to do it right and well without being abusive. It is WONDERFUL!

Cathy Carrion, mother of 4

Studies of the theology of Tertullian in English are rare things, and the quality tends to be low. The 1905 classic "La theologie de Tertullien" by D'Ales has never had an English equivalent -- indeed Roberts in 1924 was able to write his less than useful book without even referencing D'Ales. So it is exciting to come across a book, however curiously named, which addresses itself to the subject.

The book is copiously annotated. Indeed I found it very useful as a guide to publications on aspects of Tertullian's theology. For instance, three pages are devoted to the famous 'credo quia absurdum', in which Kearsley summarises 3 ways to look at this, with references. This was indeed useful. Likewise it is possible to dip into the book at points, searching for texts and concepts and find a useful collection of books and articles for further reading, and some sort of digest of them.

Unfortunately the book has many serious defects. The first which strikes the reader is the style, which is turgid and unreadable. The book derives from a PhD thesis, and I suspect the process of condensation must bear some of the blame.

The second issue that strikes the reader forcibly is that every other sentence seems to be a reference, not to Tertullian, but to the opinion of some modern theological writer about him. (The overwhelming majority of these are anglophone, which is disappointing). This makes the book intensely frustrating to the reader who wants to hear the voice of Tertullian, not that of modern writers about him.

For instance, in chapter 2 there is a discussion of why Tertullian placed Athens and Jerusalem in opposition, and what Tertullian thought of 'philosophy'. It's too condensed, for one thing. Many things might be said about this. But the focus is on modern opinions (all rather uninteresting), not on Tertullian, and I frankly felt that neither the author nor his sources had actually read and enjoyed the first 10 chapters of De praescriptione haereticorum as a living text with something to say, rather than as raw material for his thesis. It is very hard to read Greenslade's excellent version and then regard these pages as useful comment on it.

The volume is likewise marred by political correctness of a particularly intrusive kind. Apparently the idea of political authority stemming from the emperor is anathema in the author's circles. This anachronism is very destructive. There is much talk of 'rescuing' bits of the Christian gospel (the PC code-word for syncretism), in order to relate them to this PC fad or that. This is deeply offensive to Christians, and logically nonsensical. Finally the text is stuffed with theological jargon, all of it smelling strongly of the lecture-notes of some salaried and tenured professor of religious studies at some marginal secular university.

All of this makes the volume very hard indeed to read, and I found my attention wandering on just about every page. I cannot say that I learnt anything about Tertullian from it. Probably there are some useful insights, if you can get past the obstacles. But I didn't find any. D'Ales is immensely better.

The general reader will find T.D.Barnes, "Tertullian: A Literary and Historical Study" a far better introduction to Tertullian as a whole. However, it would be unfair to complain that Kearsley does not rival Barnes, as he did not set out to do so.

I'm not sure to whom this book can be recommended. It has a certain value as a guide to the literature.