ReaderViews.com

What the Church Does Not Want You to Know
Greg Espinosa
Cereb Press (2008)
ISBN 9780979757235
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (9/08)
“What the Church Does Not Want You to Know” contains an in-depth discussion about how churches have
evolved into corporate-like money making entities. As a result of this, the followers are the ones paying the
true price. Church members are threatened with damnation if they choose to leave. Espinosa was not just
disillusioned by the ministers; he was also disgusted by the behavior of the congregation. There is also a lot
of peer pressure among them for people to behave and even dress a certain way. This could include tithing,
or even with going to services. I have seen some of this myself. A church that I grew up in used to post
member’s contributions annually in the bulletin. Another church used to have a priest that expected members
to turn in copies of their tax returns so that he could make sure that they were tithing appropriate amounts.
To my own observation, cult-like behavior is promoted among many congregations. Another example of this
is of a church, in my town, that admonishes its members if they do not attend mid-week services and two
services on Sunday. It appears that God is only present in that church and if you do not attend, you miss out
on seeing Him. There are also collections at both services. Unfortunately, Espinosa has experienced similar
events in his own life. How disillusioning this is. Turning to the Bible, he discovered that it is not necessary
to go to church to have a close relationship with God. He found that he can go to God directly and experience
the Holy Spirit in his life, without having a middle man. He fills his book with biblical quotes to back up his
beliefs. He also enjoys living his life based upon his relationship with God, and not living in fear of
retribution by what someone else tells him, especially if that person stands to profit from what they say. He
hopes that readers will find their way to a close relationship with the Holy Spirit by reading the Bible on their
own.
I found “What the Church Does Not Want You to Know” to be very interesting and well-supported with
biblical references. I have seen so much of the negative experiences that Espinosa writes about, either in
churches that I have attended, or from watching what my friends have gone through. Though I have to say I
have not had this experience with every church that I have attended. This book made me really appreciate the
church that I currently attend. I have not had any of the negative experiences that have been discussed in the
book. So I will keep going where I go. I do read the Bible and pray on my own, but I enjoy the music and
fellowship of the services.
“What the Church Does Not Want You to Know,” is an eye opener that will make its readers become more
aware of the traps that religions can put out to snare their members. I think it a very important book that
should be read by people who find their relationship with God to be very important (hopefully everybody). It
should definitely be read by those who have feelings that things are not right with their religion. It will help
them overcome fears of damnation because they are having doubts. Churches and religion are manmade; it is
our relationship with God that we should have no doubts about.