Blog Book Tour | “Enslaved to Saved: The Metaphor of Christ as our Master” by W. Reid Litchfield This is a #nonfiction #mustread for readers of #ChristFic, #INSPY, & #LDS! It reaches across hidden barriers and unites all of us together.

Posted Monday, 18 May, 2015 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin.

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Cedar Fort whereupon I am thankful to have such a diverse amount of novels and non-fiction titles to choose amongst to host. I received a complimentary copy of “Enslaved to Saved” direct from the publisher CFI (imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

On why I elected to read Enslaved to Saved:

The title of this book implored me outright to become interested in reading it as I have had a curiosity to uncover more about Christ (as a man as much as the Son of God) in regards to who He was whilst He lived on earth and how the legacy of His teachings left behind for us to find after He left. On a similar vein, Mum and I have wanted to dig inside the women of the Bible, to uncover more biographical bits about who they were and the lives they lived because too often we only get to know fragmented pieces about the men and women who lived centuries ago yet who have such a crucial part of our shared religious history. As far as the women go, I know we want to seek out Biblical Historical fiction as a gateway, but when I saw this non-fiction release about Christ, it was definitely a moment where I felt as if I had stumbled across a book I was meant to read ‘at this moment in time’.

– excerpt taken from my explanation on the top anchour of Litchfield’s Guest Post

Blog Book Tour | “Enslaved to Saved: The Metaphor of Christ as our Master” by W. Reid Litchfield This is a #nonfiction #mustread for readers of #ChristFic, #INSPY, & #LDS! It reaches across hidden barriers and unites all of us together.Enslaved to Saved: The Metaphor of Christ as our Master
by W. Reid Litchfield
Source: Direct from Publisher

Who is your Master: Sin or the SAVIOR?

This thought-provoking book examines the cultural and political background of slavery during the time of Christ and what it means to our modern-day commitment to the Lord.

Where our King James New Testament reads "servant of Christ", the original Greek translates to "slave of Christ." This nuance will change how you read the New Testament.

*Unlock the deeper meanings of the Savior's most beloved parables

*Discover how the early Saints viewed their relationship to Christ

*Explore the difference between servitude and slavery in several well-known verses

Reid Litchfield, a Harvard-trained endocrinologist and longtime gospel scholar, shows how you can become a slave to Christ and paradoxically free yourself from the captivity of sin and death.

Genres: Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, Spirituality & Metaphysics



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Also by this author: Guest Post by W. Reid Litchfield

Published by CFI (imprint) Cedar Fort Inc

on 12th May, 2015

Format: Paperback

Pages: 160

Published By: CFI (imprint) of Cedar Fort Inc (@CedarFortBooks),

an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFortBooks)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse on Twitter via:

#EnslavedToSaved, #ChristCentered, #BibleStudy & #ChristianNonFiction

About W. Reid Litchfield

Dr W. Reid Litchfield

W. Reid Litchfield is an endocrinologist from Henderson, Nevada. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University (B.S.) and University of Calgary (M.D.) and completed his endocrinology fellowship at Harvard Medical School. In addition to a number of scientific publications he has published medical history papers entitled On The Physical Death Of Jesus Christ and The Bittersweet Demise of Herod the Great. He is the recipient of numerous Top Doctor awards as well as professional awards for leadership in his community and medical society.

Similarities between Protestant Christians:

As Dr. Litchfield wrote Enslaved to Saved from the perspective of an LDS-Protestant, I thought it might be a good idea to separate my overall impressions of the text from the similarities I noted as I read the book itself. As he mentions on a special note about visiting with me on my blog prior to this post, despite the hidden barriers that might been seen between us, we are united through our appreciation of Christ and the foundational elements that bring both our religious backgrounds together. This definitely rang true as the moment I first started to read the opening of Enslaved to Saved he is talking about being ‘of service to others’ and this is something I can relate too myself, as I was raised in a family who believed in helping your neighbours and community members. I loved being able to give back to those around us from a very young age, and also, finding different ways to make an impact on the lives of those who lived around us, where sometimes you could give without the attention of others knowing what you were doing.

I could also identify with how Litchfield was mentioning the care it takes to find clarity amongst the scriptures in their English translations due to the fact they are not known in their native languages by those of us who only speak one language; as words can effectively change in cogitation simply by who is expressing them and by which parentage of linguistics you grew up listening too. This is a small lesson in how words have a depth of meaning even without our realisation of the full scope of how they affect each person who hears the words with a different perception of how that word is being used. It is not a far off thought then to recognise without further study, all of us are missing key bits to what was originally left behind for us to find if we haven’t yet researched to the lengths Litchfield went to find what was hidden in plain sight.

My Review of Enslaved to Saved:

Litchfield starts off by giving an introductory explanation of the differences between how we (as laypersons) have understood the Bible (thus far) and how the Bible was originally written to be understood. The differences vary through the perception of the words being expressed and the manner in which the words re-translate to forming a new meaning out of the context of the word(s) themselves. He offers a wonderful grid of words and their descriptions on page 6 and 7 to help denote the variants of the words and how they honestly were meant to be interpreted by those who are reading scriptures.

The underscored thread of this topic, is one that I caught sight of myself — the vast distance between what was lived and spoken to the understanding of the modern world, can cause a disruptive gap of knowledge for what was left behind for us to perceive as the living word. Language especially changes as time evolves forward, for each generation has their own set of words to express what they want to say as much as what they want to be felt as a word or expression is used in the context of their conversations. I, have even witnessed personally how ‘one word’ can be spoken with good intentions yet misunderstood simply because the person who overheard the word re-distributed the meaning behind it to reflect a different definition of context. (this eludes to a situation on Twitter last Friday; the word was ‘brave’)

If we continue to lose sight of our ability to accept each other on a heart-fused level of insight, we are going to be blighted against the tides to see how each of us are interpreting the other. Language is as temporal as time, it constantly ebbs and flows, and per region, country, and dialect language continues to become a barrier between us because instead of taking one step towards a balancing of where each of us approaches conversation, we end up taking a firm step backwards.

It is very apparent to me that if you switch-out ‘servant’ for ‘slave’ you are eluding to a different situation altogether, unless of course by ‘servant’ you are referring to ‘indentured servant’ such as how many immigrants entered the United States from Europe who did not have the monies for passage to enter the New World. (my readings of historical fiction as a book blogger has been most enlightening on that end) Still. Without a proper root word to express exactly what was originally inflected by those who were writing down the scriptures themselves, time, history, and memory can become distorted and washed away.

As Litchfield moves forward into enveloping us inside classical Rome, we start to see the underpins of how each era is reflectively similar to each other; on the level there is a certain level of disparage between the classes and uniquely enough, there is a ‘middle/working class’ in constant struggle to earn a living wage outside the oppression of their ruling governs. Except to say, by today’s standards it would be the lower middle class, as back then, the differences in opportunities and wage, were a far cry from what is available today. Evenso, I saw a familiar thread of how the few outweighed the many, in regards to civil rights and the rights to thrive on a living wage – irregardless of which class was referenced to be ‘lower’ in station from the ruling order (both political and religious) it was a definitive gap where despair and illness was far more rampant than expiring of elder age. Litchfield excells on his inclusions on social commentary especially for non-readers of historical fiction who like to delve into the historical past through various portals of time. (my personal preference for reading the genre)

As Litchfield started to enter into an open dialogue about the brutal realities of slaves and how slaves were perceived by their peers in classical Rome, my own mind reflected with the stories I’ve read over the score of the last few years, where writers have tipped the scales towards writing humbling and emotional accounts of slavery in the Deep South. Inasmuch as I have read stories evoking such a quickening of reality on where humanity is sometimes lost in the shuffle of the mind and psychosis of the oppression that is being wrought out of either fear or control for power.

Such as the following works of fiction:

The House Girl by Tara Conklin An incredible story start to finish, as I was left woeful in my own tears as the freedom at the conclusion is not the path I had hoped for her but it was truly the best freedom she could have been blessed with in consideration of the alternative. To look back on this after I’ve read ‘Enslaved to Saved’ the act of freedom Conklin gives her character is empathised by the philosophy left behind by Epictetus. It is a truth I knew myself, but is one of the harder truths to sometimes accept.

Illuminations: {A novel of Hildegard von Bingen} by Mary Sharratt An incredible account of how one woman’s right of free will was countered against the will of those who felt they could control how she would live.

Chain of Mercy by Brenda S. Anderson This one is more of being enslaved to the guilt of sin rather than of a physical labour of slavery. It is more about how we can lock ourselves out of grace by our inability to forgive and to let go of things that we cannot change.

How Much Do You Love Me? by Paul Mark Tag This is my first story of the internment camps in America for the Japanese during WWII and it is a powerfully evoking novel of how to keep hope alive when you do not even have control of knowing if you will be given back your freedom.

Redfield Farm by Judith Redline Coopey This one keep me hugged inside the text because of how emotionally charged the story becomes as time elapses forward for the main characters; it is a dicey dance between doing what is right and being caught on the wrong side of the law.

The Shepherdess of Siena by Linda Lafferty Similar to ‘Illuminations’ & ‘Bitter Greens’ although I hadn’t mentioned this part of the story on my review as I was focusing on the other half of it, there is a keen thread of narrative devouted to how your own right to live free is taken by those who seek to oppress your free will.

Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth There were passages inside this re-telling that made me think about ‘Illuminations’ because of how during certain times in history the easiest way to forestall a woman to live with free choice was to commit her to a convent and thus removing all liberty from her life.

Star of Deliverance by Mandy Madson Voisin As this is a re-telling of Cinderella, there  is a certain level of indentured servant explorations and how you have to find the strength to overcome a hand your dealt.

I hadn’t realised how oft I explore the theme of oppression or the indignity of being a slave rather than being a servant, as to me to purport it in a way that applies to reading works of fiction, it is the difference between working within the Victorian, Regency, and Edwardian eras of Britain as a servant inside a respectable household (everyone who is familiar with Upstairs, Downstairs; The Duchess of Duke Street; and Downton Abbey (as they are all connected) is familiar with this kind of servitude or even if you have seen Howard’s End, The Remains of the Day, or Gosford Park.) and being a slave where your stripped of all your rights to where you are only responsive to the will and call of your master. (good, bad, or indifferent)

Clearly, the Romans and the plantation masters of the Deep South were akin to the same rules and subjection of how they ‘kept their slaves’ as I kept seeing a familiar line of dialogue within the pages of Chapter 2 to where it felt as if ‘nothing had changed but rather history had hit the repeat button’. I had uncovered previously death by crucifixion was not limited to Christ, but was the method of choice during the time in which he lived. For those who are not as familiar with the history of the South nor of the plight of those who were crucified you may want to tread lightly during this chapter as it is hard to digest if it’s your first reading of what occurred. As for how I approached it, I was surprised how I was able to move forward through these passages, as I am not numb to the subject matter but I do have a better understanding of it, simply through the fictional stories I’ve read as I became attached to the characters whose lives were destroyed by the hand of others. Empathy grows out of knowledge and knowledge deepens our compassionate hearts as we align further into our spiritual core.

I do admit I skipped over certain passages, as I have read such alarmingly honest accounts of the punishments of slaves, at the time I set down to read this book, I felt my previous knowledge could stand and did not read the fullness of where Litchfield took these moments of highlighting how the Romans would enact punishment.

Proceeding forward entered a moment of back-stories to explain how the perception of slavery was perceived and illustrated by Christ and by the teachings He gave us to follow. There were attributes explained behind each of the stories, as different takeaways merited a different insight into the whole of the subject itself. A layered onion of each particle of insight could yield the wealth of where history and humanity left off – but moreso to the point, is one fundamental lesson: to give is to give freely of your heart without an expectation of return. This is a lesson all children learn, either through their family or by the time they enter kindergarten (at least I hope that’s still a tradition!), as to give of yourself is to be without the benefit of a reward or a returnt kindness. If you receive something unexpected it has a greater sweetness because it was received for the pure joy of not realising it was coming and thereby a greater joy by half.

Part of this section is also trying to illuminate blind acceptance and belief in what is knowingly being asked of you without fear of what is still yet to come to where you understand the reasons behind what is being requested. This is to live on faith and by faith alone without faltering through a fault of humanity where we second guess and question the benefits of what we’ve chosen to accept by grace.

There is a section towards the end of the book involving the history of ‘adoption’ but not on the level of ‘adoption’ today in regards to giving children without a family a forever home. As in the earlier days of our histories, adoption was another step towards being closer to the body of Christ than from whence one was bourne. It is almost a summation of the content of Enslaved to Saved as by giving our trust in Christ we have grown in our freedom towards living through the will of God.

One blessing I have experienced in my life are the experiences I have had by visiting different churches – both Protestant and Catholic in tradition. I have had friends of whom shared a path of spirituality but took a different route than I did, thereby I appreciated the chance to attend their services in lieu of my own. I cannot even fathom how many churches I have visited over a lifetime, but I do know this, as Litchfield’s collective research and history proves to the reader, the more attentive we are to our conjoined histories and the more open we are in how we seek the Light of where the Truth is leading us to traverse, the more we grow internally.

Even now, I appreciate being able to visit a variety of churches, as my community has become a more opening gathering space for inter-faith (here inter-faith refers to denominations not limited to Protestant, Catholic, Judaism, etc) meetings and celebrations. It surprised me at first, because I live in a more conservative part of the South, yet within this pocket of conservationism there is a healthy acceptance for differences and a tolerance for exchanges of dialogue from different backgrounds of origin. I can only hope the seeds of what are planted here will be carried elsewhere and give a balance of hope to other places that have not yet found what this area has embraced.

This is one reason I appreciate a multitude of branches of literature inasmuch as I appreciate the fullness of the umbrella ‘Inspirational Fiction / Non-Fiction’ because it strikes to seek a commonality of thought and threads key components of our spiritual paths leading back to the One of whom all men seek. By visiting different churches we expand our humility and humble awareness of how others celebrate their fellowship inasmuch as how we read a diversity of stories (both fiction and non-fiction) we are continuously able to embrace a new measure of insight from someone walking beside our own path we might not have met otherwise. We are more alike than we realise.

On how candid and openly honest Litchfield approaches the subject:

Litchfield has found a way to remain academic in his ruminations throughout Enslaved to Saved with a particular concentration on keeping the subject conversational. He breaks down the bones of the subject by highlighting key reference points (by chapter of focus) to make this a tangible read to where you feel as though you’ve been able to bring into the reading a bit of your own experiences and history with the subject whilst enlarging your understanding. Thus you are heightening the text by inserting your own thoughts on the topic whilst deepening your understanding on the bits that were not yet known until you read the words Litchfield left behind.

This is definitely a text to take into a conversation, to expand a bit more forward on the thoughts it’s provoking as much as the understanding of the weight of what is being revealled as a whole. He guides the reader through a series of re-told parables and stories in which those who walked long before us were being guided by lessons from Christ as much as they were learning through how their lives were lived. There are insights into the backbone of Litchfield’s evolving thesis on how this inter-connects to the root of how being ‘enslaved leads us to salvation’ inasmuch as to prove how the word ‘slave’ has become altered through history to infer different meanings per each instance it was used.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

This Blog Tour Stop is courtesy of Cedar Fort, Inc.:

Cedar Fort Publishing & Media

Virtual Road Map of “Enslaved to Saved” Blog Tour:

{ Don’t forget to visit Litchfield’s Guest Post on behalf of this book!}

Enslaved to Saved by W. Reid LitchfieldFun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Find out which Cedar Fort new releases I am hosting in 2015!

Upcoming reviews & features for Cedar Fort in MAY are:

[ 23rd May ] The Jane Journals by Heidi Jo Doxey w/ an Author Guest Post!

[ TBA May ] Summer Campaign by Carla Kelly (book review / off tour)

[ 28th May ] Ally’s Kitchen by Alice Phillips

[ 28th May ] The Recipe Hacker (book review / off tour)

Visit with me again soon!

Comment Box Banner made by Jorie in Canva.

{SOURCES: Cover art of “Enslaved to Saved”, book synopsis, author photograph of Dr Litchfield were provided by the author Dr Litchfield and used with permission. The author biography and synopsis along with the blog tour badges were all provided by Cedar Fort, Inc. and used with permission. Ruminations & Impressions Book Review Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Sergey Zolkin. Comment Box Banner made by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded due to the codes provided by Twitter.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2015.

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About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Monday, 18 May, 2015 by jorielov in 21st Century, Adoption, Ancient Civilisation, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Balance of Faith whilst Living, Biblical History, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Catholicism, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Christianity, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Equality In Literature, Good vs. Evil, History, Important Figures of Ancient Times, Indie Author, Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Judiasm, Lessons from Scripture, Modern Day, Mormonism, Non-Fiction, Passionate Researcher, Philosophy, Political Narrative & Modern Topics, Religious History, Short Stories or Essays, Social Change, Sociological Behavior, Spirituality & Metaphysics, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, The Deep South, World Religions




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