4 Awful Christian Best-Sellers 

Just imagine the martyrs quoting Olsteen’s words of wisdom while being killed.

Prosperity Gospel is basically a denial of the book of Job's canonicity.

I’m an evangelical, and it is amazing how many people in our churches take the Left Behind rapture view uncritically. It’s absorbed with their mother’s milk, and the writings of Lahaye and Hal Lindsey have influenced Protestants tremendously. I’m grateful for William Lane Craig’s criticism of this view and have since “left behind” the rapture position

When I was in high school, I had no idea I was so ahead of the curve by not dating.

Trent, we're growing closer in friendship, and I need to be up front about my motives. With your sponsers permission, i want to explore the possibility of subscribing. Im not interested in playing the game of being your liker and commenter. Im ready to be tested by you, your followers, and those who are responsible for you. My desire is to win over the heart of others into the Catholic faith

The fact that the cover for "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" is a guy tipping his fedora is so hilariously appropriate. 😂

There’s a hilarious meme that claims the quote "On the day of judgement the Theotokos will hand Christ the sword that cuts out your blaspheming tongue” as being from Joel Osteen, from the very same book you mentioned

Never heard of these, and anything with Osteen's name is an immediate red flag.

Drug lord/politicians in my country must be surely blessed by God.

I grew up going to Josh Harris's church. I've seen many of my friends fall away from the faith in bitterness over the teachings in "I kissed Dating Goodbye". Please pray for Josh, he was always a kind man and I truly dont believe he wanted to cause people harm. I pray he and my old friends turn back to the Lord.

I was unfortunately taken in by Left Behind, but what eventually put that one to bed for me was the bit where Jesus says "If they persecute me, they will also persecute you. The servant is not greater than the master." It makes no sense that Christians would get any kind of get-out-of-suffering-free card.

MY NAME IS ABUSHA FROM ETHIOPIA LOVING TRENT

It is very sad to hear the author of "I kissed Dating Goodbye" no longer considers himself a Christian. 😞

Whenever I’ve had health or financial struggles, it brought me closer to God-increased my faith. Life in the world isn’t supposed to be easy. We strive for eternal life in the next place.

“You didn’t tithe enough to Joel” 😂

I was thrilled to see The Left Behind series on this list. As a Protestant converting to Catholicism, the entire Rapture ideology was something I had to unlearn. I know so many people who cling to the Left Behind series as if it were sacred Scripture itself.

The fact that Laura wasn't invited to the pope's meeting with comedians last week is shocking. Such an insult to our community. 😜

How to describe _The Shack_ in three words: “That’s modalism, Patrick!”

I Kissed Dating Goodbye influences basically every college ministry to this day and makes it very difficult for natural relationships to come out of it.

The M'lady fedora tip cover 9f the book + the context of his own dating life is hilarious

My parents held I Kissed Dating Goodbye up as a model. With hindsight, I see exactly what it is, a book written by an young man with no life experience, a performing monkey groomed and trotted out on the speaking and writing circuit to pander to evangelical boomers, laundering the terrible advice by pretending it's the authentic voice of a youth.

I watched this video to see if the book & movie I just bought was on the list. It is-The Shack. They will go straight to my give away pile! I’ve spent the last 40 years trying to learn about my Catholic faith & don’t need anything to confuse me! I really respect Trent & think he’s super intelligent & really knows his Catholicism. Thanks for saving me some time & confusion!

Ugh, The Shack! Yes! So many Catholics I know have read and loved it, but it was SO BAD, syrupy, and just wrong.

I Kissed Dating Goodbye was super popular when I was in highschool 😭

Loving the new thumbnails. Trent looks mentally exhausted from all the nonsense he has to refute. But he's doing a great job, this is one of my favorite channels.

Man, as a Nondenom coming into Catholicism... I'm realizing how much I thought I knew was bunk!!

I never read "I kissed dating goodbye" itself, but the ideas in it did influence me through other books for Catholic and general Christian kids/teens on dating advice/Christian birds and bees. One picture book called "The Princess and the Kiss" that heavily influenced me very directly told kids that the first kiss is something precious that should only be given away to the person you marry, akin to your virginity. Thanks to this and other advice like "don't date until after you've graduated college because relationship drama lowers grades" caused me to pass by the best opportunities to meet young women. Now I'm 28 and have only had short, fake relationships from Christian Dating apps that always result in ghosting.

I love the new look and feel of Trent's videos. Great work to you and everyone involved. God bless❤

I would love a video on the marvel character Daredevil and his Catholocism.

I read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" while at a non-denominational college, and it was ALL the rage. Making it worse was that I was one of very few Catholics at that school, and I was still open to the priesthood, so the attitude of that book was absolutely suffocating to me. I transferred to Franciscan University of Steubenville and concluded that the priesthood was not for me, but "discernment culture" and the narrow views in that book harmed my ability to initiate and be comfortable with romantic relationships.

Joshua Harris father ( Greg ) was a pioneer in the HomeSchool movement. He convinced my wife and I to homeschool back in the 80s . Joshua became a mega church pastor. Stepped down , divorced his wife, "deconstructed ", became an atheist and huge LBTQ supporter.

God bless your ministry, Trent!

That "I kissed dating goodbye" book is so naive and ridiculous

Osteen's prosperity nonsense is very convenient to make him look like the most Godly of us all with his ever increasing wealth. He must be doing EVERYTHING right according to his book!

Trent -looking forward to your talk at National Eucharist Conference in Indianapolis next month!

Trent Horn said Lakewood Church used to be a stadium called the Compact Center. If you're an Old Skool Houstonian, you will call it the Summit.

You did not just say he had a 1.21 gigawatt smile! You're such a nerd, and I'm here for it!!

That speech would have every girl running away from you. If someone approached me with that, even someone I'd be willing to go a date with, I'd run for the hills. Like you can't just pick me as a prospective marriage partner without growing with me first. You decide your serious about this friend, and then your plan is to announce to her "I'm really serious about you" before your first date? That little speech is practically a proposal.

Darby is 19th century, not 17th. But his weird ideas (“canonized” in the Scofield Bible) are really coming to the fore in the debates on the Gaza war. Even Catholics are unconsciously being drawn in.

I don’t know anything about that book ‘kissed dating goodbye’ nor did I grow up in the states to know how people acted due to the book. But as a Catholic from middle eastern decent I did follow my own cultural customs with my husband when it came to finding love, nurturing love and marriage. We did not date. My husband did go through my parents to get to know me better and we did not go out alone until we were officially engaged. We also decided to save kissing till marriage. Sorry Trent but I think this is a first of me disagreeing with you. Societies everywhere had these customs including in the west. Dating phenomenon is a very modern concept that has not resulted in better marriages nor love stories. Societies has always functioned with rules and guidelines of how to behave to protect both men and women. The harm it caused is because if you are the only people following the rules it won’t really work. It worked for my husband and I because we come from the same ethnic and cultural background. And I can tell you those from my culture that became more westernized and rejected these customs are either divorced or still single. All I can say is that my husband and I have been very in love and very happily married for the past 9 years with 5 beautiful children. Everything we did was indeed worth it and pure.

If my joy was dependent on giving people money for empty promises I would go to a casino

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="480">8:00</a> Bro, I dated a girl in high school after that book came out and she wouldn't even hold my hand or hug me. It was horrible

I went to Benedictine. There definitely was the air of "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" there. I think the absolutely moronic and heretical ideas in that book are part of the reason why I struggled so much with dating when I was there. I hated that I'd feel attracted to a girl, I felt sinful for it. I had two classmates who were boyfriend and girlfriend all throughout high school but they broke up before coming to BC because they thought people didn't date there. It wasn't until many years later that I learned just how few people there had read the book, but the damage was clearly done. I Kissed Dating Goodbye is EVIL.

My mother described her dating life in the 40s as basically never going out with the same guy twice in a row, keep it always on a friendly level, and don't get serious (and definitely don't get physical!). But then she planned to be a contemplative nun when she graduated. She was a beauty and had a lot of admirers, including my father, who was heartbroken when she entered the convent. He went off to get wounded twice in battle in Korea and credited the prayers of the nuns for surviving. My mother discerned out of the convent before taking final vows and when my father heard the news, he went AWOL from the base (having recently returned from Asia) and drove three hours to see her. Nothing was going to hold him back from the woman he loved! He was very romantic and swept her off her feet. We can learn a lot from the older generation about love and relationships.

The Fedora book cover on "I kissed dating goodbye" is extremely fitting considering the material inside 🤣

I'm glad I wasn't ever in a context that was super influenced by I Kissed Dating Goodbye, though I can still detect some influence from that book when I talk to some individual Christian women.

The hilarity that starts at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="376">6:16</a> When you put it that way, Trent, it shows how absurd the notion of that book is.

I'm glad to see "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" on this list, but the one that made the rounds when I was in college was "When God Writes Your Love Story." It seems like the takeaway was to not pursue any sort of romantic relationship and then one day you will meet someone and God will let you know they're your spouse. Like "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," I remember it saying that everything (any physical contact, romantic feelings) should be saved for this one person. (Granted, I stopped reading it, so this might just be my memory.) This attitude was popular among my Protestant friends, but I also could see some influence among Catholic friends as well.

Love your channel, Trent! One more I'd add to this is the Prayer of Jabez.

Richard Rohr’s “The Universal Christ” should be number 1 on your list.

The book The Prayer of Jabez was the last straw for me in the Protestant world. I didn’t have the emotional energy for ONE MORE AMAZING BOOK!!!!🙌🙌🙌😆😆😆🙌🙌🙌. I wanted something with depth and maturity that would transcend my cultural perspective. Thank God (and Our Lady) for drawing me into the fullness of Truth.

I feel like the thumbnail has Trent rizzing me up

It went to Lakewood Church growing up when it was just in 7000 capacity. I gave my entire life savings hoping I wouldn’t be depressed anymore.

Very well said. Appreciate this. Thanks, Trent!

The Evangelical Industrial Complex

So much of my family loves the shack. I hated it.

Trent, I'd like to hear your take on Rob Bell. I was really into his work in my Protestant years, particularly the concept of universal salvation promoted in Love Wins. His work eventually became more about promoting liberal politics than Christianity. Thankfully I wised up and became Catholic in 2022. I haven't yet met a Catholic who has even heard of him, but he was extremely popular in Protestant circles.

Love the still of this episode ! So funny!! Great updates for the show. Also has anyone else said this? Trent’s new picture reminds me so much of Monk!

Whenever a Protestant/or Nondenominational big-name person writes any type of self-help book, usually within 10-15 years they become an Atheist. Same thing with a fair number of Christian bands such as Hawk Nelson.

How about “Late Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey? Or anything by Benny Hinn?

Great video as always Trent. I would love to hear your thoughts on the new Papal Study Document 'The Bishop of Rome'. It is pretty confusing to me as a lay Catholic.

I recently went to a wedding where the couple not only waited to kiss, but they had not even held hands - they had absolutely no physical conduct till the wedding ceremony. I had never seen that before. In one of the bridesmaids speeches, they said “this is how it used to be and how it should be.” No context was given and it was confusing to me.

I too was affirmed by the book I Kissed Dating Goodbye when I was a teenager, and tried to follow this in my courtship with my now wife. It helped me personally in my journey. It may not be realistic or was not helpful to other people, but it did help me and helped change my life. I’m still a Catholic and a believer and I currently have a healthy family life.

See, what you now need to do a video on is good Catholic/christian books and novels! Some of my favoritee Catholic-centered novels are A Canticle for Leibowitz, Jennifer the Damned by Katherine Ullo, Eifelheim by Michael Flynn. Need to read Lord of the World, Diary of a Country Priest as well as the works of Flannery O’Connor. Recently enjoyed Ad Limina by Cy Kellett, and currently reading Our Lady of the Artilects by Andrew Gillsmith

I kissed dating goodbye is a terrible book not just for the reasons Trent gives but also because it created an unhealthy purity stigma in Christians. If for whatever reason you fell into sin or maybe even before becoming a christian had any phyiscal relationship with someone else, you were damaged goods who couldnt hope to have a healthy loving relationship... even worse you had harmed your future spouse by depriving them of yourself. That is some of the most toxic crap ever im glad the book is gone

Jesus Calling, Battlefield of the mind, and the Purpose-Driven Life are a few others you might want to cover if you do this again.

Trent, this was a great video! Would love to see more like it. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

A trusted Catholic friend raved about the Shack and gave it to me to read. I was pretty absorbed in it until God the Father was presented as a black woman. I was jerked immediately by the realization that this book toys with redefining the Holy Trinity. And all credibility went out the window. I did not finish the book. I could not entertain the heresy and blasphemy. This book should have never captured the Christian heart. As for Harris, I am sorry for it because I think he was sincerely looking for a better way - increasing respect and chastity. Our society’s model of dating should not be without question. My own husband comes from a culture where arranged marriages are still the norm and I have witnessed many happy unions following that route. While not necessarily advocating that system, as Christians we do need to carefully protect heads, hearts and chastity while pursuing relationships with the opposite sex.

I was indoctrinated into the rapture theology back in the 70s when the left behind books 1st came out and the low budget left behind movies were originally made that scared the daylights out of me. I returned to the Catholic Church in the last 12 years or so, but I left behind the rapture theology, even before I return to the Catholic Church

Loving the new thumbnails!!!

This is possibly an unpopular opinion but... Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. 1) it was basically erotica at times 2) i was very uncomfortable with the fact that the main girl was essentially forced into a marriage she didn't ask for and then chastised when she wasnt interested in having sex with her husband. And when they finally do, he basically forces her to do that too. But it's meant to be romantic because he saved her from her crappy life? There was some good in it, but overall i was left feeling a bit gross after reading it and it had been suggested to me by quite a few christian women who are serious about their faith.

I wish that Trent, when explaining arsenokoitai, instead of saying “man-bedders and softees” would instead just say “cruisers and twinks” It’s pretty much a perfect modern English equivalent to the two Greek terms, and more apt because it gets the point across even stronger. Paul is clearly referring to cruisers and twinks. (neither of which denote inherent exploitation either)

Benny Hinn "Good Morning Holy Spirit" was fairly ropey.

Thank you so much. Was very helpful!

All of Luisa Piccarretta's writings on the Divine Will

Great video Trent. Thank you and God bless🙏

That first Left Behind movie rivals gangster rap for unintentional comedy.

I am not sure if this would count as a bestseller. But I heard terrible things about this book by independent Baptists Michael and Debi Pearl, titled "To Train Up a Child". It was infamous for promoting very abusive practices in the name of Christianity and allegedly even contributing to several high profile deaths.

I'm loving the video quality and edits! Everything looks great!

Love the editing and the new studio!

Mr Horn, As a former protestant I am very familiar with the Rapture doctrine I have read the first book of the Left Behind series and considered it to be alarmist nonsense. Thank you for your good work

I never read "The Purpose Driven Life" even though it was wildly popular in the mid-2000's. What's your take on that? I know it was also written by evangelical Protestant mega-church pastor.

If there was one positive thing about my rebellious teenage years, it was that I knew "I kissed Dating Goodbye" was complete BS. My mom was all about the Christian Courting Culture. Talk about dodging a bullet.

I read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" 20 years ago and really thought it was great. To me, it was a good book combating hook-up culture that helped refocus what the purpose of a dating is for. It also introduced to me the idea of courting vs dating which I found very helpful. That being said, I also read it in light of taking what makes sense to me and disregarding what I know is too rigid or over the top. A lot of what Trent read from the book I don't necessarily disagree with. In a perfect world, what Joshua suggests maybe is good, but that isn't how people are in real life. It is maybe the ideal, but not realistic. It has a lot of good stories and solid advice, but you have to have some level of discernment.

This is a good list, but I wish you would have said more about the Kissing Dating Goodbye book. It wasn’t clear to me why the principles in the book were bad or how they harmed people. I don’t know the book, but it sounded pretty sound to me, so if that’s a bad approach, I’d like to know why before I make mistakes guiding my own children.

Loved this! Keep going! ❤️💙

I'm amazed that the book called I Kissed Dating Goodbye has a guy tipping his fedora on the front

Trent, I’ve been watching/listening to your podcast since it first began. I’m very grateful to you for your common sense approach. I’m more grateful to you for your speaking the truth without compromise, you are an instrument of God’s knowledge for us simple folk. On another note, I think the turn to a more formal looking podcast is a great move. That is not to say that you have not been formal or anything like that. Rather, it is to say that I simply appreciate the new look.

TQ Trent for speaking truth. And doing it in the most concise way! Your below-20 minute videos are easy to listen. Joshua Harris' story was so sad and I hope he can find Jesus in the Catholic Church. (Same for the rest). I liked one book of his, "Sex is not the Problem, Lust is"

I kissed dating goodbye is the reddit white knight book

Protestantism's confusion of stoicism with asceticism might be its worst temporal philosophical error. This is severely harmful especially to the young.

Hey, I've binge watched many of your videos this weekend. I'm a protestant, but as a kid, I was baptized and did my first communion. I want to go and talk to someone, but that church says online it is Jesuit, and they are having a pride mass later this week. So, should I go check out a different church? Or is there something I'm missing? Thank you

Everything is looking so cool. Well done team. 👏 I'm sure Ferris thinks the same

I think you're over protesting Osteen. I have some of his books including the one in question, and he basically teaches how to have positve mindset and to guard your thoughts because your thoughts control your emotions and your actions. He provides practical applications on how to live. It is not meant to be a theological dissertation. My cousin lived in Texas for awhile and attended his church a few times. She said Osteen is used as the draw. But they do have other pastors there and teach bible studies.

Well done book review. I haven’t read nor followed Joel or the WOF movement. Reading Against Heresies and reading early church history has been a big plus. My daily read is scripture…. The whole thing Genesis to Revelation. My favorite Historian is Larry Hurtado Destroyer of the Gods covering second century period.

Great job Trent! Thank you!

I feel like I knew lots of guys who followed that "I kissed dating goodbye" advice... And it made them creepy.

Hey Trent, can you elaborate on the distinction between the Trinity being three distinct persons vs three separate persons? Thanks

" Every man's battle" book to mean chastity but seems to end up telling stories that just make you visualize impure stories

Idk, man. Maybe my life didn't went as good as it could, because I didn't tithe to Copeland and got Creflo Dollar his jet.