Conversations with God

Name: Conversations with God
ISBN: 9787210071976

Neale Donald WalschJiangxi People's Publishing House2015

4.3

Word count: 119K words
Chapters: 17
Series: Conversations with God is the representative work of American author Neale Donald Walsch. The full work is in three volumes, corresponding respectively to individual life, the human world, and cosmic reality; the Chinese edition was translated by Li Jihong and published by Jiangxi People's Publishing House. This entry is the first volume, the volume concerned with life. The book's origin is quite legendary: around 1992, the author suffered a fire, a failed marriage, and a car accident in succession; past forty, sleeping on the street, and surviving by collecting aluminum cans. In extreme anger and despair, he wrote a letter on a yellow notepad to "God" questioning life, and then claimed to hear a voice from within answering. The conversation lasted three years and was eventually compiled into a book. The book adopts a question-and-answer dialogue form between "I" and "God," unfolding around issues such as love, fear, money, relationships, health, pain, and death. Its core ideas include: love and fear are the two fundamental starting points of human behavior; life is a process of creation, not one of discovery; pain is the result of erroneous thinking; the purpose of relationships is to experience and express who one is, not to take; and people should first learn to respect and cherish themselves. Because the first volume stays close to daily life and presupposes no spiritual reading background, it is usually regarded as the introductory volume. The writing is accessible and fluent, with elements of theology, philosophy, and psychology. The author stresses that it is unrelated to the doctrines of any specific religion and that its focus is to offer a way of looking at the self and the world.
ISBN: 9787210071976

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Summary

Conversations with God is the signature work of American author Neale Donald Walsch. It consists of three volumes, corresponding respectively to the individual life, the human world, and the reality of the universe. The Chinese edition was translated by Li Jihong and published by Jiangxi People's Publishing House. This entry covers the first volume, the one concerned with life. The book's origin is quite extraordinary: around 1992, the author suffered a series of misfortunes—a fire, the failure of his marriage, and a car accident. Past forty, he was sleeping rough on the streets and surviving by collecting discarded cans. In extreme anger and despair, he wrote a letter to "God" on a yellow notepad, questioning life, and then claimed to hear a voice from within answering him. The dialogue continued for three years and was eventually compiled into this book. The entire work takes the form of a question-and-answer dialogue between "I" and "God," exploring themes such as love, fear, money, relationships, health, pain, and death. Its core ideas include: love and fear are the two fundamental starting points of human behavior; life is a process of creation, not of discovery; pain is the result of mistaken thinking; the purpose of relationships is to experience and express who one is, not to make demands; and one should first learn to respect and cherish oneself. Because the first volume stays close to everyday life and presumes no prior grounding in spiritual reading, it is generally regarded as the introductory volume. The writing is accessible and fluid, blending theology, philosophy, and psychology. The author stresses that it has nothing to do with the doctrines of any particular religion; its focus is on offering a way of looking at oneself and the world.

Editor's review

这本书在国内长期被视为“身心灵”类目里的现象级作品：1996年11月一个名不见经传的作者把它带上《纽约时报》非虚构类畅销榜，此后在榜137周，译成三十余种语言，全球销量逾千万册。它不靠论证推理，而是用一种近乎口述的对话体把宏大的问题拆成一句句可读的答案，读起来像被一个足够耐心的声音追问与接住。李继宏的译文干净利落，把原作里略带布道腔的长句处理得顺口，是这本书能广泛流传的重要原因。值得提醒的是，书中关于“神”的设定属于作者自述的经验，不必也不宜当成教义来读；把它当作一面镜子，读到自己卡住的地方就先放下，是更稳妥的方式。第一卷讲的是个人生活，最接近普通读者的困惑：缺钱、怕失去、爱而不得、身体不好，因此在三卷里口碑最两极，也最被推荐给第一次接触这类书的人。

Who it's for

A good fit for

正处在人生低谷或转折期、希望重新整理内心秩序的人
对身心灵、新时代运动、灵性成长话题感兴趣的入门读者
喜欢对话体写作、愿意边读边自我提问的读者
从事心理咨询、教练、陪伴类工作，想拓宽视角的人

Not a good fit for

希望读到严谨论证或学术神学体系的读者
对“神会对人说话”这一前提强烈排斥、容易反感的人
年纪较小的中学生，涉及性与死亡的表述需要成人陪伴讨论

Reading tips

先读第一卷，按章节顺序每天一章，读后写下当天最刺痛自己的一句，不必急着认同。
把它当提问工具使用，遇到书中与自己原有观念冲突处，先在纸上写自己的反驳，再继续读。
三卷之间可以间隔一段时间，等第一卷的观点在日常中验证过之后，再进入第二卷关于世界的部分。
读到涉及金钱、性与死亡的段落时放慢速度，这些内容最容易引起情绪反应，也最需要现实检验。

About the publisher

Jiangxi People's Publishing House China · Founded in 1951

Jiangxi People's Publishing House is a comprehensive local publisher based in Nanchang, with publishing directions covering philosophy and social sciences, politics and economics, history and culture, education, and the collation of ancient texts. Judging from its books in the database, the house offers Chinese translations of world classics such as Ulysses, Les Fleurs du mal, and Letter from an Unknown Woman, while continuing to publish Eastern philosophical classics including The Analects, the Dao De Jing, and the fully translated and annotated edition of Chuanxilu, forming a parallel structure of Chinese and foreign literary and intellectual classics. Translators such as Xiao Qian, Wen Jieruo, and Zhang Qiuhong support its foreign literature translations, while authors such as Confucius, Laozi, Wang Zengqi, and Hai Zi reflect its accumulation in traditional classics, prose and miscellany, and modern poetry. Its common categories include world classics, Eastern philosophy, prose and miscellany, literature, foreign literature, and modern poetry, showing a publishing character that balances academic popularization with general reading.

Reading Guide
Foreword
Chapter 01 The Origin of the Dialogue
Chapter 02 The True Purpose of Life
Chapter 03 The Truth of Love and Relationships
Chapter 04 Intimate Relationships and Spiritual Practice
Chapter 05 Authenticity and Inner Power
Chapter 06 Fear and the Truth About Money
Chapter 07 The Integration of Sexuality and Spirituality
Chapter 08 The Path of Health and Healing
Chapter 09 Karma and This Life's Lessons
Chapter 10 Time, Space, and the Nature of Reality
Chapter 11 Levels of Consciousness and Ascension
Chapter 12 The Ultimate Truth of the Universe
Chapter 13 The True Nature of God
Chapter 14 All Things Return to Oneness
Acknowledgments

FAQ

这本书是宗教读物吗？

作者本人多次表示它无关任何特定宗教，书中虽然借用“神”的说法，也吸收基督教、佛教、道教等多种传统的思想，但更接近一种关于自我与世界的身心灵哲学，不涉及教会仪式与教义归属。

三卷有什么区别，该从哪卷读起？

第一卷谈个人生活，涉及健康、金钱、关系与事业；第二卷谈人类世界与社会议题；第三卷谈宇宙与实相。绝大多数读者建议从第一卷读起，它最贴近日常处境，也不要求灵性阅读基础。

为什么网上对这本书评价两极？

支持者认为它提供了一套能立刻用在生活里的视角，句子常被摘录引用；批评者则认为其前提不可验证、语气像是在说教。两种反应都合理，关键看你期待从书里得到启发还是论证。

中文版有多个版本吗？

有。2009年上海书店出版社出过李继宏译的第一卷平装本，2015年江西人民出版社出版单卷本与三卷合集，译文均出自李继宏。若只读第一卷，可任选其一，注意核对ISBN避免买到盗版。

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