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Reviewed by Stefan Vucak for Readers' Favorite
What Every Dream Means should have a sub-title: "An Evangelical Interpretation." That way the reader will know what he is getting.
After a lengthy introduction, the book takes the reader into the spiritual meaning and interpretation of dreams, and provides techniques for remembering dreams, understanding their nature and source, and the divine power of dreams in guiding a person through life.
Scott Shafer dismisses all existing interpretations of dreams as ‘unfortunate,' because they are not grounded in the Bible or the spirit and are the works of Satan. He states that only God is the source and interpreter of all dreams, but that he has been given the power to interpret dreams and seeks to have his methods and beliefs taught throughout America. He decries the New Age and the spread of the occult, taking the position that man is living in the ‘last days,’ and that he alone holds the only ‘truth,' believing that even the Church is deluded for not teaching dream interpretation.
The author uses extensive extracts from the New Testament in support of his argument, criticizing the use of magicians, sorcerers and astrologers; yet, that is exactly whom the historical Jews used and relied on to interpret their dreams, being part of the social fabric and superstitions of those times.
Dreams come from only three sources: God, man himself, and the devil. The author states that God is jealous and will not allow anything to replace him in our hearts. A true dream is sent by God and all others are false, but despite convoluted arguments, the book does not guide the reader how to recognize what a true dream is, except by praying and applying the scripture. Whenever one dreams about having something...a material or goal-oriented aim...that is a bad dream.
The book states that to interpret dreams, man must not use the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because these are sources of evil. The author’s philosophy is that man must abandon self-fulfillment or material wealth but embrace the spirit and follow those who understand what God wants from them.
Scott Shafer brings passion and individual conviction to spiritual interpretation of dreams. His singular views, denial of existing theological writings and scientific evidence, and the belief that he alone has the answers, mars an otherwise well presented thesis. This thoughtful book offers a lot to the right reader.