Maurie Daigneau

After initially catching fire as a young Christian man in the early 1970s, Maurie Daigneau committed himself to living a life according to the teachings of the church. He became deeply involved in a variety of Christian initiatives, including using his platform as a well-known football player for Northwestern University to share his faith as a public speaker. He raised a family, started a series of successful companies, pursued a master’s in theology, and remained deeply active in his own church community. But, over time, he began to sense something was off—both in his own faith and in the faith-life of the broader Christian community. He began to struggle with disillusionment, wondering what it was that he was not understanding about God’s gospel message. He decided to stop relying on the interpretations of scholars or pastors and go to the source itself: the word of God as found in the Bible. Through careful study, contemplation, and prayer, a new understanding of the gospel began to emerge. One infinitely more inspiring—and demanding—than the one he had embraced originally. The Gospel You’ve Never Heard is an invitation to all who want to live their lives in accordance with the will of God and make their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ the priority of their lives. It will appeal to a growing segment of the Christian world that is both concerned with the decline of Christianity in America and who are genuinely seeking to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the most important communication ever received by mankind. BOOK REVIEW – Kirkus Review – A Christian’s call for a renewed emphasis on understanding the teachings of Jesus Christ. Like many disillusioned Christians, Daigneau had a midlife crisis of faith in which he found that he was spiritually “exhausted” with “the Christian façade” as various churches were beset by various scandals. Although he served on the governing board of a church that was free of such scandal, he still “found ego…and the need for personal control” among his peers, “the likes of which I had never seen in any secular board room.” It was only after making a sincere effort to reprioritize, truly understand, and actually live out the Gospel, or the “Good News,” that he was able to restore his faith. The book’s approachable writing style blends experiences from the author’s personal life, such as his involvement with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes while he was a quarterback at Northwestern University, with astute analysis of Christian philosophy and the Bible, including the New Testament’s original Greek. In addition to drawing life lessons from the stories of biblical figures such as Job and Paul, the author also challenges Christians to reevaluate clichés that dominate, and limit, dialogue. On the topic of salvation, for instance, he notes that many Christians reduce Jesus to “an eternal life insurance salesman” whose policies will be collected upon entry into heaven. This book is designed for personal reflection as well as group study, and the author concludes each chapter with a “Deliberations” section that assigns additional research and asks probing questions. Daigneau should be particularly commended for his respectful, nuanced engagement with the work of high-profile atheist critics of religion, such as Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris. Rather than dismissing their arguments outright, he carefully considers and even occasionally agrees with their perspectives, and he provides an admirable model for constructive disagreement. The book’s array of references to Christian philosophers and theologians, however, is mostly limited to evangelical and Protestant perspectives, so Catholic and Orthodox readers may find themselves shut out of a book that prioritizes the Bible as its “Primary Source.” -Online Book Club- The Gospel You’ve Never Heard by Maurie Daigneau details lessons about what it entails to live as a full-fledged Christian. In the United States of America and the world at large today, a lot of these lessons seem to have been watered down and lost in translation, which has promoted a lack of understanding and ignorance that has led to the decline of Christianity. In this book, Maurie Daigneau presents the result of his years of experience in studying God’s word thoroughly and hopes to guide readers in not just understanding God’s word in the scriptures but also developing a personal relationship with Him. The book’s title alone was enough to create a lot of excitement as I picked up this book and anticipated learning something new. While the author’s lessons revolved around the Bible that I have read and continue to read, as it should, the way he views and explains the scriptures is what makes this book unique. Readers can expect the contents of the book to challenge their views on the “Gospel,” and the author presents each fact with backing from chapters and verses in the Bible while relying on the Greek meanings of certain keywords to decipher messages that may have been lost in translation; it will shock many to know the Greek meanings of the word know (ginosko and oida) and how important understanding these differences are. The author maintains that studying the Bible constantly is the only way around getting this knowledge. Furthermore, I enjoyed that Maurie Daigneau discussed different ways we have gotten it wrong as Christians. I was particularly intrigued by his lessons on why suffering is not a result of sin, the difference between the Law and grace, and oneness with the Holy Spirit. The author employs an interesting car metaphor representing your life as you driving your car with sin as a passenger and learning to let in the Holy Spirit as a guide. This metaphor is referenced at different points of the book to provide clarity on what can be a complex subject to understand at times. The author also digs into his personal life, supplementing it with popular stories from people in the Bible, like Job and Paul, to drive home his lessons. With respect to editing, I did not find any errors while reading, which implies that this guide was an exceptionally well-edited book. The book requires a lot of time to study and multiple reads to grasp its full message, and I can’t wait to commence this enlightening journey again. The Gospel You’ve Never Heard deserves the maximum rating of four out of four stars . I cannot think of much to dislike about the book except that the font could have been larger, as I had to strain my eyes to read certain parts of the book. Readers who hope to gain a solid understanding of God’s word and learn about Christianity beyond just accepting that they believe in Jesus Christ will benefit the most from this book. -CBM Review- 10.0 out of 10.0 stars Rediscovering the Gospel describes Maurie Daigneau’s new book. He writes, “I did not write The Gospel You’ve Never Heard to intentionally repeat anything. I wrote it to clarify and to bring to light an understanding of the gospel that has been lost to the church and the world for a very long time. It needs to be rediscovered. “…challenging, thought-provoking, and quite possibly deeply convicting” describe the author’s own sentiments about this book. Readers will also find this book to be a powerful and transformational voice for the truth of the Gospel spoken from a compassionate and Biblical viewpoint. Different facets of what it is to understand and to be obedient to Christ offers a deeper understanding of how and why the Gospel is fully relevant to one’s life, and not just in an eternal sense. Included at the end of each chapter are reflection questions for personal use and/or group Bible study. Blending his own life experiences, the author goes to great lengths to bring great understanding of exactly “what” this “Good News” means to all aspects of life, as he found the truth of relying on God as the “only Teacher.” With that, he dispels confusion and misconceptions, as he offers the overall “bigger picture” to bring clarity in a world that seems bent on violence, disobedience to God, and destruction. In short, he relays a message to all that is the basis of Proverbs 4:7, “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding.” His purpose in writing the book is over his concern of the Biblical and spiritual decline that America finds itself in. The author mentions the hypocrisy, coupled with the lack of preaching and understanding of the truth of the Gospel, have led this country to a place that is far from obedience to Christ – even for those who call themselves Christians.

Book Review Mini-Critique
Below you will find ratings (scale of 1-5) with descriptions for the major parts of your book
followed by your Readers’ Favorite review. Although these are general ratings we hope they will
give you an insight into how others may view the different components of your book.
These are the opinions of your reviewer, and although your reviewer is not an expert literary
critic or professional editor, they are at the very least, an avid reader of books just like yours.
Title: The Gospel You’ve Never Heard
Subtitle: An Understanding That Will Change Your Life
Author: Maurie Daigneau
Genre: Christian – Non-Fiction
Appearance: The appearance of a book can make a significant impact on the
experience of a reader, whose enjoyment is often enhanced by an
enticing cover, an intriguing table of contents, interesting chapter
headings, and when possible, eye-catching illustrations. 4
Plot: The characters of a book should be well defined with strengths and
flaws, and while they do not have to be likable, the reader does
have to be able to form a connection with them. The tone should be
consistent, the theme should be clear, and the plot should be
original or told from a unique perspective. For informative books —
those without plot and characters–this rating refers primarily to
your concept and how well you presented it.
5
Development: Development refers to how effectively you told your story or
discussed your topic. The dialogue should be realistic, the
descriptions should be vivid, and the material should be concise
and coherent. Organization is also a key factor, especially for
informative books — those without plot and characters. The order in
which you tell your story or explain your topic and how smoothly it
flows can have a huge impact on the reader’s understanding and
enjoyment of the material.
5
Formatting: Formatting is the single most overlooked area by authors. The way
in which you describe scenes, display dialogue, and shift point of
view can make or break your story. In addition, excessive
grammatical errors and typos can give your book an amateurish
feel and even put off readers completely.
5
Marketability: Marketability refers to how effectively you wrote your book for your
target audience. Authors may include content that is above or
below the understanding of their target reader, or include concepts,
opinions or language that can accidentally confuse or alienate some
readers. Although by its nature this rating is very subjective, a very
low rating here and poor reviews may indicate an issue with your
book in this area.
5
Overall Opinion: The overall starred rating takes into account all these elements and
describes the overall reading experience of your reviewer. This is
5 the official Readers’ Favorite review rating for your book.
Review: Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers’ Favorite
The Gospel You’ve Never Heard: An Understanding That Will
Change Your Life by Maurie Daigneau is a non-fiction theological
study of Christianity that evolved out of a reckoning with the
leadership of one of his early churches, and his desire to study and
find the truth within the Bible in its purest sense, as opposed to the
blind understanding he originally embraced. Daigneau begins with a
backstory on his upbringing and transitions into his pursuit of the
true meaning of the gospel before breaking down the word over the
course of sixteen chapters. Through the use of scripture and a
conversational narrative, Daigneau lifts the veil on biblical analogy
and correlations that tie God’s word to the full scope of the human
Christian experience, and all it means and entails.
There’s a lot to unpack after reading The Gospel You’ve Never
Heard because, as promised, the points Maurie Daigneau makes
are all quite new to me. We are encouraged to have our scripture
on hand in order to bind what we read to what is being revealed
with eyes wide open, an uncomfortable concept for those of us who
have always simply accepted what our church elders preach
as…well, as gospel. Daigneau quotes Sam Harris in saying, “we
believe most of what we believe about the world because others
have told us to.” Because of this, I admit that I set the book down
many, many times to process its text and, just as many times,
found myself more than just a little humbled. An example of this is
in chapter nine, No More Condemnation, where the declaration in
Romans which most of us read to mean that simply “believing and
receiving” is all that’s necessary to enter The Kingdom is actually
grossly misinterpreted. How does a reader reconcile forty years of
believing one thing only to learn it is another? The beauty of the
answer here is that knowing now and taking action in an authentic,
meaningful Christ-like way means there’s still time to find our way
to the right path.

Book Review Mini-Critique
Below you will find ratings (scale of 1-5) with descriptions for the major parts of your book
followed by your Readers’ Favorite review. Although these are general ratings we hope they will
give you an insight into how others may view the different components of your book.
These are the opinions of your reviewer, and although your reviewer is not an expert literary
critic or professional editor, they are at the very least, an avid reader of books just like yours.
Title: The Gospel You’ve Never Heard
Subtitle: An Understanding That Will Change Your Life
Author: Maurie Daigneau
Genre: Christian – Non-Fiction
Appearance: The appearance of a book can make a significant impact on the
experience of a reader, whose enjoyment is often enhanced by an
enticing cover, an intriguing table of contents, interesting chapter
headings, and when possible, eye-catching illustrations. 4
Plot: The characters of a book should be well defined with strengths and
flaws, and while they do not have to be likable, the reader does
have to be able to form a connection with them. The tone should be
consistent, the theme should be clear, and the plot should be
original or told from a unique perspective. For informative books —
those without plot and characters–this rating refers primarily to
your concept and how well you presented it.
5
Development: Development refers to how effectively you told your story or
discussed your topic. The dialogue should be realistic, the
descriptions should be vivid, and the material should be concise
and coherent. Organization is also a key factor, especially for
informative books — those without plot and characters. The order in
which you tell your story or explain your topic and how smoothly it
flows can have a huge impact on the reader’s understanding and
enjoyment of the material.
5
Formatting: Formatting is the single most overlooked area by authors. The way
in which you describe scenes, display dialogue, and shift point of
view can make or break your story. In addition, excessive
grammatical errors and typos can give your book an amateurish
feel and even put off readers completely.
5
Marketability: Marketability refers to how effectively you wrote your book for your
target audience. Authors may include content that is above or
below the understanding of their target reader, or include concepts,
opinions or language that can accidentally confuse or alienate some
readers. Although by its nature this rating is very subjective, a very
low rating here and poor reviews may indicate an issue with your
book in this area.
5
Overall Opinion: The overall starred rating takes into account all these elements and
describes the overall reading experience of your reviewer. This is
5 the official Readers’ Favorite review rating for your book.
Review: Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers’ Favorite
When I picked up The Gospel You’ve Never Heard: An
Understanding That Will Change Your Life by Maurie Daigneau, I
thought it would be a book about a fifth Gospel or something we
have not read in the four Gospels, but it turned out to be,
surprisingly, a book even deeper and better than what I had
expected. It is a book that offers a fresh interpretation of the core
message of the Gospel. While the author shares biblical texts that
readers are familiar with, he gives a whole new connotation to
them, highlighting the key differences between knowledge and
understanding, which have been at the heart of the contemporary
religious crisis. In this book, the author shows readers how to move
from the ignorance that has caused many to perish and to open
their hearts to not only know but to understand the word.
Maurie Daigneau shares his personal journey of faith, starting from
the moment he decided to sell his business and to focus on
deciphering the Gospel and he unearths powerful gems for those
seeking God in spirit and in truth. The author writes about a variety
of biblical themes: discipleship, God’s truth, knowledge and
understanding, the real meaning of sin, what a true child of God
should know about some of the most fundamental questions about
life, and a lot more. Each chapter concludes with questions for
reflection that are most suitable for Bible study.
This is one of those rare books that address the spiritual crisis
plaguing the United States of America, a world where right and
wrong is no longer objective, but relative, where morality is no
longer grounded on spiritual principles but personal interests. While
the author bemoans the hypocrisy that he has witnessed in
Christians, he writes with a voice filled with compassion and
reassuring, engaging readers with questions that will push them to
seek beyond the literal understanding of God’s word in order to
discover the hidden import of the Gospel. The Gospel You’ve Never
Heard: An Understanding That Will Change Your Life is a lifechanging
book. It is a book that compels readers to engage in frank
conversation with themselves and with the God of the Gospel