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avery5683's review
2.0
It makes me really sad to give this two stars. I really wanted to like this book, because it reminded me of Chronicles of Narnia. I was really excited for a new world and allegory of my faith.
It's really obvious that John Bevere is a very passionate Christian with the best of intentions. It also seems that others have found this helpful and inspiring for their faith, which is great. I do not want to disparage either the author or fans at all.
I thought that the sound design was great and the voice acting was pretty good.
But, I had several real problems with this story.
1. There is not an emphasis on Jesus' sacrifice.
This story spends so much time talking about faith, sin, works, and salvation. Yet, the crucifixion of Jesus is not mentioned. Not even once that I can remember. And that to me is a huge, unacceptable problem. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the entire basis for God offering us forgiveness. It should have been absolutely CENTRAL to the story, but it just isn't. Charity shouldn't get saved because she has faith and deeds; she should be saved by the saving sacrifice of Jesus!
The story is right: believing in God isn't enough. You needed Jesus to DIE for your sins.
2. The theology is not that well-reasoned.
The story takes a very strong stance against "once saved, always saved." But the actual biblical evidence given is...bad. One reason is that the Bible mentions not being able to erase a certain name from the book of life, which the story then equates that some names can get erased? If your pastor put that reason in a seminary paper, he would lose points because it's not a strong argument or solid interpretation of the Bible. I have a Bible degree from a conservative university and I'm in a conservative seminary: and that is not a strong interpretation of the Bible.
3. The framing device (the reporter in Afghanistan) does not match the allegorical story (the story of Charity, Deceived, etc). The framing device shows us a man who is struggling with the question, "Why does God allow evil on earth?" But the allegorical story answers a different question, "Who gets to go to Heaven? What role does faith, works, and sin play in salvation?"
For all of its explicit theological exposition, it at no point addresses why King Jalyn allows sin on Endel. The framing device and the story do not match, so it doesn't make any sense why Sagus tells him this story and why it changes the reporter's life. Why did God let the child's mom get shot?
I believe that God calls us to make really, good stories. Afterall, whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. That's why stories that don't make sense really bother me. If you're interested in why God allows suffering, look up "Theodicy." This is the term Christian scholars use to discuss why God allows suffering and evil.
4. The story is aimed at conservative Christians.
Now, I am a conservative Christian. But even I can see that this would not be effective in reaching non-believers.
First of all, the only reason presented for being an atheist is Independent. Now, there definitely are atheists out there who are unbelieving because they do not wish to bow to a higher power. And by showing Independent as just irredeemable and going to Hell, you're not going to convince any of those atheists.
People are atheist and agnostic for a lot of reasons. Some are hurt by things that God let bad things happen to them. Some just have genuine, intellectual questions about His existence. So, portraying them as a villain is not going to convince them. They don't believe in Hell, so you can't scare them into believing, which is what I see this story trying to do.
Also, at the very beginning, there is this totally random moment about the allegorical alcohol? Like two of them get drunk and one falls into a fire...but it has no bearing on the plot and no one ever mentions it again. This is called a dropped storyline. It just seemed like a really random message against drinking, possibly teen drinking? But, it's so rushed and unrealistic that it would never convince anyone who is drinking that drinking is dangerous. And I don't drink or support teen drinking! But even to me, it was out of place and seemed like pandering to conservative, Christian audience.
Conclusion:
Like I said, I don't wish ill on the author or anyone who found this book helpful. But, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is absolutely ESSENTIAL to discussing salvation, and I can't stay silent about that.
It's really obvious that John Bevere is a very passionate Christian with the best of intentions. It also seems that others have found this helpful and inspiring for their faith, which is great. I do not want to disparage either the author or fans at all.
I thought that the sound design was great and the voice acting was pretty good.
But, I had several real problems with this story.
1. There is not an emphasis on Jesus' sacrifice.
This story spends so much time talking about faith, sin, works, and salvation. Yet, the crucifixion of Jesus is not mentioned. Not even once that I can remember. And that to me is a huge, unacceptable problem. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the entire basis for God offering us forgiveness. It should have been absolutely CENTRAL to the story, but it just isn't. Charity shouldn't get saved because she has faith and deeds; she should be saved by the saving sacrifice of Jesus!
The story is right: believing in God isn't enough. You needed Jesus to DIE for your sins.
2. The theology is not that well-reasoned.
The story takes a very strong stance against "once saved, always saved." But the actual biblical evidence given is...bad. One reason is that the Bible mentions not being able to erase a certain name from the book of life, which the story then equates that some names can get erased? If your pastor put that reason in a seminary paper, he would lose points because it's not a strong argument or solid interpretation of the Bible. I have a Bible degree from a conservative university and I'm in a conservative seminary: and that is not a strong interpretation of the Bible.
3. The framing device (the reporter in Afghanistan) does not match the allegorical story (the story of Charity, Deceived, etc). The framing device shows us a man who is struggling with the question, "Why does God allow evil on earth?" But the allegorical story answers a different question, "Who gets to go to Heaven? What role does faith, works, and sin play in salvation?"
For all of its explicit theological exposition, it at no point addresses why King Jalyn allows sin on Endel. The framing device and the story do not match, so it doesn't make any sense why Sagus tells him this story and why it changes the reporter's life. Why did God let the child's mom get shot?
I believe that God calls us to make really, good stories. Afterall, whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. That's why stories that don't make sense really bother me. If you're interested in why God allows suffering, look up "Theodicy." This is the term Christian scholars use to discuss why God allows suffering and evil.
4. The story is aimed at conservative Christians.
Now, I am a conservative Christian. But even I can see that this would not be effective in reaching non-believers.
First of all, the only reason presented for being an atheist is Independent. Now, there definitely are atheists out there who are unbelieving because they do not wish to bow to a higher power. And by showing Independent as just irredeemable and going to Hell, you're not going to convince any of those atheists.
People are atheist and agnostic for a lot of reasons. Some are hurt by things that God let bad things happen to them. Some just have genuine, intellectual questions about His existence. So, portraying them as a villain is not going to convince them. They don't believe in Hell, so you can't scare them into believing, which is what I see this story trying to do.
Also, at the very beginning, there is this totally random moment about the allegorical alcohol? Like two of them get drunk and one falls into a fire...but it has no bearing on the plot and no one ever mentions it again. This is called a dropped storyline. It just seemed like a really random message against drinking, possibly teen drinking? But, it's so rushed and unrealistic that it would never convince anyone who is drinking that drinking is dangerous. And I don't drink or support teen drinking! But even to me, it was out of place and seemed like pandering to conservative, Christian audience.
Conclusion:
Like I said, I don't wish ill on the author or anyone who found this book helpful. But, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is absolutely ESSENTIAL to discussing salvation, and I can't stay silent about that.
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