I generally try to give a book its due, whether it be in the area of praise or constructive criticism. Seldom do I find a book that I really did not like from cover to cover. This is one of those books, and I suppose it is especially distressing to me that I have to give a thumbs down to a Christian book, but hey, even Christian books are susceptible to lousy writing, poor idea formulation and just sheer cheesiness.
In this case, while I appreciate the author, Mr. Daniels, sharing some of his struggles with sexual purity, I think he ended up really writing a book about nothing. There are much better choices out there (such as Every Man's Battle - I got mine from Focus on the Family, though you can probably find it cheaper at Chapters...I recently got the N.T. Wright "Gospel for Everyone Series" for 34% off the retail price via the Chapters website).
First, my biggest beef with this book is that he really doesn't say anything new. Much of what he says can be gleaned from Scripture without much theological interpretation or exhaustive exegetical study. Of course, he commits the common Christian book faux-pas of using massive amounts of Scripture under the guise of citation, whereas I suspect he is simply using the Word is filler for his book. Some of the passages have little to no correlation to the point he is trying to make.
Another beef I have is his constant references to his time onboard a ship. OK, I get it, he likes ships and being part of a crew, but to everyone else who has neither the experience nor the interest (or both), this reader was particularly lost in his endless ship and naval analogies, and your humble reviewer found myself interrupting his wife, as she was reading what surely would have been a better book.
The author also speaks in a lot of generalities without getting very specific in terms of some of the subsequent struggles in embarking on a quest to become sexually pure. As a porn dealer before I became saved, I can tell you that sexual temptation will always be there, even after you get married. I've talked with enough married guys to know that this ongoing struggle will likely be life-long - the issue is far more complex than Daniels makes it out to be. He seems to have a touchy-feely type of Christianese solution, which is great, except that Scripture talks about ongoing struggle and temptation. Perhaps the book could not have ended on such a note, but I think it's more realistic this way. I certainly don't want to suggest that God cannot miraculously heal one of past purity issues, but I think that this may be one of those "thorn in the flesh" type of issues that are with men for life, and as such it makes it so much more important for us men to acknowledge our weaknesses and failings to God, ask for His forgiveness, and rely on His strength going forward. I don't think there's any easy multi-step solution here.
Honestly, there's not a lot of good things I can say about this book. Even the Eros Defiled/Eros Redeemed series, though simplistic, would be better suited to handle such a delicate topic.
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2 comments:
Jeremy, I applaud your willingness to stand up and be counted as a follower of Jesus Christ. However, do you not give detractors of the Christian faith ammunition when you use earthy language in your posts? I cannot envision our Saviour using such terms even when he overturned the tables in the outer temple court. Thanks.
Perhaps, but you may be surprised by the language the Bible does use. When I was in Bible school, a pastoral student mentioned to me that a lot of today's English translations of the Bible miss the mark when it comes to the impact of certain words. Only by studying the original Greek and Aramaic does one get a full appreciation of the thrust of the words. For instance, when Paul mentions, in regards things in the past, that he considers them "rubbish", this is an obvious English term that, when studied, sorely misses the original intent of Paul's words. In fact, the original Greek translates the word to have similar affect to the English expletive "s" word. Sure, it's not pleasant, but Paul was making a point with strong language. All that being said, I appreciate your point, and have received it well. Sometimes there are more tactful ways of saying things.
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