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Title: The Revolt : by Susan Wise Bauer, S. Wise Bauer ISBN: 0-8499-3935-6 Publisher: Word Publishing Pub. Date: 04 September, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: I found this book to be ultimately disappointing. As another reviewer stated, there were many ideas that were mentioned, but never really developed. I don't feel I got a good idea of how theonomy would really work. Secondly, I was disappinted that there was very little actual mention of Christianity and the redemtpion of Christ. There was very little mention of personal faith in the Lord and how He transforms lives. Thirdly, I was disappointed that Balder, one of the main characters left all of tis for a woman who was not even a believer which is a clear violation of Scripture. It was an interesting book and did give me some things to ponder, but overall it was a disappointment. Bauer seems determined in her books not to offend. Somehow it makes her works less believable.
Rating: 3
Summary: Perhaps a profitable read for "theonomists"
Comment: I found this book ultimately disappointing, but I am still glad I read it. I don't refer to myself a Theonomist/Reconstructionist, but I don't feel insulted by the label either. (Most people hostile to that general segment of the covenental theology spectrum would, based on my beliefs, tend to pin that label on me; so be it.) This book's main failure is in how it presents the rubber-meets-the-road implementation of Theonomy/Christian Reconstruction. I am thoroughly familiar with the writings of all the major theologians in this camp and I couldn't help but feel that the presentation was twisted and inaccurate, and thus unfair. Furthermore, based on my familiarity with all these writers, the "Theonomists" appearing in the novel were highly unconvincing characters. If it is possible to slander a movement through a novel, albeit without slandering any particular individuals in that movement, the author has done so, in my opinion. (None of the characters are clearly identifiable as representing particular real-life individuals.) I don't doubt that some real-life person can be found as a source for every jot and tittle ascribed to "Theonomy" in the story; however, we're asked to believe that the two main Theonomists in the story are the two most influential leaders of the movement in America. Not only do these characters *not* resemble R. J. Rushdoony and Gary North (the two persons most likely to be imagined by an informed reader), I can't see *any* Theonomist/Reconstructionist of any prominence saying or doing the kinds of things these characters did. In that sense, what the book presents is a grotesque portrayal of the theology (and its main adherents) rather than an accurate caricature. And that is why I think it is somewhat slanderous. At the same time, it must be admitted that compared with the outright hatchet jobs done on the movement by several other prominent Christian writers/publications in the past, this novel must be called a *relatively* sympathetic, even-handed treatment. I recommend it to people who already have a thorough understanding of the various theological positions presented -- in other words, people sympathetic to the general theonomic position. For such people, the book is a potentially profitable read insofar as it shows how the position is popularly viewed, and it may provoke some stimulating thought/discussions. I hope that people unfamilar with this theology wouldn't come away from the book assuming that they have obtained an accurate understanding of what theonomy is all about. Finally, anyone really interested in serious, careful, detailed research into the nitty-gritty of the Old Testament law should look into the writings of James Jordan, Peter Leithart and others who publish through Biblical Horizons. To my knowledge, none of these men call themselves Christian Reconstructionists or Theonomists, but they are "close cousins" and deserve note because they actually do highly sophisticated, careful analyses of particular Old Testament texts. (Of course, I don't see even the shadow of these men's theology in this book.)
Rating: 5
Summary: Listen to me!
Comment: Look. You can criticize this book until your tongue drops out, if that's what you're determined to do; you can argue that the plot is flat out impossible; you can dispute her spelling of 'Culpepper' and practically anything else that comes to mind ... but that makes absolutely zero difference.
The characters of this book - for me - did not reside in some sort of hazy 'otherworld' type of place, as in so many other books, even the five-starred ones. These people - PEOPLE, not characters - practically reached out of the pages and grabbed me. The vividness with which the story springs to life takes my breath away. When I think about it, I don't think about it as a book, but as a *real occurence* that happened to people I know. This phenomenon - of total credibility - only happens with the greatest classics ... and even then, it's limited to credibility within a 'bookworld'. But with The Revolt, Susan Wise Bauer has created something that is enthralling in its stark reality, something that is not bound by the rules of convention.
I don't care if you disagree with every single opinion put down in the book - and there are quite a few bold ones in there. You'll be just as awed by the life that Bauer seems to breathe into her people. Take the day off of work when you buy this ... because once you open to the first page, everything else that ever existed disappears - swallowed up into a world, a life that is somehow more lifelike than our own.
P.S. If you hate being emotionally riveted on a book ... beware ...
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Title: Though The Darkness Hide Thee by Susan Wise Bauer ISBN: 1576732371 Publisher: Multnomah Publishers Inc. Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $11.99 |
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Title: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 2: The Middle Ages by Susan Wise Bauer, Patty Martirosian, Jay Wise ISBN: 0971412936 Publisher: Peace Hill Press Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child; Volume 1: Ancient Times by Susan Wise Bauer ISBN: 0971412901 Publisher: Peace Hill Press Pub. Date: 15 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had by Susan Wise Bauer ISBN: 0393050947 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Jessie Wise, Susan Wise Bauer ISBN: 0393047520 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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