The Unknown God

Author: Alister McGrath
ISBN: 0-8028-3864-2
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review: --------------
At 123 pages, filled with large pictures and many sidebars, this book doesn't take long to read. It is a pleasure to read, easy on the brain (which is vastly different from the last McGrath book I reviewed) and easy to follow. Although it looks more like a coffee table book than a theological tome it nevertheless rewiews, albiet briefly, several major themes of the Christian faith such as the longing of the human heart for God, hope in heaven, the freedom we have through Christ, the crucifixion and the resurrection. Actually, it functions as an apologetic of sorts for the hope of the Christian faith and therefore might take a very important place on your coffee table.

One of the greatest revelations a human can experience is the understanding that the emptiness and longing that is so much a part of our lives points us to the only one who can fill that need. God. Unfortunately many choose to ignore or discount that revelation and never experience the fulfillment that can be found in Christ. McGrath connects the dots of human longing and the promise of future complete fulfillment in Christ and shows how inextricable they are.

Monster

Author: Frank Peretti
ISBN: 1-5955-4032-6
Publisher: WestBow Press
Review: --------------
Monster, being perhaps the most secular of his novels, is more along the lines of the Oath than with some of his other works. Even the Oath has more spiritual undertones than this latest novel. This latest effort contains only trace references to faith and spirituality, vastly removed from the angelic sphere of his early novels.

In this novel Peretti seems to take more of an apologetic tone and weaves in evolutionary biology. Indeed, the "bad guys" in this story are evolutionary biologists who are undertaking some rather curious and bizarre experiments. Being unable to comment on the scientific basis of the "scientific" dialogue I can't tell how well the creation "apologetic"stands up, but it sure sounds good.

Like all other Peretti novels, I was compelled to finish it quickly just to find out what happens, and this novel does contain a few surprises and Peretti furnishes a nice twist ending. The characters are believable and the story flows very quickly. The maps are a nice touch and help the reader visualize the progression of the story.

Unfortunately it didn't inspire me like his first novels, The Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. Those novels really inspired me, and even if they are only one person's perspective, they awoke my spiritual imagination (which still must be primarily informed by the Word of God). However this novel and most of his recent books don't offer that same bold vision, rather the spiritual aspects have been submerging into the storyline so that in this latest novel they are almost non-existent.

That being said, I still recommend it as a good read for anyone who is a Peretti fan.