Epic: The Story God Is Telling
by John Eldredge
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Book Summary Information
Author: John EldredgeEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-03-13
ISBN: 0785288791
Number of pages: 112
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Book Reviews of Epic: The Story God Is Telling
Book Review: Blasphemy
Summary: 1 Stars
The third chapter of this book is of great offensive to me and dilutes any positive attitude I have for this book. In fact, I have little motivation to finish the book because the third chapter was so distasteful.
John Eldredge is fond of making analogies about the Christian faith by comparing Christianity to popular movies... popular filthy, vulgar, profane, immoral, and blasphemous movies!
John Eldredge does make some analogies with appropriate movies such as The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. There are many appropriate stories he could make analogies with, which makes it even more shameful for him to compare Christianity to the likes of The Matrix, The Titanic, and Braveheart!
It all starts in chapter three where John Eldgredge compares God's creation of romance to scenes from Braveheart and the Titanic. It is blasphemous to say that God's version of romance is anything like what is depected in Braveheart or Titanic. Let me begin with Braveheart...
Braveheart is rated R for brutal violence, sexuality, nudity and mature themes. This fact alone should prevent Christians from comparing God's creation to Braveheart! John Eldredge refers to the beauty of God's creation of romance by comparing it to the relationship between William Wallace and his girlfriend... a relationship in which they have premarital sex in a scene involving nudity! This is sinful fornication and Christians should not be watching movies with these scenes. It's bad in and of itself... but to make it worse John Eldredge compares that to God's plan for romance in creation! This blasphemy drags down God's name!
In between Eldredge's Braveheart and Titanic analogies, he compares Christianity to the Matrix. Where do I start? The Matrix is a mix of multiple religions, which results in something clearly NOT Christian. Does the movie have Christian themes? So what? The movies are full of blasphemy, profanity, nudity, and sex. The Matrix does NOT glorify God. Eldridge compares Neo's awareness of the Matrix to Christians realizing that the world is under the dominion of Satan... huh? Eldredge even plays the "find the Jesus" game and compares Jesus' salvation work to Neo setting the Matrix free... The thought of comparing Jesus to Neo makes me gag.
Eldridge goes so far to say that Neo's "death and resurrection shatter the power of the Matrix, set the captives free." Neo's death is just like Jesus' death on the cross? NO.
The most offensive and disappointing part of this book is when John Eldredge compares our relationship with Christ to the relationship between Jack and Rose from the Titanic... their adulterous fornicating relationship! This analogy made me so upset that I don't want to finish reading the book. Eldredge calls Jack a "Hero" and a "Lover" who "lays down his life to rescue his Beloved". This makes me sick! Jack in the Titanic has an adulterous affair with an emotionally unstable engaged woman and has sex with her soon after meeting her, even drawing her nude in a scene that many CHILDREN saw when parents expected to be watching a PG-13 movie! This is what John Eldredge compares to our relationship with Christ? How can anyone justify this? Eldredge describes Rose as a "prisoner to a man she doesn't love," then supports Jack's actions by saying that his adulterous affair "rescued" Rose from an engagement she did not want to be part of. Huh? Rescuing her through adultery and fornication?
John Eldredge ends page 71 by quoting Rose: "He saved me in every way a person can be saved," referring to how Jack "saved" her by having a lustful, fornicating, adulterous affair with her. John Eldredge then makes the analogy that Christ saves in the same way! Are you serious!
That's not all of it. Consider this sentence from page 67: "The coming of Jesus of Nazareth was far more like the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan." Are you kidding me? No! Jesus coming to the world compared to a world war 2 gun battle?
This blasphemous nonsense makes the whole book unbearable to read. If you disagree with me, please tell me how it glorifies God to make the analogies I explained above.
And if you think that it is OK to take "positive" aspects from wicked movies, then I ask you - Would you watch pornographic movies that have "good stories"? I thought so.
Summary of Epic: The Story God Is Telling
We don't usually identify with the author of a great story. Instead we bond with the hero and heroine-the ones that the story is about. We share in their heartaches and triumphs. We cheer their accomplishments and mourn their losses.
When we think about our own story, we may see God as the author-an omniscient and omnipotent cosmic mastermind-but fail to recognize Him as the central character. In Epic, a retelling of the gospel in four acts, John Eldredge invites us to revisit the drama of life, viewing God not only as the author but also as the lead actor, exploring His motives and His heart. Eldredge examines the power of story, the universal longing for a "plot" that makes sense deep inside us, our desire for a meaningful role to play, our love of books and movies, and how all of this points us to the gospel itself.
It's a story better than any fairy tale! Our human hearts are made for great drama, and the gospel, with its tragedy and grandeur, truly is epic. Also available as an unabridged audio on CD, as well as hardcover Spanish edition.
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