Scan barcode
A review by bethgiven
Fishers of Men by Gerald N. Lund
4.0
When I’d finished the Work and the Glory, I decided to go to the Kingdom and the Crown series next. The premise sounded great: in a similar vein to Lund’s more famous series, a fictional family is followed during a pivotal moment in history: this time, during the time of Christ. Researched like a history book but as readable as a novel, it promised to provide real learning in a fun way.
And then, for some reason that I still can’t put my finger on, I couldn’t even get past the prologue. It went back to the Provo Library unread.
Four years later, I was ready to try again — and this time around, I’m loving it.
That said, I still didn’t love the beginning this time around. Too many action sequences, too many characters with long Roman and Hebrew names to suddenly keep track of, too many italicized words in foreign languages to stumble over. Way, way too much violence, it seemed — not gruesome violence, just mean people threatening each other and sometimes a few (non-graphic) scenes. Wasn’t this supposed to be a book about Christ? I asked myself as I read. He wasn’t even mentioned until about a hundred pages in, maybe more. There was just one singular passing reference to John the Baptist.
I confessed my thoughts to my friend Ashley (who’d recommended the series and loaned me the first book), and she apologized but promised it got better, that those first hundred pages or so were laying the groundwork so that everything else could be placed in context.
She was right: it did get better, and what seemed to be longwindedness proved to be necessary background.
Soon I realized that so many things that had been so abstract in my reading of the New Testament now actually had meaning: the geography (”Capernaum” wasn’t just some random point on a map anymore), the customs (there is an entire chapter, for instance, detailing events surrounding a betrothal), the people (finally I understand the difference between a Pharisee and a Saducee!). And, while the reactions of the fictional characters are obviously speculation on how some might have perceived him, Lund did an excellent job of bringing up ideas I never had considered: for example, I’ve been taught that the Christ the Messiah is the literal Son of God since I was a child, but someone looking on this Man with fresh eyes might find this incredible. Thus it gave me a new appreciation for who Christ is and what he taught.
And even the fictional storyline, which I struggled to keep up with at times, proved to be page-turning at the end: last night, Nathan had gone to bed hours before, and yet I was up, turning pages until the end. It was a good thing Ashley had loaned me one book at a time or I don’t think I would’ve been able to resist opening up the second volume once I’d closed the first!
An educational and uplifting read — I’m looking forward to the others!
And then, for some reason that I still can’t put my finger on, I couldn’t even get past the prologue. It went back to the Provo Library unread.
Four years later, I was ready to try again — and this time around, I’m loving it.
That said, I still didn’t love the beginning this time around. Too many action sequences, too many characters with long Roman and Hebrew names to suddenly keep track of, too many italicized words in foreign languages to stumble over. Way, way too much violence, it seemed — not gruesome violence, just mean people threatening each other and sometimes a few (non-graphic) scenes. Wasn’t this supposed to be a book about Christ? I asked myself as I read. He wasn’t even mentioned until about a hundred pages in, maybe more. There was just one singular passing reference to John the Baptist.
I confessed my thoughts to my friend Ashley (who’d recommended the series and loaned me the first book), and she apologized but promised it got better, that those first hundred pages or so were laying the groundwork so that everything else could be placed in context.
She was right: it did get better, and what seemed to be longwindedness proved to be necessary background.
Soon I realized that so many things that had been so abstract in my reading of the New Testament now actually had meaning: the geography (”Capernaum” wasn’t just some random point on a map anymore), the customs (there is an entire chapter, for instance, detailing events surrounding a betrothal), the people (finally I understand the difference between a Pharisee and a Saducee!). And, while the reactions of the fictional characters are obviously speculation on how some might have perceived him, Lund did an excellent job of bringing up ideas I never had considered: for example, I’ve been taught that the Christ the Messiah is the literal Son of God since I was a child, but someone looking on this Man with fresh eyes might find this incredible. Thus it gave me a new appreciation for who Christ is and what he taught.
And even the fictional storyline, which I struggled to keep up with at times, proved to be page-turning at the end: last night, Nathan had gone to bed hours before, and yet I was up, turning pages until the end. It was a good thing Ashley had loaned me one book at a time or I don’t think I would’ve been able to resist opening up the second volume once I’d closed the first!
An educational and uplifting read — I’m looking forward to the others!