by Daniel John Gura
Pleasant Word, 324 pages, $15.21
We pro-lifers spend a lot of time in prayer. For many of us, prayer is our primary -- even sole -- method of opposing abortion.
Some of us have been privileged to see our prayers answered as babies are saved from abortion when their mothers turn away from the clinic doors, or abortion workers quit their work, or clinics close due to their protests.
But not all the prayers are for conversion of hearts and minds. Some prayers, the "imprecatory prayers" call upon God to visit his justice on those who perform abortions.
When those prayers are answered, what might it look like? That's the question Dan Gura has set out to answer in God's Avenger: Michael, The Imprecatory Angel.
The action begins with the middle-of-the night partial collapse of a Chicago office tower, City Gate Tower 8, home to the national headquarters of the "Council of Women" and their flagship abortion clinic. No one is injured, but some who are close by are preserved from harm only by miraculous means. And when the first building inspectors on the scene catch a glimpse of the Archangel Michael wielding his flaming sword to finish the job, their lives, and thousands of others' are changed forever.
The thing that impressed me most in reading this book was Gura's use of characters, both major and minor, to tell his story. Gura presents us with characters you can identify with, and care about. In a story intended to drive home the point that every life is precious, every character is important. And often in ways that I didn't expect.
I've met Dan Gura on several occasions, most recently at the "Speak Out Illinois" pro-life conference over this past weekend, but more commonly at meetings of the Republican Assembly of Lake County, of which we are both members. This photo was taken this past Saturday of Dan's wife, Dan, and myself.It's a story about people, and how they become involved in a sequence of events that is really quite fantastic. But ultimately, it's also a story about justice: justice delayed, justice delivered, divine justice. I don't believe that the real world -- or the real God -- operates in quite the way that Gura describes in his novel. But in many ways, it sure would be nice if it -- and He -- did.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is pro-life.
(Cross-posted from Thoughts of a Regular Guy)
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3 comments:
I think this book is rather self-righteous and unrealistic. If an avenging angel comes along, I think we all better duck, for who of us is without sin? As the nuns in pre-Vatican Catholic schools used to tell us - none of us knows when we will face divine justice, because none of us knows when we will die and have to give an account of ourselves to God. Perhaps that avenging angel will be asking us, if WE did everything in our power to end abortion in our lifetime and pray for the conversion of those in the abortion industry.
I seriously doubt whether the writer actually read God's Avenger.
Just because every man and woman is a sinner does not mean we should not petition our Savior to save the lives of pre-born children.
To the contrary, in Matthew 17:20 our Savior taught "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Note, He does not say if you are sinless and have faith.
Do I believe Jesus will end abortion by sending His servant swinging a flaming sword of justice? It really doesn't matter how He does it.
As to judgment for my sins, I believe Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, who through His perfect life and sacrificial death atoned for the sins of all who will trust in Him, alone, for salvation. He paid the price for me, a lowly sinner, to spend eternity with Him.
No offense intended to the author. There is simply a slightly different Christian perspective here.
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