From Eternity to Here – Book Review

iCanuck — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:03:00 +0000

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A few years ago, I read several books by Frank Viola and I enjoyed all of them. They provided me with a fresh perspective on church and gave me vocabulary to express my thoughts. The books were part of a series and they looked pretty ugly (click here, here and here if you want to see what I mean.) But we all know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, don’t we? I enjoyed the books for two reasons: 1) they helped me; and, 2) they were great conversation starters.

Frank Viola’s new book, From Eternity to Here has a clean, sharp look (i.e. not as ugly as the earlier books ) but I don’t feel it provided the same fodder for discussion as some of his other books do. Before I say anymore, I asked Frank these two questions about his newest book:

Questions for the Author

1) Who did you write this book for?

FV: So that God’s people would gain an understanding of God’s eternal purpose – which is His grand mission and the grand narrative of Scripture – and be changed by it. From all the letters I’m receiving from readers so far, a great many are saying that they never heard this message before and it is changing their lives. This merely confirms that the time was right to release this book. At least it seems to me that way.

2) What do you hope to accomplish through this book?

FV: That those who read it would fall in love with their Lord deeply, would be set free from religious bondage and obligation, would live with a sense of purpose and vision for their lives, would begin the journey of learning how to live by Christ with others, and would adjust their lives to stand for and fulfill God’s ageless purpose which is by Him, through Him, and to Him.

A Short Review

I have read the book and I will give a very short review of it here. First, I want to applaud Frank for looking at the whole Bible as a book that offers a story (or stories) within which we can place ourselves. It is easy to miss the narrative of the Bible and not “see the forest for the trees” when we look at a few scattered verses or chapters. This book looks at the entire testimony of Scripture and lays out three interwoven stories that give us a well-rounded picture of the church.

However, I remain less than convinced by Frank’s storytelling in the first part about the bride of Christ and Eve as a shadow of the church, ekklesia. When I got to the second story I saw some of the Frank Viola I saw in the earlier books I had read. When he writes about the blind spots of Christianity or the trappings of organized religion, he is speaking of things to which most of us can relate. “

“3 out of 5 Stars”

I would not say this is one of his best books to date and I cannot agree with many comparisons he makes. I do, however, appreciate his emphasis on the church and his critique of religion. If I were rating the book, I would give this one 3 out of 5 stars.

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Below you will find the list of other participating blogs and I would like to draw your attention two of those blogs that I have really been enjoying lately:

The first is Jon Reid – http://jonreid.blogs.com/oneanother/welcome-pilgrim.html

And the second one is Chad at Captain’s Blog – http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/

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OTHER BLOGS PARTICIPATING IN THE “FROM ETERNITY TO HERE” BLOG CIRCUIT

Today (June 9^th), the following blogs are discussing Frank Viola’s new bestselling book “From Eternity to Here” (David C. Cook, 2009). The book just hit the May CBA Bestseller List. Some are posting Q & A with Frank; others are posting full reviews of the book. To read more reviews and order a copy at a 33% discount, go to Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Eternity-Here-Rediscovering-Ageless-Purpose/dp/1434768708/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233609867&sr=1-4

For more resources, such as downloadable audios, the free Discussion Guide, the Facebook Group page, etc. go to the official website: http://www.FromEternitytoHere.org

Enjoy the reviews and the Q and A:

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Out of Ur – http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/05/viola.html

Shapevine – www.Shapevine.com (June newsletter)

Brian Eberly – http://www.brianeberly.com

DashHouse.com – http://www.DashHouse.com/

Greg Boyd – http://www.gregboyd.org/blog/

Vision Advance – http://vision2advance.blogspot.com/

David Flowers – http://ddflowers.wordpress.com

Kingdom Grace – http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com

Captain’s Blog – http://www.captainestes.blogspot.com/

Christine Sine – http://godspace.wordpress.com