Rise of the Falen

Rise of the Fallen, by Chuck Black

Wars of the Realm, vol. 2

(Multnomah, 2015), pb., 300 pp.

I have previously reviewed a couple of Chuck Black’s book which we really enjoyed. However, this one was not as good as the previous ones we read. This new series seeks to deal with spiritual warfare which can be quite tricky. For full disclosure, we did not finish the book, so perhaps it got better.

The book opens with a firefight between angels and demons in which they use machine guns which can kill demons or angels. This scene lost me. I appreciate wanting to help young readers grasp the reality of spiritual warfare, but I don’t think presenting it in this manner is the way to do it. And, I don’t think angels can be killed.

Then, theologically the book needs some more fine-tuning. Black goes to great lengths to clarify the difference between biblical truth and imaginative filling in of the story. In fact at the beginning of the book he states, “reference statements that are directly correlated to biblical truths are set in bold text” (ix). However, one of the first statements in bold in the book seeks to describe the Trinity by stating, “One God, yet choosing to reveal himself in three ways- Elohim HaAv, God the Father; Ben Elohim, the Son of God; and Ruach Elohim, the Spirit of God” (6). I am not sure of the value of the transliterated Hebrew, but the problem is that the statement “One God, yet choosing to reveal himself in three ways” fits in one of the categories declared to be heresy by the early Church. It sounds like the heresy of modalism. God has not merely chosen to “reveal” Himself in three ways, but He is “one God eternally existing in three equal Persons.” (You can search that last phrase in quotes to see that this is common language used to express the truth of the Trinity.) Let me be clear: I have no reason to doubt the orthodoxy of Chuck Black. From what else I have seen from him, I believe this was unfortunate wording on his part. Describing the Trinity in a young adult work of fiction would be challenging. However, this does point to the need for more theological editing or for a different choice in topics. If you wade into such waters, you must do it well.

So, I cannot recommend this book. We enjoyed Chuck Black’s books where he summarized the overarching story of Scripture in terms of knights fighting evil, and I hope he continues to produce good work like those books.

Kingdom's Hope

Kingdom's Hope (Kingdom, Book 2)by Chuck Black
(Multnomah, 2006), ages 7+
Audio by Oasis Audio

On a recent trip we listened to this book straight through. My oldest son (age 14) had read the first book in this series and was not terribly impressed. However, we all really enjoyed this one and are eager to get the audio for the rest of the series.

The story is a retelling of a majority of the Bible’s story line set in a world of knights and castles. The setting provides opportunity for battles, good adventure, references to chivalry, honor and nobility. Then, I was impressed with how faithfully the key elements of the Bible story were presented with proper nuance.

Black compresses the time of the judges to the Exile and Restoration into one man’s lifetime. Some might object that this would necessarily distort the story. However, we must be clear about what to expect of a fantasy re-presentation of such a story. For a straight retelling we look to Bible story books. Books like Chuck Black’s are intended to give us another angle on these biblical truths. By compressing the story into ne lifetime readers can appreciate the overall unity of the story- something often missed in churches today. The repeated rebellion of God’s people, the utter futility of our attempts at reform and our great need of Divine rescue are all the more apparent. And the way in which he wove together the stories of the judges, Saul, Daniel and others, I thought, was very well done.
The audio dramatization was nicely done as well. There were places where it was a bit over done, and the sound for running horses made my boys laugh, but that was all part of the fun of listening. We warmly commend this book as a fun way to listen together as a family while also hearing the great story line of the Bible in a fresh way.