A Bounty of Books

Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant Wright can be summed up in its tag line: "The Biblical Roots of the Inevitable Crisis in the Middle East." Wright discusses how the decision of one man - Abraham - to not trust God spread and multiplied into the crisis that is the Middle East. According to Wright, the fierce and unending fighting among the peoples who inhabit the Middle East are inevitable in light of biblical history, and will not end until Christ returns. He fleshes these ideas out in Seeds of Turmoil.

Based on the title and description, I was initially excited to read this book. As a Christian and a history buff I thought it'd be both interesting and informative. In was informative, but only on the most basic level. Seeds of Turmoil would be a good primer for people who have little to no knowledge of the Middle East and the people who inhabit it, or an understanding of the origins of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. While presented in a logical manner, the information given seemed to be repeated many times throughout the book. The author's obvious bias for Israel was almost overwhelming at times. In a topic such as this, it's natural to have a bias for one side or the other; however, when attempting to address the matter factually, the bias shouldn't take over as it did in this book.

Wright's handling of the Scripture used throughout is true to the Word, though some of his interpretations and extrapolations of interactions between people that weren't recorded are somewhat iffy. Nothing that causes a serious doctrine issue, but more poetic license than one would expect in a book like this.

Overall, there may be certain people I recommend this book to, but they would be few and far between. It's pretty fluffy and there are better works on the topic.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255