ISBN #978-1-4000-7109-8
"Hero" is a book about how a man can maintain purity in his relationships with women. The book is aimed at single men and offers up the argument that a real hero cares about physical purity not only to protect the woman in his life but also to be obedient to God. The authors are correct, of course, and one thing I was happy to see was that the elder Stoeker mostly avoids making the same mistake in this book that he made in "Every Man's Battle," a book I put down early on because it included too much of what Stoeker was calling on men to avoid. There is one section on page 71 where Stoeker warns his reades of graphic content then proceeds to share some pretty explicit things one will find in certain movies. I was saddened to see this but glad that it is the only place in the book where the authors do this. Although quite frankly their message that men and teenage boys need to be open about their struggles with lust should be shared in group settings is a tad much...not that the sharing itself is wrong but that the manner in which they recommend it should be done is buying into the world's standards...the very thing they want us to avoid doing.
Among the things that bothered me about the book, as mentioned above, are the constant contradictions between the message of the book and the style in which it is delivered. For example, after pointing out how his son Jasen remained pure until marriage, never even kissing his wife until that day, he says "[m]y son was a stud." What a poor choice of a word to describe his son! In an earlier part of the book he talks about what he feels was a hereditary sin among the Stoekers with pornography and how he hoped one day his descendants would say "We don't look at pornography because our father Fred didn't look at porn..." My immediate thought regarding this sentence in a book that wants to point to God as the source of our strength when confronting sin was "what about we don't look at pornography because it grieves the Spirit?"
Another thing that disappointed me about the book is the poor use of Scripture. In one chapter the elder Stoeked quotes 2 Chronicles 16:9 and then says we should stand up so God can see us as He searches to and fro. I'm like, "what?!?" This is certainly not what that passage teaches and while it may be nitpicking, I believe that when Christians use Scripture to communicate a point they should not misuse the Word of God. Use it by all means, but do so appropriately!
As negative as this review is so far, I cannot deny that there are some good things the book brings up. The Church certainly needs a call to purity...and we men especially need to take this very seriously, for as Stoeker says, "if you're not her hero, you'll be her nightmare." True. We as men bear a huge reponsibility in how we interact with women...and we should not make excuses for ourselves either (oh she was dressing indecently!). Let us be men!
Ultimately, however, I cannot truly recommend this book. I'm sure the Stoeker name assures it will be hugely popular, but if you want something better written, then go to Joshua Harris' "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." Quite frankly, to all you men out there...how about opening up the Bible and leading a life of obedience?
"Hero" is a book about how a man can maintain purity in his relationships with women. The book is aimed at single men and offers up the argument that a real hero cares about physical purity not only to protect the woman in his life but also to be obedient to God. The authors are correct, of course, and one thing I was happy to see was that the elder Stoeker mostly avoids making the same mistake in this book that he made in "Every Man's Battle," a book I put down early on because it included too much of what Stoeker was calling on men to avoid. There is one section on page 71 where Stoeker warns his reades of graphic content then proceeds to share some pretty explicit things one will find in certain movies. I was saddened to see this but glad that it is the only place in the book where the authors do this. Although quite frankly their message that men and teenage boys need to be open about their struggles with lust should be shared in group settings is a tad much...not that the sharing itself is wrong but that the manner in which they recommend it should be done is buying into the world's standards...the very thing they want us to avoid doing.
Among the things that bothered me about the book, as mentioned above, are the constant contradictions between the message of the book and the style in which it is delivered. For example, after pointing out how his son Jasen remained pure until marriage, never even kissing his wife until that day, he says "[m]y son was a stud." What a poor choice of a word to describe his son! In an earlier part of the book he talks about what he feels was a hereditary sin among the Stoekers with pornography and how he hoped one day his descendants would say "We don't look at pornography because our father Fred didn't look at porn..." My immediate thought regarding this sentence in a book that wants to point to God as the source of our strength when confronting sin was "what about we don't look at pornography because it grieves the Spirit?"
Another thing that disappointed me about the book is the poor use of Scripture. In one chapter the elder Stoeked quotes 2 Chronicles 16:9 and then says we should stand up so God can see us as He searches to and fro. I'm like, "what?!?" This is certainly not what that passage teaches and while it may be nitpicking, I believe that when Christians use Scripture to communicate a point they should not misuse the Word of God. Use it by all means, but do so appropriately!
As negative as this review is so far, I cannot deny that there are some good things the book brings up. The Church certainly needs a call to purity...and we men especially need to take this very seriously, for as Stoeker says, "if you're not her hero, you'll be her nightmare." True. We as men bear a huge reponsibility in how we interact with women...and we should not make excuses for ourselves either (oh she was dressing indecently!). Let us be men!
Ultimately, however, I cannot truly recommend this book. I'm sure the Stoeker name assures it will be hugely popular, but if you want something better written, then go to Joshua Harris' "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." Quite frankly, to all you men out there...how about opening up the Bible and leading a life of obedience?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment