Book Review: The Last Enemy by Mike Wittmer

In recent weeks, I've shared a couple quotes from Mike Wittmer's The Last Enemy: Preparing to Win the Fight of Your Life. Mike is a friend of mine and he had the publisher send the book to me for free, so perhaps I am a little biased. Even if I were not though, I would enthusiastically recommend this book.

Mike begins this look at his subject matter communicating what we all know to be true, but would rather ignore: "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. Take a moment to let that sink in. You are going to die." He continues to speak quite candidly throughout the book about this much neglected topic.

The first three chapters are written to a general audience. After all, we all die, right? The remainder of the book though is directed specifically toward Christians in helping them to understand what exactly is an appropriate attitude to have toward death, and what we can expect after it. Death is indeed evil, Mike points out, and the last enemy. As such it is understandable why one should fear it. But as Mike puts it, "fear is no match for faith," as the one on whom we really is stronger than even death.

Each of the book's 23 chapters is short (approximately five pages) and followed by four "Questions for Reflection." This structure makes the book not only suitable for individual reading, but ideal for group study. I recommend it for anyone who wants to be prepared for what they inevitably will face.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Mike Wittmer and a Christian Response to Death

"(At Lazarus's tomb), Jesus wept. He did not use the concept of Romans 8:28 as a club, telling Mary and Martha, 'All things work together for good so you should really look for the silver lining here. It's actually a good thing your brother is dead.' He didn't treat their loss as anything other than what it was -- a loss that triggered the tears of God.

"But Jesus did not weep as those who have no hope. He told Martha, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?' (John 11:25-26)...

"You may shiver as you walk through the shadows of death, but the shadow itself is cast by the bright light of the resurrection. 'Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning' (Psalm 30:5). One morning you will rise, and every tear will be wiped away from your eyes (Revelation 21:4). So go ahead and weep, but only as one who knows how your story ends. It doesn't."

Mike Wittmer
The Last Enemy: Preparing to Win the Fight of Your Life

A Very Right Response to a Very Wrong Thing

The question over the historicity of Adam and Eve seems to be somewhat of a hot topic these days in evangelical Christianity.  In June there was a story on it in Christianity Today, and one of my favorite professors from seminary, Dr. Jack Collins recently penned the book Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?: Who They Were and Why You Should Care, published by Crossway.

Yesterday I saw a blog post from Andy Nasseli, quoting the following snippet of the book, originally included in a funeral homily that Dr. Collins delivered:

On Saturday, I heard Jackie say, “No parent should ever have to outlive their own child.” I heard the same words from my father’s mother when my father died; and my wife and I said the same thing when we lost our first child. The pain is horrible; the loss is beyond our ability to describe.

When we feel this grief, we are feeling that it’s just not right for this to happen. We don’t want our loved ones to suffer; we don’t want to be separated from them by death. We want to be sure that they are happy, and we want to be able to enjoy their company always.

The Bible tells us that these feelings we have are right. Death and suffering are intruders in God’s good world; they don’t belong here. And the story of Adam and Eve, the first human beings, tells us how these evil things came in: When these, the parents of us all, disobeyed God, they opened the door to all manner of sin and evil, not only for themselves, but also for us.

You don’t need me to prove it; it’s all around us. It’s why we are here today.

But the Bible story doesn’t end there: instead it tells us about how God wants to help us, to heal us of what is wrong with us.

Though I have not yet read the book, I very much look forward to doing so.  Dr. Collins spoke on this topic at the 2009 Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology, hosted by our church.  Audio for that (as well as messages from other years' conferences) is available here.

*************UPDATE**************
John Starke had an interview with Dr. Collins regarding the book today (7/8) at The Gospel Coalition website.