Seeds of Turmoil: The Biblical Roots of the Inevitable Crisis in the Middle East by Bryant Wright (2010) surprised me with how little it matched my initial expectations.

Judging by the topic, the reviews, the cover, and even the graphics inside the book, I had imagined that Seeds would be strictly informative, intensely thick with diplomatic issues, difficult to read yet intriguing nonetheless. Instead, Bryant’s book unexpectedly came across more as a devotional book, simplified in its text and with the Middle East Crisis as its anchor for application.

While his book is highly informative and filled with interesting facts based solidly in Scripture, Bryant regularly makes short detours and brief pit-stops from the regular course of his book to challenge his readers and, in a devotional style, to question how they might apply the text to their lives. While there’s nothing wrong with such writing for application, even in historically relevant piece such as this, Bryant’s efforts in personalizing the text seemed unnecessary at times, as if he needed to spoon-feed his readers.

For this reason alone, I anticipate this book with find itself more effective among newer believers and unbelievers seeking to better understand the importance of the Middle East Crisis. While peace in the Middle East may be farther away than we might hope, some readers may unexpectedly find their own peace in the process of reading Seeds of Turmoil.

© 2010 E.T.