SAFE PASSAGE

A debut guide focuses on finding Christian inspiration.

McGee conceives his book as an encouraging conversation, a means for his Christian readers to save their souls and find the path to Jesus. The principal instrument in achieving this goal is of course the wisdom of the Bible, but as the author readily admits, the holy book is very long and verbose. In his brief series of spiritual and biblical meditations, McGee provides concise thoughts and scriptural quotations on a number of key Christian concepts. “No matter how hard or how easy your life has been here on earth, no matter how badly you think you may have failed God,” McGee tells his readers, “the Bible says that you can be safe at death.” And in the course of his work, the author examines some of the mysteries and reassurances of the Bible and key points of lore, such as prayer, wisdom, and authority (“All final authority rests with God”). McGee wonders what happens after death, including to non-Christians (“Where are all the souls of the cavemen and lost tribes?”). And he’s frank about his own trials with faith, including his questions about prayer: “Is God listening? Will my prayers be heard, much less granted? Will they be ignored?” This note of approachable humanity compensates for some of the author’s controversial statements (“It is God alone who keeps people and animals alive and the planets in orbit”; “men and women did not evolve from apes”) and lends the whole book a memorable tone of personal confession in the nature of traditional faith narratives. This universe does not offer people a peaceful transition to heaven, McGee writes: “We experience many personal trials here on this earth, and Christians are but a small army in a largely pagan world.”  While this is an odd claim considering the fact that Christianity is by far the globe’s largest religion, it serves to deftly underscore the author’s warning to his readers not to take forgiveness or salvation for granted.

A spirited and invitingly even-keeled series of meditations on various aspects of Christianity.