Book Review – Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant Wright

From the Publisher:

A clear, in-depth biblical explanation of the origin, history, and significance of the Middle East conflict.

The current conflict in the Middle East began long before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. It originated when Abraham sinned, distorting God's promise that he and his heirs would make a great nation and inherit the land now called The Holy Land.

A historical and political account, Seeds of Turmoil clearly explains the biblical story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar and the ensuing sibling rivalry between Jacob and Esau, whose choices formed the world's three most influential religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

This fascinating insight into the beginnings of the conflict also explains what about the land is so important today. In addition, Wright sheds light on the conflicting Jewish, Christian, and Islamic perspectives and answers the question, Does God play favorites?

I was really looking forward to reading this book when I received it before Christmas. I think the historical roots of the conflict in the middle east are very important to understand what’s going on today, but I don’t have any great knowledge of it, or so I thought. I started reading this book, and got to thinking maybe I know more about it than I thought. I read through the first half or so of the book, waiting to learn something new. Didn’t happen. Kept reading; still nothing that I hadn’t already heard.

What I did find was a lot of conjecture about how this person or that person would have been feeling or thinking, but it a sarcastic kind of way. I have to say, I did not appreciate the author’s dry sense of humor. I felt that it didn’t fit the story and didn’t do justice to the characters that he was discussing. The book went through the biblical stories in the book of Genesis, but did not provide any depth or insight that I had not heard other places.

Conclusion: Read this book if you really truly know nothing about the biblical history of the conflict in the middle east (i.e. the story of Ishmael and Isaac). Otherwise, don’t waste your time.

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com 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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”