Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781598592504
Format: Unabridged
ISBN: 1598592505
Label: Oasis Audio
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Oasis Audio
Number Of Items: 5
Publication Date: 2007-07-06
Publisher: Oasis Audio
Studio: Oasis Audio

Behind the men who shaped history are the heroes who forever changed it. The Scribe, the fifth and final book in the Sons of Encouragement series, beloved author Francine Rivers illuminates the life of Silas. Like the other Sons of Encouragement, this book tells the story of a lesser-known biblical character who made an impact on eternity. The Scribe tells the story of Silas, the man behind the spotlight who recorded most of the New Testament Scriptures we read today. In classic Francine Rivers style the story lets readers grasp the Scriptures in a whole new light--from a perspective never before imagined. Along the way readers will be captivated by the growth of the early church and the trials Paul suffers before he is martyred for the cause of Christ.

Customer Rating:
Summary: A bit of a letdown
Comment: I'm a HUGE fan of Francine Rivers. I have all her books excepting two. Only two of them have been a bit of a let down and this one is one of them. For a short book it seemed to drag on.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Scribe
Comment: Book arrived quickly and in shape described. I am very satisfied with the seller. Thanks.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A great spiritual exploration
Comment: In the last novella of the Sons of Encouragement series (the follow-up to her Lineage of Grace series), bestselling author Francine Rivers imagines the little-known life of Silas, one of the first Christians and the beloved traveling companion of the Apostle Paul.

Pulling from the biblical books of Acts, First Peter and Matthew, used as an outline for her novella, Rivers presents Silas as a rich and educated man who gives up everything for the early Church.

The novella opens with Peter and Silas --- his secretary --- fleeing Rome. Peter turns back at the last minute, leaving Silas to go on alone unwillingly. Tradition tells us that Peter is then crucified, upside down (having deemed himself unfit to die in the same way as Christ), and Rivers narrates the events through the grieving Silas's recollections. We also learn that Paul, Silas's travel companion for thousands of miles, has been beheaded. The apostles are scattered; many are dead.

Silas, as seen through Rivers's words, is a man broken by the loss of the giants of the Christian faith, burdened with the responsibility of safeguarding their letters, penned in scrolls, that someday would be the cornerstone of the New Testament text. He longs to join Peter in death: "To have an end of trials, an end to fear, an end to the attack of doubt when he least expected it." Silas is presented as a man tired, defeated and fighting an internal battle with discouragement and grief. Grudgingly obedient and desperately weary, he is determined to finish his task. And he comes to find that his task is to write of what he has seen and experienced while living in a small room in Puteoli. "Those I loved most dearly are not lost, only beyond my sight. I cannot give up! I cannot fail! I must go on!"

With time to rest and remember, Silas begins writing again. He talks of how he was at first put off by the company Jesus kept: lepers, women, the poor --- commoners. However, Silas had many questions about the Jewish Law and hoped that Jesus might be able to answer them. He also longed to see a miracle. Rivers recaps the biblical text about various events in Christ's life that Silas might have been witness to, including the call for Jesus to become king; Jesus defending the woman caught in adultery; Jesus teaching from a boat where the unruly crowd might better hear him; and Jesus explaining why it is right to "Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God." Rivers imagines Silas to be the rich young ruler who Jesus commands to give up his money and cannot. She also imagines him as one of the two men who walks with Jesus to Emmaus after His resurrection.

Several pages are taken up with recapping key events in the life of Christ through the eyes of Silas's recollections, followed by events from the book of Acts involving Saul's conversion to Paul, Silas's defense of the young John Mark, and the life of the early Church. Indeed, an over-reliance on scriptural retelling and less reliance on imagination of Silas's life makes the writing a little too familiar to those who have studied the scriptural text. Although there are some good imaginative stories, such as Paul and Silas falling into the hands of robbers, those who have read some of the great novels of the early Church, such as THE SILVER CHALICE or LION OF GOD, will wish for more embellishment and less adherence to straight scripture retelling. (Some scenes, such as Timothy's heroic decision to be circumcised as a young teen, which lend themselves to more exploration, are barely glossed over.) Those who want to revisit biblical events without too much embroidering of the details will find this book more satisfactory.

Readers will appreciate the Bible study section at the end of the book, which allows for greater exploration of the scriptural basis for the story and its application to Christians today.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Slight disappointment
Comment: Rivers is a wonderful author and I expected these books to be as good as her Lineage of Grace series. They were not quite there...

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Comment: Great writer. Brings the characters to life. Wonderful story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things with God's help. It shows that you don't have to be the wealthiest, most popular, or most intelligent for you to be used in an amazing way...even to the point of changing history!

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