A review of the book This Pres
Msg#: 38330 *CFC-NET*
09/25/91 11:30:00
From: DOUG MOORE
To: ALL
Subj: BOOK REVIEW
NOTE: The following review was received from node 7000/40 in South Africa. Because the AREA designation didn’t match anything currently carried here, it ended up in NetMail. I am posting it here so that you may include it in your text files if you wish. The author is Curt Van Den Heuval.
A review of “This Present Darkness” authored by Frank Peretti.
“For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
So run the familiar words from the book of Ephesians. Words which we Christians read and hear many times, but never fully understand. The import of Paul’s words is that we are constantly engaged in battle – a battle against an enemy who is implacable, merciless and extremely powerful. One who will stop at nothing to destroy those who have chosen for God.
Frank Peretti is one man who understands this message of Paul’s, and has translated it into a novel which shows the ceaseless battle on all levels of human endeavour. The novel is somewhat unique in its presentation of two parallel worlds – the material and the spiritual – and the interaction between the two.
The gist of the story is the attempted takeover of a small American town by a mysterious international corporation, under the control of powerful demonic forces. There are four protagonists – Hank Busche, a young pastor who finds himself elected to a deeply divided church; Marshall Hogan, a big city reporter who moves to Ashton for a change of pace, but finds himself embroiled in the biggest story of his life; Tal, the captain of the angelic forces and Rafar, the demonic Prince of Babylon, who is assigned the task of destroying opposition to the takeover.
Both Hank and Marshall stumble across the story from two different directions. Hank finds himself ever more frequently opposed and attacked by dark powers, and begins to realise that the entire town is slowly falling under the control of the same forces. Marshall finds his family threatened by the seductive philosophies of Juleen Langstrat, a physchology lecturer at Whitmore college, where his daughter Sandy is studying. Langstrat, he discovers, has her own private curriculum which involves Eastern Philosophy and Meditation along with regular forays into the ‘Universal Mind’. As Marshall’s innate curiosity leads him deeper into the story, he uncovers a worldwide secret society bent on initiating all of mankind into this same ‘Universal Mind’, and who will casually destroy all who stand in their way.
Meanwhile, Tal and Rafar have a personal score to settle dating from the Fall of Babylon. The two spiritual combatants carry out their assigned task in different manners. Rafar uses a combination of deception, seduction and brute force to further the aims of Satan. He rules his own forces through fear and terror, and is not above sacrificing some of his own warriors for the greater ‘good’. Tal, on the other hand, goes about building up his secret weapon – the prayers of the saints. He realises that the Host of Heaven are powerless without them.
Peretti’s book has not been recieved without some controversy. Some feel that he takes too much license with the scant glimpses that the Scriptures give us of the spiritual realm; others feel that he exposes one of the biggest weaknesses of the Church – their unwillingness to pray. It is this last that Peretti goes out of his way to emphasise. Hank Busche is a man who’s motto is ‘let us pray’, and this, according to Peretti, is what empowers the Heavely Host in their fight against the ‘rulers of this present darkness’. If nothing else, the book should leave the reader with this one thought :-
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18).
It is no coincidence that this verse closely follows that which was first quoted.
- Origin: Honey In The ROCK!!! Durban, S.Africa (5:7105/30)