My opening statement is probably anathema to some of
my readers, so I pray you’ll forgive my ignorance and continue to read my
reviews anyway. I must confess: I have never watched an episode of LOST before
in my life.
I know, I know…how can this be, right? Well, I have
all the right excuses. I didn’t get in on the show at its very beginning, and
it appears to be something you must experience from the beginning in order to
understand. I am at work when it is on TV…or at least I’m assuming because in
all honesty, I don’t know when it airs, but as I work in the evening, every
evening, suffice it to say I’m busy making money while you Lost fans curl up in
a soft chair with your Cheetos.
But what’s this? The
Gospel According to… Now there’s something I can get into. I LOVE the
Gospel…and if you can show me how LOST makes the Gospel relevant to today’s 21st
century media-driven culture, then you can make me love the show. So, as I
opened the pages of The Gospel According to LOST, I was presenting a challenge to
author Chris Seay. By the time I close this book, make me a fan.
And so I began to read. And I’ll be honest. I didn’t
understand everything I read. I don’t know who these people are, why I should
love or hate them, or what they’ve done to elicit the reaction I’m supposed to
have. Seay focuses on the characters of LOST in an attempt to demonstrate how
their character or actions, or something that happens to them, is a metaphor or
linked to Biblical imagery.
However, Seay never quite gets to the heart of the
Gospel. Hence a title like The Gospel
According to... is not entirely accurate. Maybe it’s because LOST doesn’t
address the core message of the Gospel, I don’t know, but the book spends it’s
time laying out imagery based on peripheral issues, such as the concept of
human free will, issues more philosophical than evangelical. Only in a
discussion of the character Sayid is the heart of the Gospel discussed.
Nonetheless, the book is engaging, for the most
part, even for one who continually found himself not understanding all about
what was going on. I found the character of John Locke, and the resulting
discussion of faith quite compelling. Some of the connections Seay makes seem
tenuous at best, but I am willing to plead ignorance and assume that it is I
the reader missing an important truth.
In the end, I’m sure the The Gospel According to LOST will
entertain and edify and fan of the runaway hit television show. And if you’re
not a fan of LOST, but are a fan of theology and philosophy, you will be by the
time the book is read. Because as I turned the last page, my interest
sufficiently piqued, I say that I may have turned the corner. I may have become
a LOST fan. I don’t know yet. But definitely intrigued enough to watch.
A review copy of this book was provided by Thomas Nelson.
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