The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet and Lori Wagner Review

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Summary from goodreads:
Using the four horsemen of the Apocalypse to symbolize the four Gospels, four transcendentals, and four forces of the universe (air, water, earth, and fire), Sweet and Wagner weave a fast-paced, end-times tale of good vs. evil and the promise of a new dawn for humanity.







Set in 2048, when planet Earth is suffering from the damaging effects of years of misuse and abuse, cultural history professor Paul Binder receives a mysterious letter that leads him to examine a lost 2nd-century Diatessaron manuscript. Ancient prophecies, cryptic letters, and strange events set him on a course to uncover the missing clues that could lead humanity into a new age. Each character embodies elements of the four horsemen in a race to save the world from total destruction. Layered with forgotten symbolism from the ancient, Jewish, and Christian traditions, the novel is a type of engaged fiction in which the main character's lost journal serves as a guide to the reader in interpreting clues and understanding the novel's conclusion.





The Seraph Seal by Leonard Sweet


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I am not usually one that goes for apocalyptic books of any kind (I did get into the Left Behind series a litttle at one time). However, I decided that I would take my chances with this book. I have been studying the book of Revelation in the Bible, and this seemed to fit perfectly.




Almost from the beginning of the book, I was terribly intrigued. It was almost scary to read the first part of the book and then hear something on the news that was similar to what was happening. It made me realize that things can get a whole lot worse than they are now--and they will! And all I can say is that if half the things in this book were to happen, I can only hope and pray I would not be around to see them!




The book was very skillfully written, and I applaud the authors' research and fantastic imagination. I had never thought of the four horsemen of Revleation in just quite this way. And I will say that I could not read this book at night because I was seriously afriad of nightmares! In fact, as I read that part about an unexplained disease wiping out large sections of the population, the television news was just reporting about the strange ecoli breakout in Europe! Talk about realistic fiction!




Now to my reasons for the 3-star rating. Biblically speaking, I believe that the authors' interpration of Scripture was somewhat skewed. While I am not an eschatologist in any sense of the word, I have studied it. I struggle with a book being written about the last days and yet there is no appearance of Christ. I struggle with extra-Biblical prophecies and writings being used to back up end times prophecies not covered in the Bible. And the epilogue of the book confused me even more. It would seem that the authors have a very divergent view of the space and time continuum that I question whether it is solidly based on Biblical truths. I do not call the authors' faith into question--there seems to be no doubt that they are strong in their faith. However, I would have like to have seen some more Biblical quotations and prophecies being explicated in the book.




Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the 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.”






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