Christian Book Notes

Blackmon, S.N. The Price of Paradise. Hampton: Consuming Fire Incorporated, 2009. 577 pp. $19.99 Purchase at Amazon for $19.99 or less.

Introduction

S.N. Blackmon, an ordained minister, is the founder and owner of Kingdom Rule Publishing, a company devoted to publishing books on Christian living and servant leadership. Blackmon is the former chief reviewer for Burning Pages, a book review site specializing in Christian fantasy, science, and speculative fiction.

Summary

Isaac has been a Christian for many years. He is married with two children and they attend church regularly. He works as a movie reviewer. Oscar, his youngest son, falls into a come for no known reason leaving doctors perplexed. Hope, his wife, is a grade school counselor. She meets a young girl, Kylie, at her school in whom she takes a professional interest. Kylie has a strange story. It is obvious something is quite not right at home, but she will not talk.

The book begins and centers on a question asked by Isaac while writing a review—“Would Camelot have stood if Lancelot had not slept with Guinevere?” God then intervenes into Isaac’s life asking him if he wants to know Him more closely. Isaac answers yes and then all Hell breaks loose in his life. Along the way, Isaac gets a “nickel” tour of Heaven and a peek inside the mind of God.

I will not give much more as to the story line other than to say God shows Himself to be faithful (is that not always the case?) and true. Through every twist and turn, Isaac finds Himself squaring off not only with God (whoever says they have never challenged God is, I believe it is safe to say, lying) but with his own faith in God. You do not know how this novel will end until the last word, but even then you discover that there is a sequel.

Review

I am going to review this book in two parts. First, I will take a cursory look at the story-line. Second, I will discuss the theology. The latter will definitely be longer.  I have had some conversation with the author and have included some of his responses below. If you do read this book, I (as well as S.N. Blackmon) would love to know your thoughts.

Story-line

The plot of the book does not really get going for a few chapters. At times, you cannot put the book down due to plot twists and main character surprises. At other times, there seems to be too much description that somewhat gets the reader bogged down.

I believe Blackmon shows quite effectively how many Christians deal with the stresses of everyday life not too mention those times when the weight of the Fall is squarely placed on our shoulders. Overall, I was impressed with the easy reading offered by Blackmon in The Price of Paradise.

Theological Content

When I was first contacted to review this book, I remember being told that he was receiving some comments that it compared to The Shack.  I responded that I was not interested in anything that compared to that book given the heresy found therein. (Fortunately, I would not compare it to that book.) He responded that he wanted someone with a bit more discernment to read the book. I agreed to do so. What follows are my “highlights” of concerns insofar as the theological content is concerned.

First, God is made out to be an impotent Being who can do nothing to man unless given permission by man. God says in a few places that He will not force Oscar or Isaac to either go back to life on earth or whether or not Isaac wants to come closer to God. A few times, God says that He will not do anything that man will not allow him to do.

This flies in the face of Scriptures like Genesis 50:20 or Proverbs 16:9. I am not saying that man does not have a choice (even if I fully agree with the five soteriological points of Calvinism). What I am saying is that God is not bound by our choices in such a way that He “sits” there wringing His hands (Open Theism) hoping we make the right choice so that His plan may be fulfilled. No, God uses our choices to fulfill His plan. God’s sovereignty and man’s choice are two sides of the same coin and need not be questioned as opposing view points. Instead, they are more like an eternal understanding of what is happening (God’s sovereignty) and an earthly understanding of what is happening (man’s choice).

Response:

I was surprised to read that you thought I disagreed with this. Oscar chose to disobey just like Adam chose to disobey. I thought the opponents of this theology would be upset with me because I claim that Adam’s choice was completely inline with the Sovereign Will of God – it was a necessary part of God’s plan – but Adam, just like Christ still had a choice.

Second, we read in a few places that Christ and Archienipus designed certain features of Heaven and the universe.  What happens then with Genesis 1:1, John 1:1-4, and Colossians 1:16-17? No, Jesus did not need any help to create anything—He did it perfect from the beginning. Yes, this excludes any concept of macro-evolution and millions of years.

Response:

The book is supposed to communicate that God shares things with us just like you might let your 10 year-old son help you as you work on a car… not because you need him, but out of loving relationship.

Third, there is a hint of New Age theology running around in this book. He hints at the idea that we can become God (p. 326, 465, and 482). Blackmon offers some explanations to the contrary, but they are a bit clouded given that they are either put in the mouth of God or a tour guide in Heaven. Also, a case can be made that the tour guide concept is also somewhat New Age but not many will see that in reading this book.

Fourth, Jesus was definitely omnipresent in Heaven. Unfortunately, He was omnipresent in bodily form. Every time a “different” Jesus would appear, He would be wearing different clothes and even needed help on a few occasions.

Finally, since this is a work of fiction, there is some leeway for artistic license. Unfortunately, when dealing with matters of Scripture and theology, most will read without discernment and will give more credence to a work of fiction rather than what the Bible says. By placing words in the mouth of God, Blackmon inadvertently gives much credibility to many things that he ought not. By offering explicit descriptions of Heaven, not found in the Bible, he sets himself up for failure.

This list is not meant to be exhaustive. There are some other ecclesiological issues I personally have as well as some issues with the way some of the characters behave, but overall, I believe I have listed the major concerns I have with the book.

Recommendation

Before I recommend anything, I want to let you, the reader of this review know something. I read this book during a time when my own child, a newborn infant, was dealing with medical problems. On top of that, my three older sons dealt with their own medical issues. On top of that, my wife and I were dealing with life in general from all sides. I can honestly say that The Price of Paradise allowed me to get lost in another world (no pun intended given some things in the book) while dealing with life’s issues in my own home.

At nearly 600 pages, the book is quite breathtaking in depth of character and subject matter. Given the theological concerns, I can only recommend this book to a discerning reader. If it only dealt with the natural side of the story, this book would very much be recommended, but because Blackmon goes into the supernatural side of the story, I feel that I must be careful in giving a blanket recommendation. In the end, you realize that Blackmon has dealt with some pretty serious issues this side of eternity through his writing. For that, I am thankful.

If you are going to read this book, it must be noted that it is a work of fiction and that Blackmon has been influenced in the genre of Christian fantasy, science, and speculative fiction. Keeping that in mind will help the reader to be accepting of the “scratch your head” sections of the book.