Review: The Samurai

The Samurai by Shūsaku Endō
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and/but think that what you get out of it is what you bring to it. Granted, I will have to read this one again to test the theory. My tastes and suppositions seem to been strengthened while reading THE SAMURAI.

Things that I particularly noted and appreciated:
-While I used to books that paint Jesus into something that looks good on a Hallmark greeting card, this one reminded me of how truly strange it may seem to worship a dying man on the cross. It's even weirder that this is God-made-flesh, coming with the purpose of bringing those who are offended by Him back into relationship with the Trinitarian God of the Bible.
-Baptism works. Sometimes it works in spite of the person being baptized.

Is it a perfect book? No. Is the theology always great? No. This is a work of historical fiction. It works well on multiple levels. It leaves me wishing for more. Sometimes, it left me cold. Sometimes I was offended. (That's okay. Sometimes it is necessary to be offended to grow.)

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