THE POWER AND THE GLORY
By Arthur White & Martin Saunders
Authentic Media. 220 pages. £7.99
ISBN 978-1-86024-560-2
In The Power and the Glory, Arthur White tells his own story. At one time he was a world champion power-lifter, a successful businessman and a happy family man. Then, his life spiralled downwards. Involved in heavy drug taking, violence and an adulterous relationship, he lost everything. He tells how, at the point where death seemed the only way out, God intervened. His life was turned round, his relationship with his wife restored and he regained his power-lifting crown.
There can be no doubting the remarkable turnaround in this man’s life and we should be quick to see the grace of God and be thankful! However, as an evangelistic tool there are several weaknesses that undermine the helpfulness and usefulness of the book. There is a fine line between helpfully recounting our former lives and glorying in sin and occasionally this book crosses into the latter. There are also some aspects of his understanding of Christian experience that would trouble many, for example his understanding of healing. My biggest concern, in a book that is telling a conversion story, is the complete absence of any mention of the Cross of Christ. There is very little explanation of repentance and conversion.
