Guide Special - The Story of Desmond Doss

The storytelling in this book is exceptional and is appealing for a wide variety of ages.

My one -- and very significant -- problem is this sentence early in the story: "The same Bible that urged all to obey their government also commanded, in no uncertain terms, "Thou shalt not kill." "

First, reading that phraseology with the mind of a Bible student is troublesome in that it illustrates a surface reading of Scripture. For one thing, the word "kill" is actually better translated "murder." Looking at the Bible at large, any other rendering portrays God commanding people to violate this commandment and shows God breaking His own command. (I'll forego the numerous examples.)

Reading that with the eyes/heart of an arms-carrying soldier or family member of such a soldier is troublesome. Basically, the aforementioned sentence states, "You cannot be a true Christian and protect the lives of other people by taking a person's life." In this case, the sentence is unjustifiably judgmental. I personally know wonderful Christian men and women who've born arms and display a true walk with Christ. Imagining them reading this is saddening.

In conclusion, the strong implication of the one sentence I mentioned here is, for many, an avoidable stumbling block to reading the rest of a well-written story. The author shows himself more than capable of rephrasing his apparent attempt to both show Mr. Doss' personal interpretation of the Bible and firm integrity to His God while also affirming God's desire for all to highly respect the gift/sanctify of life.

For the reasons stated above, what would otherwise be a 5-star book in my eyes slips to a 3-star book.