Faith of My Fathers

Title: Faith of My Fathers
Author: Lynn Austin
Series: Chronicles of the Kings, book 4
Major Themes: Jerusalem, Ancient Times, Israel
Synopsis: When King Manasseh suddenly turned to sorcery and idolatry, his best friend Joshua had to flee the city and find his way again.

Ugh. That was my reaction throughout most of Faith of My Fathers. This book is full of ugliness. One ugly, horrible thing after another happened throughout the story. After a while, it felt like there was no good left, no hope that the nation would turn to God. And to be honest, it felt like what we see around us today. But then, that’s exactly what I see when I read about the life of Manasseh. It was a horrible, ugly time.

At the beginning of the story, Manasseh had been king for a short time, since the unexpected death of his father, Hezekiah. He and his best friend, Joshua studied together, practiced fighting together, and were the closest of friends. However, Manasseh nursed anger toward God for his father’s untimely death. After several years, he suddenly turned to sorcery to find answers to his questions. Then he concluded that everyone who had helped and advised his father during his reign was actually conspiring to remove Manasseh from his throne and put someone else there.

After a devastating family tragedy, Joshua and the remaining members of his family fled the country, and the struggle began in Joshua’s heart. Could he turn to Yahweh in this crisis or did he simply need to rely on himself? When he snuck back into Jerusalem, only to find further disappointment and devastation of his hopes, his former teacher challenged him. “Did you have a daily sense of his presence? Or did you live in the afterglow of your father’s and grandfather’s relationships with God?” Fleeing the city again, Joshua could not stop thinking about that question and determined that he would hear from God before he returned to his family.

Faith of My Fathers is the second book I have read about Manasseh and the evil of his reign. The other one left me feeling dirty, as the author carried the readers right into the pagan worship. Faith of My Fathers showed the horror and ugliness of the worship of Asherah and Baal, but did not carry me right into it. In the other book, the main character was participating in the worship, but in this one, it is seen through the eyes of a horrified worshipper of the true God.

One thing that really struck me was how effectively someone twisted the Scripture. The sorcerer who turned Manasseh to idolatry quoted scripture non-stop—but with a twist. Everything that he suggested that Manasseh do was accompanied with Scriptural backing, but twisted to make it appear that God wanted His people to follow all the ugly worship practices of the Canaanites around them. When Manasseh expressed revulsion at these practices, he was told, “You won’t be free until you realize that sin is an illusion created to control you. There is no such thing as sin.” That sounds just like what we see around us today, in a world that is turning more and more away from God. This book clearly shows the end of that line of thinking.

Even though I did not like the horror and ugliness in Faith of My Fathers, I appreciate it anyway, because Lynn Austin so clearly shows the difference between good and evil. Evil is clearly shown as evil, and at the same time, Joshua was pointed to the true God, all the way through. I did not like the violence, but it felt very authentic, given the setting. I would not recommend this book for younger teens, but for older teens and adults, it is a great way to bring the Bible to life. I would caution, however, that the reader should be quite familiar with the Bible before reading this book. Make sure you know what God has said in His word, before reading a book like this, and compare what you read here with what is in the scripture.

WARNING: Prologue: Fortune teller reads men’s palms. Chapter 1: Man practising sorcery. Chapter 2: Man beaten to death, woman raped. Chapter 5: Girl’s mother brought men home, one tried to paw her. Chapter 6: Two men are executed in a horrific way. Chapter 8: Man is speared and then kills two other men. Chapter 9: “Many of David’s Psalms are curse formulas.” Woman considers suicide. Chapter 10: Discussion of sleeping with someone you’re not married to. Chapter 12: Reading omens in a sheep’s liver. Chapter 13: Man brings a drunkard home. Chapter 14: Woman giving birth, discussion about offering babies to Moloch. Chapter 15: Baby sacrificed to Moloch, guard killed a prophet. Chapter 16. Sacrifice of a baby to Moloch, a man beats up another man. Chapter 17: Reference to immorality in Asherah worship, men cut themselves in pagan rituals. Chapter 20: Woman stabs man. Chapter 22: Woman knocks a man out. 

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