"Seeds of Turmoil" by Bryant Wright

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. There are just a few minor reasons I did not give it a 5-star rating. First of all, the first several chapters were fairly redundant. There were good-sized passages of Scripture that were repeated. The author was showing the roots of the Isaac/Ishmael conflict from the eyes of each person involved (Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, etc.); but it was too drawn out. Don't get me wrong - the Biblical information was great. It could have been a little more concise, because I almost lost interest in the first few chapters.

The only other reason for the 4-star rating would be the last two chapters. I never understood where the author was going with the chapter on the "Christian Perspective". He seemed to building up to something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. In the last chapter, the author answers three questions that people frequently ask him. I didn't see why this was necessary - other than the extremely brief invitation to salvation in the last two paragraphs.

The positive elements were many. Wright gave me a much better understanding of the mind-set of the Arabs (and the Iranians, for that matter). He also explained the history of the return of the Jews to Israel and how they got their land back. The prophetic information was good, and the historical information was excellent (not too in-depth or dry; just enough detail to give you a desire to research more). The author used a very casual style of writing and never delivered his thoughts in a way that would seem "academic". In fact, it was more in the style that a pastor would use (no surprise there, since he is a pastor).

There is a helpful glossary in the back of the book, as well as a nifty Study Guide that can be used individually or with groups. All in all, it is a great book!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers through http://www.booksneeze.com/. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.