This book will enlighten you, challenge you, convict you and INSPIRE you to live relentlessly! I would give it 6 stars if I could. ( )

Couple of chapters in....I got a great reminder that life isn't actually supposed to be easy. As much as I want it to be. Nor is it for most folks on the planet. 頑張って！ ( )

Review by Steven King, MBA, MEd

When I receive a book that makes bold proclamations on its back cover, such as this book will provide a “…fresh new mindset—a paradigm shift” about Christianity, I delve in looking for inspiration and insight. Sadly, Relentless provided neither inspiration nor insight.

Bevere’s original intent seems plausible: the Christian life is to be lived relentlessly, or with a dogged determination to live as Christ did. The initial preamble seems a little off as Bevere provides his pivotal verse from Romans 5:17 (TEV):
All who receive God’s abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.
From the phrase “rule in life,” Bevere builds a straw man argument that this implies our God vested right to govern our lives on earth. All allusions back to this premise are dovetailed with convenient scriptural allegory to our “being in charge,” or “ruling” over things.

Before delving into what really bothers me about the way this book is written, it is important to clarify a brief context of Romans 5:17. Quite simply, the distinction appears to be a contrast of death’s reign in our lives and subjugation to sin due to Adam’s original sin—and the ability of the believer to live above sin, or reign as a king, through the accomplished work of Christ. Bevere’s insistence that this verse implies a type of lordship over the quality of our lives is patently wrong and sets an amazing precedent for the eisogesis which informs his writing. [Eisogesis is reading something into a biblical text that does not exist in context as contrasted with exegesis, which means to draw meaning “out of” a biblical text.]

A little later in the book, Bevere turns to Daniel’s faithfulness as a proof text of living relentlessly. As quick reminder of the context of Daniel 6, King Darius was quite impressed with Daniel’s abilities. Daniel was the epitome of faithfulness and Darius was going to promote him to a position over his entire kingdom. Most certainly this disappointed the other officials who decided the only way they would be able to bring any charge against Daniel would be if they could do it in such a way to violate his religious devotion. As the story goes, they cajole Darius to make an irrefutable law prohibiting prayer to anyone but him. When Daniel remains faithful to his religious conviction, he becomes lunch for a pit of lions.

Bevere implies that Daniel was ten times more knowledgeable, innovative, or creative than any of the other officials and the fact of Daniel’s excellence spurned envy in their hearts. Such is the author’s speculation that this is the only reason why they would make a law not allowing prayer to anyone but the king. The context only divulges that Daniel had an extraordinary spirit and does not go into detail about his innovation or creativity. Were the officials envious? Absolutely! Perhaps they feared being left behind. Reading anything more into the text is blatant eisogesis.

While you will not find exegesis of the biblical texts used to “support” the ongoing thesis, you will find:

Hubris: Just because someone has written a number of books does not mean they should remind their readers every few chapters. Apparently, living a relentless Christian life means that you should vaunt your accomplishments to all those around you? I was offended when I read the author share a dream to “…go back to his high school English teachers and show them the 15 books he’s written (by God’s grace, of course), watch them faint, then revive them and lead them to Christ.”

Eisogesis: Reference to many different scriptures are made but their meanings seem to be twisted to suit the message. For the uninitiated, watch how frequently a writer will change the version of Scripture they use. The author quotes from multiple different versions of Scripture—the reason for this is to “demonstrate” that what is written is aligned with Scripture. If you look hard enough, you can find a version that has the precise word order, or word choice, that allegedly “proves” your point.

Authoritarianism: Bevere indicates that those who would differ with him are motivated by ill motive. Although this is precisely what the Bible commends as diligent reading in Acts 17:11: “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” (NLT)

Exclusivity: Whenever an author implies that 98% of Christians simply “do not get it,” a red cautionary flag should be raised. I do not recall the source, but one of my undergraduate professors in biblical studies said something akin to, “When someone finds something in Scripture that no one has ever seen before, nine times out of ten they’re absolutely wrong.”

Those seeking a “…fresh new mindset” or “…a paradigm shift” about Christianity should look elsewhere. ( )