Customer Reviews

The Commission

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When a group of 21st century Christians is exiled to another planet for refusing to recant, will members of this all-Christian society continue to maintain their faith, or will a loss of tradition and authority give birth to heresy?

After reading the back cover blurb, I had hoped the novel would focus on examining whether opposition and adversity are essential to the existence of a vibrant faith and whether (true) tolerance of Christianity actually leads to complacency among Christians. But this question really is not much developed in the novel. However, many other intriguing questions are introduced. Indeed, the plot is a clever vehicle for a host of difficult questions, and I found myself repeatedly pausing in my reading to think. The Commission could serve as a real discussion sparker among Christians, and it is likely to inspire the reader to reflect on many things: Where is our nation headed with its emphasis on religious "tolerance"? Could this emphasis on "tolerance" eventually lead to a law against proselytizing? Can publicly recanting your faith while privately maintaining it ever be justified? What might cause you to recant? Would God have us fight back with violence against oppressive tyranny? How long would it take heresy to develop in an all-Christian society, and how might it develop?

The Commission is an intriguing book posing intriguing questions. The author has a good story to tell, and he communicates weighty ideas without being overbearing or boring.

"The Commission" is a near-future novel which explores the strengths and weaknesses of faith in isolation, and the lengths to which a believer might go to keep the faith. As I read it, I found myself asking, "How important is the Great Commission to me? And how important is it to Jesus? Is there such a thing as Christianity without evangelism? What would I be willing to sacrifice for it?" The book raises more questions than Blackman intended. The characters are well-drawn and believable, and the story feels as though it could happen tomorrow. There are no saccharine moments, yet the overall tone is one of hope.

Synopsis:
If a group of Christians were the only settlers of an unoccupied planet, in a remote solar system, what would their society be like sixty, seventy, or eighty years later? Would their faith flourish through unity or falter through complacency? "The Commission" begins with all the nations of earth united into one nation, Terrapax, and the establishment of a state religion that unites all of earth's religions into a single faith. One group, the Messianists, refused to be absorbed, and spent five years in a reeducation camp before being exiled to a newly discovered planet. The Commission follows a single Messianist family from the founding of Terrapax, through the first eighty years on Eden, their new planet. Although it's classified as science fiction because it involves space travel to an unknown planet, it's a story of how the same faith that prospers in oppression, develops into heresy when seasoned with spiritual laxity. It's a story about how even in the worst unorthodoxy, God always preserves a remnant of true believers. It's a story of hope generated by one man who remains faithful to the true gospel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I, Bob Blackman am a retired, 59-year-old Baptist pastor. I earned a BA in anthropology from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and attended Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California. I have served as the pastor of two churches, as an Associate pastor, and as a Christian School Administer. I currently live in Reedsport on the Oregon coast with, Carrie, my wife of 35 years. We attend Harbor Baptist church in Winchester Bay. I have previously written a dozen short stories and a handful of poems that have been published in various poetry and literary magazines, Sunday School publications, and newspapers. I have a personal website, www.padrebob.com, that contains all my previously published short stories as well as my testimony and family information. I hope you'll enjoy my novel.