Customer Reviews

Eli

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In ELI, best-selling author Bill Myers asks the question, "what if Jesus had been born 2000 years later?" The concept is familiar to readers of the book JOSHUA, but Myers' execution puts ELI at a higher level than JOSHUA ever reached.

ELI's story revolves around the character of journalist Conrad Davis, who is thrown from our world into a parallel reality thanks to a coma-inducing auto accident. Davis soon realizes, even though he is not a Christian, that everything about this new reality is the same, save for the fact that no one had the faintest clue who Jesus Christ was. Through his work and his ex-wife he happens upon a controversial figure named Eli, and soon parallels between Eli and the person of Jesus begin to appear. Conrad is taken with what Eli represents and he takes a leave of absence from work to become one of his followers.

What results is a modern day enactment of the ministry years of Jesus; specifically His passion week. Myers freely admits at the beginning of the book that this story is a work of fiction. But this fiction has the familiar ring and power of Biblical truth. Because in changing the setting of the story of Jesus, Myers has given it a contemporary and radical edge that strikes at one's preconcieved notions and ideas about the character of Jesus and the world He was born into. Though Myers does take some literary freedom in the translation, the end result is quite sound. I found it much harder to point a finger at the Pharisees and unfaithful disciples after reading this book because the story's concept forced me to put myself in their shoes and, in this modern situation, I realized that I wasn't sure that I would fare any better than they did.

In the end, ELI succeeds precisely because of that radical twist. The afore mentioned JOSHUA showed us that we, who are so comfortable with our ideas of Jesus, would probably find him just as much of an outlaw if He came today. ELI accomplishes the same thing but takes it further by forcing us to look at the bigger picture and apply the lessons He taught to our modern world in a surprising new light. In the story's end Conrad is forced to make a hard decision about Eli. The reader hopefully will be just as challenged in their walk with Christ. A fast-paced, thought-provoking read: Four stars.

When this book caught my eye in the bookstore I didn't expect it to be this amazing. The idea of getting a glimpse of what it would be like if Jesus had come 2,000 years later, today, was very intrigueing. In this book I was impacted time and time again over the truths, emotions, and outcome that Jesus, or "Eli", made and provoked. I was reminded and given a firm reason to why we so desperately need Jesus's blood and death. Have you ever had a Bible that translates things into "today terms"? Such as when they talk about a certain about of money and they have a footnote that says exactly how much that money would be worth today? Well, "Eli" is like a big footnote for the story of Jesus. Bill Myers puts the story of Jesus into terms that we can relate to, and the effect is breathtaking. I highly recommend this book if you are familiar with the story of Jesus, but if you aren't then please read the real thing first in the book of John in the Bible.

I must admit to being a little skeptical about this book before reading it, but I enjoy Bill Myers' writing, so I bought it. I'm certainly glad I did. Myers succeeds brilliantly in waking the reader up to Jesus' life and ministry. For someone who grew up in the church, this is almost a must-read. I (and I would expect most people) have a lot of pre-conceived notions and ideas about Jesus that would make a lot of His claims sound perfectly reasonable. But coming out of someone else's mouth, they sound absolutely ludicrous (unless you believe it). Not only does this show what people must have thought of Jesus 2000 years ago, but it also illustrates what non-believers today must think of Jesus and those who follow Him.

Entertaining yes, but even more thought-provoking.

In all honesty, the "alternate reality" storyline is a fairly thin veneer with which to display the actual meat of this book. After centuries of stories about shepherds, fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, and pharisees, many people have lost track of who these people actually were in the context of their own time, and we see them through the benign lens of a comfortable Christianity that we've grown accustomed to in the West.

But these people were thought of differently back in the time that the Gospels were composed. This book presents us with hippies, drug dealers, uneducated men, militants, and televangelists--people who we are more familiar with--and casts them into all the "accustomed" roles of Bible stories. In doing so, Myers shows us, at least in part, how odd, and scandalous Jesus' actions must have seemed at the time they were going on. It presents a different picture, one that adds a depth and richness to the Gospel stories than what modern Americans remember from Sunday School.

I appreciated this book tremendously, because it drew me to think about who it was that Jesus was spending time with, and how he was spending that time with them. This is not, really, a story about "alternate realities." This is a book that translates the Gospels into modern times--not word for word, nor even chapter for chapter, but tale for tale.

I had enjoyed reading Bill Myers "Blood of Heaven" trilogy and was eager to read "Eli". I was prepared to enjoy it....but my experience went beyond that. This book truly moved me. It deepened my understanding, and yes, my love for Jesus. You can quibble with technicalities in this book. Even the author admits his limitations in his preface. Yet it deeply touched my heart. Read it and you will see.

Bill Myers' book, "Eli", successfully satisfies a long-standing need rarely addressed outside of childrens' books. This need is that for Biblical stories written in new and involving ways, such that they attend to a mature reader's imagination, as well as aid in their spiritual growth. The average household in America contains 5 Bibles, yet it remains the least read book per household in which a copy is owned. Of the countless millions of given reasons for unread Bibles, it is safe to venture that one reason many people don't read them the same way they would any other book is that it often seems to read comparably to a history textbook -- the stories are recounted factually, succinctly, and with scarce descriptive details given. "Eli" transforms the Biblical account of the life of Christ (taking great liberty when adding details) into a vastly more pleasant style and format to read, by rewriting it in novel form. Although there is an abundance of fictional elements included to establish "Eli" as a story by it's own right, it is, effectively, a wonderfully narrative rendition of Christ's ministry in a richly depicted and well-known setting. Using simple details commonplace in modern fiction, such as facial expressions, emotional responses, and character development, Bill Myers has essentially supplied that desperately needed, very personal element of human kinship and commonality, allowing "Eli" to provide a personally engaging, highly imaginitive, and refreshing to read presentation of a unique twist on what is undeniably the single most significant and powerful string of events in history.

Bill Myers has a talent for writing that I haven't found in anyone else. This story is so very real, and so very deep. This book really brings Jesus home...to what it would be like if He had come to us in our day and time. Would you follow Him? Or would you, as many did, label Him as a cult leader? It is something that you find yourself wondering as you read this wonderfully written story. Bill Myers has successfully integrated the Gospel story of the Bible that many of us know so well into today's world. This could not have been an easy task...but Bill does it! This book just pulls you in and doesn't let go...so many emotions went through me as a read. The joy that is found in Jesus...the confusion, the sometimes difficult struggle that we have trying to follow Him...and finally...the utter realization of the sacrifice that He made for us...His death for our sins. Words cannot do justice to this book...BUY IT...READ IT! It WILL change your outlook...for the better. You will come away refreshed!

Just finished reading Eli and am awed! Eli is one of the best books that I've read in a long time. The mere thought of Jesus walking this earth in our time was so inspiring. Myers is an excellant author who writes a book with such feeling. Gives a new meaning to WWJD. I would recommend this book to all.

This book gives a whole new look at the life of Jesus, not to mention the life of the main character, Conrad. Bill Myers did a great job of describing what Jesus' ministry might have been like if he was around today. At the same time, "Eli" is a great story about one man following Jesus and learning what justice and mercy truly are.

I bought this book with the expectation and hope that it would be a story that imagined what Christ and his life and ministry would have been like had he lived now, but instead it's a story that is basically Christ and his life merely superimposed onto a modern setting. This may be very useful for people who have trouble imagining Christ as a flesh and blood person, but I think for many Christians who are perhaps looking for a deeper understanding of how revolutionary his ministry really was, this might seem a little bit of a cardboard cut out of a story. I don't want to be too harsh. I think I just expected a different approach.