7 Men and the Secret
of Their Greatness is a 2013 book by Eric Metaxas. Here, Metaxas presents
mini-biographies of George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II, and Charles Colson.
Metaxas states in his introduction that he wants to answer
the questions of what a man is and what makes a man great. The titular secret
is that these men lived by faith, that they were surrendered to a higher
purpose. Beyond the introduction, though, Metaxas never really bothers to tie
things together, and as such, 7 Men is
too underdeveloped in this area to serve as a thematic study.
Metaxas’s biographies are, by necessity, oversimplified
snapshots (each is about twenty-five pages). As such, Metaxas gets to pick and
choose what he includes, and he does a fair amount of handholding to make the
points he wants to make to the reader, who may well feel written down to at
times.
Metaxas’s accounts are heavy with editorial – and not without
inconsistency. Jackie Robinson, for example, is lauded for turning the other
cheek and blessing those who cursed (John Paul II is also praised here for his
peacemongering ways); his chapter immediately follows the one on Bonhoeffer,
who Metaxas praises for many things, one of which, specifically, is his
attempts to murder Hitler (in fairness, this aspect of Bonhoeffer is an issue
that many people either struggle with or punt entirely). Regardless of one’s
position on Bonhoeffer’s actions, though, given Metaxas’s theme, it’s a jarring incongruity
unaddressed.
Historical buffs will be dismayed to note that Metaxas
primarily uses secondary sources and, in several cases, Wikipedia (the
Washington-was-a-deist crowd will really have a field day). In the end, 7 Men may have the most merit as an
introduction to these men, and in that respect, it is worthwhile, but from
whatever angle you come at it, 7 Men
virtually demands further reading from other sources.
In short, while these seven lives are extremely impressive,
Metaxas’s accounts are somewhat less so.
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
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Disclosure of Material
Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com
book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.
The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance
with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part
255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and
Testimonials in Advertising.”
