Eric Metaxas

[Stephen L Smith]

What do you think of Metaxas' writings - particularly his historical accuracy and theological acrumin? I know his book on Bonhoeffer was controversal.

I was particularly interested in his book "Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery" and wondered if it was a good book.

Thanks.

 

[Jake]

I'm reading his Luther book now (about 2/3 through with my wife). I read Amazing Grace a while back, but I don't remember it will well enough to comment on it. I would say he interacts a lot of with the primary sources and endeavors to dispel common myths. He sometimes goes into speculation territory and I disagree with a bit, but it's usually obvious when he does. I have noticed a few small errors here and there, which is disconcerting, but not enough to detract from the story. He's a great story teller.

Also, interesting sidenote... I was listening to his radio show a few years back and he mentioned he was a part of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in NYC. He doesn't seem particularly Reformed, so this surprised me.

 

[A.Joseph]

The only book I read from him - Miracles - was a trainwreck but I don’t believe it’s indicative of his full body of work. Seems like a cool guy though.

What do you think of Metaxas' writings - particularly his historical accuracy and theological acrumin? I know his book on Bonhoeffer was controversal.

I was particularly interested in his book "Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery" and wondered if it was a good book.

Thanks.

 

[smalltown_puritan]

I read his book on Bonhoeffer a few years ago. I greatly enjoyed it (because, in agreement with the previous remark, he is an excellent story teller). However, he really took the teeth, as it were, off of Bonhoeffer's theology and politics. Metaxas is relatively a conservative in most arenas, and he made Bonhoeffer reflect more of the author's own religious and political conservatism than Bonhoeffer's own theological Neo-orthodoxy and political liberalism. To be fair, though, Bonhoeffer is a difficult character to navigate.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

Thank you for the informative comments. For the record, one reason why I was a little concerned about Metaxas was that he seems to downplay the serious doctrinal problems in Bonhoeffer's writings. For an excellent summary of this concern see https://reformedforum.org/will-real-bonhoeffer-please-stand-part-1/ (5 parts in total)

As a matter of interest Australian statesman, and former deputy Prime Minister of that country John Anderson, recently hosted Metaxas on his show to discuss current events. He comments are quite informative but one gets the impression that Eric Metaxas has a weak view of the doctrine of total depravity.