Thursday, June 21, 2012

God on the Streets of Gotham by Paul Asay - Book Review

Several years ago, I read a book by John Eldredge in which he stated (I'm paraphrasing) that the reason we enjoy stories so much is that they are all a reflection of the Big Story (Jesus dying for our sins and God's plan for us).  God on the Streets of Gotham is written in that vein. 

God on the Streets of Gotham takes a look at Batman, focusing on the movies but referencing other media as well.  Asay attempts to draw parallels between Batman and the life of a Christian.  He does not claim that Batman is an analogy for Christ or Christians, merely that there are reflections of the Christian life contained in the Batman mythos.  It is an interesting take on Batman, and on Eldredge's idea about stories.

The book contains ten chapters: Masked, Marked, Nemeses, Submission, Code, Tools, Partners, Struggle, Sacrifice, and Hero.  My favorite chapter was Nemeses.  This focused on the villains Batman faces and described each of them as representing an emotion or characteristics: for example, Catwoman represents amorality and Bane represents addiction.

Overall, this was a decent book.  It did not get bogged down in philosophy or rhetoric.  It was obvious that Asay is a Batman fan and knows much of his story and history.  I enjoyed reading it.  I would really recommend it to Batman fans, as opposed to the general population.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

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