Review: Man Overboard!

The author views the Old Testament Book of Jonah ‘not as a book about a great fish’ (seriously, does anybody?), but about God and one man in particular. He sees it as a piece of biography. That poses a stumbling block for this reviewer, who reads Jonah as humorous fiction. Ferguson finally uses the word parable, but not until the final page (page 98 – it’s only a little book!). “You are Jonah; I am Jonah. We recognise ourselves in the story of this man’s life.” So it’s more than history.

I must surmount the stumbling block. The book contains many helpful reflections for our walk with the Lord. Jonah carries a message for the church as well as the individual, in our evangelistic task. Our prejudices need to be exposed, as Jonah’s were. ‘Do we care more about our own comforts than about the evangelism of the world?’ Good question!

This book won’t serve you as a commentary on Jonah. But it will give you food for thought.

This article was first published on GoodBookReviews.org.uk. The site has been closed as of March 2019.