How do you go about explaining a new theological insight in a compelling way? David Murrow chose to answer that question by writing a DaVinci Code-style thriller story in which the insight is gradually unmasked in his book The Map: The Way of All Great Men. His insight arises from the way the thrust of Jesus’s teachings and his attitude towards others seem to progress as you read through the gospel of Matthew.
According to Murrow, the path followed by Jesus is the same path that all men are called to follow, and it consists of three journeys: the journey of submission, the journey of strength, and the journey of sacrifice. These correspond roughly with the teachings and actions of Jesus in Matthew chapters 1 to 7, Matthew chapters 8 to 25, and Matthew chapters 26 to 28. Murrow contends that these three journeys constitute a map which can be very helpful to men in understanding how best to follow Jesus.
The “thriller” part of the book is not the world’s greatest adventure literature, but then neither was The Da Vinci Code. It provides a creative and captivating way of introducing the author’s theme, if you are willing to suspend disbelief to a sufficient extent. I am not completely convinced that the new “map” is going to revolutionise the church, but I found the book’s new insights into the structure of the gospel of Matthew to be helpful. Overall, I enjoyed reading the book and had finished it less than 24 hours after it arrived.
Disclosure: I obtained the book for free from BookSneeze.