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A review by sarahetc
The Veritas Conflict by Shaunti Feldhahn
5.0
Ephesians 6:12 - For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The Veritas Conflict is a novel about Claire Rivers, a Harvard freshman. But moreso, it is a dramatic revelation of spiritual warfare as a real and present thing. Claire the student is a devout, evangelic Christian, and Feldhahn details the the difficultly of her transition to an environment and community that is actively hostile to her beliefs. Concurrently, she uses Claire as the fulcrum of a story about territorial and generational warfare over the fate of Harvard and its body. The story starts as a gentle, didactic bildungsroman but works its way into a Christian thriller. Claire's story starts with the discomfort of being reviled and hated for her views. As the plot progresses, she becomes part of an investigation that begins as a survey of ideological diversity and ends with a pitched battle for both territory and the human spirit.
Feldhahns story is biblically accurate. She goes so far as to provide notes to scripture, plus two bibliographies and an apologia for the limitations of human imagination. The seminar scenes are largely didactic, but having been there and done that, they're not inaccurate, in tone or content. At any rate, they're vastly less cringe inducing than some similar scenes I've read. The spiritual warfare she writes about spans the gamut, from simple worship to corporate intercessory prayer, to a limited look at deliverance from almost complete demonic possession. The writing is detailed and exciting without being lurid.
Feldhahn writes a lot of characters, several of whom seem to exist simply to be mouthpieces. Yet they're well drawn enough that you get a sense of the intersecting friendship groups one could make in a first semester at college. The pacing is a little uneven at times, with the advertised thriller portion taking quite a while to get going. And having said that, I'm still giving it five stars. It's not an amazing, mind-bogglingly good novel. But it is wonderful in its own way. After it finally gets going, it's very compelling. And most of all, it's heartening. It's so nice to read a book and never have to ignore anything because of a check in the spirit. I'll start now on hoping for a sequel.
The Veritas Conflict is a novel about Claire Rivers, a Harvard freshman. But moreso, it is a dramatic revelation of spiritual warfare as a real and present thing. Claire the student is a devout, evangelic Christian, and Feldhahn details the the difficultly of her transition to an environment and community that is actively hostile to her beliefs. Concurrently, she uses Claire as the fulcrum of a story about territorial and generational warfare over the fate of Harvard and its body. The story starts as a gentle, didactic bildungsroman but works its way into a Christian thriller. Claire's story starts with the discomfort of being reviled and hated for her views. As the plot progresses, she becomes part of an investigation that begins as a survey of ideological diversity and ends with a pitched battle for both territory and the human spirit.
Feldhahns story is biblically accurate. She goes so far as to provide notes to scripture, plus two bibliographies and an apologia for the limitations of human imagination. The seminar scenes are largely didactic, but having been there and done that, they're not inaccurate, in tone or content. At any rate, they're vastly less cringe inducing than some similar scenes I've read. The spiritual warfare she writes about spans the gamut, from simple worship to corporate intercessory prayer, to a limited look at deliverance from almost complete demonic possession. The writing is detailed and exciting without being lurid.
Feldhahn writes a lot of characters, several of whom seem to exist simply to be mouthpieces. Yet they're well drawn enough that you get a sense of the intersecting friendship groups one could make in a first semester at college. The pacing is a little uneven at times, with the advertised thriller portion taking quite a while to get going. And having said that, I'm still giving it five stars. It's not an amazing, mind-bogglingly good novel. But it is wonderful in its own way. After it finally gets going, it's very compelling. And most of all, it's heartening. It's so nice to read a book and never have to ignore anything because of a check in the spirit. I'll start now on hoping for a sequel.