Seven Men

April 8, 2013
Metaxas’s (Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy) newest biographical effort deftly details in brief the lives of “seven of the greatest men who ever lived”— George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II, Chuck Colson— with the hope that they may serve as role models for adolescents and fathers confronting what he calls “a crisis of manhood.” The men are as diverse as they are fascinating, with his list ranging from Christian leaders to sports stars. Metaxas highlights three things in each life: the critical issues and events each man confronted; the inner strength they possessed to face adversity; and the contours of a Christian faith that framed their work. While Metaxas is forced by the need for brevity to gloss over certain biographical details and skirts thorny issues with sometimes glib commentary, the reader will learn something, as Metaxas reveals surprising or little-known facts about each man. Although Metaxas, an evangelical Christian, might have included interfaith examples, readers of different religions can appreciate these men and seek to emulate their more laudable qualities.

April 1, 2013
Metaxas presents profiles of seven men he considers manly exemplars. The great slide into unmanliness, writes Metaxas (Bonhoeffer, 2010, etc.), began with the Vietnam War and the presidency of Richard Nixon, a time of ignorance, venality and shame, when many called nearly all authority into question. When the young turned to role models, they were more likely Cheech and Chong than Westmoreland and McNamara. But do we really have to settle for the macho meatheads or the "emasculated...pretend[ing] that there is no real difference between men and women," asks the author? Certainly not, he writes, for "God's idea of manhood is something else entirely"--no "loudmouthed bullies or soft, emasculated pseudo-men," but strong, loving, chivalrous, service-oriented men who use authority for leadership, not personal advancement. Jesus lords over this book--"My own personal greatest role model is Jesus"--but Metaxas has chosen another seven men who surrendered themselves to a high purpose and sacrificed to do the right thing. There is a goodly measure of zeal in Metaxas' style, and Jesus shares the credit with the acts of the seven men: George Washington, who could have been king but declined, and William Wilberforce, for his abolitionist stance and fights against child labor, alcoholism and animal cruelty in the 19th century. The author also includes Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II and, less convincingly, Charles Colson, perhaps only due to the fact that he was such an unsavory character before he found his calling in prison. Metaxas gives the men their rightful due without lapsing into hagiography.

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