Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant Wright

Bryant Wright provides a pastoral overview of the conflict in the Middle East with Seeds of Turmoil.

This book is broken into two parts: The Founders of the Conflict and Conflicting Perspectives.

In part one, Wright reviews the characters (Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and their children) who are deemed responsible for the mess in the Middle East. He explains how Sarah's impatience with God brought about the birth of Ishmael. This birth would result in the Arab people who will always be in conflict with the children of Isaac.

As you read the first part, you can imagine how these chapters might have been part of a sermon series. There is a lot of overlap and repetition between the chapters.

The ideas and descriptions are very down to earth and easy to understand. Wright even provides maps to enhance his explanations.

In part two, he gives us the perspective from Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The three perspectives aren't exactly given in an open, unbiased way. Wright is clearly a Christian and while he attempts to shine light on the thinking of other religions, he does leave a layer of bias against Islam.

Seeds of Turmoil: The Biblical Roots of the Inevitable Crisis in the Middle East is a nice introduction for anyone who desires a basic understanding of the Middle East conflict.


This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing.