Seven Men: And the Secret of Their Greatness

Seven Men is basically an introductory biography of, well, seven different men. They are George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II, and Charles W. Colson. Each biography is its own chapter and each biography is short by design. In addition to the pertinent information a biography requires, Metaxes offers the character traits of each man that, in his estimation, led to their greatness in the eyes of the world. Review I am going to say it: Eric Metaxes’ Seven Men is a ‘gateway drug’ to deeper biographical reading. I am going to spill the beans as to the primary character trait that he states is the secret of the greatness of these men. It is humility and selflessness – character traits missing in so many leaders today. While it would be easy to tee-off on a couple of his biographical choices in a work that is explicitly Christian in nature – for example, was Washington really a believer? What in the world is a Catholic Pope doing in a book of Protestant men to emulate? – I will not do so here. For in reviewing a book one must base the review on the intentions of the author and what he seeks to accomplish. With that in mind, Eric Metaxes sets out to study the lives of men in order to “communicate ideas about how to behave and how not to behave.” In so doing, he exceeds all expectations. He is willing to take a look at men who we may disagree with greatly theologically in order to point out that even they have certain character traits worth emulating. Each man sought something greater than notoriety and power and fame. Each man was ultimately driven by a cause rooted in a biblical understanding of equality because of our Creator. Each man gave up a perceived right to be known as great in order to fulfill an even greater call. This is why, Metaxes argues, we still remember Eric Liddell though we cannot recall who won the gold medal in the 100-meter race in the 1924 Paris Olympics. Point made. Whether you are a fan of biographies or history or not a fan at all, you will want to read Seven Men. It is a relatively quick read that will leave you wanting to know more about the seven men that he writes. I recommend this book to every reader regardless of faith.

Wonderful work, great read. Highly recommend it.

Metaxas stunned the Christian world with his authoritative and inspired biography of Bonhoeffer. His award-winning best-seller is a "game changer". 7 MEN is a great read about seven amazing Christian men. All of them persevered under pressure, all of their lives were marked with favor and grace from God, all of them serve as powerful examples for today. Having been in prison ministry for many years, I knew of Charles Colson's conversion and work with Prison Fellowship. But I didn't know how completely the Lord had changed his life. Bonhoeffer and Wilberforce and Washington were already personal favorites of mine, but I didn't know the "back stories" of the other characters. Metaxas combines historical facts with unknown aspects of their faith to weave interesting tales throughout. 7 men is a testimony to God's faithfulness, His amazing grace and His ability to use everything for our good. Wonderful examples, these.

Seven Men is the third books I have read by Eric Metaxas. I liked Metaxas Bonhoeffer biography (although even I as a non-Bonhoeffer scholar caught several mistakes.) But I really was not a fan of his William Wilberforce biography. Mostly that was because it felt more like hagiography. But after reading Seven Men I realize that the Wilberforce book was his first biography. Bonhoeffer was significantly better than Wilberforce. And Seven Men I think corrected several of the problems of the Bonhoeffer biography. The men included in this book are George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II and Charles Colson (presented in historical order). I am pleased that Metaxas included John Paul II. Too many Evangelicals want to ignore Catholics. I definitely view that as a point in Metaxas’ favor. I did get off on the wrong foot with this book, however. Metaxas starts off by saying that heroes and role models do not exist in our modern world. I think that is clearly wrong on its face. There are lots of people that get looked up to as role models. And the word hero, if anything, is overused. Metaxas problem is that the people he thinks should be looked as a role models and heroes are not the ones that are being chosen as heroes and role models. That might be a problem, but it is not the problem he identifies and is trying to solve according to his introduction. He also turns this into a men’s issue, which just irritates me. While I disagree with his premise, if I were going to agree with it, I don’t see why it is men in particular that need more heroes and historic role models pointed out. In case you haven’t noticed, history is a little male heavy already. The problems were not completely over once I got through the introduction. The first biography was of George Washington, and for the most part it was good. But again, like most evangelicals he wants to highlight Washington’s evangelical faith. And he does it without much real evidence and more as a throwaway page to justify his inclusion in a book where everyone else has a clear Christian faith and overt Christian practice. I will say that other than the religious faith section, the rest of Washington’s biography was pretty good. On the whole I thought each of the biographies were fairly well balanced, although again, Colson verges on Hagiography, I assume because Metaxas used to work for him. All of these men were incredible men. All of them deserve any recognition that they get. However, I do not think that Metaxas really accomplished his subtitle. These are several short biographies of men that did some great and unusual things. But the subtitle insinuates that there is going to be some type of commentary or wrap up or something to talk about why they were great. Instead it is really just the biographies. If I had not read Metaxas previous books, I might not have had as many prejudices going into the book. Many people that I respect, like Metaxas as a person. I don’t know him, but his politics and presentation bug me. And the introduction really illustrated that well. I was quite bugged and I highlighted a number of sections that I disagreed with or where I thought he was making unsupported claims. But the main section of the book I (somewhat reluctantly) enjoyed. I still think that Washington was a bad choice to include. Or if he did include him, Metaxas should have handled the Christianity differently. But the other six were good. I think I enjoyed the Jackie Robinson bio the most. I am not a sports fan and really didn’t know anything about him. But reading that chapter made me want to go watch the movie 42. I picked Seven Men up when it was on sale for kindle. I did not invest a lot into it (and it was a quick read.) In the end I am glad I read it and I would recommend it if you like biographies and have not read more extensive biographies of the highlighted men.

Much needed in this culture that antagonises God. It's such a powerful " gospel alive". That Christianity is not a theoretical old tales but the power of God in action of people life.

Good reading

I bought this book for my 18 year old son. It was sitting on our coffee table when my dad came to visit and he took it home. My dad enjoyed reading about each of the men and it provided good conversation during our phone calls. I ordered another book for my son and he is pouring through it. He finds the writing engaging and interesting and he is learning something too.

Diese Biographien sind absolut zu lesen. Klar, offen und ehrlich, Eric Metaxas gibt man neue Ideen über Charakter, Gesellschaft und Werte! Super!

I really enjoyed this book. It is not my usual type of book but I could hardly put it down. You will be encouraged & inspired by reading it. The chapters are not I depth but there is plenty to dip into and to encourage you to read more and find out more about some of these Godly men.