PUBLICATION DATE: MAY 2010

y 2088, America was a very different country.  With rapid technological advances and remarkable scientific discoveries, people had slowly begun to forget their roots and the once Christian America ceased to exists.  While most countries progressed similarly, there were some which had isolated areas and were ‘undeveloped’.  American Abigail Caldwell grew up in one of these protected environments—the jungles of Papua New Guinea.  For thirty-four years she had never left the jungle until a mysterious disease swept through her village.  In an attempt to help them, she left her people and soon found herself in a modern world that she didn’t understand.

The fatal new illness was only the first of many mysteries for Abby.  A sixteen year old message from her grandparents spoke of her being called by God to reintroduce America to the Christian faith.  Feeling this was her calling she returned to America to discover a country where God was a myth.  Furthermore, the latest medical advancements promised eternal life but at a steep spiritual cost.  In a futurist setting, The Last Christian explores some difficult issues while gently reminding the reader, that our most precious relationship is the one we are privileged to share with God.

I read the prologue of this book, set it down and walked away for awhile.  It wasn’t bad.  I just realized I was diving into a pretty deep book.  From the beginning I could tell this story was designed to immerse the reader into a future we might not like rather than awe them with imagination.  So after taking a break and adjusting my expectations, I forged ahead and was rewarded with a well researched, though quite heavy, entertaining story.

This book is heavy.  It’s not for those looking for a light, happy story.  There is a healthy amount of imagination and development of a futuristic America, but ultimately this book is focused on the nation’s spiritual state.  As expected, Gregory presents impressive technology along with items that on the surface seem helpful, but ultimately have serious ethical and moral consequences.  We’re also granted some nice ideas as to how society could develop and how current technology could be further advanced.  Additionally, good perspectives on evangelism and the need to adjust our presentation based on the audience are included.  However, the gem in this book is the presentation of the elimination of Christianity.  Sadly what is portrayed does not require imagination and is quite on target with trends we are currently seeing.

While there is a lot of good reading, it’s a bit overwhelming.  Not only was there a large amount of detail in the technology, but also a great deal of spiritual and evangelism teaching.  There were parts of the story that suffered because of an overload of information.  It was good in that it added to the realism, but at times my brain hurt.  I appreciate the amount of time that was spent planning, developing, and researching this story though.  The results were worth the effort and it did make the story stronger even if it did require a bit more mental power to process.

The Last Christian is a good book, but be prepared for it to be heavy, deep, and require some time to digest.  I enjoyed it, but I was glad I took the time to adjust my expectations.  It kept me from being totally depressed and overwhelmed.  For those that like good speculative fiction that leaves the reader with something to contemplate, this is a definite.