War and Grace – a review
War and Grace: Short Biographies of the World Wars (Click for Amazon link)
2005: EP Books
by Don Stephens
War and Grace is a light devotional book with brief biographies of thirteen individuals who either served as Christians through the World Wars or came to Christ directly or indirectly following the profound influence of the World Wars. Don Stephens wrote the book to tell stories of the triumph of God’s grace. He doesn’t write to stimulate the intellect, but to warm the heart. In this objective, he succeeds.
In a world where fear, war and terrorism are still causing human tragedies, these stories show how the grace of God will always triumph where evil seems to reign. It is my hope that these biographies will be used by God to speak to people of the twenty-first century. (13)
The book sketches the lives of thirteen individuals. Readers might already be familiar with some of them, perhaps most notable the first story, that of Louis Zamperini. Zamperini’s life recently made it to the movies in the 2014 film Unbroken. My understanding of the movie is that Zamperini’s Christian testimony is mostly ignored, relegated to a slideshow of post-war events at the end of the film. I’ve read Zamperini’s autobiography, Devil at my Heels. It’s an inspiring story well worth reading. Having read Zamperini’s own story, the brevity of Stephen’s sketch is apparent. However, other stories are less well known, so the sketches achieve their purpose and whet the appetite for more. Fortunately (or perhaps not, considering my addiction to books), Stephens includes a brief summary of biographies and films on each subject at the end of each chapter.
The stories range from people in the trenches, to civilians, to high ranking officers. Of particular interest are the stories of Jacob DeShazer and Mitsuo Fuchida. DeShazer was one of Doolittle’s Raiders who ended up in Japanese captivity. In prison, he read the Bible, which led to his conversion. Later, he returned to Japan as a missionary, serving the Lord for many years. Fuchida was the pilot who led the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the war, a disillusioned man, he ran across a tract by DeShazer. That chance occurrence began a trail of events bringing Fuchida to Christ. He, too, became a preacher of the gospel, on several occasions preaching in meetings with DeShazer. The story sounds too good to be true, but it is the grace of God.
One last notable story I’ll mention is the unassuming American chaplain who ended up chaplain to the Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg. The story made fascinating reading as this faithful man labored among men guilty of horrific crimes. Some quite clearly rejected the gospel (notably Herman Goering). Others? Well, there are stories of grace here, but I’ll leave it for you to read in the book. This one is the last chapter of the book.
The book isn’t polemical but devotional. We need books like this. They help us keep our eye on the main thing; the ministry God gave us is to lost souls who need our Saviour. I recommend you pick this one up for encouragement wherever you labor for the Lord.
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.