From Eternity to Here [Paperback]

Have you ever read one of those books that articulated everything you already knew into far better words than you could articulate them? Have you devoured a book because it gave reason and explanation for truths that you merely feel? Have you ever known that this book you are giving your time and thought to, is to become a field guide for the journey you are already on? Have you ever finished a book with the words, "I need to buy a copy of that for everyone I know?"

I have had that happen twice in my life. The first time was several years ago when I read Tom Davis' "Fields of the Fatherless". Then the second was last night as I finished Frank Viola's "From Eternity to Here." This book rocked my world not because it introduced a new idea, but because it quilted together the very truth of God, and his passionate needs, desire, and longing for community with his creation.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section lays out the Biblical narrative in such a way that it emphasizes the church as the bride as an eternal passion of God from before the beginning of time. Perfectly connecting the heroes of the Old Testament, with the wonder and mystery of John's gospel and apocalypse, Viola illustrates that the church as the bride is not a metaphor to help us better understand the authority structure of the Christian home, but instead it is the deep mystery of God hidden in Christ before the foundation of the world.

In the second section, Viola repeats his wonderful ability to beautifully connect the Biblical narrative together to elevate in our minds the importance of God's search for a dwelling place. From the foreign land where he sent Abraham, to the tabernacle of Moses and the tabernacle of David, to Solomon's Temple, through the incarnate life of life Jesus, and ultimately into his church which is the House of God, the Lord's resting place.

Finally in his third section, Viola switches from story teller to scholar to reveal the depth of meaning in the gospels and in the Pauline writings about the church as the body of Christ. This section does not read with the majestic eloquence of the first two, and yet it's content resonates deeper, and more meaningfully than any other in the book. Once again Viola slaughters theologians desire to reduce the the realities of God's Kingdom into a metaphor, this time it is the body of Christ. Viola notes with meticulous detail how the church is the REAL physical incarnation of Christ on earth now. He reinforces our dependence on Christ and gives us truth to use as a weapon against Satan's attack on our worth and righteousness. As Christ is the head and mind of the church, we are it's body, and we are therefore in a mutual need of eachother for the life giving dependence of a physical body. He ties all the thoughts together, to note how if we are the "seed of heaven" then as a new species on earth we live not intertwined into the affairs of the old species, but as colonist of the new Kingdom which is fulfilled at the reconciliation of all things.

This book is Viola's magnus opus! I have read his other three books, and they are each great teaching. However, this work is not a book to be studied, it is a very window into the passionate erotic love of God for his creation, and for his desperate need to extend the community of the triune God among them. I say without reservation, this book will change the way you see God. It will set you free from the limited metaphor of systematic theologies. It will release you from the minimized boxed God of a religionist allegorical reinterpretation of the narrative of God. It will welcome you as participants into God's eternal purpose.

Erasmus famously quipped, "when I have a little extra money I buy books, if there is any left over I buy food." Reading this book is more important than any meal you will eat this week. If you must go hungry, and get a hold of the book. "From Eternity to Here" will feed you from a source that this world knows nothing about.

This book delivered above all that I expected. After all, the title is pretty bold (I think). Just think about it...From Eternity to Here? What does that mean?

I've been a Christian for most of my life and this book is so affirming in many ways. Frank's explanations of The Bride of Christ, The House of God, and finally, the Body of Christ and the Family of God brought so many things together for me in terms of our identity as people. This book had so many OMG moments for me. I devoured the book in one weekend but I will definitely reread it with highlighter in hand. This book is more than a 'good read'. It was an absolute God Encounter. Thanks Mr. Viola for writing it.

After having read its cover description along with numerous other reader reviews online, I was as excited about beginning this read as any book I have picked up in a long time. I am fascinated by the exploration of the central metanarratives that encompass God's purpose in creation - and their implications for our local bodies of believers and for ourselves. This is precisely what this book set out to accomplish, so I was all ears (or, in this case, all eyes.)

Having now read the book in its entirety, I will describe my overall response as a bit disappointed. There is certainly much to like. Viola was true to his intention and purpose to describe God's ageless purpose in terms of three themes that stretch throughout the whole of Scripture. There were definite moments where I was underlining and nodding my head and eagerly turning the pages. But there were also moments of significant disconnect; moments where I found myself wanting to go along with him but struggling to buy into what (at times) felt like a forcing of the biblical text to fit the image he was developing.

In this critique I should make it clear that I share Viola's guiding principle of a Christocentric view of both the Old and New Testaments. I agree with him that the books of the Old Testament - regardless of their genre - ultimately point to Jesus Christ, and are only fully understood in that context. I am also not opposed to the careful use of typology and believe that a thorough examination of the Old Testament could (and should) reveal some wonderful connections to Christ that most of us have never considered before. Further, I found much of Viola's interpretation to be reasonable and even compelling based on the textual references. However, certain moments in the book reminded me of someone I once heard who listed all of the eerily similar connections between the Lincoln and Kennedy assassinations (Lincoln and Kennedy both contain seven letters... both married in their thirties to women in their twenties... Lincoln was shot in Ford Theater, Kennedy was shot in a Lincoln vehicle made by Ford, etc. etc. At some point, the sheer volume of the seemingly small coincidences are enough to make you start thinking, "Maybe there really is something to this.")

I acknowledge that this is an exaggerated comparison, and I again want to state that as a whole, I appreciate and agree with many of Viola's conclusions at the big picture level. I should also add that I likely might not have struggled in this way but for the unhesitating and confident style with which the author makes his assertions. In other words, even the smallest, most tenuous interpretations are stated as fact, rather than as possible interpretations of the text looking backward through the lens of a specific narrative point-of-view.

Despite my struggle with parts of Viola's hermeneutic, there was much I appreciated about this book. I'm fairly convinced that the three major images and themes he presents are - at their core - helpful and theologically-sound descriptions of God's grand purpose in creation. I am excited about his passion to make Christ central in our theology and practice, and his descriptions of our relationship to the rule of God toward the end of the book were some of the clearest I've read.

I can understand the many glowing reviews this book has received. However, I have been surprised how little discussion I've seen so far about Viola's handling of the biblical text. I believe he could have handled some of his interpretations a bit more cautiously and would have been more effective at making his points.