American Savior: A Novel of Divine Politics

I waited for months to obtain this book from my library. When I finally received it, it didn't disappoint.The story revolves around Jesus Christ's second return to Earth, in which he decides to run for President of the United States. He chooses a variety of “suspect” individuals for his crew of campaigners/assistants: a TV reporter, his girlfriend, parents, and brother (who has Down Syndrome) a low-income boyfriend/girlfriend pair, and various others.What I really liked about this book was the powerful message that Merullo communicates through his depiction of Jesus: what would it look like if the inhabitants of arguably the most affluent nation in the world addressed the root causes of their disagreements, rather than their symptoms? An especially powerful example concerns abortion - when questioned by reporters about his stance on this issue, Jesus states that some people feel like begins at conception, and others that life begins at birth - rather than nitpick over which is “right,” could proponents of both sides sit down and discuss a resolution (not necessarily regarding abortion, but addressing the division that issue has caused the inhabitants of the USA).The depiction of some of Jesus' ideas will no doubt grind against some of traditional Christian belief (in much the same way [b:The Shack 1812457 The Shack William P. Young http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1188677589s/1812457.jpg 2666268] did. However, the historical perspective that Jesus exists to break apart preconceived notions on life exist easily here.While very well written, the one difficulty with the book is the ending. Sufficed to say, it leaves one with a feeling of, “After all that story, that's it?” It's unfortunate that such a well written book ends so abruptly; a more devised ending would have wrapped up an otherwise tremendous story.