Review
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Title: By Man Least Understood
Author: Derek G. Rowley
Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc.
Genre: Non-fiction
Year Published: 2007
Number of Pages: 129
Binding: Trade paperback
ISBN: 978-1-55517-940-3
Price: $12.99
Reviewed by Jeffrey Needle
Long ago, in my largely-wasted youth, I decided to attend a school that was as different from what I had been accustomed to as you might imagine. I had just had my conversion experience to Christianity, baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist church, and anxious to learn as much as I could about the faith. Adventists run a small network of “self-supporting institutions" — schools, farms, etc., run entirely on Adventist principles but not financially supported by the denomination. I met a man who had attended a school called Wildwood Medical Missionary Institute, in Wildwood, Georgia. I decided — this is it! This is what I want to do.
I packed my bags and headed to this very, very small southern town. Coming from New York City, it was quite a change! And it took me a while to become accustomed to the quiet. All in all, it was a wonderful experience.
My mother, worried about the kind of cult I had become involved in, decided to stop by. The nearest airport was Chattanooga, about 15 miles over the Georgia/Tennessee border. My friend and classmate Dennis volunteered to drive me to the airport to pick her up. Now, I’m not saying Dennis was a bad driver, but he acted as something of a magnet when it came to doing things wrong. As we drove through the streets, I mentioned to him that, yes, I didn’t know how to drive, but why did the street signs all have their backs to us? Yikes! We were going the wrong way down a one way street. Dennis quickly turned off the street, smiling to make sure I was still calm. I said to him, “You know, the signs *still* have their backs to us!”
Yes, Dennis had turned off one street, only to turn on to another one way street, and proceed the wrong way! Only the grace of God got us to the airport and back. Of course, I had a lot of fun with this story when we all got back to school.
Dennis had repented — he realized he was headed in the wrong direction. But his repentance didn’t guarantee he’d be going in the right direction! You can change your course, and still be headed the wrong way. This was a real lesson for me in my young Christian experience. I still tell this story from time to time when talking about repentance.
The theme of Derek Rowley’s book is, indeed, repentance, with a focus on how repentance constitutes the heart of, and proper response to, the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ. Placing the whole into the larger context of the Restoration of the Gospel, Rowley explores his topic from many points of view, giving flesh to a subject mostly spoken of only superficially.
Indeed, as Rowley develops his theme, the idea of repentance comes alive as a central part of the Christian’s life, necessary for exaltation and for living a celestial life here on earth. Drawing heavily from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, the author builds a framework for understanding how repentance forms a foundation for our growing into the likeness of God.
His eighth chapter is a challenging look at the role of agency in our lives, a consideration of how agency costs not only us, but also the Father, in His design of a plan that allows even the pre-mortal angels to choose evil over good. In his role in ward and stake leadership, Rowley has had opportunities to grow in his own understanding of the atonement and of the place of repentance in this all-giving act of our Heavenly Father.
Through these experiences, and through his own study and struggles, Rowley has penned a simple, but often profound, study of the importance of repentance. Never judgmental, but always caring, the author has given the LDS community a nice treatise on this important subject. I’m certain many will enjoy and benefit from reading this book.
Unlike my friend Dennis, the author knows that it is important not just to turn away from sin, but to turn toward God and amend our lives to be in harmony with His plan. He has given us so much to assist us along the way. We need only reach out and accept this guidance.
I’m certain many will enjoy and benefit from reading this book. But more than reading, it will require the disciple to follow the counsels of the scriptures to point the way.
Jeff Needle
Association for Mormon Letters
jeff.needle@gmail.comwww.aml-online.orgwww.LDSBookLovers.com/Needle.html
