Encore: Eric Metaxas

The name of Eric Metaxas needs no further introduction, and Calvin College was privileged to have him as one of the speakers for the well knows January Series. After writing the biography of Bonhoeffer, this year Metaxas comes back again, a new title that reminds us of his passion for biographies, Seven Men and the Secret of their Greatness, published by Thomas Nelson.

The biographies of the seven men remind us of political figures such as George Washington, William Wilberforce, or Chuck Colson: How did George Washington resist the temptation to become the first king of America? Why did William Wilberforce give up the chance to be prime minister of England? Or, Why would Chuck Colson volunteer to go to prison when he didn’t have to?

Christian leaders such as the Olympic gold medalist Eric Liddell, Christian thinker Dietrich Bonhoeffer who sacrificed his freedom to defy the Nazis, John Paul II who forgave the man who tried to murder him,  or Jackie Robinson who surrendered his right to fight back against racists.

The back cover tells it all: these seven men evince one particular quality: that of surrendering themselves to a higher purpose, of giving something away that they might have kept.

In a culture that is often self-centered, let’s take an in depth look at this new biographic collection by Eric Metaxas.