Book Review and Giveaway: The Last Christian by David Gregory

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In David Gregory's The Last Christian, Abigail Caldwell is the daughter of Christian American missionaries in Papua, New Guinea.  After spending all of her 34 years in the jungle, she travels to America and modern civilization for the first time.  She discovers a world that is not only in huge contrast to her life in New Guinea, but also to life in our present-day America.  The year is 2088 and technology has exploded, inundating every aspect of culture.  Virtual Reality (VR) has become a prime residence for many American minds.  Post modernism has run roughshod over religion, making it “hate speech” to share the Christian Gospel to others.  However, this is not a problem in general, as the country has become predominantly atheist.

Within this culture are those who desire to take VR to the next level: transplanting human brains in order to give people silicon ones that would enable their consciousnesses to live seemingly  forever.  As physical bodies wear out, minds are incredibly “uploaded” into VR to then be downloaded into new bodies.  Abby comes to this transhuman reality with a special mission that will not only affect the lives of those around her, but also the lives of the entire culture.

I was attracted to The Last Christian not only for its science fiction theme, but also because of the technological and worldview issues surrounding the story.  David Gregory’s America seems so far removed from our current way of life, but it's easy to see how we could easily venture down the same road.  The Christian worldview is becoming an object of disdain for many, and technology is advancing at an incredible rate. 

The Last Christian was a fun and entertaining read.  It’s a science fiction thriller with Christian apologetics mixed in.  Although it was certainly a page-turner, it also caused me to really think about some serious issues in our culture today.  This novel would be great for those studying apologetics or for those simply considering the Christian faith.  Parents should also know that while no explicit details are given, there are occasional mentions of Virtual Reality sexual issues.

As a blogger, DVD reviewer and iPod user, I’m not one to overly malign technology.  But as with most things in life, it’s very easy for good things to be warped and used in detrimental ways.  The Last Christian illustrates how things could go horribly wrong if we aren’t careful with the choices we’re making in technological advances.  David Gregory also shares the real (and not Virtual) life we can have with Christ living within us.  Through Him will we find not only eternal life, but a fulfilling reality as well.

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Sound interesting?  If you'd like to read Chapter 1 of The Last Christian, click here.

View the book trailer:

**GIVEAWAY CONTEST**

If you'd like to win my copy of The Last Christian, here are the contest rules:

• Leave a comment below; this counts as your entry.
• Entries accepted until 11:59pm on Saturday, June 12th
• Open to U.S. addresses only.
• Make sure at least one posted comment includes your email address. If you'd rather not have your email posted here, you may contact me directly to give me that information after you've entered here.
• I will compile the entries and the winners will be chosen by Random.org, so even one entry can make you a winner!
• Should you win, I will contact you on Sunday the 13th for your mailing information.  Please take measures to ensure that my email will make it past your spam filters, lest you miss my message! (CalicoCritic@gmail.com) You'll have 72 hours to respond before I pick another winner.
• More information on the giveaway policies can be found on the Contact / Policies page.

Bonus Entries

Please make note of all your bonus entries in your comment(s).  You may post separate comments or a single large comment.  Here are your bonus entry options:

• Follow The Calico Critic by clicking on the Google "Follow" button on my sidebar (old or new followers both get the bonus entry, just please let me know that you're following).

• Follow me (@LHartness) on Twitter and tell me your @UserName.

• Tweet about this book's giveaway on Twitter.com; be sure to use an URL linking back to this blog posting in your tweet. You may do this as frequently as every 8 hours between now and June 12th at 11:59pm EST.  For each tweet, please come back and post the direct URL link to that specific tweet, not just your @Username.

That's it!  Thanks for stopping by, and good luck to all the entrants!

This title was provided to me by Random House/WaterBrook Multnomah.  No obligation other than an honest review was required.