The Gospel According to Lost [Paperback]

The Gospel According to Lost
by Chris Seay

The book, The Gospel According to Lost, states, "Lost is NOT just a television show. It has become larger than that-a massive story filled with mystery that has garnered over twenty million participants. Some might call them viewers, but one does not just watch Lost, one participates in it." I agree that Lost is not a television show, it is an experience. Watching the all the seasons back to back is watching storytelling at its finest. With that said, the book, The Gospel According to Lost, comes out flat.

Chris Seay does a great job looking into Lost, and seeing the biblical overlaps. It would have been great to see Seay go more in depth on the topics of faith vs science (John Locke vs Jack Sheppard). With a book like this covering all the characters spreads the book thin. I would like to see at the end of each chapter a episode guide with discussion questions. Or maybe even turn this book into a discussion guide for people who want to be able to discuss spiritual concepts from the show with their friends.

The book, The Gospel According to Lost, falls short of what is intended in the title. Chris Seay puts in a great effort, and he does a great job with some of the characters from the show. If you love Lost and want to more info on the episodes/characters go to Lostpedia.

Ultimately, this book offers just what the back cover copy suggests: examples of Biblical truths using observations taken from the television show LOST. On more than one occasion, Seay takes things a bit far, but he admits on a few occasions "this may seem far-fetched, but..." and I commend him for that.

But I suppose the main fault I see with the book is its simplicity. I'm not entirely sure who the target audience is for this book -- Christians? Seekers? -- because the simplistic presentation of the gospel will likely bore the believer, while being too watered-down for a seeker to truly get the point of Jesus' message.

Seay methodically looks at each main character in the TV show, drawing examples from the episodes and relating their experiences to Scripture. The main point he tends to draw out is that we're all broken people, especially the figures on LOST, but we're not actually lost forever. Jesus' truth can save us, in the same way that the island seems to be the redemptive point for many of the characters on the show.

This isn't a book for someone who's never seen the show. In fact, if you haven't seen the show, I'm not sure why you'd bother with this book at all, since it already assumes a level of familiarity with the characters. I appreciate what Seay is trying to do, but without a clear target, I'm afraid that the reaction he's aiming for falls badly off course... much like Oceanic 815.

At the very least, for a believer, it might provide a good starting point for discussions with friends of all backgrounds - and I suppose that's something.

The Gospel According to Lost
Chris Seay,
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009

Disclaimer: I received this book as a member of Thomas Nelson's Book Review Blogger program: BOOKsneeze

Lost is not just a television show. It has become a cultural icon ' a massive story filled with mystery that has gathered millions of travelers. You don't just watch Lost, you dialogue with the story, seeking theories and comparing yourself to characters. Lost is one of those formula breaking television programmes ' an exploration of life, faith, history, science, philosophy, hope, and the basic questions of what it means to be human.

Chris Seay, lead pastor of Ecclesia Houston and co-founder of the Advent Conspiracy, in his new book, The Gospel According to Lost, explores these themes of mystery, faith and spirituality [Scott Erickson, artist in residence at Ecclesia Houston, painted the 'icons' of characters from the series, for the book.]

This book is not a book of theories and speculation about Lost. (With the final season almost ready to start, that would be a foolish endeavour!) It's a reflection on the religious and philosophical themes that permeate the show. Seay's approach is to write a chapter on most of the main characters, reflecting on what they bring to the questions of faith. One of the downfalls of this approach is that invariably he misses someone's favourite character: Charlie, Claire, Michael and Juliet are missing. The personal trouble I have with this approach is that it looses the sense of unifying whole to the story.

Seay avoids the all-too-common pitfall of forcing Gospel connections onto pop culture, choosing instead to begin appropriately with Lost's storytelling and allowing it to lead into biblical illusions.

On the downside, Seay sometimes takes the easy road when reflecting on the characters ' I think there are some deeper connections that could have been plumbed. But as an introduction to the connections between Lost and the gospel, it is a worthwhile read.

This is not a book designed to answer all your Lost questions, nor does it deal with the multiple philosophical and scientific questions raised, nor is it a season by season look at the show. Rather, it begins with the story and shows the connecting points with the gospel. Seay clearly watches Lost with a 'faith-filter', spotting God-moments along the way. The Gospel According to Lost is a good conversation-starter as the popular television series heads toward its final season.