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Twelve Unlikely Heroes




When I was given John MacArthur’s newest book Twelve Unlikely Heroes to read for a review, I was excited because of how much I enjoyed his earlier books Twelve Ordinary Men and Twelve Extraordinary Women. I am also glad to say that I was not disappointed with this newest addition.

While there are twelve heroes written about, there are only ten chapters because MacArthur twice groups people together. The heroes that he covers are Enoch, Joseph, Miriam, Samson and Gideon, Jonathan, Jonah, Esther, John the Baptist, James (the brother of Jesus), and Mark and Onesimus.

As he did in the other two books, Pastor MacArthur thoroughly investigates the lives of each person, using every biblical reference to them to build his biography. But he goes even further, turning to outside historians and the writings of church fathers to fill in other details about culture and some of the events not recorded in Scripture. Pulling from Josephus, Origen, Eusebius, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and others, MacArthur gives the reader a closer look into the lives of these heroes.

This book should inspire Christians by reminding that God can use anybody to accomplish great things for the ministry. It also serves as a great resource by teaching on the lives of these twelve unlikely heroes.  


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