About the Book: Fifty Shades of White
One Man's Quest for Righteousness. Born into a strict religious movement, Maxwell White believed he was already living a fully righteous life. When cracks appear in his world, he begins a lifelong quest to discover what true righteousness really means.
This is a short overview drawn from the book itself, not a substitute for it. Buy: Amazon US · Amazon AU · Amazon UK
Why this book?
Yes, the title is a deliberate play on a very different book. As Bob explains in the introduction, the only real similarity is the title. While researching another book, he became convinced there is often a substantial gap between God's standard of righteousness and that of many Christians, and even whole churches. From God's level to the bottom rung of the ladder there are "at least fifty different shades of white".
The book asks: What exactly is righteousness? What is God's standard? Are there really degrees of righteousness? Why is there so much confusion, and what is the eternal effect of a varying standard? Its starting point is Revelation 19:7-8, where the Lamb's wife is arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, "for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints."
Why a story?
Rather than write a dry theology of righteousness, Bob created Maxwell White and followed his life. Maxwell is fictional but loosely based on someone Bob knows well. The story begins in 1958 on a New Zealand dairy farm, where eight-year-old Maxwell's family belongs to "The Assembly", a closed international movement. It follows him out of the Assembly, through work overseas, marriage to Hazel, family life and church leadership, into old age. The final chapters move into events Bob believes the Bible describes prophetically. Each chapter opens with a light-hearted quote from a church sign.
In the Author's Note, Bob writes that the book is "a work of fiction but the events detailed either actually happened or are about to happen". His aim is to show how even a simple life, with all its ups and downs, can come to the righteousness God accepts, and that this is possible only through surrender to Jesus Christ.
Contents
- Introduction: Why Fifty Shades of White?
- The Foundation
- The Law
- The Veil Is Lifted
- The White Standard
- New Beginnings
- Obedience
- Trees of Righteousness
- Bearing Fruit
- Man's Culture
- Church Culture
- Sanctification
- The Lamb's Wife
- The Time of the End
- The Harpazo of the Saints
- Author's Note
Who it's for
Readers who enjoy story but want real biblical substance, book clubs and small groups exploring holiness without hypocrisy, and anyone who has grown up in, or left, a rigid religious culture. Bob's request: "Don't take my word for it. Please personally check out all the Bible references given."