Gospel Behind Bars
By Phil Shirley
Hodder & Stoughton. 113 pages. £5.99
ISBN 0 340 67128 9
This short book purports to tell 'true life stories of crime and repentance'.
30 accounts are very briefly related, with the crimes ranging from murder and rape to terrorism and robbery, and the repentance testified by prisoners on Death Row in the USA, 'lifers' in the UK, and a Mafia supergrass in Italy. All the accounts are from the recent past and describe individual conversions rather than widespread revival (as has been witnessed in some South American prisons) - despite the book's sub-title being 'True Stories of Prison Revival'.
It is always heart-warming to hear of the remarkable work of God in the lives of people who seem so far from him, and this book will encourage you to be confident in 'amazing grace'.
Yet I have some reservations. Some of the crimes are described in frank, even shocking detail, and I thought this unnecessary. Some readers may find some language offensive, and the racy style tends towards sensationalism. The conversion stories are largely of the 'extraordinary' kind and may not be a fair reflection of the good things happening in prisons in more 'ordinary' ways. More detail on the struggles and challenges Christian prisoners face as they seek to grow in God's love and witness to him 'Behind Bars' would have made the book more helpful.
