Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Recommended. Age: 14+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Judah Ben-Hur is a Jewish prince in the time of Jesus. A friend betrays him and he is made a slave on a Roman ship. He wins his freedom and wants revenge. Then he meets Jesus and learns to forgive. This is a long, grand novel about a man who gives up revenge at the foot of the Cross. Christ is shown with reverence and speaks only words from Scripture. Pope Leo XIII blessed the book. The reservation is length and age. It is slow in places, the pagan world is shown as it was, and Plugged In sets it for adults. We give it to teens.
For parents
Read aloud from about twelve, in parts. Independent reading from fourteen or fifteen. It is very long and the style is old and slow, so this is a book for a strong reader. Plugged In sets it at 18 and up, and it notes two mild swear words and mentions of orgies at a pagan temple, with no detail. Expect a violent chariot race, slavery in the galleys and the suffering of two women with leprosy. Ask: why does Judah want revenge, and is his anger just? What changes him at the Cross? How is forgiving different from pretending no wrong was done? Point out that Jesus speaks only words from the Gospels. Tell your teen that Wallace was a Protestant writer, that his picture of how Jesus looked is his own, and that the Gospels and the Church are our sure guides. Read the Passion in one of the Gospels alongside the last part. The pagan temple, the oaths by Roman gods and the fortune telling belong to the world Christ came to save, and the book does not make them attractive.