Lessons on Life and Christianity Through a Horror Novel by Frank Peretti

Oath -- Frank E. Peretti Many mysterious deaths in and around an old mining town (Hyde River) create a fascinating, twisted and frightening plot -- along with an oath taken by the townspeople to keep things a secret -- that leads to dark drama in Frank E. Peretti's novel The Oath.

It would be short-sighted to simply refer to this book's plot as a thriller, because it is certainly that, but the plot can be seen as a Christian allegory and author Peretti's introduction -- "Sin is the monster we love to deny" -- gives it away.

At the outset of the story, some of the remains of nature photographer Cliff Benson's body (without the head and torso) are found in the wooded area near Hyde River; so Benson's brother Steve comes into the picture to try and figure out how Cliff died. Among the horrific things that happen to residents are a black ooze and a dragon that can vanish into thin air but in reality it kills people.

All readers will be entertained by this book, but alert readers will be able to sift through the outrageously impossible events and bloodshed and learn that: a) sin is always going to be a powerful force; and it cannot be easily killed or removed from any situation; and b) ordinary humans can turn into evil or fail to properly deal with evil when their fears overwhelm their sense of reason.

Body Paragraph 2 Steve Benson managed to slay the bear that he believed had mauled his brother, and while the reader knows it's too early in the book (Chapter Two) to have killed the beast -- or to have removed the sinful monster from the plot -- there is sin occurring within the search for a way to kill sin. The Chapter opens the door to a sinful relationship between Steve Benson and a married woman named Tracy, who is a local deputy.

As they make their way through the mountains towards Hyde River they witness those " .. stubborn souls who stayed .. " in the "crackerbox towns built on hope": the towns were, like the evil dragon, " .. hidden away like woebegone weeds." he buildings in Hyde River had no windows but there were " .. a few jagged shards" left. Actually, the truth of what is killing people is not the bear and is not to be found in the black ooze -- although the black ooze appears on Steve and Tracy's chests after they sinned.

Clearly the dragon is the source of sin that needs to be extinguished, so the Grizzly Bear is nothing but a scapegoat, symbolic of the flimsy excuses people readily use to hide the fact that they are sinners.

Body Paragraph 3 How in the world could anyone -- even the believable protagonist, Steve Benson -- be expected put a stop to all this sin by killing the giant dragon with only a shotgun? In Chapter 15 sin doesn't go down that easily; Steve is trapped in a cave with the dragon ready to crush him, or eat him.

"He was eye-to-eye with a most hideous death, an unimaginable horror." And yet Peretti allows Steve to live through this carnage and just when Harold Bly -- an ordinary person who has become evil due to the madness around him and his inability to deal with it (who can no longer tell right from wrong) -- is about to kill Steve, the dragon, seemingly aware that Bly himself is evil, " .. skewered Bly from behind ..

[with] three silver spikes," and a "splattering of blood" is emitted from Bly's chest as his death becomes reality. The three silver spikes through Bly's body could be symbolic of the spikes that were driven into Christ's hands when he was nailed to the cross. But in any event, this a sinner (Bly) about to become a murderer was killed by the dragon; and while protagonist Steve's intention of killing the dragon with a shotgun failed, the dragon ended up saving Steve.

Conclusion In Chapter 20 once again Steve Benson is face-to-face with.