“Providence” seems to be a recurring theme in The Skin Map. There are several places in the story where you will hear statements like “Providence is on our side” or something very similar. And it is often that events play out in a way that makes it difficult to point to mere coincidence as the culprit. The characters are often found to be in the right place at the right time and this usually leads to a significant movement in the plot-line. So in a way that is true to “Christian fiction” form, The Skin Map does make you think about one of the most significant themes in Christian theology – the tension between human free-will and God’s sovereignty. Of course you aren’t given any answers to this ages old dilemma, but then again, that isn’t the point.
A theme that I have yet to see emerge in The Skin Map is “redemption.” And for me, this is a “must-have” for a work to be regarded as “Christian” fiction. In some way, God’s providence must lead to the redemption/restoration of something and/or someone. For the time being, I’ll give Lawhead the benefit of the doubt and wait to see if this emerges in a more prominent way later in the series. This is after all only the first book and he does create several opportunities for this to be developed later. The Skin Map is so well written and compelling that it will not bother me one little bit to read the next book in the series to find out.
Tomorrow, I’ll try to spend some time talking about my favorite character from the book. And funny thing is, it’s not the main character. Stay tuned…