Hope Road

Passion and Purity by Elisabeth Elliot *****

Passion and Purity is by far the most helpful book I have ever read on “learning to bring your love life under Christ’s control” (its subtitle). Elisabeth Elliot honestly and touchingly pens her love story with Jim Elliot (who was later martyred while ministering to the Waorani Indians in Ecuador). They spent five years knowing they were in love, yet not knowing whether it was God’s will for them to remain single permanently. Their struggles and forbearance during that time form the backdrop for the truths Elliot shares throughout the book.

Most of all, this book is about God. The horizontal principles it instills are secondary. The “passion” is human, but most of all it is passion for God, a burning passion that filled the lives of both of these two young people. Their desires to follow and please Him were stronger than love, and stronger than death.

But this commitment to Christ flowed into their relationship with each other, governing their passion and giving them the grace and strength to maintain purity. Elisabeth Elliot does not hesitate to give simple, straightforward advice about the way relationships should look, of what women should expect from men, and of what men should expect from women - advice that would doubtless be offensive to many. Yet it is so true and valuable, so clear and full of light.

She writes, “I do not want to be guilty of Pharisaism… It is the heart’s direction that is always the central issue… It was the principle of love that constrained Jim and me to tread so lightly, to hold each other at arm’s length, knowing we belonged first to Christ, wanting Him to have our hearts’ affections before all others” (132).

Recommended age level: 15+.