Interesting but has troublesome spiritual content.
Plot
Two teams of American explorers search the mountains of Ararat for the long lost ark of Noah. They face incredible odds and barely escape with their lives, but they return again to the search with their faith in God strengthened and their desire to find this convincing evidence of God's judgment renewed.
Morality
Good. The characters mostly do right.
Spiritual Content
The main characters are Christians, and so God and the Bible are frequently mentioned. They pray when in need. Other characters are Muslims, who use the names God and Allah interchangeably, apparently seeing no difference between their Allah and the Christian's God. There is little indication in the book that the Muslim faith and references to God are not based on knowledge of the true God, though a Muslim child does convert to Christianity. Evil spirits are said to dwell in the "Gorge of Hell" which (according to a Kurdish Muhtar) was made by Satan searching for Noah's descendants. It is hinted that a man who helps them is supernatural.
Violence
The group is threatened by two Turks with ice axes and machine guns who tear up the groups equipment and point guns at them in fury. Chuck secretly prepares to shoot both of them in one shot should the need arise, but it doesn't. A lamb is slain to cure John's illness and this is later compared to Jesus's sacrifice for us. A gang of terrorists try to find the group to wipe them out, but the military kills them. Three of the men climb across a sheer ice wall--a nine thousand foot drop--using only five inch toe holds. The group gets caught in a rock avalanche which, while bruising and bloodying them, does no permanent damage. They are caught in a lightning storm which strikes them several times, temporarily paralyzing two of the men while knocking the other witless, and leaving them all in great pain.
Drug and Alcohol Content
None.
Sexual Content
None.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
A main character gets infected by pinworms which make him violently ill, including feeling nauseous and having diarrhea. He eats half-cooked lamb liver to be cured.
Conclusion
The lack of clarity about Islam and the poor theology in general bothered me. I found the book somewhat confusing to understand because I didn't realize until near the end that there were two groups and I couldn't figure out which things happened to which groups. However, the characters have strong relationships with God and much of what they say has biblical foundation. I also appreciated the snippets of archeology and geology in the book which were shown to support the Genesis record of Noah's flood. I think it would probably be good as a read aloud family book, which would allow for explanations of the unclear points.
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