Songs of the Deliverer II: Faith Wins by Elvo Fortunato Bucci

Songs of the Deliverer II: Faith Wins is the sequel to Elvo Fortunato Bucci’s Songs of the Deliverer: A Modern Day Story of Christ, a retelling of Christ’s story for young adult readers, or anyone who wants to read and learn about Jesus’s story in a more modern format. In Faith Wins, Bucci tells the story of the apostles after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection – how they maintained faith without their leader, and spread the gospel.

What makes the Songs of the Deliverer series particularly unique is not just the use of modern language, but a modern setting as well. The story is set in the present – replete with cars, airplanes, and modern dialogue – which in effect brings the story closer to home. It’s a somewhat jarring juxtaposition, but also effective. Reading about men in the desert can be distancing, as they inhabit a very different time and place – albeit with universal concerns. Here we get to see how the apostles might spread the new faith in a modern world that is perhaps darker and more cynical than in biblical times.

If anything, Bucci doesn’t take this juxtaposition far enough, with only sporadic references to modern life, while a fully modern retelling would be more compelling to those less familiar with the story, as well as the religious. As it stands, Faith Wins is a creative take on the apostles, which will reinforce faith for believers and introduce new readers to the origins of Christianity.

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