On Obsession

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.

These words, penned by Herman Melville, are quite a mouthful. Melville himself wrote a mighty book and did so by following his own advice. He chose a mighty theme. Yes, it's true he did write Moby Dick and that is certainly his strongest literary legacy. But just because the book is infamous for a dangerous white whale and an even more dangerous cast of characters, particularly Captain Ahab, that does not make these the theme of the novel. No, those are the characters. Mighty as well, nevertheless the theme is what makes the novel so powerful. Admittedly I loathe the novel and all of Melville's works. I find them terribly dull and drawn out yet that does not deny the mightiness of his writing. Every literary critic will determine the main thrust of the varied themes presented in the novel yet none will, I believe, deny that one of the themes is obsession. In my own non-professional criticism of the piece I would say that this is the main thrust of all the themes presented therein. Obsession reigns in the novel and influences every facet of the story. The zealously religious obsession is contrasted by a secularized sanity.

The Word of God is a mighty book because it too has a mighty theme. In this book the theme is also, in a way, obsession. According to Piper, in The Dangerous Duty of Delight, the obsession is for God's own glory. "God's chief end is to glorify God. This is written all over the Bible. It is the aim of all God does." Some would contend that God's aim in saving us is for love of us, not for love of self. Read more Bible and read more Piper (in that order) and you'll see that even in His (God's) love of us it is really a righteous self-love. Difficult to understand but true nonetheless. Love is another major theme in the Scriptures, yet even in His love (as in His glory) there is a lot of obsessiveness. It's pretty awesome.