Eric Liddell: Something Greater than Gold: Christian Heroes: Then & Now

Eric Liddell: Something Greater than Gold: Christian Heroes: Then & Now by Janet Benge and Geoff Benge

Eric Liddell was one of the main characters in Chariots of Fire. He was born in China to Christian missionaries. He became a fast runner. He had a somewhat awkward style, but would will himself to run. However, he would not compete on Sunday. When an olympic race was on Sunday, he would not compete. He competed instead on a different race that he ended up winning. He was hugely famous, but decided to drop it to go teach at a missionary school in China. When he got there, he heard there may not be school because the students were on strike. (Sino-British relations were not super great.) There were some students and he was able to teach. It was interesting that this school specifically targeted the wealthy. They wanted too build the relationship with the future rulers.

As the situation deteriorated in the build up to World War 2, he worked at a hospital. They were treat everyone, even the enemy Japanese. Eventually the British were sent to an internment camp by the Japanese. Eric was a hard working and leader in the camp, but got sick and died. This part was interesting to read about. We do hear about the Japanese internment camps in the US, but I did not realize that this was something that all sides did.

Liddell's story is an uplifting story of Christian faith. The work focuses on his good points, with little mention of his flaws. It does try to present a somewhat balanced story of the missionary experience in China. The Europeans missionaries did see themselves as "better" than the Chinese, yet they were also driven by a strong to desire to help improve their condition and share the faith.