Brett Armstrong. Destitutio Quod Remissio. Westbow, 2015, See here to purchase the book.
Destitutio Quod Remissio is set during the reign of
Diocletian during the third century C.E. Marcus was an imperial
Senator. He was discontent with paganism and was spiritually exploring,
perusing his copies of the letters of Paul. Then, he met Benjamin, an
architect. Benjamin was working for Marcus on a project at Marcus’
home, and Benjamin, a Christian, shared the Gospel with Marcus. Marcus
became a Christian, and that precipitated unfortunate events in Marcus’
life. Marcus’ home is burned, and his wife is killed (or so he
thinks). Marcus proceeds to investigate the plot against him, while
protecting his fellow Christians from Diocletian’s persecution. Marcus
struggles with his desire for revenge.
There are many positives to this book. Brett Armstrong’s opening
narration is beautiful and vivid, as it expresses Marcus’ memories of
his wife and touches on his discontentment with paganism. The spiritual
lessons of the book are worth reading, particularly the lessons about
planting a seed before unbelievers and hoping that God will water that
seed in their hearts, and of refraining from revenge as a testimony
before others of God’s love. The book also did well to include details
about the social and political situation of the Roman empire at the
time: the problems that the Roman empire faced, internally and
externally, and the different classes.
In terms of critiques, the book would have been better had it gone
into more detail on certain topics. The motivation behind the plot
against Marcus was somewhat nebulous. Granted, the motivation was
gaining political power, but how exactly was Marcus’ Christianity
standing in the way of that? Then there is Cassandra’s nature and
motivation: she recoiled from barbaric Roman games, yet she beat her
servant; and why did she participate in the plot? While Armstrong did
well to highlight that the Christians were scapegoats, he could have
gone into more detail about the Roman empire’s problems with Christians,
such as their refusal to honor the Roman gods. There is also Marcus’
spiritual journey: what was Marcus seeking, and what did Benjamin say
that influenced Marcus to become a Christian?
My method in reading this book was to read one page of my mobi book
each day, then to go through the book to see how things fit together. I
apologize for any misunderstandings on my part.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. My review is honest.