Adam: God's Beloved (Book Review)

Henri. J. M. Nouwen, Adam: God’s Beloved, New York: Orbis Books, 1997, ISBN 1-57075-133-1, pp. 128, $16

This book is the swansong of the great spiritual author, Henri Nouwen. It contains an account of the life of one of his close friends, Adam, an epileptic with limited faculties whom he encountered at the Daybreak centre in Canada. The book was written just weeks before his own demise and is an emotional retelling of Adam’s life which the author found similar to the life of Jesus. The book therefore is composed of nine chapters that reflect the stages of Jesus’ life even though the principal focus is Adam. I have read a few of Nouwen’s books but the style and message of this book differed from the others. Nouwen himself indicates the changes and attribute them to Adam’s influence on his life.

The story is poignant and yet one which has lessons to teach. Nouwen focuses on the values that Adam’s story brings forth and draws parallels with the life of Jesus. The point he emphatically makes and constantly reinforces is that each of us is the beloved of God and when we truly embrace this fact we are filled with joy and peace and are able to share it with others. Adam becomes for Nouwen and for numerous others a guide and teacher even though he could never utter a single word. His presence spoke volumes and Nouwen, encouraged by few others who knew Adam, decides to immortalize the personality of Adam through this book. He doesn’t seek to glorify either himself or Adam but desires only to share the wisdom gained from caring for a handicapped person who became in a way the incarnated body of Christ.


The book is excellent and quite short. It is as much about Adam as it is about the human person in general. Nouwen tells the divine story that is brought to life in a human being and from that point of view, this book is as much spiritual as it is human.

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