The Book of Life takes a fresh look at redemption and uses it as a guide for approaching both personal issues of spirituality and societal issues of politics. By stretching its embrace widely, it enables the reader to learn how individuals can get to heaven and how the people of the United States can solve their country's most persistent problems. By drawing on the imagery of runners in a race, following the example of Paul the apostle, Jim Hester looks at life as a contest between two ways: humanity's way and God's way. The line of thought in The Book of Life explores these two concepts, incorporating the six main sections of the Bible and the six days before Jesus's death and interpreting them in light of six different topics: problems, ideas, goals, attitudes, events and people.