OAKLAND TWP — There is nothing fictional about this father/daughter relationship or their book about the Civil War.

As the nation marks 150th anniversary of the Civil War, John Eyth, 50, and his daughter Rebecca Eyth, 19, created a work that explores a unique aspect of the conflict. Their book, “The Civil War — A Biblical Perspective,” was released this month.

“Most authors fail to relate the reason why the war was fought and God's purposes during this time,” said John Eyth.

In 2010, the Eyth family created a multimedia presentation. Their goal was to incorporate the biblical world view of the Civil War and share it with other home-schooled families and churches.

Eyth and his wife, Antionette, along with their daughters, Rebecca and Hannah, are featured in the live presentation dressed in period costume discussing different aspects of the war using pictures, maps, graphs and illustrations.

Someone who had seen the family's multimedia presentation, also called “The Civil War — A Biblical Perspective,” said the information would be a good foundation for a book. The idea took root, and the pair decided to undertake the project.

While the actual writing took three months, their research spanned nearly six years.

“During my high school speech competitions, I researched and presented several speeches on different aspects of the Civil War,” said Rebecca. “We also did extensive research for the three-hour Civil War multimedia presentation, including researching dozens of Civil War photographs.”

“The book includes 108 photographs and illustrations,” said John.

Their mutual interest in all things Civil War was an asset. The Eyth family has visited 88 Civil War-related sites, including 32 battlefields.

“Rebecca and I both enjoy the Civil War and collaborated together on the multimedia presentation. I have studied the Bible and Civil War history for more than 30 years, and Rebecca has studied the Bible for more than 12 years and Civil War history for nine-plus years,” said John about their combined knowledge leading into the project.

“We are both organized, detail-oriented and goal- driven, so this made a great opportunity for collaboration,” he added.

Since they both had similar views of the Bible and the Civil War, they could easily understand the points the other was trying to make in his writing.

“We would edit each other's work and discuss the best way to relate the information in an easy-to-understand manner,” said John.

Deciding on who would write about which aspect was decided by what Rebecca had already mastered in researching papers and speeches.

“Rebecca had previously researched and written about several topics included in several different chapters, so she continued to research and write about those topics. I researched and wrote about the remaining topics that comprised the book,” the elder Eyth explained.

“I enjoyed working with my dad on this project. He was my speech coach in high school, so I was already used to working with him,” said Rebecca. “It was fun to write a book on the Civil War after studying it for so many years and going to so many battlefields and museums together.”

Not many fathers can collaborate with their teenage daughters, but for John, the process was an easy one.

“Rebecca is a joy to work together with on projects. She is very logical and has a strong Biblical world view. She can process historical evidence through the light of Scripture to arrive at valid conclusions pertaining to causes and effects of historical events,” he said.

There were a few minor disagreements.

“The Civil War has so many different facets and involves so much detailed information; it is easy to get bogged down in the details. We tried to give a broad overview of the Civil War from a Biblical world view,” said John, who noted their differences were resolved agreeably.

“In this book, we outline the cause of the war from source documents of the men who lived during this time and made the decisions which led to the conflict,” said Rebecca. “The unique aspect of this book is utilizing the truth of God's word to shed light on the reason why the war was fought and God's purpose for America by allowing the war.”

Major battles and personalities, the life of the soldier, and many other aspects of the Civil War are addressed.

The authors hope to get their book into the hands of high school students.

“Many history books misrepresent or completely leave out historical facts to slant the true history of the Civil War. As America remembers the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, we want people to see the hand of God as He worked His purposes in America during the greatest fiery trial in United States history,” said John.

John Eyth is a financial executive with experience with both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. He has studied the Bible and Civil War history for more than 30 years.Rebecca Eyth is a college student pursuing a double major in history and English. While in high school, she was a nationally ranked, award-winning public speaker. She has studied the Bible for more than 12 years and Civil War history for nine-plus years.