de Paul

Very interesting approach to the story of Jesus in the first chapter, given from the point of view of the Jewish rulers. I found this quite a helpful perspective. The sidebars on the River Jordan and what happened to Pontius Pilate are fascinating. A

Very interesting approach to the story of Jesus in the first chapter, given from the point of view of the Jewish rulers. I found this quite a helpful perspective. The sidebars on the River Jordan and what happened to Pontius Pilate are fascinating. Another one tackles the issue of who is to blame (the Jews or the Romans), and I was quite surprised to discover that Plato essentially predicted Jesus' death hundreds of years before He was born. (I've found this book to be filled with such interesting tidbits of info.) The final first-chapter segment, which went into quite a lot of detail on how crucifixions were carried out in ancient times, was definitely uncomfortable to read but demonstrated very effectively how and why it would deliberately delay death for as long as agonizingly possible. (In spite of instinctively wincing several times while reading this part, I believe learning more on such a brutal form of punishment was ultimately good for me. I have a far better understanding of just how much suffering Jesus experienced on my behalf.)

Chapter Two provides a pretty good recap to the events surrounding Pentecost, focusing on the apostle Peter in particular. One small sidebar deals with why Peter became the leader of this rag-tag, semi-literate band of brothers setting out to change the world (which they did!) The chapter then delves into Stephen, an amazing devotee whose actions (a.k.a. miracles and healings) land him also in court to then become Christianity's first martyr (after Jesus, of course). An end segment to the chapter then lends credence to the stories from India about Thomas by describing the possible route he would have taken via a Roman port on India's west coast. (I had no idea Rome had reached that far!) The comparisons of doubting Thomas to the C.S. Lewis character Puddleglum from his Narnia series were not expected but quite enjoyable. Overall, pretty fascinating stuff!

The story of Peter continues in Chapter Three by first dwelling on Saul's ferocious persecution of fledgling Christian congregations: both what he did and why he did it. I learned quite a lot about the Jewish 'diaspora.' (I had no idea that the Romans had 'licensed' Judaism and how it had spread so much outside of Israel!) The book explains why these vast religious communities would be predisposed to so fully embrace Christianity. During this explanation I discovered the Septuagint and its fascinating creation. One sidebar helps to explain how anti-Semitism far predates Christianity and another the extent of enmity between Jews and Samaritans. The chapter spends much time on the work of Philip and the critical significance of dinner between Roman centurion Cornelius and Peter, his subsequent imprisonment and amazing escape from 16 of King Herod Agrippa's guardsmen! All told, another pretty incredible chapter.

The amazing transformation of terrible Saul from the previous chapter into history's most impactful Christian begins with Chapter Four. First, we are presented with a credible (but fictitious) account of what went down that fateful day on the road to Damascus (the text later admits to this and gives reasons for the speculation). Several pages are then dedicated to background us on the man who would play such a pivotal role in bringing salvation to the Gentiles (a.k.a. 99% of the world at that time). As we learn about his early years following conversion (including his adventures and escape from the King of Nabatea) a sidebar helps paint a picture of all the hazards facing land travelers in his day (wild dogs, bears and bandits to name just a few) and a little on the amazing Roman road system that still exists two thousand years later. The chapter then embarks with Paul and his new travel companions from Jerusalem, Barnabas and John Mark, from Antioch to the Island of Cyprus where they evangelize Paul's most prestigious convert yet: Roman Governor Sergius Paulus. From there Paul and Barnabas head for modern-day Turkey and the semi-savage lands of Galatia where they found at least four new Christian congregations. The chapter ends with Paul's return to Antioch to discover a schism in the works over whether or not non-Jewish Christians should be circumcised. (The final sidebar of the chapter goes into much more detail of why circumcision is so important to Jewish and some other Asian and African cultures.) I often wish I had been alive at the time of Christ to see Him for myself, but when comparing my comfortable life now to the hardships back then I am not so sure...

The fifth chapter of this book covers much of Paul's evangelism in cities leading to and surrounding the Aegean Sea (Ephesus, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and Corinth to name just a few). We experience not only his better-known successes but also the struggles (any one of which would most certainly have demoralized me) and missions that he himself considered failures (e.g. Athens). In the process we get to know the character of several new travel companions, including Luke and Timothy (of Gospel and Epistle fame respectively) in addition to key personalities within each of the major cities who would go on to play major roles in their development of their respective Christian congregations. The chapter is long (almost double all the others in the book), but there is a quite a lot to detail (Paul was definitely not one to dilly-dally). Many, if not all of the Pauline letters from the New Testament are referenced within this chapter in a manner that fills out the context and environment for why Paul felt called upon to write them. Many fascinating sidebars throughout the chapter also serve to give a feel for what life was like then, including two non-Pauline missives (James and Hebrews), what the amazing architecture that still survives at the site of the great city of Ephesus (home to one of antiquity's seven great wonders of the world) reveals of Roman life, how people actually managed without city street maps back then, and finally two that detail the pivotal Christian traditions of singing hymns during worship and honoring the Lord's Supper. Overall, what I enjoyed most about this chapter is how it takes the scripture passages I have come to know so well in church, stitches them together and paints in so much color, context and emotion that I am able to imagine actually walking right alongside Paul during these crucial days of the early Christian church and to better understand the enormous challenges that both he and his followers were up against.

Chapter Six charts the beginning of the end for Paul. The Agabus incident sets in motion his last period of continuous confinement and the inevitable voyage to Rome itself for final judgement here on earth. Jerusalem greets Paul's return with two deeply divided sentiments: one a hero, the another a vile 'defiler' of the most holy place, the Temple itself. As I am reading this I see many similarities with our Lord's tragic arrival at the very same city. The description of Paul's attempts to first placate then evangelize his adversaries are written as if a typical news reporter were covering a spirited protest today. I felt I was there. The first sidebar for this chapter backgrounds us on the physician-turned-historian Luke, followed by another on the perils of sea travel in Paul's day. The latter is most fitting as we travel with our beloved missionary on his own harrowing sea journey (and ship wreck) via present-day Turkey, Crete, Malta, Sicily, and Rome. The last two sidebars cover Paul's pastoral epistles and a photo spread of the many cities and churches, both large and small, that exist today throughout the world and honor his name. I must confess to a sense of incompleteness not knowing Paul's final fate at Rome. This further argues, in my view, for the authenticity of the New Testament, since no sensible novelist would dare leave his readers hanging so. (With God's grace I may someday get to ask him about such things one-on-one.)

I find the seventh takes on a very different style of writing than all the chapters thus far. Until now I felt as if I was reading a story, often imagining being right there as these famous personalities persevere for our faith. But not so with this chapter, which is tasked with covering the three Synoptic Gospels (so named for the similarity of stories within). The back of the book credits this chapter to a different writer and it shows. There is much jumping back and forth as it tries to detail how each gospel differed slightly for a given parable or event. Unlike the earlier chapters, which described events in a manner which evokes my imagination, the writing here is prone to brief synopses of well-known events followed by some sort of assertion telling me how to feel. I get a distinct feeling I'm reading a book report. This is disappointing, since I suspect there is as much a story in the creation of these Gospels as there is with John and Luke's description of the Acts of the Apostles. For a slow reader like me reading this chapter was a definite challenge. All that said, the strength of prior writing gives me hope, so I soldier on to Chapter Eight...