When Fiction Becomes the Religious Academic

Digging deep and coming up empty
I’m struggling with the inspiration that spurs one to blog. What do I have to say today that makes your time reading it well spent? Don’t know if I have that today. One thing I will do is extend a recommendation that was given to me. Long ago Ann Aherns gave me The Book Thief to read. I have now finished it and give it very high praise indeed. It is beautifully written in terms of the language, narration, and meaningfulness of the subject matter. I adore this book. Ann loaned me hers to read, but I just got paid today and my number one goal is to go buy that book!

In light of my lack of writing inspiration
I have decided to include an excerpt of a short historical fiction I wrote on Paul. It should be noted that while I have removed all the footnotes for this, it was originally written as a substitute for an academic paper and so it can be dry at times. Anyway, I think it’s interesting to wonder about who Paul, the man who is responsible for such a large portion of the New Testament, really was. More than that, I was struck by the truth that a "historical fiction" genre fits the reflection better than an academic paper. The point is, we don't know who Paul was other than the clues he gives us. Within these clues are countless seeming contradictions. How does one make sense of a Pharisee born in Tarsus as a Roman citizen? How could you account for his unmarried state (very, VERY strange for a Pharisee) at the time of his writing? What did the other disciples really think of him? He would have been studying under Gamaliel in Jerusalem at the same time as Jesus--did he ever meet him or hear about him? Were members of Stephen's family ever present in an assembly when one of Paul's letters were read? These questions and more can largely (and unwittingly) govern your presuppositions and reading of scripture. It's such a fascinating enterprise to weave the story behind the text we so love. I encourage everyone to give it a go.

Start with Acts and work from there.
I placed my story in Acts 20:13 because I wanted to know why Paul separated himself from the others to go by foot (ship travel was much more common and likely). What was going on for him in this little sojourn? I hope you enjoy this short excerpt (this is the beginning of a much longer piece) from my attempts to answer this.

Paul: The Christian Reflects on Pre-Christian Behaviors
Paul awoke in a sweat. The fact that it was a recurring nightmare did nothing to lessen the intensity of the dream’s terror or the strength of his remorse upon awakening. Sleep, while necessary and precious, gave way to a night of fitful prayer. “Lord, please help me. Even now my body bears the marks of those I inflicted on others, and it was all for your name’s sake. Yet, I am not sure if I can make this journey.” Could he, like those he had mercilessly persecuted and occasionally caused to blaspheme, face death in Jerusalem? How would those who would kill him be any different from himself when he had officiated at the deaths of other righteous men of God? “Oh, Lord! I am not worthy of the blood I zealously spilt. What must you have thought as I prayed so piously while punishing those who knew you best? Those were the very ones seeking to spread your message in the holy city and I was the one who drove them out.”
It was this latter fact that haunted Paul. His mission amongst the Gentiles was very successful except that it was continually threatened by Judaizers and the Jerusalem Council had done nothing to mediate the gap. He had been frustrated. He had been angry and he had been saddened; however, it was this more recent development of guilt that was really starting to eat away at him. “Who can better understand why the Jews seek to bind and persecute me? Who is to blame for the weakened stance of the Jerusalem council? The very ones who would have stood by me in this hour regarding the Law and its purpose are the ones I sought out and destroyed. The reason no one supports me in Jerusalem is the result of my own doing.”
The thought that he alone was left to effect change in Jerusalem had begun to occur to him about two and a half years ago when he left Prisca and Aquila to go in and minister to the Jews in a synagogue at Ephesus. As anointed and valued as Prisca and Aquila were to him—indeed he thanked God regularly for blessing him with their friendship—he knew they were unable to effectively reach the Jewish population. They had been so grateful when Apollos had come on the scene. Thinking of Apollos recalled the many wonders and miracles accomplished in the past two years. There was no question that the Ephesian church was thriving. And yet, something had to be done about the dichotomy so many churches were now experiencing between Jewish and Gentile Christians. He could not even think of Galatia without feeling sick to his stomach and his last trip to Corinth had been a complete disaster. On top of this, he had now lost the most important fight of his life with Jerusalem and Antioch. They seemed too cowardly to support the true teaching of Christ.
And here, here was the substance of his nightmares. Who could he really blame for their cowardice but himself? He had set the tone for how Christianity was to be received in Jerusalem. “I was responsible for decimating the Christian witness in Jerusalem. It was I and I alone who persisted. Even Gamaliel offered a balanced point of view, but I chose to completely polarize the situation. How many of those who now come to stone and bind me are unwittingly operating from the teaching I gave them?”
It was not for the first time that Paul thought back to the actions of his past. He recognized that all the knowledge he would have needed to realize what he now knew was then at his disposal, but it had not mattered. Now, as the times before, he found himself starting to think back to his formative years. The difference was that this time he was willing to let the memories return. All of them. He knew he had to do it. It was for this reason that he had separated himself from his traveling companions at Troas. If he were going to go through with this return to Jerusalem and all that it entailed, there were some issues from his past that he needed to face.