by Andy Roland | Jan 28, 2024 | Bible, Jesus, Pentecost
WHY WAS JOHN THE BAPTIST? INTRODUCTION John the Baptist (or rather Yohanan as in his home language of Aramaic), is a familiar figure in Christian churches. He is particularly revered for pointing to Jesus (or Yeshua in his home language). No one asks why...
by Andy Roland | Apr 5, 2023 | Bible, Holy Week, Jesus
A BIG QUESTION To people in the ancient world, Jesus died simply because he was a troublemaker and a bad Jew (a glutton and a drunkard – Luke 7.34). For Jews his death was a stumbling block to any attempt to take him seriously; to Gentiles his death was...
by Andy Roland | Jan 20, 2023 | Easter, Jesus, Post-modern times, Religion
THE PSYCHIC REALM From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us. (Traditional Scottish prayer) As we think about death and what if anything might come after we need neither blind belief nor blind...
by Andy Roland | Apr 19, 2022 | Bible, Easter, Jesus
THE SOURCES The story of Easter is well-known: the empty tomb, Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene in the garden, and later to his disciples. There are five sources for the story, the four gospels and Paul’ s letter to Christians in Corinth. The...
by Andy Roland | Mar 17, 2022 | Bible, Jesus, Post-modern times
THE GOOD MAN JESUS AND THE SCOUNDREL CHRIST In 2010 Philip Pullman published his novel about Jesus. The original back cover had the sublimely simple message “This is a story.” The novel is a strange mixture of complete imagination and biblical accuracy. ...
by Andy Roland | Feb 21, 2022 | Bible, Holy Week, Jesus
INTRODUCTION On September 24th 2020 I started writing my historical novel ‘Jesus the Troublemaker’ and published it a year ago. It did not make my fortune! However, I learnt more about Jesus during Holy Week through writing a fictional account than I had...
