Author's own review of Eetoo

About ten years ago, I decided that my writing style and subject matter was too off beat for the mainline Christian audience. Either it was too heavy on the demands of discipleship, or it made Christianity look too Jewish, or it found other ways to bypass the more popular trappings of Christendom. I started to write for the general secular audience -- bigger market share, anyway.

However, if you read any of my novels cover to cover, you will recognise kingdom principals woven throughout -- no, not a "sinner's prayer" tagged at the end, but themes that should help people understand the Kingdom of God without feeling like they're being preached to.

And, yes, some of it will preach to Christians as well. Pepe is a parable of the Kingdom that shows why the Church has operated with more power at some times than at others. The Story of Saint Catrick is about ethnic reconciliation, and The Zondon has the same sort of mix you'll find in C. S. Lewis' Paralandra series. So does Eetoo.

Actually, with Eetoo, I've come full circle. Before you reach the end, you'll realise that it is a blatantly Christian novel. I just hope that atheists and new-agers won't feel betrayed by the sudden appearance of Jesus in the last section.

But it's the "Jesus of History", which again, might be too Jewish for some, the man they called "Yeshua". But I believe I've effectively portrayed the "Jesus of History" as the one that fits with the scripture accounts, and as the One to have faith in.

So, where does it suddenly turn blatantly Christian?

Part three, in a sequence of events that might recall Ben Hur, the characters in the story arrive in Jerusalem in time to occupy a front row seat for passion week. Woven in with their other adventures, are some of the key events of Yeshua's last week, climaxing with His trial, His execution and then, His resurrected presence. In those key events are the answers that the main character, Eetoo, has come looking for. The climax of Yesuha's life thus becomes the climax of the narrative of Eetoo.

But unlike Ben Hur, Eetoo comes from outer space. No, he's not Dr. Who, nor someone who fell of the Enterprise or Voyager (Star Trek). He doesn't barge into first century society with brash 21^st century ideas, leaving half baked quasi-enlightenment in his wake. And it's definitely not Alternative History. Eetoo, himself, is from a primitive tribe, and it's already taken him a while to become accustom to cosmopolitan interstellar society with a human presence that dates back to pre-Egyptian times. He's the right person to intrude.

And he does have questions to be answered. The universe is populated by various intelligent species. Some of them, including an old wizened Utz named Neuryzh, are benevolent towards humanity. They understand that humans, though in many ways inferior to the other species, have a unique quality about them that was designed by the Creator, which, if humans would only realise their potential, would make them superior to all other species.

Others, notably the Groki, have had a bad experience with humanity in the past, particularly during the height of Nephteshi empire. The Nephteshis were as imperialistic and exploitative as any human empire ever was, but that's in the distant past by the time our narrative begins. However, it left proof of one thing: humanity is bad.

One Groki, an acquaintance of Eetoo named Blazz, makes a pointed remark:

'Good fine humans. Yes, I know. I've seen some seemingly peace-loving human communities in my time. The problem is, they invariably give birth to a generation of bad ones. A happy stable community now; in one short celestial age what have you? The happier they are, the more spoiled their brats, who will grow into the monsters of tomorrow. '

Of course, Grokis and other intelligent species live long enough to be able to make such observations. Also, their brain capacity is many times more than that of a human, so Blazz also makes the following comment:

'...But you know, it's a fact: Wherever humans have gone, rats, cockroaches and other vermin have always followed. Those three species seem to be adaptable to every sort of climate and condition... Moreover, it's a known fact that cockroaches are as much lower in intelligence than rats as rats are to humans and humans are to Groki and Sozks.'

But Eetoo also has supporters:

Fra speaks up: 'And so, Mr. Blazz, where exactly do you draw the line between what's an intelligent creature, and what's vermin -- if in fact there is to be a line drawn?'

'I should think that would be obvious!'

'Perhaps, to someone as much more intelligent than the Groki as the Groki is to the human, the answer might not be so obvious, Mr. Blazz.'

'Thus spoken by the administrator of the planet! Mr. Fra, I've heard of some of your problems resulting from the human infestation...'

Humans, rats, cockroaches... Eetoo is reminded of the comparison over and over as he encounters the degradation and squalor of various human communities he comes across in his travels, usually due to actions of other humans. The most striking example is Jerusalem and its environs, the city to which Eetoo has gone to seek answers, only to find more questions.

The following excerpt says it best:

One of the religious looking blokes glares at him and spits as he passes. The man just smirks back.

'Probably a tax collector,' says Alexander.

The man and his bodyguards turn into one of the nicer houses.

'Everyone hates them,' says Alexander. 'They work for the Romans, and get filthy rich off it. You'll never see them without their personal bodyguards, or if you do, you'll find them dead next time you turn around.'

'For good reason too!' says a man walking near us. 'You see all the beggars? You know why the countryside's so full of robbers?' He's obviously very religious, the way he's dressed.

'The Imperial taxes, I suppose,' says Nicanor.

'Yes, and if that weren't enough to break one, these traitors collect double their share of it.'

'I've heard that too,' says Alexander.

'And if that weren't enough, there's one more thing.'

'Which is...?'

He gets close to us and says in a whisper, 'Our own Temple tax! Those pagans that run our Temple send their men to collect our tithes, our first fruits -- fruit or no fruit -- redemption of our first-born -- every bit as vicious as the Romans, they are! If people can't pay up, they lose their land. Then, they have no choice but to beg. By the time they realise there isn't enough charity to support a population of beggars, (if they aren't already dying from malnutrition) they do the only sensible thing: join the robber gangs.'

Now, we're about to enter the synagogue, so we quiet down.

At this point, I should acknowledge Shalom Ache's The Nazarine, a very long but informative novel written by a Jewish author. Not only does he set Yeshua's life and ministry firmly in a Jewish setting, but he seems to know his stuff. It's good reading, but I never got through the whole thing -- only enough to populate my description of the life and topography of Jerusalem, the High Priestly family and other aspects of first century Jewish life. I've also learned a lot from my readings of scholars such as E.P. Sanders, David Flusser and other sources related to what's now called "Jesus Studies", including information on the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinical literature, Pseudographical literature, etc. I even attended the synagogue for a period (I was tempted to apply for the post of shavos goy), and read bits of the Talmud and Midrashim in their library. I'm fairly confident that if a rabbi or any scholar of first century history would read it, they'll find Eetoo satisfactory as to the technical details. Eetoo also contains a glossary at the back that gives information on some of the details.

In spite of being informative and historically accurate (when it comes to actual known history), it's still got suspense and intrigue.

One of the laws of the universe (in our narrative) is that every intelligent species has the right to live, so long at the planet of their birth is still habitable. Earth, the planet of humanity's birth may be destroyed by fire, unless the Supreme One extends the covenant. (Here, I expanded on an obscure rabbinical tradition that the Earth would have been destroyed a thousand years earlier had Israel not accepted the covenant at Mt. Sinai). If Earth is destroyed, humanity has no right to exist, and the galactic Groki community intends to be their executioner. No one knows the actual location of the planet, so the burden of proof that it hasn't been destroyed, rests on humanity. This is a part of Eetoo's mission.

Eetoo is, in fact, the one prophesied to find the secret door to Earth (a teleportation device, a bit like Stargate), to go to obtain the golden tablets that Noah had given to Shem, that would complete human understanding of things. On finding them, Eetoo finds they refer to events currently taking place in Jerusalem. However, things don't seem to go as they're supposed to. In fact, events take a horrible turn as the key person, who is supposed to redeem the planet, instead gets himself crucified. All is lost ...

Well ...

I also have some ideas for sequels and prequels. The next one would start at the very beginning with Adam and Eve. In our series, we call them Father Red Earth and Mother Life. My working title is The Language. Here's the prologue to the first chapter:

In the beginning was the language, and the language was one. The one language encompassed all of existence. There was nothing, no aspect of anything, nor any description, nor feeling that could not be fully communicated by means of that language.

It was the language used to create. The words, 'Let there be light', included every property of the light that was to be created. The word 'earth' contained the blueprint for earth. The word, 'oxygen', described the subatomic structure of the oxygen atom. The word 'sheep' had within it, the DNA of the sheep. This was the language of Divinity.

The language of humanity was a subset of that. In the same way that the original Language could create matter out of nothing, the language of humanity could create virtual worlds. -- from The Book of Methushalech

Suffice it to say that early humanity was more high-tech than we give them credit for. But that ended at the Tower of Babel, where they lost the Language.

In another sequel: The fiery chariot that took Elijah up was, in fact, a space ship. He became a character in my first attempt at science fiction, an unmarketable novel I entitled Space Brothers, which I may rewrite for this series.

Anyway, you can find Eetoo here...

John C. Wright's Gospel of the End Times

When I read Orphans of Chaos, by John C. Wright, my first impression was that the author must be some sort of Gnostic pagan, as that sort of philosophy seemed to shine through the narrative. However, when I did my research (okay -- Google) it turned out that at the time he wrote that piece of fantasy fiction, he was an atheist, and the Gnosticism was no more than a backdrop for that particular series of novels. However, since that time, he had converted to Christianity, influenced in a large part by the writings of C.S.Lewis. He's still a fan of C.S.Lewis, and also of G.K.Chesterton. In fact, John C. Wright is now a Roman Catholic (like Chesterton was).

It's rather ironic, in one sense. C.S.Lewis, a Protestant, was converted from atheism through the influence of J.R.R.Tolkien, a Catholic. John C. Wright, a Catholic, was converted from atheism through the influence of C.S.Lewis, a Protestant. I said, ironic, but it's also intensely beautiful in another.

Lest any of my Protestant friends are of the opinion that Catholics are so tradition bound as to obscure any hope of them finding saving faith within their walls, here's a blog post by John C. Wright that will dispel that illusion. He paints his scenario through the medium of Noah, preparing for the destruction of the world. His eschatology is right on, the message is cross centred, and he even acknowledges some of the mistakes made by the Mother Church during the middle ages, insinuating that the church, under persecution, has faired better. Here's a couple of quotes:

The Orthodox Church, the Nestorians, the Copts, the Syrians, and all the Indians instructed by St. Thomas have been ground under the bootheels of pagan kings and paynim sultans for over a thousand years: they have more martyrs to their glory and more saints than earned the palm in the West. When the Church was burdened with worldly power, one thing she ended up doing was corrupting herself, and shattering via Reformation and Counter-Reformation, wars, tumults, and persecutions, into fragments large and small. It was not until the Enlightenment that the keys to the liquor cabinet where the wine of worldly power is stored were locked away from our poor, drink-besotted Mother Church.

And another one:

... So, no, Christians do not need to be in the shoes of Caesar or Pontius Pilot to save the world. That salvation was done by one whose feet were pierced by nails: as far as the world could see, a crackpot agitator who died a traitor’s grisly death. This is because the world sees things backward. The cross the world sees as an instrument of torture, humiliation, and death we Christians see as exalted, and we take it as our labarum of comfort, glory, and victory.

How's that for a Catholic? Read it yourself...

Jesus, Before He Became a Gentile

A very good, concise treatise on the Jewishness of Jesus/Yeshua on Gene Shlomovich's blog -- actually an excerpt from the book, Does God Play Favourites? by Jim Gerrish, readable online.

Fundamentalists vs anti-Fundamentalists

Scott McKnight, at Jesus Creed, is changing his blogging platform. Right now, he has posts up at both his old site and his new one (different posts). I'm not sure how it happened, but one of the posts, prominently visible, as though it was posted in the last few days, is this one, dated 17 Dec., 2008. Maybe the dating thing on the blogging environment isn't working properly, or what? Anyway it's a good blog post about fundamentalists, and how people who have switched to newer ideas can be just as opinionated and hard shelled about their new position as they were about their fundamentalist ideas. Anyway, go there for a good read, and while you're there, take not of their new URL.

...and now, Islamophobia

I just now posted a blog about homophobia, and I read one by Brian Mclaren about Islamophobia.

Apparently, last year, he observed the fast of Ramudan. Before you quibble, what does the Bible actually say about Ramudan? Where is the command to stay away from it?

In much the same spirit, here's couple of blog posts I did a few years back: Letter to a Moslem and The Blessings of Ishmael (the latter was posted just a few days after 9-11)

There's a lot of debate, both in Christian circles and Moslem, as to what extent does the Koran support terrorism. A lot has to do with the definition of jihad. To some, it means all out war against infidels -- thus, a mandate to plant bombs on aeroplanes. To others, it simply means the struggle against sin and injustice, whether it be an inner struggle or outward activism. Since I'm not an authority on Islamic theology, I'll leave it to the experts, and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Two more sticking points would be that Islam doesn't believe that Yeshua died on the cross and rose again. They believe he came from God, and is something far beyond any other human prophet. They even call Him the Word. However, the issue of Messiah's death is a major stumbling block (as the cross often is).

The other point is that they don't believe it proper to call Yesua the son of G-d, as Allah doesn't have children. On that point, I wonder if that wasn't a reaction to some Christians during Mohamed's day treating the issue as though G-d had given birth to Yeshua like a human father, through Mary. I could see their point. However, that isn't such a major hurdle, as they still refer to Yeshua as The Word of Allah. In Christian theology, the Word is really what we mean by "begotten of the Father", so in a dialogue with Moslems, we can easily refrain from saying "Son of G-d" and use "Word of G-d" instead.

So, we're left with the stumbling block of the cross, which I'm willing to bare.

Apart from that, there are a number of things that Moslems do better than most Christians, and one of them is fasting, which is what Brian Mclaren did last Ramudan.

Good Samaritan -- retold

I believe there is a difference between homophobia and simply believing that homosexuality isn't G-d's intention for human sexuality. Homophobia affects who we make friends with, how we do politics, and generally gets us tied up in knots.

I don't consider myself homophobic, but I believe that, according to the Bible, homosexuality isn't the right choice. I also don't believe being an alcoholic is the right way, nor sex outside of marriage, nor experimenting with potentially harmful drugs. In the various jobs I've held, I've been good personal friends with people in probably all these categories. I still keep in touch with some of them via Facebook and Skype. None of them calls me alcoholo-phobic, sexo-phobic or drugo-phobic. I just don't indulge in those lifestyles, myself, and my belief in Yeshua keeps me away from it. I also don't believe in bowing down to idols, but I have no trouble at all living in Thailand, where most people do -- including good friends.

I actually don't know anyone whom I'm certain is gay, but I hope they differentiate between homophobia and simply believing it's not G-d's way. However, I have heard rhetoric from that general direction that seems to leave out that option. I'd gladly discuss the subject with them over a pint down at the pub. Just one pint, mind you -- more than that, I start feeling it in the head -- but make it the pub of your choice.

Now, on the other side, here's a news story that makes me think. If Yeshua were telling his parables today, would he have told his story of the Good Samaritan in this context? This was brought to my attention by Tony Jones on Twitter (@jonestony) and it points to a blog post entitled A Modern Good Samaritan Story: Gay Couple Saves Life of Homophobic Neighbor. It's an interesting story that makes one think.

Now, the original story of the Good Samaritan: Yeshua seemed to have a lot of good things to say about individual Samaritans. However, he also agreed with the concusses of Orthodox Judaism that Samaritanism wasn't the right way (John 4:22). They only believed in the Torah, and rejected the Prophets. They refused to worship in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and didn't believe in the Davidic lineage -- which hit at the very basis for Yeshua's claim as Messiah. But it was the Samaritan, in the story, who obeyed the great commandment.

I'm sure many would believe that Yesuah would, without any reservation, have used a Palistinian instead of a Samaritan, or had a Catholic saving a Prod near the peace line in Belfast (or vice versa), or a black saving a Ku Klux Klaner... would he have used the example as recorded in the news story?

Review of Gerald Seymour's Harry's Game

Any book Gerald Seymour writes about the troubles in Northern Ireland is probably worth the read. He was one of ITN's top reporters covering the situation between 1969 and 1976. His novel, Harry's Game, has the copyright date of 1975, so that puts the timing of the narrative, probably after Bloody Sunday, but well before the Hunger Strikes.

It was made into a miniseries in 1982. So, ask me, why am I reviewing a book written so long ago, that's already made it as a miniseries?

Because it's still a good read, and I missed the miniseries (and it's not like I care how old a book is or how much footage it inspired; I may review Little Dorret next).

Because it's a good education for anyone wanting to know the background of the troubles.

Because I recently moved to an area right within walking distance of most of the action in the narrative.

We are a bit new to the area. When people comment on my accent, I tell them, "We're Irish. We've just been away too long" (but people outside Ireland think I sound Irish). My dad was an East Belfast man. My cousins on his side of the family still live there. My Uncle Bob (my namesake) passed away during the general period covered in the book.

We recently moved from Thailand back to NI, and found a nice house in North Belfast. Belfast isn't a major metropolis, but my East Belfast cousins hardly knew the lay of the streets before they came to look us up. Our area, and nearby West Belfast are the areas known for the Troubles (with a capital "T"), whereas East Belfast has always been relatively peaceful. Relocating from East Belfast to West is almost tantamount to emigration -- let alone moving from Thailand.

The other day, I decided to walk, rather than take the bus, from my home to the city centre. I took a short cut down the footpath behind the Ballysillan Leisure Centre, which ran into the top end of Ardoyne Road, the very neighbourhood where Billy Downs lived (the assassin in the story). A lot of development has taken place since those days, but one section of it, closer to Crumlin Road, looked like it was still run down with lots of Nationalist graffiti. However, some of the more prominent murals look like an attempt to put the Troubles behind them. One prominent sign, facing the roads leading in from Shankill says, "Please respect our community."

I walked straight from there into the Shankill area, which I probably couldn't have have done in the early days of the troubles, because Shankill is as hard core Prod as Ardoyne is Catholic.

While parts of Harry's Game may read like a tour guide to those who have spent time in the area, Gerald Seymour is equally knowledgeable about the people themselves, their culture, their fears, the hatred and whatever else makes them tic.

Harry, the leading character, was actually from Portadown (a town an hour's drive South of Belfast), who spent most of his life in the army away from Northern Ireland. When British Intelligence asks him to go under-cover to Belfast to seek out the assassin of a cabinet minister, he has to learn how to speak in a West Belfast accent. He has only two weeks to prepare. He also learns the style of the Falls Road residents, that bred by suspicion and fear of outsiders, and a fear of saying too much.

Within the two weeks he has to prepare, he cultures an accent that pleases his superiors, but we find that not everyone in West Belfast is fooled. His land lady wonders that he sounds authentically West Belfast for a few words, and then suddenly other sounds creep in. It doesn't seem natural. She mentions it to a neighbour over the back fence. Tight knit community that it is, word gets to the local IRA lookout who reports the fact to the Brigade intelligence officer. They decide to keep an eye on the stranger.

This isn't adventure hero fiction. Harry isn't James Bond -- nor even "Dirty Harry". This is true to life fiction. Things happen like they would in real life. People bungle, especially the Secret Service network giving support to Harry. First, they direct him to the wrong type of guest-house. He realises that and finds a more appropriate one himself, up Falls Road, the more likely place to find an IRA assassin. Because they don't know where he is, Harry's boss is dependent on the occasional phone call he makes from the city centre. This is highly unusual for an intelligence operation. Other parties, like the police and the army, have their opinion about this.

It would never happen to James Bond, but, as we said...

By a miracle, Harry happens to make friends with the right girl. Parental warning here: read it yourself first, before passing it on to your teenager. After an intimate scene, the girlfriend Josephine, lets out some information that might be a lead. Harry passes this on to his boss, and he, to the Army people in Belfast. They pick up a girl, Theresa, who happened to get intimate with the assassin Harry is looking for.

Theresa lets out only enough information to confirm that it was the the man they were looking for, no name, no description, then she kills herself.

While the powers-that-be agree that Harry did his job well, things are a mess. Riots ensue. The hit man, Billy Downs, is assigned a revenge attack on the RUC chief of interrogation, whom the IRA holds responsible for the death of the girl.

As for Harry, he's run out of leads. He gets a job in a scrap yard, and digs in for the long haul. Where James Bond would always have a card up his sleeve and keep the movie audience on the edge of their seats, our real-world spy has run out of tricks.

But don't worry. There's enough happening on the other fronts to keep the story moving. All the while, we see the way things are done behind closed doors; how more assassinations are being planned; how important people are known on a need-to-know basis; guns and other weapons are used and immediately removed so that no one actually has a gun when the army is doing a routine search; how doors are left open so that snipers flee the scene by entering by the front door, while the family is having their supper, and out the back. We find out what Mrs. Down's really thinks about her husband being an assassin -- once she guesses the truth.

Finally, Harry's girlfriend puts two and two together: her mentioning it to Harry was what led to the poor girl, Theresa, being rounded up and killing herself. Then, Harry makes a slip of the tongue that confirms that he isn't who he's saying he is. Josephine grills him, but because she isn't a die-hard fanatic for the Republican cause, she lets it go. In the process, she lets slip another small detail that leads to Billy Down's identification.

Then, things begin to build up to a climax. The IRA people are about to catch Harry. The tables turn, but not in a James Bond sort of way, and Harry is after his man. The ending is climactic, but it's the type of thing that could happen in real life -- a lesson to be learned.

It's not a story about heroes versus villains, only the people on both sides. In the end, you'll find you've not really identified 100% with either side. It will help you appreciate the facts on the ground.

I do have one word of advice. If you plan to read it, don't read the Wikipedia article first -- too many spoilers there.