Why Write about Early Christians?
Why write about Early Christians?”
Every Bible teacher writes about early Christians! Just open the New Testament, and you’ll find scores, perhaps hundreds of individuals. Their personalities come alive, and preachers inspire a congregation to follow the example of people who followed Jesus. Mostly, though, we concentrate on about a dozen people: Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, James, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Barnabas, and a few more.
But moving past the New Testament pages, what image do you have of the people who carried the faith into the Second Century? It’s difficult to enter into the lives of ordinary believers. For most people, history fades into a fog, without a name, a personality, or a conflict to illustrate how the faith spread across the Roman Empire.
How blessed my wife and I were to live in Turkey for a decade! Turkey is full of history, and I explored many ancient sites. Out of eleven years of service came ministry for many people who are now our friends, but I also took time to explore ancient cities. Seven cities. In the Introduction to Revelation.
The seven novels called Heartbeats of Courage show the reader what the Revelation's seven cities were like. You walk down city streets, shop at a marketplace, witness a slave auction, and get invited to meals. You also experience increasing persecution. You meet many people: judges in courts, merchants in shops, teachers in schools, farmworkers, and apprentices in clothing factories. Men and women, boys and girls, slaves and slave owners, wealthy and poor: all take their place in my stories.
I write about early Christians because we know so much about the Greco-Roman age. We find in the experiences of early believers some great lessons. I hope these books will move you to think about how to better live as a Christian in our day and age.
I believe we can learn much from early. Christians. Politics divide us, but the love of Christ unites. We all want to “love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and our neighbor as our self.” Remember the other “love”? “Love your enemy.” My novels take these four loves – for God, neighbor, enemy, and self – and create situations where believers sought economic justice, social equality, and educational opportunities. Come on! I hope to meet you inside the city of Pergamum!