Description
A man with no past is blinded by the light. A zealot is hungry for power. A preacher is paralysed in fear by a vision of glory. And an unassuming man becomes a reluctant Messiah.
There are two sides to this story, both intertwined to form one. Christianity and atheism. They are both right, and at the same time, they are not. All the cards are laid out on the table so they can be inspected with an open mind by both sides.
You must decide what you believe or don’t. The story cannot decide for you, but it will make you think, one way or the other, as a Christian or as an atheist.
But beware, for you might change sides. For better or worse.
It’s totally up to you.
PREFACE
It is with some trepidation that I offer this novel up, as it was initially written as my personal journey in coming to terms with my lack of faith. Having had a Christian upbringing, for which I am grateful, I feel I am in a unique position because I have now experienced life on both sides of the fence.
My initial plan was to write an unbiased story, which neither condemned nor exalted Christianity nor atheism, to lay all the cards on the table and let the reader make up their own mind. It was not my intention to bible-bash or brainwash the reader with my own beliefs. To my surprise it ended up being more pro-church than I had expected, possibly due to the fact that it contained three very powerful sermons. Yet despite writing this novel, I still call myself an atheist. I’m sure everyone will take from it whatever they believe in whichever side of the fence they sit.
When it came to select the next novel to publish, my wife insisted on this one. A non-believer herself, she said the world needed this story. My mother said that she cried all the way through it, calling it a masterpiece of modern religious literature.
Some will read this as reverent. Some will see the funny side, while others will only see the hypocrisy. Most, I hope, will ponder and question either way. Hmmm…
TJ
SYNOPSIS
Spoiler Alert!
No seriously – if you don’t want to know the twist or the ending, DO NOT read any further.
Jerry was single, a plumber, and a Christian, doing his best to live life according to his beliefs and the church he was involved with. He helped with taking the Sunday school classes and supervised the evening kids’ badminton matches in the church hall. On busy contraction sites, he found it hard to ignore the swearing and anti-church jokes and taunts. Although there were a few who believed, the mostly masculine work environment was not a place to spruik the words of the Lord.
Steve was the stereotypical zealot. With a Bible always within arm’s reach, he never shied away from an opportunity to preach, to quote passages verbatim. Even the church found him a bit too much, despite his enthusiasm for the spotlight. He had hoped to join the ministry but was gently persuaded to continue his personal growth within his local church.
The reverend Kieth Drumond had presided over his flock for about thirty years. He was proud of his achievements and welcomed the youth to participate in the presentation of services, giving them a wholesome family flavour. But he hid a terrible secret. One day, he would be called upon by the Lord to perform beyond his humble ministry.
Leon woke in hospital after a horrific pedestrian accident with total, but temporary amnesia. A woman insisted she was his wife, and an elderly couple sobbed when he did not acknowledge them as his parents. They took him home to a house he swore he had never set foot in before and ignored the two young kids who also lived there. He felt that everyone was forcing him to believe in a past of their liking. But he remembered nothing. Tensioned flared.
Over a very short period, Jerry was involved in a series of events that could be perceived as miracles, until an elderly woman he helped down a flight of stairs, threw away her walking stick to strut about as if she were fifty years younger. It was undeniable that the Lord had worked through Jerry to cure the frail woman. Steve began shouting the word of the Lord louder than ever before. Drummond fainted, knowing that a vision he had witnessed while baptising Jerry as a baby was about to come true. Jerry was a miracle worker; the Messiah reincarnate.
Jerry became sceptical at the claims and receded from the church to help Leon, an old boyhood friend, to reconnect with his past. A simple timber cross depicting a dead guy nailed to it on the lounge room wall had become a very contentious issue with his wife. Jerry did his best to explain God and the life and meaning of Jesus in the modern church. It proved hard going with Leon throwing up logical arguments at every new piece of information. With no past to relate to or verify anything against, Leon had become the ultimate sceptic.
With the church going public about Jerry’s ascension to messiah status, enraged by their ludicrous claims, Jerry fled to the wilderness to ponder everything that was happening around him. Accepting now that he had lost his faith, he devised a plan to both satisfy the church faithful, and also show it up as hypocritical.
He fronts the masses as an atheist whilst pretending to be Jesus returning to save them, to deliver a message that the Lord was willing to give humanity a second chance. If everyone gave a tenth of their wealth, a tithe, they could obliterate starvation around the globe. Only then would God forgive them and stop the impending apocalypse. But despite Jerry’s preachings, it appeared God, or Mother Nature, had their own plans for the future of the planet.
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