Unveiled

Athol Dickson has been a friend of Unveiled almost since the beginning. Check out my reviews of They Shall See God, River Rising, The Cure, Winter Haven, and Lost Mission and both of my interviews with Athol (June 2009 and September 2009). I also had a chance to chat with Athol over at FictionAddict.com a few months ago. I recently asked Athol what is on the horizon for him.

Great question, Tim. Right now I’m putting together a thirteen-part presentation based on The Gospel according to Moses, What My Jewish Friends Taught Me About Jesus. It’s a memoir I published nearly eight years ago about five years I spent studying the Torah under the senior rabbi of the world’s second largest Reform Jewish congregation. The Gospel according to Moses, continues to be a bestseller among a wide spectrum of readers, both Christians and Jews. As the title says, I learned a great deal about Christian faith from the rabbis and Jews with whom I studied with during those five years. As a Christian, I found their take on the Torah fascinating, but also frightening. They challenged my stereotypes and presuppositions about God and the Scriptures, stretching my faith almost to the breaking point more than once. In the end my relationship with Jesus and our Father became much, much richer for having been engaged in study from a Jewish perspective.

The series I’m putting together will duplicate that intense experience as much as possible. Each session is a stand-alone encounter, so groups can pick which topics they’d like me to explore. I’ll dig into questions such as, “What does it mean when doesn’t God answer my prayers?” “How should I respond to the contradictions and paradoxes I find in the Bible?” and “Am I allowed to have doubts?” I’ll look into the most fundamental difference between Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism (it’s not what most Christians think). I’ll lead a search for Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures. I’ll wade into the very difficult topic of anti-Semitism in church history and how we should respond, and I’ll investigate the question that most disturbed me while I was at temple, “Are Jews going to hell?”

I’ll have this series ready to go by the end of April, and would love to talk to anyone who’s interested in having me come to lead their church or group through any part, or all of it.