A Modern Passion Play
I remember when I first stumbled across this book. I had heard of Dorothy Sayers, though my first encounter with one of her books was a translation of Dante. While I had heard of her I had never thought too much of her until I discovered that she was more than just a writer of detective fiction. I am not really a big fan of detective fiction, which I why I never really went looking for any of her works, but I was suitably impressed with her writings on Dante, that when I found this book I grabbed it. However, the guy behind the counter at the second-hand bookshop where I found this book was just as surprised to discover that this book was amongst his collection, and had hinted that if he knew that it was there then it would not have been for sale. Unfortunately, after I had picked it up, it was a little too late.
I recently discovered a 200 year old book on my bookshelf that I paid 10 quid for, only to discover that it was significantly undervalued (by about 50 quid). It makes me think about the idea of collecting old books. There is always discussions of what people can invest money in, and while there is the standard superfunds and the stockmarket, and even commodities like gold, one of the more exotic investment opportunities involves antiques and artwork. The trouble with that is that you need to have a good knowledge of such items to be able to successfully invest in them. It is no good buying a crappy painting by an unknown painter in the hope that in the future it may be worth a packet. It is also pointless paying the actual price for an antique in the hope of getting a 10% to 20% gain over a period of say ten years. If one is going to successfully invest in such items one needs to go by what I call the Warren Buffett method: look for something that holds value but is going at a discount because then a real gain can be made.
For example, with a 200 year old copy of Frankenstein you would be hard pressed to get change from $120 000.00. Buying it at that price is incredibly risky, because you are more likely to lose money than to make money. However, if you find a copy of the book for, say, $200.00 (very, very unlikely, particularly since the Antiquarian Booksellers are more than likely to have got to it before you) then purchasing it is a much more safer bet. As for me, I generally purchase books for interest, and based upon the author and the subject. I am more likely to pass over a 200 year of copy of Jane Austin's Persuasion than a 50 year old copy of H.G. Well's Time Machine. However, that is actually getting more unlikely the more interest I develop in old books.
Well, that diatribe above has little to nothing to do with this book, but I felt that with the adventure I had in buying this book I felt that I should make mention of a little interest that I have. Anyway, this book is based on a series of radio plays that were released on the BBC around Easter during the 1930's. The style is based on the old York Mystery Plays, where during the Middle Ages actinf troupes would travel the country visiting the towns and villages of England to perform what is termed as a cycle. This idea actually goes back to the ancient days when Bards would travel the country telling epic tales to the villages and towns that they visited. This is how scholars believe that the Odyssey and the Illiad came down to us.
I found the story enthralling, and it would have been really good to have actually been able to listen to the play as opposed to simply reading it off of the page. I find that a lot with many of the plays that I read. Watching them being performed, especially by a competent group of players, is much more entertaining than simply reading the play from a book. It is a shame that a lot of my favourite plays are simply no longer performed, and the one time I had an opportunity of seeing the plays in London (and Athens) I ended up missing out on them by a few days (I was really disappointed to discover that the Medea finished the day before I arrived in Athens, and the next play wouldn't begin until the day after I left).
As for the subject matter of the play I must say that many of us are already familiar with it, and in many cases it does not delve deeply into the ideas behind it. Much of the play is written more in the vernacular than the high flowing language that appears in many of the Bibles of the day (and even today). The thing is that Jesus spoke in the vernacular. Yes, he was interested in approaching and speaking to everybody, but his main purpose was, in his words, 'to seek and save the lost'. It raises the dilemma of who we should spend our time sharing the gospel with: the high born or the low born. Jesus mixed with both, but it seems from the gospels that the high born tended to react negatively to his sayings whereas the low born welcomed him. However, there were still many of the high born (Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus) who understood him and committed themselves to him. One of the things we see in this play are the tensions between the members of the ruling elite, particularly with Nicodemus, who was a member of the Sanhedrin. They were the ones that pushed for his execution, however Nicodemus was left with a decision, and the implication from the Bible is that he threw his lot in with Christ.
As for me, I must admit that my evangelism of late has been a little non-existent. However, as I face a crisis of faith, I suddenly discovered friends who are not believers who get beside me to encourage me to stick it out. As one friend said, 'don't let a few tools force you to ditch your faith'. I have heard many Christians (including my father) slander non-believers, treating them as if they hate God and will do anything to undermine a Christian's faith. However my experience is that this is not necessarily the case. Many non-believers that I have met have respected, and even encouraged, my faith. In other cases, after having come to know me, they have developed a new found respect for Christianity. It makes me wonder even more since many Christians seem to treat evangelism as little more than a fishing expedition and simply do not take the time to actually build relationships with non-believers. I have discovered (and maybe it is one of my gifts) that it is the relationship that counts, and by offering a hand of friendship and kindness we can have a much greater impact than simply going in hammer and tongs.
