'The version of Christianity brought south along the Nile Valley into Africa by the eunuch must be one of the earliest versions of the faith.' Photo: Shaun Osborne / flickr CC.
Camel scorpions
Martin Schweiger writes about a compelling historical novel
Albert Delma’s new work, Camel Scorpions, is a weighty book of almost 600 pages, which rapidly becomes really entertaining, readable and informative. The main character is a country vicar, Martin Kimpton, from Herefordshire, who has developing doubts about the historical authenticity of Jesus. He focuses his attention on the period before emperor Constantine ceased to persecute Christians in 313 AD. According to Acts 8:27-39 one of the first Christian converts was ‘a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury’.
There is good historical evidence for the existence of Candace, also known as Amantitere, who ruled from 22 to 41AD. Candace was queen of Meroë, which is in present day Sudan. The version of Christianity brought south along the Nile Valley into Africa by the eunuch must be one of the earliest versions of the faith. As Martin Kimpton was to learn, preceding the message of Christianity came the Greek language and cultural ideas enabling the Nubian eunuch to converse with Philip.
With support from a university professor, his bishop and his long suffering wife, Martin Kimpton travels to Sudan to work with a respected expert on early Christianity. The expert is engaged in an archeological excavation of an ancient Coptic Church near the fourth cataract on the Nile. Martin Kimpton’s predecessor in assisting in the excavation has been murdered in a rather bizarre fashion. He had been a fellow student with him and two others who had also been murdered. A serious question for the country vicar was whether the murders were linked to findings questioning the authenticity of the accepted view of the historical Jesus.
Would his life also be put at risk by pursuing the questions? Another big question was why the letters of Paul were not placed at the beginning of the New Testament when they were written before the four gospels? Acts was also written before the gospels, so apart from being out of order it contains surprisingly little description of Jesus as a man and his life on earth.
The authenticity of the gospels themselves is challenged by the inconsistencies between them: the description in Mark’s Gospel of women finding an empty tomb after the resurrection; Luke having two men in brilliant clothes appearing; and Matthew describing an earthquake with an angel descending from heaven to roll away the stone.
In the novel, the expert makes him work hard but also teaches Martin Kimpton, mostly in long moonlit evening discussions, a great deal about the origins of Christianity. Interesting comparisons between Jesus and various pagan gods are made, showing similarities between the storyline of Jesus and some pagan gods. The similarities include the virgin birth, rebirth through baptism, turning water into wine, fellow men turning on him and killing him, following which there is resurrection. The influence of Gnostic thinking on the early church is discussed many times between Martin Kimpton and the expert.
The careful research obviously undertaken in preparing to write this novel, together with personal experience, is well used to inform the various discussions in the novel. Readers who are familiar with Quakerism will find much of interest as they follow this country vicar on his spiritual journey away from his comfortable life as a parish priest.
Readers also become aware that the author, Albert Delma, is familiar with Leeds, Herefordshire and Advices & queries. Albert Delma, under another name, is a member of Hereford Meeting.
Camel Scorpions by Albert Delma is published by Grosvenor House Publishing Limited at £23.99.
