The Book with no picture

The only picture on the book was on its front cover. It was a picture of the Taj Mahal. I found the book idling on the clerk's desk when I returned from school one afternoon some forty years ago. It was a book like no other, printed in columns with numbers preceding every line. The book title was just as nondescript; "The New Testament" which doesn't tell you anything about the genre.

Ma did not confiscate the book and nobody seemed interested in it so I took possession. What I found inside were short intriguing stories.  The key character was Jesus Christ. I did not know I was reading the bible because it didn't say so on the front cover.

I read how Jesus raised the dead, turned water into wine, the kind of stuff magic was based upon. It was the era of Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm so I thought I was reading another fairy tale which was loosely based on Jesus Christ whom I knew to be the founder of Christianity. I knew nothing more.

In school I was invited to join the Christian Union which did not tell me anything about Christ. All it did was to reiterate the point that a Christian's prayer is usually answered. A fellow schoolmate passed her examination without studying. All she did was pray. That was the only impression I carried with me when I left the Christian Union meeting. I never returned.

My interest in Christ waned.

It took another eight years before I saw my first bible. It was a torn and tattered copy which had long outlived its purpose so its owner gave it to me.  It was called The Holy Bible. I discovered that the bible consists of two sections, The Old Testament and The New Testament. The former is the record of an ancient race from their humble beginnings while the latter covered the teachings and parables of Jesus Christ. I read about King Solomon, King Darius of Persia and many other historical figures. I read about the numerous ancient empires I had not previously known.

Wait a minute!

This was a historical record. These are real people, not legendary myths and folk lore. Well, some of the detail stretched the imagination just a little, but - !

I was intrigued. I was hooked! I read the entire Old Testament and was convinced that I was on to something real. Thus began my thirst and passion for History and my new-found respect for the Israelites.

Note: A common error in identifying the Israelites is by calling them Jews. Historically, the Jews were from the tribe of Judah. Judah was one of the twelve tribes of Israel of which ten became lost, a product of the history of our times.