Reader Responses to Peculiar People
Click here for formal reviews

E-mail received December 18, 2003
I recently read Peculiar People and found it to be one of the most interesting books I have read in a long time. You presented the early church much as I have envisioned it to be. I hope you write many more such books. Also enjoy and appreciate Ekklesia Then & Now.
— Glen from New Mexico

E-mail received December 11, 2003:
Of your work I can only say, I am sorry the story ended. I have never enjoyed a piece of Christian fiction as much as I enjoyed Peculiar People ! I, like Tess, came to feel that Prisca and Aquila were close friends. I laughed, cried, loved, and worshipped with them. As a student of the early church, (B.S. Missionology Abilene Christian University) I especially applaud your careful attention to historical accuracy. Your many hours of research and scholarship are evident in the details.
— Wade from Texas

E-mail received July 9, 2003 (an interesting comparison of the story of the early church in Peculiar People with missionary efforts in Kenya):
My first initial response was a vision of the dry African plain and walking across it after it had received several life giving rains. The flowers and other beautiful plants that normally aren’t there suddenly pop up and are a delight to see. It was a lovely experience to read your analysis of the times and lives of early Christians. In the genre of books normally available it was a change of pace to read about the struggles of early Christians. It was interesting to compare the efforts of the characters in the book with the fight of African Christians here in Kenya I think the struggle of Aquila to control his response to abuse had a strong response in me. Because when we are abused it is a deep struggle not to return that.
1 Peter 2:23-24 “ who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered threatened not; but committed (himself) to him that judgeth righteously”: the next verse also was brought to mind because of the fact that the sufferings of Christ he bore in his body on the cross and we also as his body will share in those sufferings. who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed." (ASV)
When we are converted to Christ we wrestle with having a fearless and deep trust in our Lord in the midst of circumstances. To see the characters grow in that trust, as they encountered the power of wickedness was extremely satisfying.
When we begin, we do not understand in a full way the path of obedience. But we learn along the way to endure the evil of this world and overcome that evil through love. It has been our past in the modern church, that we sought to lay out for people exactly what it means to be in obedience to God. In the early church I imagine that this elusive goal was not quite perceived to the degree it has been pursued in these days. It is ever amazing to me that God so loved us that He came down and entered our lives in such a small insignificant way and began to use ordinary people as vessels to accomplish His unchanging purpose. The generosity and love found in that is nothing short of incredible to me. It causes head swelling and humility like the ying and the yang if you will pardon the Chinese (or is it Korean) expression.
The incidents of Peter and Paul being sure of obedience and then unsure are a true reflection of our human condition. While we must make disciples in the entire world and seek to press those same into fuller obedience, yet at the same time our own faulty obedience must ever be responsive to the Spirit of God. Peter in visiting Cornelius learned that lesson.
As a mission minded preacher, I have always found the struggle between conversion and culture to be very interesting. Your use of the cell groups seemed entirely plausible and probable. I know that often culture is used as a dirty word for those who know the way. Your character who was a fuller, (Phlegon I believe) impressed me by his willingness to remain at his station. While the gospel is addressed to all it also is addressed to individuals who are tied wholly to both their language and their culture. It has been the thinking of some that we do err when we seek to take individuals out of their culture and as a result they focus on group or tribal evangelism.
The Catholics are perhaps strong in this as they see value in social structures and customs and seek to maintain them although in a slightly altered way. It is true that culture stabilizes people but it is also true that people can change culture. I believe that is the point of being salt.
Your portrayal of the powers of wickedness assaulting the body of Christ and the surprise that the early church had in its ability to challenge and defeat them was encouraging. The fact that “all authority” has been given to the Christ is sometimes overlooked. While those wicked powers still exist; it is in this present day, that all things are brought together in Christ:
Eph 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. …"
Eph 1:10 "to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment-to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” (NIV)
As one who has had the experience of the sharp clash of cultures, I admired your introduction of the prostitutes into the church and the dynamic tension they continually evoked. The interplay of the strength of the Greek versus the Jewish cultures has I’m sure been lost on a lot of Christians. I hope many who read your book will benefit by that exposure.
Finally, the balance you maintained in portraying the graphic wickedness of sin in a frank manner and the interplay of passions among the characters without being offensive is commendable. While I do know that my sensitivity to such is not as it should be, I at the same time was apprehensive at the start that I might not be able to finish the book should it offend. I again commend you in achieving that delicate balance.
There are those books which reach out and grab you and you race through them and then immediately forget them. Yours, while not grabby in that sense, did reach out and softly beckon to continue. I can tell when I have read a good book because it comes back again and again in even life’s encounters.
Thank you for your efforts. I’m sure that God will continue to bless the work of your hands.
Heb 13:20-21 “Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, (even) our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom (be) the glory for ever and ever. Amen.” ASV
— Dan Bell
Kenya Church of Christ
P.O. Box 1574
Kisumu, Kenya

E-Mail received 6/11/2003 (this kind of response both thrills and humbles me)
Hi Brother Dick:
I want you to know I have read close to two hundred pages of the book. I am thoroughly enjoying it. I am reading three or more hours at a time. I am a slow reader. This is doing a great deal to inspire me to want to do what I can to carry the message of salvation to others. I am praying for the lord to help me to learn to love the way he does. I know without him I am nothing.
I have been wanting to read a story about the times of Christ from a source outside the bible. I love reading the word of God but this shows me how a relationship with Jesus is personal and intimate. I am enjoying the characters and the different aspects of them. I appreciate you letting me read this book. It is truly inspirational. I feel blessed. This is the first book other than the bible that I have read in 16 years when I last read to my daughter before she showed me she could read the stories I had been reading her.
I am also enjoying your newsletter again thank you. God Bless you with the peace that I feel while reading this.
Yours in Christ,
James (from Pennsylvania)

Note: please join me in praying for James. He suffers physically and needs the prayers of righteous people (and don't we all?)

Thank you ever so much for your efforts to bring the first century church to life, and put in perspective with todays troubled world. Peculiar People helped me see a people who didn't always understand it all, but with a simple faith in a great big God, they managed to stumble, believe, doubt, and pray until they had unwittingly changed their world.
You managed to bring the struggles and triumphs of the first century church into the twentyfirst century and show why God has never changed.
May Peculiar people be used today to accomplish and encourage the same in us. Thankyou for listening and writing it.
I have read hundreds of Christian books over the years and probably recommend only two or three. I recomend Peculiar People to all who will listen. Believer and unbeliever alike.
— Lee, Thoughts from God.com
Great website!

This extremely-readable book is mind-boggling in its historical detail, both biblical and nonbiblical. It tells a story within a story, centering around Tess Swift, a modern secular archaeologist on assignment in Turkey with National Geographic, who uncovers and secretly translates a manuscript that turns out to be the memoirs of Aquila and Prisca. Their story of first-century believers and martyrs transforms Tess as well, but I will not give away any more of the highly-captivating plot. This book belongs on the best-seller list -- one wishes a major publisher would give it the notice it deserves.
— Edward (from Texas)

(Peculiar People) is very well written, interesting (you have a real flair for storytelling), and thought provoking. I am glad I read it.
— John (from Texas)

This amazing creation of historically accurate fiction immersed within a human tale written in gripping detail is extremely entertaining and envokes a cinemagraphic experience for the reader of immense proportion. A memorable and enjoyable journey of life in tumultuous times , its unique positioning of stories from modern day and the first century in perfect harmony expertly educates in an experience of visiting the lives of real and interesting people is full of drama, comedy,passion, tragedy and sweetness characteristic of our lives. It is a layering of stories of lives in transition and the world immediately after the beginning of the greatest story ever told.
— A reader from Delaware (posted on amazon.com)

"God is good! I have just been blessed! I finished reading Peculiar People. Wow!!! What a wonderful story; based on fact and fiction. I finished it in about 48 hours. I started my first reading session in the afternoon and ended early a.m. the next day. I just couldn't put it down. The tears, the laughter, and the love experienced was a wonderful experience for me. There were no dead spots. I hope there will be a sequel... I woke up this morning wanting to read more of the story; missing the characters. Most importantly it prompted me to search for the characters contributions in the New Testament with much more interest and concern. Dick Soule's love letter to his wife was one I will envy for a long time. Praise God for people who contribute so much to His work... What a wonderful message of Love; Agape Love... Wow!!!"
— Michael from Utah (posted on the Guestbook)

Sounds great! How can I get a copy?