Supermom in Galilee
Rachel Stackhouse (with Peter C. de Vries ), 2015
Peter C. deVries (Publisher)
296 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781515121503
Summary
A unique, absorbing journey in time crafted by a bestselling novelist and molded by a New Testament scholar!
Rachel did everything right. But no matter where she was, she had the feeling she was supposed to be someplace else…
When an agnostic suburban soccer mom lies down with a migraine, the last thing she expects is to wake up in a dusty, smelly courtyard in first-century Galilee.
Befuddled, shocked, and—as a woman without family traveling alone—in fear for her very life, Rachel is grateful to be taken in by two wealthy women on a mission: the financial support of a charismatic rabbi from Nazareth. Jesus is a real up-and-comer, the women insist, with a knack for motivational speaking. You’ll love him! But Rachel has never been “a believer.” And even if she were, the swarthy, robust, and greasy-haired man to which she is introduced hardly strikes her as deity material. Then again… sometimes, she isn’t so sure.
Based on both scholarly depictions of Jesus of Nazareth and research into daily life in the first century, we see through Rachel’s account a fresh, earthy, and wholly pragmatic portrait of the historical Jesus. We see the rabbi not as the gospel writers chose to present him, but as he might have appeared to the little-known women who bankrolled his travels and to the disciples’ wives who seasoned his stew.
As Rachel experiences the resiliency and raw courage of these women, unsung and unrecorded by history, she is forced to wonder whether it is her own frenetic, perfectionist life that is truly the fairy tale.
Commentary by a New Testament scholar and pastor accompanies this novel by a bestselling author under a different pen name to provide chapter-by-chapter historical and Biblical background and reflections that help you explore your understanding of Jesus and his world. This book will engage the individual reader as well book clubs and study groups seeking a fresh perspective on a familiar topic.
Author Bios
Rachel Stackhouse
Rachel Stackhouse is a busy mother of three who under another pen name is also the author of several bestselling Kindle novels of mystery and romance. This unique story, written before the age of ebooks, collected dust in a drawer for many years while mainstream publishers considered it "too Christian" and Christian publishers rejected the concept of time travel as "hocus pocus."
Now, thanks to a more open literary market and the addition of excellent commentary by a New Testament scholar, the reader is invited to spy on one woman’s vision of the events of first-century Galilee, and to wonder what might have been…
Peter de Vries
• Birth—1963
• Where—State of Pennsylvania, USA
• Education—B.A., Pennsylvania State University, M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary,
Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
• Currently—lives in Mars, Pennsylvania
Born and raised in a Pennsylvania coal-mining town to Dutch immigrant parents, Peter C. de Vries has been a Presbyterian pastor for twenty-seven years, and is in his twenty-second year of service in a congregation outside of Pittsburgh. He has taught New Testament exegesis at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, trains church leaders in Ghana, and has held several leadership positions in the Presbyterian Church at the regional level.
He is married to his best friend and has three children, two grandchildren, and a goofy little dog. (From the author .)
Visit Peter de Vries website.
Follow Peter on Facebook.
Book Reviews
Supermom in Galilee gives me a feel for the culture of first century Palestine. As I read each chapter with Peter de Vries' commentary interspersed, I found it to be evocative, reshaping stories I've known since my childhood in ways that are new and fresh.
Rick Ufford-Chase, Moderator of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Co-director of Stony Point Conference Center (New York)
Discussion Questions
CHAPTER FIVE
1. What people or things do you try to ignore or get rid of?
2. How do you try to avoid them?
3. When has following God been unsettling for you?
CHAPTER SIX
4. When have you been on the losing side of a division that people make? When have you been on the “winning” side? What did you do?
5. What image of Jesus do you have in your mind? How accurate, historically, do you think it is?
6. What does Jesus have in common with you? What makes him different from you?
7. Is there a challenge Jesus is presenting to you that you’d rather ignore?
CHAPTER TEN
8. Why do you think people tend to prefer the simple and clear-cut over the ambiguous and nuanced?
9. Under what circumstances are you more likely to make judgments quickly, and when are you more likely to investigate the subtleties of the situation?
10. How does Jesus’ refusal to treat us according to a set of standards affect our penchant to assert our own version of right and wrong?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
11. What are some features of your personality that you are sometimes ashamed of or wish you could eliminate? How could they be an asset for you?
12. When have you acted or spoken with good intentions, only to discover later that you only made matters worse?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
13. When have you suffered at the hands of those who claimed to be doing Christ’s work? How did the experience affect you?
14. Under what circumstances are you likely to forget your own failings and condemn others instead?
15. Are there times when you have ignored or failed to pick up the role that God has given you to continue his work of grace?
16. Who is in your life now that you can touch? How will you do it?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)