What if the book of Revelation made sense to those who first received it?

Official Book Launch Details

So what if the ebook has been out since September of last year.  Who cares if the paperback has been available for a couple of months...

I am pleased to be able to announce the details of the official book launch of The Ephesus Scroll!  It will be held as part of the regular Sunday services on the 1st of September at Diamond Valley Baptist Church.

The morning service starts at 9:30am and the evening service starts at 6:00pm.  I will be preaching at both services, using two excerpts from the novel to provide an overview of the purpose of the book of Revelation.

Then, after each service I will be only too happy to sell you a copy of the novel - and sign it, too, if you would like...

So come one, come all!

DATE:  1st September, 2013
TIMES:  9:30am or 6:00pm
WHERE:  Diamond Valley Baptist Church
309 Diamond Creek Rd, Plenty 3090 (Melway Reference: 11D7)

An extended review

If you were wondering what The Ephesus Scroll is all about and (more importantly) if it's worth reading, check out this extended review written by Darren Cronshaw:

http://www.sightmagazine.com.au/stories/Books/ephesus29.5.13.php

(Thanks, Darren!)

You can order your printed copy NOW!

Great news!  The Ephesus Scroll is now available in a printed version!

Here it is!

To order, please email ephesus.scroll at gmail.com with your name, address and how many copies you would like and I will send you details about how to pay.  (It will be through PayPal, in case you were wondering.)  And if you want the author to sign it, just ask; that will not cost anything extra!

The following prices are in Australian dollars.

The book itself will cost $12 per copy.

For postage in Australia, add $4.

For international postings, add
$10 for New Zealand
$12 for Asia/Pacific
$16 for UK / Europe / US.

(There may be a postage discount if you order 10 copies!)

So please email me your orders and I will endeavour to ship your copy as fast as possible!

The Ephesus Scroll on Facebook

Did you know that The Ephesus Scroll is on Facebook?

The page can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ephesus-Scroll/513101255415392.  If you "like" the page you will be able to stay in touch with up-coming events and even the occasional give-away!

The Cover Images

For those of you interested in the paintings on the cover of The Ephesus Scroll, this post is for you!

Both portraits on the front cover come from Roman funerary paintings - also known as mummy portraits - dated to the second century AD.  The portrait of the man is in the Manchester Museum.  (There is a great article about this particular portrait here.)  In full, he looks like this:

Some people have noted that this man bears a striking resemblance to me.  That is entirely coincidental!  It is supposed to be how Loukas, the main character in the first century time-line of the novel, might have looked like.

The portrait of the woman is in the British Museum.  (This link should take you to her page.)  In full, she looks like this:

To be honest, she looks a bit old to be Iounia (who I imagined was in her late teens.)  But once you crop, you can't tell!  I also had to smooth out some of the cracks (the one on her nose was a little distracting!)    And then both faces were cropped and joined together to create what I hoped would be an evocative image:

The painting on the back comes from here, painted by a St. Petersburg artist from the "Artemis" group.  This one was also cropped (to match the size and shape of the image on the front cover).  In full, it looks like this:

Finally, if I am being complete, I should also mention that the scroll fragment on the front cover is actually from a New Testament Greek translation (also known as the Septuagint) of the book of Joshua, dated to approximately 200 AD.  It is known as MS 2648.  (For more details see here.)

New Year's excerpt from "The Ephesus Scroll"

St. Petersburg – January, AD 2006

It was the opening seconds of New Years Day.  Dima, Natasha and Marina were standing out in the cold, their winter coats wrapped tightly around their bodies, hats pulled down warmly over their ears, as a little way off Yevgeny stooped over to light the fuse of some fireworks.  He was apparently successful, for he came jogging over to them, before quickly turning around to watch.  All around them the sound of Russians ushering in the New Year could be seen and heard.  And then, their own contribution was added to the light and noise: one after the other, more than a dozen brilliant balls of fire were shot high into the air above them before exploding into a million pieces of shimmering light accompanied by an electrifying and almost deafening sizzle.  The last few seemed to speed up and the climax came as three went off almost simultaneously.

Dima realised he had been shouting “Hoorah!” as each firework had exploded, and suddenly he felt a little embarrassed.  But no one seemed to have noticed.  In fact, now he came to think about it, they had all been doing the same thing.  Turning to Natasha, he gave her a big hug and a kiss.  Then, he gave Marina and Yevgeny a hug and the traditional New Year greeting: “S Novym godom!”

With a shiver, Natasha exclaimed, “That’s enough.  Let’s get inside!”

Everyone agreed.  The temperature was around minus fifteen – not horribly cold, but cold enough.  With the occasional flash of firework-light illuminating the path, they made their way across the snowy area in front of Dima & Natasha’s building.  Within a few minutes they were removing their coats inside their apartment, ready to drink something to warm themselves up again.

Once everyone had a cup of tea or coffee made to their exacting specifications, Yevgeny posed a question to everyone: “What are your plans for this new year?”

There was a brief silence as everyone started thinking of something deep and profound to say.  From outside could be heard the muffled bangs as the impromptu and unofficial fireworks display continued.

Marina was first.

“I am looking forward to the birth of our first child,” she said, simply.

This was news; Natasha leapt up, shrieking excitedly, to give Marina a special hug, and Dima solemnly shook Yevgeny’s hand.

“Congratulations,” he said to Yevgeny.

“Thanks,” he replied.  “I, too, am looking forward to that occasion.  It will bring many changes to us as a couple, but nothing we cannot face with God’s help and presence.  It is also hard to separate a man from his work, so I am also looking forward to seeing what God will do in our church.  We have much to be thankful for, but still many challenges to face.”

Natasha was back in her seat by this time.  “Well, we are not expecting any additions to our family just yet,” she said, looking sideways at Dima with a smile.  Then she looked rather serious.  “Actually, I have been thinking about my parents recently.  My father is drinking again, and my mother has basically kicked him out.  They really need to become Christians, but I just can’t see it happening, and I don’t know what I can do.  So I have been praying for them, and I want to visit them when I can.”  However, Natasha’s parents lived in a town a few days train-ride from St. Petersburg, so a visit was a serious undertaking, one that did not occur too frequently.

“We will also pray for them,” said Yevgeny, as Marina nodded beside him.  “And for you.”

It was now Dima’s turn to speak.

“You all know that I have become rather obsessed by the book of Revelation.”  There was some laughter.  “Well, I want to try and find a way of making the book more accessible to the church here in Russia.  I’m not sure if I will write a book, or start a web site, or what.  But I know that in the past, the church would really have benefited from having a proper understanding of Revelation.  And who knows if the church may need it sometime in the future.”

“Indeed,” said Yevgeny, heartily.  “And that reminds me!  I have a little Christmas present for you.”  He got up, went over to his satchel and pulled out a present wrapped in cheery Christmas paper.  “Here, I thought you might find this interesting.”

“Thanks,” replied Dima, taking the present.  He tore off the paper and found himself holding a book: The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey.

“It’s a bit of a classic,” said Yevgeny.  “Hal Lindsay wrote this book in 1970, in which he predicted that the return of Jesus would happen within about 40 years after 1948.  As you may have noticed, Jesus didn’t return in 1988, so Hal Lindsey has revised his book quite a few times since.  What you are holding, though, is his first version, which makes for very interesting reading.”

“Wow,” said Dima, “How did you get hold of it?”

“Amazon.com,” replied Yevgeny with a shrug.

“Well, thanks again,” said Dima.  “I look forward to reading it.”

“And now,” said Yevgeny, solemnly, “let’s commit this year to God.”

They all bowed their heads as Yevgeny prayed.  All in all, it was a good way to start the year.