New Testament
‘Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear’, runs William Parker’s well-known hymn. Now Real Reads bring you the Real stories of Jesus – a series of six interlinked gospel-based narratives telling the events of the New Testament through the eyes of those involved. Closely following the characters and events of the New Testament, this series shows six unique humans in extreme situations. It explores their motivations, their struggles, and their responses to the momentous events they lived through. Never before has the New Testament been presented in this way. It is a great new way for young readers to meet the people and experience the events which have shaped over two thousand years of history.
- checked for accuracy to the gospels by a leading New Testament scholar
- online concordance so that readers and teachers can link passages directly to New Testament sources
- the Real version of ‘the greatest story ever told’!
As the authors of this groundbreaking series, Alan Moore and Gill Tavner, say, ‘We have done everything within our ability to meet the challenge of retelling the New Testament story with integrity and responsibility. Although we are both Christians, we did not approach this with evangelistic intent. Instead, by opening the New Testament to a whole new readership, we hope to enhance both cultural and spiritual understanding and tolerance for people of any faith or no faith.’
Jesus of Nazareth
I had been given a simple but enormous task. This was the role for which I had spent my whole life preparing.
After encountering John the Baptist, Jesus’s work begins. He will meet many people; some will help him, many will need his help, and some will become his enemies.
Jesus challenges the way people live, the way they relate to God, and the way Jewish law is enforced. Although he is a man of peace, he is not afraid to challenge authority, no matter where this might lead.
What exactly are Jesus’s responsibilities as God’s son? How will he lead people towards a new relationship with God?
How much can a man achieve in one short lifetime? How much more can he achieve by his death?
Click here for the Jesus of Nazareth concordance
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Judas Iscariot
Unfortunately for me, nothing is ever simple.
Poor Judas – he just can’t decide what to do with his life. Everybody expects him to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he has too many doubts. Then one day he meets a man who changes everything.
With new hope and a new sense of purpose, Judas leaves his home and his family to follow Jesus. But for how long can Judas accept the simplicity of Jesus’s work? How soon will his mind return to its former complex ways?
Tortured by increasing doubts, troubled by rivalry within the group, and sensing that time is running short, Judas feels compelled to take action. What will he do? How will he do it?
Why has this man, so anxious to do good, become one of the most notorious people in history?
Click here for the Judas Iscariot concordance
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Mary Magdalene
My darkness lifted, never to return. This man was truly the light of the world.
Mary’s childhood in Magdala leaves her with emotional scars she fears will never heal – until she meets Jesus.
Recognising the importance of Jesus’s work, she decides to do all that she can to support him, but what good can a woman do in a man’s world?
Will Mary ever be accepted by Jesus’s other disciples? What will she learn from the miracles she witnesses and from her many conversations with the Son of God? To Mary the message seems simple, so why can’t others believe?
After witnessing Jesus’s agonising death, Mary is the first to see the empty tomb, the first to see the risen Christ. What role can she play in spreading the news about Jesus after his death?
Click here for the Mary Magdalene concordance
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Mary of Galilee
Can you spare the time to listen to my account? I should like to tell the whole story, just once before I die.
Mary is a young woman living a simple life in Nazareth, when an angel’s visit changes her life forever. She has been chosen by God to bear him a son. She alone amongst women has been chosen to bear the agony and the joy.
From the moment of his birth, she knows that Jesus’s life will be like no other: she has been warned of the pain that lies ahead. When Jesus begins his work, how will she react to her increasing awareness of the dangers facing her son?
When Mary experiences anguish that no mother should ever experience, is her faith strong enough to sustain her? Might there be grounds for joy in the midst of such brutality?
Click here for the Mary of Galilee concordance
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Paul of Tarsus
Who expects their life to change completely in one moment?
The foundations of Jewish law are under threat from the followers of a man called Jesus. These people have reached Damascus. They must be stopped. Saul, uncompromising and brutal, is the man for the job. But by the time Saul reaches Damascus he is blind and in shock. What could have happened to him on that journey?
How does a man react when his beliefs are turned upside down? Now calling himself Paul, can he convince his former enemies to trust him? Can he convince the world that Jesus’s teachings are for everyone?
Through treacherous journeys, passionate preaching and long letters, Paul tries to tell the world what he believes, but will it make any difference?
Click here for the Paul of Tarsus concordance
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Simon Peter
Catching fish. That’s what I was doing on the day that changed my life for ever.
Although Simon has no idea why Jesus is beckoning to him from the beach, he agrees to leave his nets and follow him.
A robust, enthusiastic fisherman, Simon makes more mistakes and asks more questions than the other disciples. Why then, he wonders, does Jesus call him Peter, which means ‘rock’?
When Jesus is arrested everybody except Simon Peter flees, but is he brave enough to stand by Jesus until the end? After Jesus’s death, how will Simon Peter spread Jesus’s teachings? Will he make the right decisions? Can he calm the rivalries developing among Jesus’s followers?
Is he brave enough to die for his beliefs?
Click here for the Simon Peter concordance
Click on the thumbnails below to see sample spreads.
© Real Reads 2024