Book Coincidences and Jerusalem

I opened Our Jerusalem this week and discovered I’m in the middle of three book coincidences.

They all link to Eric Metaxas.

I’ve had book coincidences before–I think they’re charming and surprising.

Three books in a row I “happened” to pick up–or received as a gift–are connected.

Frankly, it’s useful to read these books in a row. I’ve learned a lot about Jerusalem–past and present–as a result.

Is Atheism Dead?

It started with Metaxas’ latest book, Is Atheism Dead?, which I referenced here.

My scientist husband read it first and really enjoyed it.

I followed and loved it!

I’m amazed at the stories Metaxas recounted. He convinced me: the case for Atheism is weak. Or even non-existent

I’ve long been familiar with the “fine-tuned universe,” so well described by Dr. Hugh Ross of Reasons to Believe.

I’ve read Dr. Steven Collins and Dr. Latayne C. Scott’s Discovering the City of Sodom.

Here’s a list off the top of my head of the surprising information Metaxas discusses:

• Three teenage boys made astounding archaeological discoveries in Israel by accident.
• One played hooky from school and discovered Hezekiah’s Tunnel in Jerusalem.
• Black holes influence gravity. (Finally, an explanation of black holes that make sense!)
• Archaeologists discovered Peter’s home in Caesarea.
• They found where Jesus grew up. (Thanks to some nuns in Nazareth)
• The Catholic Church didn’t hate Galileo.
• Several 20th-century Atheists became Believers at death.(Sarte, Flew, Camus).
• Science and the Scientific Method grew from people’s belief in God.

I already knew about the great Christian scientists. Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and Maxwell basically invented science.

Wonderful!

And then I turned to a book James Clerk Maxwell’s namesake gave me for Christmas!

Book Coincidences and Jerusalem Rising

I first encountered Israel Rising while listening to the Eric Metaxas show.

I was reading Ezekiel 36 at the time. The description of Israel sounded like modern-day Israel.

It only could have happened in the last 70 years.

Had anyone compared the two?

Three days later, Doug Hershey appeared on Metaxas’ podcast discussing his new book Israel Rising.

I wrote about that experience here.

Hershey found photos of Jerusalem taken in the past, and then replicated them in the modern.

With the two photos side by side, you can’t help but be impressed by the changes.

Many came from the fantastic American Colony photo collection at the Library of Congress.

Fascinating.

They pretty much prove Ezekiel 36.

Jerusalem Rising provides a wonderful photo comparison. The book includes photos of places referenced in Is Atheism Dead?

Book Coincides #3: Our Jerusalem

One of my most read blog posts is “Was it Really Well with the Spafford’s Soul?

The post details what happened to the writer of “It Is Well With My Soul.”

After the Spaffords lost four daughters when their ocean liner sank, Horatio wrote the hymn.

They had several more children and moved to Israel in 1881.

The family lived the rest of their lives in Jerusalem’s American Colony (which they established).

The oldest daughter of the second batch of children, Bertha Spafford Vester wrote Our Jerusalem.

It describes her family’s life in Jerusalem from their arrival to 1950. (That’s the year she published her book. Vester died in 1968).

As Lowell Thomas wrote in the introduction:

Of all the remarkable personalities I have known, Bertha Vester is one of the few that I have envied.

To me, Jerusalem is the most dramatic of the cities of this earth, more so even than Athens, Rome, or Paris.

Bertha Vester is the only outstanding person who has lived there, both as an observer and a participant in events.

[She lived there] under the Turkish sultans, through World War I and the period of the Mandate. [She survived] a second world war, and finally the period of the return of the Children of Israel.
What a panorama!”

Our Jerusalem Introduction

Vester told an absorbing story. She seemingly met every interesting person who traveled through Jerusalem during her lifetime! (I’ve just shared the book with a WWI historian).

I opened Jerusalem Rising to find places mentioned in Our Jerusalem.

And laughed when Vester recounted the story Metaxas used in Is Atheism Dead?

Who was the boy who found Hezekiah’s Tunnel?

His name was Jacob Elihu Spafford, the adopted son of Horatio and Anna Spafford.

Bertha grew up with him.

She described him as “above average in intellect.” Jacob spoke five languages.

Jacob eventually taught school (Bertha was one of his students).

As Bertha wrote, “There was not much either traditional or authentic about the Holy City my foster brother did not know.”

Always interested in archaeology, Jacob toured visitors around the city. He gave slide shows on archaeology and the Bible in Jerusalem.

As one of the leaders, he traveled for years on behalf of American Colony business.

Jacob Spafford died in an auto accident outside Jerusalem in 1932. He’d been helping someone locate a dig.

The joy of book coincidences

Reading three books on the same topic sweetened January 2022.

The Metaxas and Vester books provided more modern history than the Bible does (of course).

Jerusalem Rising allowed me to compare.

Hopefully, “this year in Jerusalem,” will happen for me.

Maybe I’ll even get to visit Hezekiah’s Tunnel and reflect on all three books.

Thank you, Eric Metaxas, Doug Hershey, and the American Colony in Jerusalem.

Tweetables

3 books about Jerusalem in 2 weeks =book coincidences & insights! Click to Tweet

Jerusalem Rising, Our Jerusalem, & Is Atheism Dead? glorious insights into a beautiful city. Click to Tweet