What could a first-century church planter and tentmaker who helped forge the earliest years of a new religious movement possibly have in common with a British time traveling alien who first appeared in the 1960s to teach children about history? Doctor Who has been a beloved science fiction franchise for over fifty years. Paul's letters have been around for quite a while longer, with the earliest ones that he wrote dated less than a generation after the life of Jesus. Both have inspired and instructed people on how to live and have stoked the imagination for what individual and communal life can be in their own way. And both were or are deeply flawed, sometimes struggling against their own tendencies or those of others in order to help bring about something greater for their respective worlds. The Doctor and the Apostle explores the similarities and differences between Doctor Who's title character and Paul of Tarsus, comparing and contrasting the stories of each. Whether a fan of one or the other or both, the reader will gain a greater understanding of the possibilities of a life of faith, as well as a deeper appreciation of how pop culture and Scripture may help inform one another.
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Jeffrey A. Nelson. The Doctor and the Apostle
The Doctor and the Apostle
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Fifteen Lives and Two Universes
Tents, Houses, and a Blue Box
The Struggle with Identity
Strength in What Seems Weak
Christ Died for the Pudding Brains
The Open Question of Redemption
Unified, Not Assimilated
Companions Make a Difference
Thank the Universe for Women
Regenerating Hope
Afterword
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“You don’t have to be a fan of, or even familiar with, Paul or Doctor Who to appreciate these well-told stories of two imperfect, traveling helpers who rely not only on their own leadings and wisdom, but also on learning from their companions as well as their opponents. Be prepared to see connections between Galatians and Cybermen, and resurrection and regeneration; nuances of gender roles; and jargon-free discussions of Paul’s own writings and later additions.”
—Jonathan H. Harwell
.....
The final reason why I chose Paul is because I see some similarities between him and The Doctor. They both believe in the potential of the people they’re trying to help. They are both travelers who do good as best as they know how, although they’re just as prone to getting it wrong while learning from their mistakes. They rejoice with people in times of success and encouragement, and they become angry when they think that people can do better. They both live in some median existence between the legend that others have constructed about them and the imperfections that people hold against them.
The more I thought about this comparison, the more interested I became in writing about it. So that, in a nutshell, is why this book exists.
