About the Author: Click here to listen to an interview with S.J. Munson on Artist First Radio.
Majoring in the Majors
An interview with the author of The Treasure of Israel.
Q: Why this book?
A: There’s a lot of Christian fiction or non-fiction out there that deals in some way with Herod’s treasure, the rebuilding of the temple, end-time prophecy and the State of Israel. I wanted to write a detective novel that turns this sometimes unhealthy fascination on its head and challenges the reader (both Christian and non-Christian) to reexamine some dearly held assumptions in the light of Scripture.
The Treasure of Israel grew out of a lifelong passion for ancient history, art and languages, as well as compassion for those who have no voice. In the latter, I am referring to Palestinian Christians, who, strangely, seem to have been forgotten by their American brothers and sisters. As a pastor and teacher for 20 years, I’m deeply concerned that my fellow Evangelicals not lose sight of the true call of the gospel (to go to all nations) and the Lord’s command to help the poor and disenfranchised.
Q: How did you get the idea?
A: Like most books, it’s the result of a curiosity. As you know, Jesus prophesied that the city of Jerusalem would fall and the temple be destroyed within a generation. That happened in A.D. 70 when the Romans conquered Judea, and they brought many temple treasures back to Rome, including the Table of the Bread of Presence and the Golden Lampstand. These were depicted on the Arch of Titus, which celebrates the Roman victory over the Jews. It’s still there today, near the Coliseum.
I was there several years ago and I wondered, what became of those treasures? I thought, the Romans were such careful historians, whatever happened, there must be a paper trail. And as it turns out it’s quite a story, an epic really. For five hundred years, the treasures survived fire, barbarian invasions and war, traveling from Jerusalem, to Rome, Carthage, Constantinople, and back to Jerusalem. Then, oddly, in the mid-sixth century, the trail goes cold. What happened after that is, of course, a source of much speculation, and that’s where fiction and imagination take over. The protagonist in my book gets caught up in the search but ends up finding something infinitely more valuable.
Q: And what might that be?
A: Oh, you’ll have to read the book to find that out.
Q: Is the novel pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli?
A: No, no. Not at all. “Pro-Israeli,” “Pro-Palestinian.” That’s really a false dichotomy for Christians anyway, isn’t it? It should be. I mean as followers of Christ, how can we abandon Israel, with whom we have such ties of history? And how can we abandon the Palestinians, among whom are so many of our Christian brothers and sisters? The book really asks for a saner balance in how we as Evangelicals approach the conflict.
Q: But the novel is critical of some Israeli policies, particularly the treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
A: Yes, that’s true. But if I criticize some policies of my own government, does that make me anti-American? Hardly. If Americans were really friends of Israel, they would speak out more about these issues. As Proverbs says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” Actually, the book is much more critical of American Evangelicals for being a major roadblock to peace in that part of the world. I love the church. I love my country. And I love Israel. But when you love something and you see something that’s wrong, you have to speak out.
Q: Why write this book now?
A: Interestingly, while I was preparing the book for publication, someone handed me a recent issue of a popular Christian magazine. It contained a somewhat confrontational editorial entitled, “God Loves Arabs Too.” The time is ripe for such a book, as voices within the church are awakening to see that Evangelical support for the State of Israel needs not to be abandoned, but balanced with a renewed concern for the other nations which surround her-- including the Arab-speaking Christians, who have been rejected not only by their Muslim neighbors, but by us as well.
Q: Why a novel?
A: A novel is a fun and creative way to draw readers into the discussion who might not otherwise buy a non-fictional monograph. (Those can be quite boring. I have several of them unfinished on my night table.) I wrote the book to appeal to lovers of detective fiction, as well as lovers of biblical, ancient and art history, and anyone who has ever wondered what may have happened to that temple treasure. It would also appeal to Christians who are willing to explore another side of the Israeli-Palestinian question.
Q: Would you say the novel is controversial?
A: The book does its share of “sacred-cow-tipping,” if I can borrow one of my protagonist’s phrases. It takes a rather wry look at history (where truth is so often stranger than fiction). But more importantly, I think, it also exposes the obsession we have as American Evangelicals with the State of Israel, end-time prophecy and the temple treasure, as well as our seeming deafness to the plight of Palestinian Christians.
Often as Christians, we get so focused on the so-called “secrets” of Scripture, we forget the main and plain things, like spreading the gospel, love for others, helping the poor, etc. Because of that, Evangelicals have made themselves particularly odious in recent decades. As a friend of mine put is so wisely, if your interpretation of Scripture causes you to harm others or to treat them with indifference or disrespect, then it’s time to get another interpretation because you’re not walking as Jesus walked.
Q: You’re focusing a great deal on Palestinian Christians, but what about the Muslims?
A: Aha! Now you’re on to something there! In focusing on our brothers and sisters among the Palestinians, I’m hoping to get the church’s attention, to get them to look at the problem. And certainly, the problem includes more than Christians, who are a small minority within that population. Muslims are people, too, and therefore deserve our love and respect, whether or not we agree with their religion. If we treated them as such and if they saw that we were trying to deal justly and honestly with the issues, instead of treating their people as fodder for Armageddon, perhaps they would not hate us so much. Jesus has a plan for them too, after all, not just Israel. He desperately wants them to know his transforming love. But I must say, we’ve not shown them much of that.
Q: The novel is also wickedly funny, a bit sardonic, one might even say irreverent at points. Does that reflect your view of the world, of history?
A: Well, my wife might tell you yes. But remember, this is a novel, a work of fiction. In writing fiction, you create characters with various motivations and moods. For example, if I were to ask, who said this?-- “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Life creeps at this petty pace from day to day.”-- most people would say Shakespeare. But Shakespeare didn’t say that. Macbeth did. Shakespeare wrote it, but Macbeth said it. And it has everything to do with Macbeth’s character and mood at the end of the play. Now my characters say all kinds of things, which I may or may not agree with. The protagonist, for example, is highly critical of his own Greek culture, because he’s at war with himself. Now, personally, I have the utmost respect and esteem for Greek culture. I wouldn’t say those things. But the character does, until the end when he finally comes to terms with himself. Much of the book is seen through his eyes, hence the irony that pervades it.
Q: I see. So context is key.
A: Absolutely. And that goes for the historical flashbacks as well. I wanted to find some way to help the reader track the treasure through history. So, for example, we see the capture of Jerusalem through the eyes of the Roman general Titus, or the sack of the same city by the Persians as witnessed by a Christian abbot named Modestus. How they perceived reality is hardly objective --I mean history is never completely objective. So one has to take it all with a grain of salt.
Q: Michael, your protagonist, is a brilliant young man, cynical but also oddly immature. Why is that?
A: Yes, like many of us, he’s on a journey that has many levels. He’s been running from his past, his culture, his destiny, from love, and ultimately, from God. The ending, I hope, brings these together in a surprising way. It’s true, isn’t it, that often what we’re really searching for turns out to be something entirely unexpected? I think that’s true of the book as well.
To contact or arrange an interview with S.J. Munson: email at treasureofisrael@yahoo.com
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The Rev. S.J. Munson has been a pastor, writer and Bible teacher for the past two decades. He received a B.A. in English from Princeton, along with a prize for fiction. His call to fulltime ministry came while he was
working as a screenwriter in Hollywood. He went on to receive an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, with a concentration in New Testament Greek. The author of numerous Christian dramas, he currently ministers in Long Island, NY.
