NEW PAPERBACKS

John the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism: a historical study by Joan Taylor, SPCK, £25. John the Baptist remains perhaps the most tantalisingly elusive figure in the Gospels. This searching (if exorbitantly priced) historical portrait brings the world of this strange wandering ascetic to life, and seeks answers to some intriguing questions. What could have drawn people from all over Judea to be immersed in the River Jordan? What was the origin of baptism as a symbol of repentance? Why did Jesus want or need to be baptized by John?
Fragments: Memories of a Childhood 1939-48 by Binjamin Wilkomirski, Picador £5.99. The author of this highly-praised memoir was a tiny child when the round-ups in Poland began. His father was killed in front of him, he was separated from his family, and found himself completely alone in a series of death camps. He
recounts these fragments with a child's unadorned speech and simplicity. The novelist Paul Bailey said of this book: "I had to read it slowly, taking silent walks between chapters, so raw and powerful are the feelings it contains and inspires."
Two Abbots by John J Silke, Diocese of Raphoe, Ard Adhamhnain, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. The author, a distinguished Irish historian and priest, had written this study to commemorate the 1400th anniversary of the death of St Columba and the 1300th of the promulgation of the Law of the Innocents by his successor and biographer, Adomnan. He writes: "While the status of Columba is universally acknowledged, that of Adomnan as abbot, writer and legislator continues to grow. He does not compare as a folk hero, but this gentle monk had great gifts."
Apostles and Martyrs by Peter R S Millward, Gracewing £7.99. Millward, a former British diplomat in Mexico, describes the heroism of the early Christians and seeks to link their stories with the later development of Western Catholicism. The book is introduced by the Archbishop of Southwark, who describes it as "a splendid introduction to the life and times of people to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for their heroic witness to Christ and to the truth of the Christian faith." Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, Fount £7.99. This is the most popular of Lewis's non-fiction works, compiled from radio broadcasts to "explain and
defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times". In the preface, Lewis writes: "When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house."
This is My Beloved Son: Aspects of the Passion by Oliver Treanor, Darton, Longman and Todd, £9.95. Christ's cross is the heart and soul of Christianity, says Fr Treanor, a lecturer at Maynooth. Without the suffering, the harsh reality, the unendurable pain, there is no salvation. And yet we try to avoid the crucifix directly. The enormity of our fearful message is more than we can bear. This is My Beloved Son approaches the crucifixion by focusing on each of the Gospel narratives in turn. Mark and Matthew are distinguished by the utter silence of Jesus during his ordeal. In Luke, the pain is softened: here the meaning of the cross inspires the reader with hope. John's Gospel sees it as the apex of the sublime glory of Jesus and his Father which explodes like a sunburst at Calvary.
The Crisis of the Cross by John Davies, Canterbury Press, Norwich, £5.99. The Crisis of the Cross offers a powerful and challenging explanation of the story that forms the very heart of the Christian faith the arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The author, a former Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury, argues that the root meaning of "cross" is "judgement" and this is precisely what the cross of Christ does: it judges us as individuals and in our institutions as society and church.
A Cause Worth Living For-by David "Packie" Hamilton, Highland Books £9.99. At 22 David Hamilton was actively involved in loyalist terrorism and was sent to prison for eleven years. Now he is an ordained Christian minister though, as he recalls in this memoir, handing in his resignation from the terrorist network was "no
picnic".