Sarah's Reviews > The Hidden Flame

The adventures of the very first Christians continue in the second book of T. Davis Bunn and Janette Oke's Acts of Faith trilogy.

Alban and Leah, the titular centurion and wife from the previous installment, have fled Jerusalem and the wrath of both Pilate and Herod. But the action remains in the holy city, witnessed by Leah's best friend Abigail, Alban's army buddy Linux, and Ezra, a Pharisee whose generalized contempt for the nascent Church is about to get really personal.

Abigail is a cheery lass with a servant's heart, and considered a great beauty despite a slight limp (which would have discouraged most suitors in those days). All she wants to do is spread the Gospel and take care of her younger brother, Jacob, now a strapping and sulky teenager whose only interest in life is joining the Roman legionnaires. But Abigail, without being particularly aware of either man's existence, attracts both the lust of the bitter Ezra, and the earnest passion of hot-blooded Linux. Once she becomes aware of the intentions of the two rivals, she quickly dismisses the possibility of marrying the old Pharisee, but the handsome Roman with the piercing gaze spooks her on a level she does not yet understand.

Things are going to get better, but they're going to get very silly first.

In a good classic romance - in the tradition of L.M. Montgomery, etc. - the young lady who does not wish to marry would accordingly be left alone, and perhaps reevaluate when the better of the two suitors steps forward at the crisis point and proves himself a hero. Meanwhile we could get character development and other goodies.

But no, someone has to step in because Abigail cannot be allowed to make her own decisions. And by "someone" I mean Simon Peter, The Big Fisherman himself. You'd think he'd have better things to do with his time, being the head of the Church appointed by Christ Himself and all that, and you would be right.

Especially since the early Christians weren't big on arranging marriages. They believed that Jesus was liable to return and establish the Kingdom in Earth literally any day now, which would entail a certain amount of temporary chaos. "When you see The disastrous abomination set up where it ought not to be..." He had told them before His execution, "those in Judaea must escape to the mountains; if a man is on the housetop, he must not...go into the house to collect any of his belongings; if a man is in the fields, he must not turn back to fetch his cloak. Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come!" (Mark 13:14-18). Not a good environment to start a family in; in fact Jesus seems to be strongly encouraging His listeners not to do so.

In fact, perusing the stories of the ancient martyrs, it appears that many young women joined the Christians partly to escape arranged marriages.

So if Peter were to step in at all, it would be to tell both Ezra and Linux to kindly back off. But nope, he decides for Abigail that she should marry neither of them, but instead an outspoken young believer named Stephen. As if on cue, Abigail abandons her plan to be a consecrated virgin and starts swooning over Stephen because he's so godly and non-problematic. Unlike Linux, who makes her stomach feel weird and might have cooties.

The real St. Stephen was 100% consumed with zeal for evangelization and probably had even less interest in marriage than his fellow Way followers. He could have been married before his conversion, but after? Yeah, not likely. Assuming that this far-fetched thing would happen, he and his wife would probably wind up living as siblings, marriage unconsummated. In fact, that's what I thought happened, until (view spoiler)[Abigail reveals at the end that she's pregnant. What happened to "Alas for those with child" ? (hide spoiler)]

While all this anachronistic nonsense goes down in the Christian neighborhood, Linux's army assignments send him across the province. He's in a fine temper, having found out that Abigail has been married off to someone else, and he's also grappling with the drastic changes in his old friend Alban. We get some good character development from him, as he confronts his anger against the world and eventually decides to follow Jesus.

Then Linux returns to Jerusalem and asks Peter to catechize him. Who does Peter assign this task to but Stephen, because that's not rubbing salt in Linux's sounds at all. Seriously, why would you do this?!? You want to make converts, not drive them away! And Linux, being a much better human being than any of the other characters give him credit for, actually comes to admire Stephen, despite this universe's Stephen being kind of smarmy.

The other Scriptural saints don't fare much better. Peter is largely bereft of personality, and as previously discussed, most of his actions are far out of character and unlikely in historical context. Mary Magdalene has vanished from the story. Mary, Mother of Jesus, and John the Beloved aren't even mentioned. Saul of Tarsus is a generic menace who only appears in a few scenes despite being responsible for the most important event in the story.

The one exception is Martha of Bethany, here portrayed as a Marilla Cuthbert-like character who keeps the congregation alive, being the only person who remembers that they still need to eat.The authors seem genuinely fond of her, and it was nice to see this unglamorous Biblical figure get some attention for once.

Unfortunately, the most pivotal events in the book - the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, the gladiator combat witnessed by Jacob, and the martyrdom of Stephen - are left entirely on-screen (off-page?). The scenes don't need to be gory, although the graphic portrayal of Stephen's death in Taylor Caldwell's Great Lion of God left an indelible mark on my imagination. But there's really no good reason to exclude them from the novel.

No content advisory needed.

Up next: The Damascus Way .