Centurion

 

 

 

Centurion

 

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ISBN: 1602900124
ISBN-13: 9781602900127

Format: Paperback, 400pp

Publisher: OakTara Publishing Group LLC

Pub. Date: January 2008

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  A longing heart.

An unlikely friendship.

Love...and the bitterest of betrayals.

   
 
Who was the man ordered to crucify Christ?
   
 
What did he witness that led him to proclaim, “This was surely the Son of God?”
 
Traditionally, we named him, the Centurion Abenadar, and we know almost nothing about him.  The novel, Centurion, gives life to Centurion Abenadar.  
  
Abenadar’s life is based on primary source documents about the Roman Legion. Abenadar was close enough to the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, that Pilate trusted him with the responsibility of the controversial and potentially explosive crucifixion of Christ.  At the same time, Abenadar was a man to whom Pilate effortlessly gave the dirty work of the crucifixion, the execution for which Pilate himself would not take responsibility.  

Centurion casts Abenadar as the bastard child of the Roman ambassador to the court of Herod the Great.  Abenadar’s mother was a Judean girl, the Roman ambassador’s concubine.  When the ambassador returned to Rome, he left her pregnant, and in disgrace.  The girl returned to her home in Nazareth of Galilee.  She named her son, Abenadar, after his father.  
 
Abenadar’s father did not leave him with nothing—he granted his son Roman citizenship.  When Abenadar accepted his legacy, he also discovered a place in the Roman Legion stationed in Galilee.  Abenadar found in the legion and Roman citizenship a boon and a curse.  From his mother’s training in Herod’s court, Abenadar spoke and read Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and from the taint of his father’s legacy and his hard childhood, Abenadar learned to be a cunning fighter.  The legion honed these skills.  Centurion maps the rise of Abenadar through the ranks and units in Palestine until he is a chief advisor and one of the lead Centurions in Jerusalem.  In this capacity, he both advised Pilate and became the vehicle to enact Pilate’s decree.
    
Abenadar was more than a Centurion; he was also half Judean.  His abilities derived from his understanding and communication with the people of Judea.  But Abenadar was a man, not a piece of cardboard—all the forces in his life shaped and formed him.  He fervently trusted in God—and in the legion.  When he accidentally rescued a prostitute, Ruth, in the streets of Jerusalem, he redeemed her—for himself.  Ruth was a destitute girl; the death of her parents forced her into her past life.  After Abenadar took her in, she lived a semblance of the life she was raised to lead.  Life with Ruth changed Abenadar.  He returned to the Judean practice of his youth, and through Ruth’s faith, Abenadar’s life became connected to the new prophet—Jesus.  
    
Abenadar experienced the events in the city of Jerusalem from inside the court of Pilate and from the city streets.  When Jesus was brought before Pilate, Abenadar became his interpreter and translator.  When Pilate gave Jesus over to the Priests, he instructed Abenadar to crucify Jesus.  
 
Through Abenadar’s eyes, Centurion reveals the crucifixion and the resurrection. Abenadar’s greatest fear was that he would lose Ruth, for she believed the message of the prophet he must execute.  But Abenadar misjudged Ruth’s love and her faith.  And he misjudged how his experience of the Christ would change him.

 

 

 

  Reviews:
  Google alerts found this for me about Centurion at http://www.romanarmytalk.com/rat/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=30030

"So I finished reading "Centurion" by L.D. Alford a while back. If you want to know how legionaries trained, how they rose through the ranks, and how they actually fought, this book gives a good account. Apparently, the author visited Rome, Jerusalem, and other places to learn first-hand what was required to make a legionary.

Most members of R.A.T. probably already know most of the information outlined in the book, but despite my decades of interest in the topic of Rome's legions, I've only just now, within the last year, begun taking time to research. So this book was good for me, a newbie to the Roman way of training, using and disciplining troops. I really enjoyed it."

   
  See the bottom of this All the Difference brochure.
 

 

All the Difference

 

 

 

a brief Bible study note from Wayne Braudrick

January 8, 2009

 

Dear Michael,

Determination

In Acts 10, we encounter the Greek term dienthumoumenou. It's found in verse 19, where Peter is thinking through what God has said:

And while Peter was reflecting on the vision... (NASB)

"Was reflecting" is dienthumoumenou. It's a strange Greek compound that appears in the Bible only here. It combines passion, internalizing, and learning.  Peter is exhibiting passionate concentration, showing his determination to learn. He is dedicated to learning from God's words to him. In fact, the Greek experts tell us that this term means Peter was working through his internal understanding in preparation to living more skillfully externally. He was changing from the inside-out.

 

Is that how we approach God's Word? It should be! Back when I coached baseball, I would occasionally be delighted to see a young athlete approach the game with dienthumoumenou. I would instruct the team about how to hit the ball: watch it all the way, short slide step, shift the hips through the zone, follow through. Sadly, many players just kept right on with their own bad form. Yet some kids would stop and concentrate on what I said. You could almost see the wheels spinning in their heads. They would practice the instruction over and over. They would demonstrate parts of their swing and ask for clarification, "Coach, is this right? Is that what you mean?"

 

Dienthumoumenou. Those kids prospered in the game, and as their coach I was blessed to work with them. May that also be how we learn to apply God's Word. May we live skillfully, and may our heavenly Coach be blessed.

 

Jew & Gentile

The tension in Acts 10 comes from the integration of Jew and Gentile; especially the way the Lord intends each group to bless the other.  And while Roman centurion Cornelius and Galilean Jew Peter end up exhibiting marvelous harmony, it's a tragic truth that over the past 2000 years few have followed their lead. Jews & Gentiles - even when they each believe in Jesus - still struggle with separation.

 

In his classic Forgotten Truths Sir Robert Anderson accurately observed that the Gentile & Jewish Christians maintain a prideful focus that keeps them apart:

 

"The Jew has treated the Gentile as a pariah, and Gentile regards Jews as enemies to be shunned, if not as vermin to be exterminated. Hence the fact that so few Gentiles came within the blessing during the old economy (the Old Testament), and that, during the new, so few Jews have accepted the Christ."

 

Our church is dedicated to seeing that division breached with the gospel of Jesus. One of the reasons that we support John Kanter, missionary with the Christian Jew Foundation, is to assist him in sharing Messiah Yeshua with Jews. John also helps us Gentiles stay attuned to the Hebrew foundations of our faith.

 

John and I were at lunch once and discussing this need for unified blessing across Jew and Gentile boundaries; specifically for the church of Jesus to fulfill scripture and reach the Jew with the good news of his Messiah. During our conversation, my plate was delivered. However, the waiter told John that his would be a few moments. John looked at me and said, "Obviously this restaurant doesn't share our passion for the Bible. They serve the Gentile first." (FYI - Romans 1:16 says:

 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. NASB

 

Centurion

Apparently many of you were intrigued by the amount of information available on the Roman army in Galilee. Some were especially interested in the life of a Roman centurion. While there are many excellent historical sources on the life and times of a first century centurion, I recommend a work of historical fiction. Centurion, by L.D. Alford, does a first-rate job of incorporating all the relevant facts we know about the Romans in Israel during Peter's time. Furthermore, it's a really fun story that will, I think, encourage you as a Christian. Centurion is available from Capstone Fiction.

 

God bless,

 Wayne

 

 

 

 

Rev. Dr. Michael Wayne Braudrick | Senior Pastor | Frisco Bible Church | 972.335.8150
"The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith." I Timothy 1:5
All The Difference TM

 

 

 

 

 

   
  Book Review
CENTURION
By L.D. Alford
Capstone, 978-1-60290-012-7, PB, 382 pages, $17.95

The book review below appeared in the Summer 2008 edition of Church Libraries, A Publication of the Evangelical Church Library Association.

Click this link to see the review in context:

CenturionNovel.com/Centurion Review in Church Libraries.pdf

   
  Book Review
CENTURION
By L.D. Alford
Capstone, 978-1-60290-012-7, PB, 382 pages, $17.95

    Abendar and his mother endured disapproving stares in the village of Natzeret, but so did Yesuha son of Yosef and Miryam. The two boy outcasts became fast friends. Abendar then left his village to join the Roman Legion and eventually rose to the rank of centurion. Abendar subsequently rescued Ruth, a woman from the streets, and fell in love with her. As the story now unfolds after years have passed, we see that Ruth believes that Jesus is the Messiah, but Abendar is doubtful, although curious. However, his duty to the legion and Pontius Pilate may cause him to lose everything-Ruth's love, his friendship with Jesus, and his soul's redemption.
   "Centurion" is a heartwarming tale about an unlikely friendship, love and a painful betrayal. A passage from Psalms begins each chapter and gives a clue as to what will happen. Alford does a beautiful job of creating realistic characters and believable dialogue. This is a book for teens and adults. The reader gets a picture of daily life in Jesus' time. Highly recommended.


http://www.aboiteindependent.com/content/features_content.htm
   
  News:
  East Wichita News Mar 08

 

 

 

Centurion: The World of the Legion in Palestine during the First Century

Where:  East Wichita Shepherd's Center

             4407 East Douglas

             Wichita, KS  67218

             316 682-0504

When:   25 March to 13 May 07

             Tuesdays 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.

What:    Session #1 - Abenadar

             Session #2 - Levant (Palestine) 6 bce to 35 ce

             Session #3 - The Legions

             Session #4 - Training a Legionnaire

             Session #5 - Making of a Centurion

             Session #6 - Jewish Life and Love

             Session #7 - Crucifixion and Resurrection

 

 

 

 

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 Centurion

The finest escape in literature is an escape into a real and inviting culture—so asserts L. D. Alford a novelist who explores with originality those cultures and societies we think we already know.  He builds tales that make ancient people and times real to us.  His stories uniquely explore the connections between events close and familiar and events of the past—he cleaves them together with threads of reality that bring the past alive.  L. D. Alford is familiar with technology and cultures—he earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Dayton. He is a graduate of Air War College, Air Command and Staff College, and the US Air Force Test Pilot School.  He is widely traveled and has spent long periods in Europe and Central America.  His writing includes over 40 technical articles, three historical fiction novels, and three science fiction novels.  L. D. Alford is an author who combines intimate scientific and cultural knowledge into fiction worlds that breathe reality.

 

 

 

  Novels by this Author
   
       The Second Mission (Available now)
       Centurion   (Available now published by OakTara)
       Aegypt            (Available now published by OakTara)
 

  

The Dragon and the Fox

 

                     (Available now published by OakTara)

 

                                                             

   The End of Honor          The Fox’s Honor          A Season of Honor 

 

   

 

 

 

  L.D. Alford is the author of 41 technical papers published in international journals on flight test, military policy, flight safety, space, and cyberwar.  Technical Writing
   
  L.D. Alford has been a professional aviator for over 30 years.  Aviation Writing
   

L.D. Alford Aviation Writing Technical Writing Unpublished Novels Writing Links Engineer

 

 

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