Bill Kassel's Blog

Occasional reflections on things that come into my mind — plus links to episodes of my radio show / podcast, “Free Expression”

First Responses and Reviews

By Leave a Comment

REACTIONS TO MY NEW NOVEL
ARE BEGINNING TO APPEAR

MBK CoverReviews and customer comments on my new novel, MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, are starting to turn up. Reading those first reactions is always gratifying to an author.

By the time you reach the point where people can evaluate your work, you’ve been absorbed in your story and characters for years — writing, rewriting, polishing. You can’t be sure if what you think is good about the book might not just come down to familiarity.

So it’s reassuring when other people say complimentary things.

[Read more…] about First Responses and Reviews

My Brother’s Keeper

By 2 Comments

A NOVEL ABOUT JESUS’ RELATIVES
AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN THEM

MBK Cover“What if your brother was the most controversial figure in the history of the world and your job was to protect him?

“That’s the challenge faced by the Rabbi James of Jerusalem — whom the Bible identifies as ‘the brother of the Lord’ — in MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, an inspired retelling of the Christian story by author Bill Kassel.

“What can James do to fulfill a deathbed promise to his father, Joseph, and save Jesus, the Nazarene prophet who is stirring debate and contention among the Jewish religious leadership and the Roman occupiers?”

Sound provocative?

I hope so, because this is the lead copy on promotional materials for my new novel that is finally — finally — out.

[Read more…] about My Brother’s Keeper

Why was Jesus Crucified?

By Leave a Comment

CHRIST MAY HAVE DIED FOR OUR SINS
BUT THERE WERE WORLDLY REASONS TOO

Despite its status as the holiest day on the Christian calendar, Easter has never had an impact on American life that comes close to the annual, all-pervasive social and economic supernova of Christmas.  This is probably explainable by Easter’s limited potential for commercialization.  Chocolate bunnies and died eggs can’t match the buying and gift-giving frenzy of Yuletide. Even shopping for that new spring outfit — to the extent people still dress up for Easter in our over-casual age — barely nudges the gross domestic product.

Easter just remains so stubbornly…religious.  It’s also kind of demanding.  Grasping the joy, or even the concept, of resurrection takes faith.  What does it mean that Jesus rose again?  For that matter, why did he have to die in the first place?

Now, there’s a question even believers often ask.  To reply that Christ died for our sins is to express a theological insight arrived at after the fact (and one which folks who have trouble making the leap to a Christian point of view can find a little off-putting; “I didn’t ask him to die for my sins,” they’ll say).

But let’s go back 2,000-or-so years.  What were the conditions at the time which prompted Jesus’ execution? Or to frame the question another way:  Why would anybody want to kill someone who went around preaching love and offering a lot of uplifting homilies?  And healing the sick to boot!  What’s not to like about all that?

[Read more…] about Why was Jesus Crucified?