A New Book from Peter Rodgers ’69

The third volume in the scribes series by the Rev. Peter Rodgers, Class of 1969, has recently been published. The new novel is called The Pelican and the Phoenix, and it features the differences between the European Latin and the African Latin texts of the gospels. It also gives a portrait of Tertullian, a young pagan lawyer in Carthage, thinking his way toward Christian faith in 187-88 AD. The book is published by Amazon and is available as an e-book or as a paperback.

The novel tells the story of Rufus, a scribe of the roman church on a mission in western Britain in 184 A.D. He was captured by bandits who sold him into slavery. His enslavement took him to Ireland, the west coast of Britain, and finally to Carthage. His new owner was determined to have him trained to be a gladiator. For Rufus this was a terrible fate. But the story changes when he discovers new friends, among them Paulina and Tertullian, and follows Rufus as he seeks a new freedom, discovers a new translation of the Gospel in Latin, and develops a new love. Watch as Tertullian moves his way toward Christian faith in the company of true friends and comes face to face with the power of the Christian gospel.

Rodgers was Rector of St. John's Episcopal Church, New Haven Connecticut, and an Associate Fellow of Timothy Dwight College at Yale University from 1979 until 2003. He holds degrees from Hobart College, General, and Oxford University. He also previously served as curate for student ministry at the Round Church in Cambridge, England. He has published several journal articles on the text of the New Testament and is the author of Knowing Jesus (InterVarsity 1982, Forward Movement 1989), and Text and Story (Wipf and Stock, 2011). In his retirement, he teaches New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, Sacramento campus, and is Pastor of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Antelope, CA.