A few years ago I was involved with a couple of initiatives to create stories that would communicate a Christian point-of-view, but in a way that would work with anyone of any background., Christian or not.  Focus On The Family Radio Theatre was the first initiative.  The Passages series was the second.

Passages was the result of a wild idea I had to take Bible stories and re-tell them plot-point for plot-point in an alternative world.  I thought that approach would allow people who were overly familiar with the Bible stories to get a fresh perspective on those events and characters.  And I believed those who didn’t know they were from the Bible would still enjoy the stories themselves – and maybe even go back to the Bible to read the originals.

I originally had a picture in my mind of David as a swashbuckling hero living in a 19th century-type country where steam locomotives cut across the landscape and horse-drawn wagons still took produce to the village marketplaces.  I suppose it was a little like the country of Ruritania in the classic The Prisoner of Zenda.  Or, in fact, it was like England – a country where I have had the pleasure of living.  (Astute readers have noticed that the name of my country – Marus – is actually the name Sarum turned inside out.  Sarum is an ancient name for England.)

At the time I wanted to call the series Corridors and pitched the idea to Focus on the Family’s publisher Al Janssen and editor Larry Weeden.  They liked the idea, with the suggestion that I write the stories in the context of the Adventures In Odyssey series, which seemed like a pretty good idea.  We discussed which stories to tell and I worked out the prologues and epilogues with Whit and Jack, writing them in such a way so that those who didn’t know Odyssey could still enjoy the stories.

I never wanted readers to know the stories were based on the Bible stories – to the degree that I resisted putting in any disclaimers or explanations in the books themselves.  I wanted to follow in the footsteps of the great writers like C.S. Lewis and others who told their stories without overtly pointing to their source material.  I had hoped readers would figure it all out along the way and perhaps even identify which Bible story I was telling.  It seemed more fun that way.  And, as was true with Jesus’ parables, no explanation allowed people to have their own Aha! moment when they finally figured out what was going on.

I hope you enjoy a lot of Aha! moments with this series.

--Paul McCusker,
Author of Passages