Jac de Gooijer
On this website I write about the Bible, Israel and the church, and about their shared history. About how a Jewish story became a world religion, and what changed along the way.
Much of what we take for granted today in faith and theology emerged in a world very different from the one in which the Bible was written. That is why I try to read the Bible and the history of the church in their original context — in the world of Israel, the prophets, the rabbis and the first followers of Jesus.
Alongside essays and articles, I also write novels. In those stories, the same themes tend to recur: family, history, guilt, faith and return. Because ultimately many stories circle around the same question: where do you belong, and can you return to where it all began.
This website is a place for essays, articles and books — and for everyone with an interest in the Bible, Israel, history and faith.
THE RETURN
THE RETURN is a novel about family, guilt, faith and history.
The story follows people trying to find their place in a world where old stories still echo through the present.
It is a story about leaving and coming back, about fathers and sons, and about the question of whether you can ever truly leave the past behind.
Latest Articles
Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes
Sometimes we expect God to reveal himself in great events, in miracles, in visions, in the extraordinary.
But in Genesis 18, God appears to Abraham in a very ordinary place: at the entrance of a tent, in the heat of the day, in the form of three travellers passing by.
And Abraham does something remarkable. He does not begin to pray. He asks no theological questions. He runs. He fetches water. He has bread baked. He serves.
In the Bible, hospitality sometimes turns out to be a place where God himself is received.
Books & Essays
Some stories are not about leaving, but about coming back.
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