Jesus for a Secular Age?

Three Paths to a Decent Life: Dismantling the teaching of St. Paul Sequel to Jesus for a Secular Age?

The Christian New Testament is dominated by two men, Jesus and Paul. Take away the four gospels and the letters of Paul and it is surprising how little of real significance is left.

Following Leslie Scrase’s recent book on the relevance of Jesus for a secular age, he felt he had to continue and take a closer look at Paul.

More than any other person, Paul was responsible for turning a small Jewish sect into an organisation holding the capacity to become a world religion. His dynamic, driven, self-assured character, combined with his organisational skills, put together with his determination that the new religion was for all mankind and not just for Jews, led to the early spread and success of the new religion.

Without Paul it is more than possible there would be no Christian churches and no Christian religion today.

ISBN: 9781852002145

Size: 217x135mm 

Binding: paperback 

Length: 83pp

Jesus for a Secular Age? A close look at whether the stories of Jesus have anything to offer us today.

Brought up within a Christian family and attending a boarding school with a very narrow Bible-based Christian heritage, it took Leslie Scrase until his forties to break free. Now with many grandchildren who have no religious beliefs at all, he has found himself looking at the biblical gospel stories again and asking whether Jesus has any relevance at all in this increasingly irreligious and secular age.

ISBN: 9781852002114

Size: 217x135mm 

Binding: paperback 

Length: 83pp

Driven Crazy My Life With Cars & Other Vehicles

Sometimes it’s easy to imagine cars are just for getting from ‘a’ to ‘b’ – but we all know deep down that each vehicle has a character of its own. In this humorously offbeat and unusual book we share in Leslie Scrase’s life through his automotive experiences, where Jaguars and VW camper vans are viewed with equal affection. 

Having always loved cars from his very earliest days, the 1950s found Leslie with his first purchase of a 1934 Austin 7, which became known as Aubrey – and Aubrey was to prove a valuable early lesson in the art of car ownership and driving in general! 

Leslie amusingly describes events in his life in relation to the vehicles he has encountered; at one point even finding himself in South India where the transport was an ancient Ford Anglia. 

There are cars, minibuses and camper vans, and a Vauxhall Victor, which together with a Pemberton caravan come truly to life in one chapter as Vera and Charlie, causing considerable trouble for their owner Leslie! 

Eventually love of cars and driving led Leslie to start a chauffeur driven car hire company in Surrey. The cars were all Daimlers and Jaguars, and the clientele were largely leading businessmen, politicians and stars of stage and screen, some of whom provide an interesting lesson on the affect money and power can have on human nature.

ISBN: 9781852001797 

Size: 217x140mm 

Binding: hardback 

17 b&w photographs 

Length: 163pp

We all want to know how to achieve good, positive, satisfying, fulfilling and happy lives, and at its heart this book helps enable us to obtain the understanding necessary to attain these positive attributes.

Leslie Scrase's thoughtful and straightforward approach to the weighty subject matter of the title make it interesting and accessible. By racing through history and whizzing selectively around the world, we can see that belief and unbelief have always lived side by side and that belief has developed from very primitive beginnings to metamorphose into the major religions of today.

Philosophical thinking spans both religion and unbelief, but it is less well known that ethics is also a subject that spans both. Believers and unbelievers have always been concerned with trying to pin down the values and principles by which people should try to live.

So the primary purpose of this book is to paint a picture of human thought and endeavour which may help us as we think about our own lives and how best to live them.

ISBN: 9781852001650 

Size: 217x140mm 

Binding: hardback 

Length: 138pp

As an appreciative but critical commentary on the four Bible Gospels, this is consequently, and most importantly, an in-depth study of the Gospel portrayals of Jesus himself.

Although not the first commentator to conclude that Jesus was simply a human being like the rest of us, Leslie Scrase's analysis of the Gospels, written following many years of study, looks for the evidence that provides proof of this. Whilst he nevertheless concludes that Jesus was a fine teacher and faith healer, his reasoning, taken from the different approaches to the man's life reported within the Gospels, is stimulating and entirely free of dogma.

The final evaluation of Jesus, taken from these Gospels, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all depicting the life of Jesus, is that, even though some of the teachings ascribed to him are pretty awful by today's standards, much of his teaching is timeless in its quality and remains of universal value and application.

ISBN: 9781852001599 

Size: 217x140mm 

Binding: hardback 

Length: 169pp

An Unbeliever's Guide to the Bible: Including the Apocrypha

With this book Leslie Scrase thoughtfully explains to readers exactly how the writing of the Bible was compiled over the two thousand years that it came into existence, he expands on what it means to the various different religions and, perhaps most importantly to the unbeliever, he uncovers those parts which are beautifully written and meaningful to humanity in general.

The author himself grew up in a Methodist family, attended a Methodist theological college, which was part of the London University, and then served as a minister for about 20 years. He had a few years as a presbyter of the Church of South India and was also Principal of the Medak Bible School whilst there. At this time he would read the Old Testament once every three years and the New Testament every year, giving him a deep knowledge of the text. He has also included within this guide the Apocrypha, the part of the Bible less read by Protestant Christians, because it contains passages of great thoughtfulness and beauty.

Over a period of time Leslie Scrase's views began to move away from Christianity, and the final realisation that he no longer had any religious beliefs lifted a great weight from his shoulders. Now he is able to take a dispassionate look at the Bible, consider it in context with both history and the many various religions which take inspiration from it, explain to unbelievers what it means to believers, and also extract those parts which have appeal and value to all mankind today without the need for religious ideology.

ISBN: 9781852001469 

Size: 217x140mm 

Binding: hardback 

Length: 275pp

Coping with Death: A Book for the Bereaved and Those Who Try to Help Them

In this short book author Leslie Scrase helps to uncover and explain those emotions felt when having to deal with death, something we will all be involved with during various parts of our lives but which is often so very difficult to contemplate or discuss.

After many years of conducting Humanist ceremonies the author has gained a great deal of sympathetic knowledge and understanding about bereavement and how to cope with it.

Starting with the funeral ceremony itself, the book goes on to discuss the problems of coping with untimely death, surviving and progressing after bereavement, whether there is life after death, and dealing with the anger or guilt which death can induce.

At the end of the book there are a good number of passages and poems to help stimulate or bring comfort to readers, many of which could also be particularly useful to anyone looking for something suitable to quote within a memorial ceremony.

ISBN: 9781852002053 

Size: 217x135mm 

Binding: paperback 

Length: 93pp

In this third autobiographical novel we follow Roger Wallace as he faces the demands and culture shock of National Service in the Royal Navy from 1949 to 1951.

To begin with it seems that life is just an endless nightmare of fatigues and training, but fortunately Roger’s prowess at cross-country helps him through this stage. He also finds, as in his boarding-school days, that he has a natural capacity to help and side with those who are being ill-treated, even though this causes trouble for himself.

He soon learns to take every opportunity of enjoyment that the Navy offers, despite misgivings about the Korean War. He also begins to fundamentally doubt his religious upbringing and finds himself, almost by accident, performing ‘alternative’ ceremonies at a friend’s wedding and an associate’s funeral, both to considerable acclaim.

Romantic and sexual experiences are a continuing influence in Roger’s life, but it seems that a misunderstanding will ruin his chance of happiness with Gladys, his first love from his school-days, as she plans to marry someone else.

Finally, helped by a kindly officer, he is able to make preparations for life beyond National Service, taking the first crucial steps towards his adult life and a new career.

Again, as in both An Evacuee and A Prized Pupil!, by writing from his own experiences the author evokes the genuine feelings of a young man in the mid-twentieth century.

ISBN: 9781852001018 

Size: 217x140mm 

Binding: hardback 

Length: 223pp

Having become displaced from home as an evacuee in 1942, the idea of boarding school is exciting to young Roger Wallace.

His head full of Tom Brown’s Schooldays and Stalky and Co., he soon discovers that boarding-school in the mid-20th century is not all that different; with bullying and beatings in abundance, especially the latter!

With the school being based in rural Devon it is not affected greatly by the war, other than a lack of food. But for Roger, originally sent away from Croydon because of the bombing and with family in the armed services, the brutal reality of war strikes him through the death of a brother which, in turn, becomes a milestone in his own coming of age. 

Despite all this his school life is generally happy, with many good friends who share and collude in his experiences. And he has his first intimate relationship with Gladys, the girl who works in the kitchens.

Drawn from the author’s own experiences, this is a brilliantly evocative story of a young adolescent boy – not just a tale of boarding-school life. We share in his laughter, his stresses, his love, sex, and his tears of sorrow.

Although rising from the bottom of the pile, Roger Wallace remains a bit of a rebel, and perhaps only he would describe himself as ‘A Prized Pupil!’

ISBN: 9781852000967 

Size: 217x140mm 

Binding: hardback 

Length: 239pp