☞ The Preface: Excerpt from the novel, Under the Purple Sky
In the past, my ideas for writing a novel lacked originality. However, the inspiration for this book struck me while I was studying the Holy Scriptures to prepare for teaching. I immediately realized this new vision as inspiration from the Ruach Kodesh (Holy Spirit). Five years later, I completed the final draft.
As I continued writing and taking notes, I realized I had created an entire fictional universe. From my imagination, I present a futuristic epic set after the Old Earth has vanished and the New Earth has become a reality.
The story’s premises are as follows: What would the world be like if Adam and Eve had not rebelled against their Creator? Or envision a world akin to the Messianic Millennium, expanded across the galaxy. It is a world that Jewish sages referred to as HaOlam HaBa, “The world to come.” In the narrative, the Adamic race has populated the galaxy and established numerous worlds.
I view the novel as an extended, embellished parable written in the style of modern literature. The Jews were pioneers in using analogy as a storytelling form. They illuminated Scriptures through parables with common themes: Rabbis and students, royal figures and their loyal subjects, owners and servants, farmers and seeds, and the Kingdom of Heaven.
I wrote this story to uplift and inspire hope for the future. The Scriptures are not merely about doom and gloom. The prophets of old often balanced their warnings with hope for the future, and I have done the same.
~The author, V. C. Cheney