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Newsday
BAVINA SOOKDEO
Seventy-one-year-old cardiologist and Chaconia Medal (Silver) recipient, Dr Ronald Henry, has blended biblical scripture with archaeological and historical evidence in his new book Moses Revealed.
Moses’ journey – leading the Israelites through the desert toward the Promised Land – remains one of the Bible’s most powerful stories. While it has been retold for modern audiences through several films and television series, Henry’s book, launched at the Hilton on October 29, is said to offer a deeper and more comprehensive exploration of Moses’ life – from his upbringing as a prince in the court of Egyptian royalty to his emergence as one of the key figures in Christian tradition.
In Moses Revealed, Henry turns his attention to an inquiry that explores ancient history, faith and the enduring human search for truth.
The origins of that search, Henry admits, stretch back further than even he fully understands. “By the time I was four, there was this narrative about me wanting to be a doctor,” he recalled. While he suspects that family members telling him he resembled his uncle, Mervyn Henry – then the only doctor in the family – may have planted the seed, his eventual commitment to medicine came unexpectedly during his school years.
As a sixth form student at Queen’s Royal College, Henry briefly considered becoming an actuary until a moment of improvisation changed everything. Representing his school in the Jaycees Public Speaking Competition, he was asked to speak extemporaneously on What I wish to do with the next ten years of my life and why.
Henry explained that, in the moment, he felt compelled to take a different approach and began asking himself what might truly inspire the audience. He decided to speak about medicine, improvising much of the story as he went along. He told the audience how passionate he had been about caring for his pets as a child and claimed that he would often run to the health centre just to see what was happening. By his own admission, much of it was made up.
As he spoke, Henry realised the audience was responding positively. Gaining confidence, he gathered momentum, and halfway through the presentation, he found himself genuinely convinced that medicine was what he wanted to pursue. From that moment on, he said, he made the decision to become a doctor – a choice that ultimately proved to be life-changing.
Embracing faith and science
A cardiologist for 40 years, what drew Henry beyond medicine and toward interest in ancient Egypt? Posed with this question he explained it was first sparked 20 years ago during a visit to the country. Witnessing the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and the foreboding expanse of the Sahara Desert added to his fascination. For years he quietly nurtured this interest, dedicating his free time to learn as much as he could about ancient Egypt. It began with a vague academic manuscript, to satisfy his own interest, evolving into years of reading archaeology and hieroglyphic translations. Henry said he was particularly influenced by German Egyptologist Jan Assmann, whose work The Search for God in Ancient Egypt reshaped his understanding of early belief systems.
“I realised that so much of what I understood to be modern Christian faith really had lookalikes amongst what some of these ancient people would be,” Henry explained. “That’s what contributed to my embrace of the faith and science portals.” This discovery prompted him to re-examine biblical narratives – especially the story of Moses – through a broader historical lens.
What troubled him most, he said, was that Egypt is often encountered only through the writings of its opponents. “So how does one get a dispassionate understanding, of a people if the only story you’re hearing is the story that the enemies tell about them?” he asked. Standing in Egypt, Henry was struck by parallels between ancient Egyptian beliefs and modern Christianity, particularly ideas about death, resurrection and the afterlife. “These were people who believed you lived, you died and you came back again,” he said. “That’s something any modern Christian would recognise.”
As his research deepened, Henry found himself revisiting the Old Testament with fresh eyes, noticing how archaeological findings and faith-based narratives began to converge rather than conflict. “Modern man lives in the space between faith on one hand, and science on the other,” he reflected. “Neither alone is truth. Truth is a distant destination.”
Dilemma between faith and knowledge
Still, Moses Revealed was not originally intended for publication. That changed in December 2023, when Henry contracted covid19 and became critically ill, requiring intensive care. During his prolonged recovery, he found himself reading portions of his manuscript aloud to a male nurse who became deeply engaged with the material. That’s when it dawned on Henry this was something that appealed to the audience he wished to address. He said, “So I learned from that experience and out of that, I said: I understand now what I need to do – I need to write about this through the eyes of the character Moses, because he is someone modern man can relate to and journey with, as the icon of modern man’s dilemma in this space between faith and knowledge.”
Surviving the illness gave the work new urgency. “I realised I could have gone,” Henry reflected. “And I thought – perhaps I’m here to complete this.” On Christmas Day 2023, he made himself a promise: the book would be finished before the next Christmas. He kept it.
The resulting 89-page volume presents Moses not as a flawless icon, but as a complex, deeply human figure – educated in Egyptian science, shaped by palace politics and drawn into a demanding faith journey. “If you encounter a hero through the eyes of worshippers, you get iconography, not a person,” Henry said. “I wanted to show Moses as more human – more like Spiderman than Superman.”
In Henry’s portrayal, Moses becomes a mirror for modern professionals – individuals trained in knowledge and reason, yet called toward faith, purpose and surrender. One reader, Henry recalled, described the book to his wife as “…the journey of Moses from a man of knowledge to a man of faith,” an observation Henry said perfectly captures its essence.
At the official launch, Minister of Education Dr Michael Dowlath praised Henry’s work as a model of lifelong learning. He noted that the book’s diagnostic precision and human-centred storytelling demonstrate how history can be “read, questioned and sometimes even reimagined.”
Though Moses Revealed is his first book, Henry has already committed to two more. Whether or not readers agree with his interpretations, he remains open to dialogue. “Education should humble us to recognise how much we don’t know,” he said. “Our obligation therefore should be to keep on learning. I intend to.”
Moses Revealed can be purchased at Paper Based Bookshop, 14 Alcazar Street, St Clair, Unique Book Stores nationwide and on Amazon.
