Sam Bourne's The Righteous Men is a real page turner. It starts with a rookie reporter, the hero Will Munroe, attending his first homicide, unbeknownst to him part of a series of murders. As he begins to investigate he unwittingly stumbles on something bigger than just another story.

Each of the men being killed have something in common - they have all committed selfless acts. They may lead morally dubious or questionable lives but each has been involved in an act that is purely for the benefit of another or lots of others. There is the politician who siphons off funds to ease poverty around the world, the pimp who paid a girl enough money to live rather than work as a prostitute, and so on.

The book raises the issue of what is goodness, and as Will explores and is drawn further and further into a world in which he is out of his depth, that of Jewish mythology, he learns there are 36 righteous men, and that the legend says if half are killed the world will end. Throughout that question of what is good remains. Will himself comes to realise that: "So goodness is not about rules. Or wearing a hair shirt. Or praying hard. Or knowing every word in the Bible. It's about how we treat each other."

That may be goodness but what is righteousness?

Being righteous is vastly different from being good. Being righteous means being made right before God. It is about having knowing you are in a right relationship before God, in other words that he will accept you. The Bible says that is not to do with rules, praying hard or knowing the bible, but it is also about more than just how we treat each other.

In Romans 3 Paul says that there is none righteous because even our best deeds are tainted by self interest or motivation. What we need is someone who will come and repair or reconcile our relationship with God. That person is Jesus.

Christianity & Culture