What an amazingly riveting book! From the first page you are drawn into the story of a seminary professor who receives a troubled text from a good friend, who was a tour guide on the professor's father's tours of the holy land. It was perplexing and set the scene for what was to come which we learn little by little as we move from present day to A.D. 67 in a Roman dungeon with the Apostle Paul. Normally, I get frustrated and don't enjoy reading these types of stories that flip back and forth. This time I was transfixed from the beginning and kept reading and reading each chapter to see what would happen next in each time period.
Jerry Jenkins has a gift for telling a story which is a well known fact. In this novel, he achieves his mission in teaching us about Paul's early life as a boy and growing into a man and learning to be a rabbi. He shocks us with the developments in Saul's life and shows us how easily one can little by little be drawn into a way of thinking that is so opposite that which God wishes for us. When I read the chapters about Dr. Augie Knox, I almost felt like I was in his shoes as he traveled from Texas to Rome and met his dear friend and saw how troubled he was by the recent events which brought about the need for Augie to come to his aid. I sat in wonder as they described places where I had recently visited while living in Rome and the thoughts that I could have been there on the Spanish Steps when Augie was there...
The information shared about antiquities and the way they are discovered and then traded for great sums of money was very interesting. Adding the human interest of a love story together with strong family ties that created stress in their relationship kept me reading to see if love would win in the end.
Over all, I thought this book was one of the best that I have read in a long time and I look forward to the next in this series -- I, Paul. Read this, your understanding of Paul's letters in the Bible will be enriched by doing so!
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