A stimulating story that challenges readers to consider and appreciate the coming-of-age a young Jesus may have gone through.
An adolescent Jesus develops his divine nature in Bear’s debut religious fiction.
The Bible offers only a glimpse of Jesus’ adolescence, but this novel presents one possible course of events for readers to mull over. Bear builds his tale around a Celtic legend about Jesus visiting the people of first-century Britain. In his version, Jesus goes to Britain with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, and his cousin, Daniel, when his uncle travels there to start trading tin. Jesus is aware of his status as Messiah but doesn’t yet understand what that position truly means. He spends years in Britain, living among Celtic people and their druids and slowly developing his divine nature through his experiences there. Though initially lacking in compassion, he’s eager to prove himself a capable warrior, and he eventually confronts the truth that his kingdom will not be on Earth but in heaven. Learning to accept this truth and its tragic implications is difficult even for the son of God. The book also follows a mysterious “tunic cross” that features an image of adolescent Jesus. Eventually, a modern boy encounters the cross, and its connection to the past is gradually revealed throughout the book. Jesus’ story is, of course, theologically controversial. Bear addresses a major point of contention in Christian thought by speculating on how much of his divine nature Jesus understood as he grew up. Some of the images might be difficult for faithful readers to accept, especially those involving a sword-wielding or compassionless Jesus. Bear’s version of adolescent Jesus makes mistakes and has misunderstandings, but he ultimately acts within the Heavenly Father’s will. Overall, Bear successfully creates a character who technically remains sinless while still struggling with the process of growing up. With vivid side characters, an intriguing backdrop and steady pacing, the book is also a strong piece of writing. Occasional allusions to Jesus’ ministry evoke a sense of completeness, too, as when Jesus develops the idea for his parable of the prodigal son after listening to a Celtic tale and dealing with an errant tribal prince.
A stimulating story that challenges readers to consider and appreciate the coming-of-age a young Jesus may have gone through.Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0989313803
Page Count: 438
Publisher: Eirth Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
These letters from some important executive Down Below, to one of the junior devils here on earth, whose job is to corrupt mortals, are witty and written in a breezy style seldom found in religious literature. The author quotes Luther, who said: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." This the author does most successfully, for by presenting some of our modern and not-so-modern beliefs as emanating from the devil's headquarters, he succeeds in making his reader feel like an ass for ever having believed in such ideas. This kind of presentation gives the author a tremendous advantage over the reader, however, for the more timid reader may feel a sense of guilt after putting down this book. It is a clever book, and for the clever reader, rather than the too-earnest soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1942
ISBN: 0060652934
Page Count: 53
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1943
Hoffman (The Red Garden, 2011, etc.) births literature from tragedy: the destruction of Jerusalem's Temple, the siege of Masada and the loss of Zion.
This is a feminist tale, a story of strong, intelligent women wedded to destiny by love and sacrifice. Told in four parts, the first comes from Yael, daughter of Yosef bar Elhanan, a Sicarii Zealot assassin, rejected by her father because of her mother's death in childbirth. It is 70 CE, and the Temple is destroyed. Yael, her father, and another Sicarii assassin, Jachim ben Simon, and his family flee Jerusalem. Hoffman's research renders the ancient world real as the group treks into Judea's desert, where they encounter Essenes, search for sustenance and burn under the sun. There too Jachim and Yael begin a tragic love affair. At Masada, Yael is sent to work in the dovecote, gathering eggs and fertilizer. She meets Shirah, her daughters, and Revka, who narrates part two. Revka's husband was killed when Romans sacked their village. Later, her daughter was murdered. At Masada, caring for grandsons turned mute by tragedy, Revka worries over her scholarly son-in-law, Yoav, now consumed by vengeance. Aziza, daughter of Shirah, carries the story onward. Born out of wedlock, Aziza grew up in Moab, among the people of the blue tunic. Her passion and curse is that she was raised as a warrior by her foster father. In part four, Shirah tells of her Alexandrian youth, the cherished daughter of a consort of the high priests. Shirah is a keshaphim, a woman of amulets, spells and medicine, and a woman connected to Shechinah, the feminine aspect of God. The women are irretrievably bound to Eleazar ben Ya'ir, Masada's charismatic leader; Amram, Yael's brother; and Yoav, Aziza's companion and protector in battle. The plot is intriguingly complex, with only a single element unresolved. An enthralling tale rendered with consummate literary skill.
Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1747-4
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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