In the Works,

Thank you for keeping this blog on your list of reading materials. This is my first blog post in  quite a while. I have been working on my next book. The working title is, The Leper’s Testament, and is a sequel to Book 3 of Search for the Sacred Scroll. I am now twenty-five chapters into the new book, and it has been challenging and fun to write. That is why I like historical fiction. You get to make stuff up.

My original idea was to write a Jewish “gospel.” I wanted to tell the story of Jesus as if it had been written by a Jewish character who is actually mentioned in the New Testament. The Acts of the Apostles (Chapter 5 verses 34-39) has a story that felt perfect for my project. A Pharisee named Gamaliel (Gamliel) cautions the council of elders in their treatment of the followers of Jesus. This Gamaliel has been identified as none other than Rabban Gamliel, a well-respected rabbinic authority at the time of Jesus. What if, so I mused, he had written his own version of the Jesus story, from the perspective of a member of the council that put Jesus on trial? The idea was growing on me until I found that I was not the first person on the planet who had imagined such a gospel. 

Continuing my exploration of the New Testament for possible story lines, I paused over John the Baptist. Maybe his story would be worthy of a Jewish gospel. In an early attempt to sketch a story outline, I knew that John the Baptist would have to be referred to by his Hebrew or Aramaic name. He would be identified as Yochanan ben Zechariah. As the sound of that name was entering my consciousness, I could not help but hear another famous Hebrew name that sounded similar, Yochanan ben Zakkai. A number of Jewish authorities both ancient and modern, credit Yochanan ben Zakkai with single handedly saving Judaism from the destruction of the Roman Empire.  What if Yochanan ben Zechariah and Yochanan ben Zakkai were one in the same person?  How would that even work? Continue to read next installment of the blog and you shall find out.