Upon This Rock
The Life of St. Peter
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
The acclaimed novel of the early years after the Resurrection, and the power of a Gospel, a Church, and a new World, is now available in a convenient ebook edition. Walter F. Murphy, author of the bestselling novel The Vicar of Christ, engages the epic grandeur of the Resurrection and the heroic struggle of Simon Peter to spread the good word that the kingdom of God is at hand. His journey is harrowing: he flees from Jerusalem to Galilee and, after further fascinating travels, finally arrives in Nero's Rome. The story unfolds in epic scope filtered through the skeptical but insightful Greek scholar Quintus, who follows Simon Peter in his journey to the place where all roads lead. And in his spiritual journey as well.
In Upon this Rock, Murphy humanizes the disciples as never before: they are filled with love for the Master, but like every man they are at times petty, selfish, vain. Peter himself is a man of spacious moods, resenting Jesus' love for John and envying the spiritual power Mary of Magdala's vision of the risen Master brings. And Peter can be crude, angry, and self-pitying, for he is an uneducated man with a tragic past that fuels his nagging spiritual doubt. His faith wavers, even fails, but ultimately triumphs, conquering even the brutal torture of the disciples by Nero's Romans. Upon this rock a Church was built. Just as the Master envisioned.
A novel previously published in print by Macmillan and Ballantine paperbacks, this work is now available from Quid Pro Books in this quality, authorized ebook edition, with proper formatting, active and detailed Contents, and the original maps and imagery from the hardcover edition retained in the digital work.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The difficult task of reconstructing the ambiance of the early Christian era is accomplished in a colorful and credible novel by the author of the acclaimed Vicar of Christ. Murphy cautions in a prefatory note that his characterization of Peter, the disciple chosen by Jesus to be the "rock,'' the foundation of the Catholic Church, is the ``best fit'' between what little can be gleaned from the New Testament and what scholars have attributed to the people of the time. He draws Peter as a man of conflicting emotions, a man who bears the stigma of betraying the Master, as attested by the Gospels, a man who may also be branded ``the drunkard, the adulterer, the waffler,'' as he is in a fictional dialogue with the latter-day disciple, Paul. The novel is shaped as a chronicle by Quintus, a Greek follower of The Way, who records Peter's struggle with himself and with his floundering leadership. We hear his anger at God caused by his daughter's paralysis; we witness the colloquial repartee between Peter and Paul as they attempt to reconcile Christian Jews and Gentiles. Although some of the author's invention may be controversial, in this robust novel he captures the sweep of events that led to the martyrdom of the first Pope.
