New book reconstructing the life and times of Jesus
Added: (Wed Nov 17 2021)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Thousands of books have been written about Jesus yet we are no closer to solve the mystery of the man who changed the history of the world. "The Gospel of the 13th Apostle" is a fictional reconstruction of the life and times of Jesus, exploring the possibility of his having been an Essene monk and having traveled to India to study Buddhism.
Who was Jesus?
A new book, "The Gospel of the 13th Apostle" by Arthur Hagopian attempts to resolve that question with a reconstruction of the life and times of Jesus against the background of the eschatological expectations of the day.
The answer lies in a mysterious scroll recently found at Qumran (the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered). When it was decoded and translated, archeologists were presented with a bombshell. The scroll was written by a man who called himself the Companion of Yeshua (Jesus), a "thirteenth apostle" with an amazing story to tell about the life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth.
According to the scroll, Jesus was a monk at the Essene monastery at Qumran where he had been staying, when he first stumbled across some Buddhist manuscripts left behind by missionaries sent to the Holy Land by the great Buddhist emperor of India, Asoka.
The result was a pilgrimage by Jesus and the Companion to India to learn of the dharma first hand—and a return to the land of Canaan to preach a gospel embodying much of the wisdom of the East.
"The Gospel of the Thirteenth Apostle" is an intriguing reinterpretation, in fictional-historical garb, and its most inspiring and thought-provoking feature is the link it suggests between Christ and the Buddha.
The novel plots the course of events that happened, or might have happened, over 2000 years ago, in Jerusalem, raising the possibility of an attempt to rescue Jesus.
The author, who has served as a journalist and teacher in several countries, was born in Jerusalem and walked in the footsteps of Jesus.
The impetus to write the book was supplied by the invitation he received to act as consultant on a 3D IMAX film about Jerusalem by Canadian director Daniel Ferguson, its main theme to present the points of intersection between the three Abrahamaic religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
The book is being published by Amazon in both digital and paperback versions.