Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful novel highlights interesting theological ideas
Review: This novel succeeds as a work of entertainment. It is also a very informative examination of archeology, with lots of interesting details about digs and the verification of artifacts. The characters are reasonably well drawn, though the females seem to be celebrated more for their beauty than for their personality or character. There was room in this novel for an older or unattractive woman known for her warmth, wisdom or expertise. I liked the main female character in the book, I just felt that her chief virtue in the author's mind was her beauty. Perhaps the book's greatest feature is that it encourages us to think about the nature of faith. The plot is very cleverly designed to make us think specifically about the details on which Christians base their faith in Christ. The key theological issue in the book involves questions about the truth of the physical resurrection of Christ in the body. Whether Christ lived on after the crucifixion is not the consuming question of this novel, but rather whether he lived on in physical form. The question is not whether he ascended into heaven, but weather he did so in the flesh and blood body he bore while here on earth. As a result, this book is really a text written for Christians by a Christian in order to argue a particular theological point of interest primarily to Christians. The argument seems a bit contrived at times because it sets up those who believe in a physical resurrection of Christ against those who believe that Christ had no true divinity. There is no room in this book for those who believe in a non-physical resurrection or who believe that Christ is not tied to the physical body he wore while on earth. Even if one believes in the physical resurrection of Christ, I'm not sure that one must believe that he currently resides in heaven in the physical body he adopted while here on earth. Yet this is the point on which the gripping plot of this book hinges. Dr. Maier is an expert on the subject of Biblical history. I think, however, that he puts too much weight on the value of the historical record in "proving" the articles of faith in the Christian religion. Ultimately, Christianity is a matter of faith, and there has so far been no true historical verification of the most important details in the Christ story. I greatly admire Paul Maier's ability to introduce interesting philosophical and theological material and wed it to a suspenseful plot. Too often we have to choose between tedious novels that have interesting themes and thrillers that are totally vacuous. This books finds a fruitful middle ground that puts it ahead of most of the books on our best seller lists. The style of the text is breezy and entertaining, but not always aesthetically pleasing. Many might find the style a bit old fashioned at times. There is one point where a woman in the book is described as a "winsome lass," which is not necessarily a common manner of speaking in America. However, I tended to find these flourishes to be engaging rather than detrimental. Overall, an unusually good book. I would recommend it to Christians who enjoy suspenseful entertainments with a strong theological twist.
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