A
momentous archeological discovery, the greatest of all time—and the
immediate effect it has on the varied group of men and women whose lives
are intimately touched and altered by it—is at the heart of this
exciting novel.
In the ruins of the ancient Roman seaport of Ostia Antica, an Italian
archeologist has discovered a first-century papyrus, its faded Aramaic
text revealing a new gospel written by James, younger brother of Jesus,
the original source of the four gospels of the New Testament. The
discovery offers the modern world a new Jesus Christ, a real man who
lived and walked on earth, fills in the missing years of his ministry,
contradicts the existing accounts of his life—and of his supposed death.
To the world at large, The Word—if it is genuine—will come as a
revelation, a call to revived faith and hope in an age of doubt and
fear. To the syndicate of international Bible publishers and their
theologians, who have guarded the secret since its discovery and gambled
their lives and fortunes on its authenticity—The Word is a consuming
obsession as well as a business enterprise of such magnitude that they
cannot let it be touched by the slightest tinge of doubt.
To Steven Randall, the cynical and successful young New York public
relations man who has been hired to introduce the International New
Testament to the world, the assignment offers more than an awesome
challenge. Haunted by a broken marriage, a problem daughter, a demanding
mistress, he sees in it the promise of a spiritual regeneration, a last
chance to save himself from the pointlessness of life.
But from the moment that Randall decides to investigate the new gospel,
he is caught up in a web of intrigue—involving an ex-nun, a homosexual
Dutchman, a crippled secretary, a monk on womanless Mt. Athos, a German
printer hiding a scandal that tests both his courage and the
authenticity of The Word. Rediscovering his faith in his fellow man and
his capacity to love, Randall desperately pursues the source of The
Word, searching for the truth at the risk of his newfound relationship
with the daughter of the man who discovered the lost gospel, Angela
Monti, challenging the austere and enigmatic Reverend Maertin de Vroome,
the radical religious reformer who is fighting The Word and its
orthodox sponsors.
Swiftly, recklessly, Randall eludes the vast international organization
known by the code name Resurrection Two, which has been created to
exploit the new Bible. Moving from New York and London to Amsterdam,
Paris, Frankfurt, Rome—from the British Museum to a French radiocarbon
laboratory, from the Dutch Westerkerk to a monastery on a Grecian
peninsula—Randall continues his pursuit of the shadowy, mysterious
figure—convict, madman, genius—who alone knows the truth about The Word.
With his brilliant flair for authentic detail, with his incomparable
gift for storytelling, Irving Wallace has created in The Word his most
explosive, controversial, and breathtaking novel. The discovery offers
the modern world a new Jesus Christ, a real man who lived and walked on
earth, fills in the missing years of his ministry, contradicts the
existing accounts of his life—and of his supposed death.
To the world at large, The Word—if it is genuine—will come as a
revelation, a call to revived faith and hope in an age of doubt and
fear. To the syndicate of international Bible publishers and their
theologians, who have guarded the secret since its discovery and gambled
their lives and fortunes on its authenticity—The Word is a consuming
obsession as well as a business enterprise of such magnitude that they
cannot let it be touched by the slightest tinge of doubt.
Available ebook formats:
epub
- Published: Nov. 2, 2019
- Words: 230,030
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780463073506
