Apostle Paul: A Novel of the Man Who Brought Christianity to the Western World

The iconic Saint Paul - in his lifetime a scholar, prosecutor for the high court of the Jews, accomplice in murder, adventurer, traveler, orator, writer, advocate, and organizer of a new faith - was in fact a Jewish-Hellenistic citizen of the Roman Empire, a man who by the force of his intellect and indomitable will changed the course of history. Eventually he became the leader of the movement that delivered the social and moral authority of Christianity to a pagan world. Given a message - that man and woman had a purpose in earthly life and a future beyond the grave - he carried it first and unsuccessfully to his fellow Jews, then successfully to the gentiles and all mankind. His quality of mind and ability to exhort and persuade, his personal commitment to ethical conduct and values, and his courage and indefatigability made Paul one of the continuing forces in the progress of Western civilization. Author James Cannon has written about political leaders as a journalist, has served with leaders in public life, and has written feature stories while on the staffs of Time and Newsweek. Now he has taken the story of one of the most momentous quests in history and brought it to life with a vitality and immediacy that is at once gripping, informative, and inspiring.

Review :
"Maybe more even than Jesus himself, Paul was the hero of early Christianity. He was the one who took an obscure Jewish sect that looked destined for extinction and turned it into a worldwide movement. Along the way he seems to have lived a life of high adventure, from his Damascus Road conversion and his travels to the far corners of the empire to his execution in Rome as one of the church's first martyrs.. . . Ambition, indeed, is at the core of Cannon's Paul, who goes from being an ardent Hellenist to a hard-line Pharisee to a full-fledged Christian convert with hardly so much as a backward glance." -- "Washington Post" "This is a splendid work of disciplined imagination, giving flesh to a complex man who sought to live by the Spirit." -- Kenneth L. Woodward, longtime Religion Editor of Newsweek and author of "Making Saints" "An epic drama of the legendary disciple who carried the voice of christianity to the world." -- Reverend Margaret Graham, Rector of St. John's Church in Georgetown "Jim Cannon has transformed the few bits of historical information we have about Paul into a very readable fictional account of the Apostle's life and times. Not portrayed as a stained-glass saint, the Paul of this story is convincing for his human characteristics of ambition, vanity and jealousy. More than being stand alone books in the bible, Paul's epistles appear in the context of stories. "Apostle Paul "is a well-written, fast moving dramatization that explains Christianity's most important thinker and actor in understandable terms." -- John C. Danforth, former U.S. Senator, U.N. Ambassador and ordained Episcopal minister "James Cannon's Apostle Paul is a story that hasneeded telling and a book that has needed writing. The author's imaginative and sensitive story telling presents Paul the Apostle in perhaps the most human, engaging and down-to-earth way than ever done before. This book is a break through in the Pauline literature of the ages. It is a wonderful read for scholars and laity alike...for all whose lives have been touched by the life and leadership of Paul fromTarsus, anchorman of Christianity." -- Sanford Garner, "Provost - Washington National Cathedral" "James Cannon is an extraordinary person, the depth of his interest is remarkable. His insights into government, philosophy and religion are also remarkable and I am glad that this book will permit many to share his strengths." -- Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr. "A provincial Jewish intellectual sets out in life to kill Christians and ends by making Christianity the triumphant faith of the western world. Cannon's novel makes this passionate and baffling mystic totally and plausibly human." -- Russell Baker