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Apostle

Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve

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Apostle

By: Tom Bissell
Narrated by: Tom Bissell
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About this listen

 A profound and moving journey into the heart of Christianity that explores the mysterious and often paradoxical lives and legacies of the Twelve Apostles—a book both for those of the faith and for others who seek to understand Christianity from the outside in.

“Expertly researched and fascinating… Bissell is a wonderfully sure guide to these mysterious men.… This is a serious book about the origins of Christianity that is also very funny. How often can you say that?” —The Independent

Peter, Matthew, Thomas, John: Who were these men? What was their relationship to Jesus? Tom Bissell provides rich and surprising answers to these ancient, elusive questions. He examines not just who these men were (and weren’t), but also how their identities have taken shape over the course of two millennia.

Ultimately, Bissell finds that the story of the apostles is the story of early Christianity: its competing versions of Jesus’s ministry, its countless schisms, and its ultimate evolution from an obscure Jewish sect to the global faith we know today in all its forms and permutations. In his quest to understand the underpinnings of the world’s largest religion, Bissell embarks on a years-long pilgrimage to the supposed tombs of the Twelve Apostles. He travels from Jerusalem and Rome to Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, India, and Kyrgyzstan, vividly capturing the rich diversity of Christianity’s worldwide reach. Along the way, he engages with a host of characters—priests, paupers, a Vatican archaeologist, a Palestinian taxi driver, a Russian monk—posing sharp questions that range from the religious to the philosophical to the political.

Written with warmth, empathy, and rare acumen, Apostle is a brilliant synthesis of travel writing, biblical history, and a deep, lifelong relationship with Christianity. The result is an unusual, erudite, and at times hilarious book—a religious, intellectual, and personal adventure fit for believers, scholars, and wanderers alike. Ancient Christianity History Middle East Middle Ages Funny Thought-Provoking Witty Ancient History
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Most relevant
Here’s a book that I immediately had no hesitation in recommending to friends when I was only a couple of chapters in and in which Tom Bissell delivers a travelogue, a detailed exegesis of the Gospels an early Christian history, and an insightful reflection of current geopolitics. Along the way I was hugely entertained by the day to day practicalities of the Kyrgyzstanian webcam trade, the sanctuary offered by Dominos Pizza’s restrooms in the former Madras and the reactions of foot pilgrims achieving their goal at the courtyards of Santiago de Compostela

The central idea was immediately attractive. (I say immediately - although I’ve been annoying the kids for years having spent time in Turin Duomo di Torino - San Giovanni Battista when the Shroud was publicly displayed in 2000, wandering around Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin just off the Piazza della Bocca della Veritas in Rome, looking for the skull of St Valentine when the boys wanted ice cream.....linking the bones found in Amalfi’s Cattedrale di Sant'Andrea and St Andrew’s Edinburgh and reading and making a mental note to visit Sainte-Chapelle when they wanted to be on the beach). The delivery was informative and authoritative whilst never condescending, not like holiday Dad I'm sorry to say.

Tom Bissell’s take on modern day Jerusalem seen through the prism of Judas Iscariot would, in itself, make this book worthwhile - but he continues on through countries and early centuries....always fascinating and always provocative. I could easily point to the Toulouse excursion as another highlight - and then to have the added bonus of listening to readings from St John and the Acts of the Apostles afresh...whilst unearthing a cogent and coherent guide New Testament apocrypha just added another level of delight.

Not once did I find the unanswerable question lying somewhere down the blind alley of belief prove a distraction to my enjoyment of his writing - you bring to and take from this book what you want, or is that what you need! As stated to my friends from Chapter 1 - a great read and, an effortlessly great writer.

Reaching a higher plain

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So well written, this book blends narrative with theology and the result offers the reader a deceptively simple view of Christian history since its earliest stirrings to today's complex multi-faith world which, despite such scientific 'certainties' still struggles to shun off that sense that God is never too far away.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. A great read/listen.

Paul Hurst, May 2019

Brilliant!

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