Accidental Christ

Some two thousand years ago, a Jewish teacher with a magnetic presence rose from the dry country of Roman-ruled Palestine. His cryptic lessons and his healings, along with the wonders he performed in full view of crowds, won him a devoted following, but they also stirred envy and hostility that ended in his death. In the centuries since, no life has been retold as often as his.

Who was he, really? The novel asks whether he was a king of the Jews, the Son of God, a prophet, a political figure, or a religious instructor. It also asks whether he was simply a man swept into a larger drama, perhaps guided by divine purpose to fulfill an ancient prophecy. This is the first novel by Lon Milo DuQuette, a bestselling author.

DuQuette recreates the world that produced Jesus, John the Baptist, and the woman the Gospels call Mary Magdalene. The streets, temples, and homes of ancient Galilee come alive alongside the priests, soldiers, merchants, wandering prophets, and Gnostic initiates of that age.

The story is fiction, but it draws on modern scholarship. It is meant to be enjoyable for readers of any persuasion, and to provoke fresh thinking about Jesus.