Apostle: Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve

By Tom Bissell

Book Overview

The story of Twelve 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, Tom Bissell embarks on a years-long pilgrimage to the apostles' supposed tombs, traveling from Jerusalem and Rome to Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, India, and Kyrgyzstan. Along the way, Bissell uncovers the mysterious and often paradoxical lives of these twelve men and how their identities have taken shape over the course of two millennia. Written with empathy and a rare acumen--and often extremely funny-- Apostle is an intellectual, spiritual, and personal adventure fit for believers, scholars, and wanderers alike.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 030727845X
• ISBN13: 9780307278456
• Release Date: February 2017
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece of Christian History

This book isn't exactly what I expected, but in a good way. I expected a sort of Indiana Jones excavation of the Apostles' final resting places, but instead got more of an oral history while the author travels there. It's a really fascinating book that does a very deep dive into each of the Twelve Apostles' lives, and recants their place. If you like history, or more specifically Christian history, you will enjoy.