The Galilean Secret
Evan Drake Howard
Guideposts, May 2010, $24.99
ISBN: 9780824947941
Palestinian Karim Musalaha fears his volatile father whose hatred of the Zionists make life untenable at home. Currently Karim hides from his dad, head of the Jihadist Palestinian Patriotic Alliance in a cave in Qumran. There he finds a clay jar containing a brittle ancient looking scroll. His discovery makes him a target of Jews, Christians and Muslims.
In circa 33 AD in Judea, Jewish Judith of Jerusalem is to marry merchant Gabriel ben Zebulon, but on the day of their wedding she knows she does not want to be his wife though he is a nice attractive man. Instead she elopes with Gabriel’s brother Dismas, a Zealot who shares her loathing of the occupying Romans who killed her brother. Judith regrets hurting her family and her intended, but runs off with Dismas praying her loved ones and her jilted fiancée will forgive her. Heartbroken Gabriel decides to kill himself by jumping off the Temple but the Pharisee Nicodemus saves his life. He talks about the Epistle Rabbi Jesus wrote that tells people to forgive themselves so they can forgive others. Disillusioned with the Zealot cause, Judith reads that epistle she and Dismas stole from Nicodemus' home.
Expanding on his terrific The Lost Epistle Of Jesus, but keeping the premise of enabling readers to see the human and divine sides of Jesus and the love shared with Mary Magdalene, Pastor Evan Drake Howard provides an even deeper more relevant tale. Judith’s subplot mirrors Mary’s life and that of Karim as ironically the Zealots of the first century are the Jihadists of the twenty-first century. All three and others especially Gabriel seek the Galilean Secret truth of Jesus in order for all to embrace the message to live in peace and harmony while loving all of God’s creations.
Harriet Klausner
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