A Seattle author explores the beginnings of Christianity in this historical novel
In the land of Israel, the decades following the crucifixion of Christ were filled with tension, chaos and rebellion. In John Neeleman’s novel “Logos,” Jacob ben Aaron is a Jew, a learned polyglot priest whose carpentry skills were gained at the side of his honored father Aaron, who maintained the vast sumptuousness of the Temple of Jerusalem. Aaron had told his son: “Our fathers built the Temple. We are carpenters and builders for kings and priests. We are of the House of David.” Jacob’s mother Helen is an erudite woman fond of stylish clothes, cosmetics and perfume. “From his mother, Jacob learned love of story, love of language, love of Israel.” His younger sister Esther is a joy to him.
Rome’s immense power is ubiquitous. Some Jews resent the imperial presence and contemplate rebellion. The Romans “held themselves apart from the Jews. They were aloof and thought themselves superior.” A particularly odious insult is mandatory daily sacrifices to Emperor Nero in the holy Temple. Israel’s own king Herod Agrippa has a cozy relationship with the foreign oppressors. A compliant toady, he basks in comfort. Yet a radical group of zealots known as the Sicarii perform murderous deeds in furtive guerilla-like fashion. Their name means dagger. Romans along with Jews deemed too accommodating to the alien invaders are targets.
“Logos: A Novel of Christianity’s Origin” is Seattle author John Neeleman’s first novel. It is a well-constructed story of a clash of cultures and faiths, of overlords and underlings. The arrogance and reach of Rome is limned convincingly. Conflicting political opinions among the Jews are vividly portrayed. There are natives of Israel who feel that the security stemming from imperial rule is worth the indignities that must be endured. Some urge caution fearing the ferocious hammer that will inevitably be brought down on any disruption of the imposed system of order. Others can no longer stomach the haughtiness of armed strangers who comport themselves with such rank indifference of the citizens. But open rebellion is fraught with risk. Still others are convinced that a determined and coordinated military operation could drive the Romans from the land. Then the people of Israel could build a nation in their own image. Simmering beneath all of the intrigues, arguments, personal resentments and bloodletting belligerence is religious fervor and a new kind of spirituality striving to be born.
Jacob has lost his father and mother in an orgy of murder ordered by a ruthless representative of Rome. In the pogrom, Esther disappears without a trace. Though he is married and father to a son, Jacob is driven to take up arms despite his wife Hannah’s pleas: “Yet He felt he must do something to atone for his parents’ and sister’s deaths, for the deaths of so many other innocents. Something bold, to hurt the Romans. He did not know what else he could do.”
One battle puts the hated enemy in retreat, but it is merely a prelude to the predictable return of Rome’s disciplined and formidable legions. During the siege of Jerusalem, Jacob’s wife and son Benjamin die. The Roman commanders and their troops are methodical and over time the people enclosed in the surrounded city are worn down by plague and starvation. The siege culminates in the destruction of the Temple. The lone survivor of his family, Jacob is taken prisoner.
He is spared execution and eventually escapes. He finds himself in the rough and desolate country of Qumran. There he encounters an aged member of the Essenes, the pacifist order of contemplatives who eschewed worldly strife and pursued matters of the spirit. A fresh journey awaits Jacob. He has no idea that it will be the beginning of his transformation.
Still seething with hatred and nearly delirious with thoughts of avenging his family and Israel, he makes his way to Rome. Jacob is accompanied by Marcus, a wise old teacher. Marcus has revealed to Jacob that for some time he has quietly adhered to the Christian faith. In Rome, instead of exacting bloody revenge, Jacob encounters the unexpected. He is moved to anonymously compose the foundation Gospel of what will become a new religious faith that will extol forgiveness instead of retribution and the peacemaker over the warrior. “And so while Judaism had been a religion of the father, Christianity became a religion of the son.”
Of his novel’s inspiration, Neeleman states: “I am fascinated by the paradox that a religious movement appears always to begin as a reaction to authority and oppression, and if it succeeds, it will itself become autocratic and oppressive, a part of the very problem that impelled its founder to rebel. Because my protagonist, Jacob ben Aaron, finds Christianity and expands on and refines its founding myth at about the time Christianity started to make this transformation, Jacob is in a sense an anti-hero. I am convinced that Yeshua, the historical Jesus, was a rebel, a radical, and an apostate from the religion of his fathers. He is just the kind of historical figure that I adore, and most emphatically not an anti-hero in Logos.”
This is a tale well-told, packed with passionate politics, physical affection, religious reflection and furious action. Peopled by a fascinating assortment of historical and fictional characters, it is a most enjoyable read.