I have just finished reading "Paul, a Herald of the Cross" by F. L. Kingsley, and it has left me wanting to read the other two Apostolic accounts by Kingsley. This particular account of Paul's life is a fictionalized tale based upon Acts and the epistles, and follows Paul from the Damascus Road to his life's end in captivity in Rome. What is valuable about the book, fiction though it is, can be found in the historical, political and religious setting that Kingsley brings to life. Ms. Kingsley's research and grasp of the times is colorfully vivid, in fact, the first half of the book barely touches on Paul himself. Instead, Kingsley lays before the reader the antagonistic, corrupt and pagan world of the eastern Roman empire. She follows Caesars and governors, high priests and sects, slaves and beggars, shysters and charlatans, all critical to paint a picture of how the empire looked, smelled, and sounded. The pomp of the court, the sycophantic courtiers, the utter corruption of pagan rites, the foolishness of the learned - all displayed with literary skill.

The story follows Paul's journeys, makes keen his extreme challenges his unwavering fear and devotion to God's people, and shows the reader the man in all his struggles and agony. The scriptural account of Paul's life tells us his heart, but it is easy to disregard the gravity of Paul's missionary journeys if we don't know the setting and challenges in which he worked. To a degree, the writers of the New Testament assume the reader is familiar with these external givens, but nearly two thousand years have passed and that world as it was is known only to us by histories and textbooks and a few relics and monuments of the era. While a knowledge of the times is certainly not required for the Holy Spirit to make known that which He would teach us, how beneficial it is to gain an understanding of the context by taking advantage of the work given by one who has done so much historical research!

"Paul, Herald of the Cross", is not in print as far as I know, but can be picked up used on various bookseller sites. My copy happened to be a first edition, printed in 1897, and I found it in very good condition for less than ten dollars. Kingsley's other Apostolic historical fiction works are available from Lamplighter Publishing. They are "Stephen: A Soldier of the Cross" and "Titus: A Comrade of the Cross". She also published an account of the times leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in "The Cross Triumphant". I do not know if Lamplighter edited the King James style English that Kingsley employed in "Paul", for I purchased my copies of "Titus" and "Stephen" as used earlier editions.

Kingsley has fast become one of my favorite authors of Christian fiction. Even my son is currently enjoying her drama of a band of castaway Huguenots in "Prisoners of the Sea" (review), which I thoroughly enjoyed earlier this year. Her grasp of what the Christian life looks like is convicting, her love for the Lord shines through her careful handling of vulgar elements where they are necessary, and her word-smithing is craft of beauty.

If Christian authors wrote today such stories that unashamedly hail God alone as the anchor of all thought and life, who would read them? ( )