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A review by librarianonparade
Apostle: Travels Among the Tombs of the Twelve by Tom Bissell
4.0
For three years author Tom Bissell travelled the world, seeking the putative final resting places of Jesus' Twelve Apostles. The journey took him from Jerusalem to Spain, Kyrgyzstan to Greece, seeking tombs, shrines, reliquaries and archaeological sites, all claiming to hold the bodies (or parts of the bodies, relic distribution being what it was back in the day) of Jesus' closest disciples.
This book is a curious hybrid of genres - part travelogue, part learned disquisition on theology, part history of the early Church, part collective biography. Each chapter is devoted to one of the Twelve, broken up into sections, with Bissell's own experiences of his travels in these various countries interspersed with biographical detail, analysis of the relevant sections of the Gospels, and historical context. Bissell is a lapsed Christian, so the tone of this book is an appealing combination of active scepticism and reluctant reverence. There would be something in this book for both the believer and the atheist, and you don't find many books on Christianity that could lay claim to that.
It makes for an enjoyable read, the lighter-hearted personal sections breaking up the otherwise weighty religious content. On occasion, Bissell's personal reminiscences verge into TMI (Too Much Information) - the lengthy section during his stay in India and his experiences of 'Delhi Belly' I could have done without. I don't expect to pick up a book on religion to read about the state of anyone's bowels!
This book is a curious hybrid of genres - part travelogue, part learned disquisition on theology, part history of the early Church, part collective biography. Each chapter is devoted to one of the Twelve, broken up into sections, with Bissell's own experiences of his travels in these various countries interspersed with biographical detail, analysis of the relevant sections of the Gospels, and historical context. Bissell is a lapsed Christian, so the tone of this book is an appealing combination of active scepticism and reluctant reverence. There would be something in this book for both the believer and the atheist, and you don't find many books on Christianity that could lay claim to that.
It makes for an enjoyable read, the lighter-hearted personal sections breaking up the otherwise weighty religious content. On occasion, Bissell's personal reminiscences verge into TMI (Too Much Information) - the lengthy section during his stay in India and his experiences of 'Delhi Belly' I could have done without. I don't expect to pick up a book on religion to read about the state of anyone's bowels!