Upon This Rock: The Life of St. Peter - Softcover

Murphy, Walter F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1610272528 ISBN 13: 9781610272520

Publisher: Quid Pro, LLC, 2014

Synopsis

The acclaimed novel of the early years after the Resurrection, and the power of a Gospel, a Church, and a new World, is available again as a new paperback. Walter F. Murphy, author of the bestselling THE VICAR OF CHRIST, engages the epic grandeur of the Resurrection and the heroic struggle of Simon Peter to spread the good word that the kingdom of God is at hand. His journey is harrowing: he flees from Jerusalem to Galilee and, after further fascinating travels, finally arrives in Nero's Rome. The story unfolds in epic scope filtered through the skeptical but insightful Greek scholar Quintus, who follows Simon Peter in his journeys. In UPON THIS ROCK, Murphy humanizes the disciples as never before: they are filled with love for the Master, but like every man they are at times petty, selfish, vain. Simon Peter himself is a man of spacious moods, resenting Jesus' love for John and envying the spiritual power Mary of Magdala's vision of the risen Master brings. And Peter can be crude, angry, and self-pitying, for he is an uneducated man with a tragic past that fuels his nagging spiritual doubt. His faith wavers, even fails, but ultimately triumphs — conquering even the brutal torture of the disciples by Nero's Romans. Upon this rock a Church was built. Just as the Master envisioned. A novel previously published by Macmillan and Ballantine, this work is now available from Quid Pro Books in this authorized paperback, with the original maps retained from the hardcover edition.

About this title

About the Author

WALTER F. MURPHY taught constitutional law to generations of students at Princeton, where he held the chair of McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence first occupied by Woodrow Wilson. Born in Charleston, S.C., Murphy served as a Marine in Korea and won a Distinguished Service Cross and a Purple Heart. He graduated from Notre Dame and George Washington University and earned a PhD in political science from the University of Chicago. His novels include the New York Times bestseller 'The Vicar of Christ,' which won the Chicago Foundation for Literature Award, and 'The Roman Enigma.'

From Publishers Weekly

The difficult task of reconstructing the ambiance of the early Christian era is accomplished in a colorful and credible novel by the author of the acclaimed Vicar of Christ. Murphy cautions in a prefatory note that his characterization of Peter, the disciple chosen by Jesus to be the "rock," the foundation of the Catholic Church, is the "best fit" between what little can be gleaned from the New Testament and what scholars have attributed to the people of the time. He draws Peter as a man of conflicting emotions, a man who bears the stigma of betraying the Master, as attested by the Gospels, a man who may also be branded "the drunkard, the adulterer, the waffler," as he is in a fictional dialogue with the latter-day disciple, Paul. The novel is shaped as a chronicle by Quintus, a Greek follower of The Way, who records Peter's struggle with himself and with his floundering leadership. We hear his anger at God caused by his daughter's paralysis; we witness the colloquial repartee between Peter and Paul as they attempt to reconcile Christian Jews and Gentiles. Although some of the author's invention may be controversial, in this robust novel he captures the sweep of events that led to the martyrdom of the first Pope.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Quid Pro, LLC
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1610272528
• ISBN 13: 9781610272520
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 438