About the Book
Author: Kurt Brouwer
Genre: Christian Historical Fiction
Release date: February 10, 2025
Discover the Untold Story of the Last Disciple to Witness the Miracles of Christ
In a world shrouded in doubt and darkness, one man holds the key to the greatest story ever told.
The epic saga of the Last Disciple continues in this captivating new Christian historical novel from Kurt Brouwer. Witness the miracles of Jesus through the eyes of one who was there. John, a disciple of Christ, watched the Son of God sacrifice his life on the Cross and entered the empty tomb after Jesus rose from the grave.
Witness Jesus Through the Eyes of One Who Was with Him
Years after witnessing the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Apostle John seeks to faithfully write down the life-changing events he experienced firsthand.
Go back in time with John to old Jerusalem as he describes the fateful meeting between the Messiah and Nicodemus in which Christ uttered the most beloved passage in the Bible: ”For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
John sets down the true story of Christ, contending with those who seek to water down the gospel message. Accompanied by trusted allies like Emmaus and Avram, John travels from Ephesus to Laodicea, Hierapolis, and beyond, determined to ensure the world never forgets the sacrifice and love of the Son of God.
John reunites with his old friend and fellow disciple, Philip, who is gravely ill. In a desperate bid to save Philip’s life, John seeks out the help of Evangeline, a skilled herbalist and healer. After Philip recovers, a mob whipped up by a high priest of the goddess Cybele lays in wait to attack John and Philip.
Will violent enemies of the faith cut off the gospel message John carries?
Witness the miracles of Jesus through the eyes of the Beloved Disciple—and discover how one man’s courage can change the course of history.
If you’re struggling with doubt, searching for meaning, or hungry to deepen your faith, The Last Disciple: Gospel of John is the Christian novel you’ve been waiting for.
Don’t miss this gripping tale of courage, conviction, and the eternal power of the gospel!
Click here to get your copy!
My Review
I don't really give much thought as to how the books in the New Testament came to be written. But Brouwer really gives us a sense of what might have taken place as John was compiling his gospel. It was interesting to read how he might have gotten together with others, reminiscing about their time with Jesus, comparing stories, sharing insights.
Brouwer does a great job of describing cities, temples, etc. I like how he takes us through some of the events of early church history such as how Christians faced the possibility of less work, not wanting to join the pagan guilds. I also liked how we see that Christians were still trying to understand the teachings of Jesus, sometimes disagreeing.
It was also interesting Brouwer wrote that Jesus' mother and John's mother were sisters. Some conclude it from John 9:25 but there is nothing specific in Scripture stating that. There were some early traditions that did include it.
This is a very interesting series, bringing to life people and events we might just gloss over as we read the New Testament. I recommend it.
My rating: 4/5 stars.
You can read my reviews of the earlier books in the series: The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem, The Last Disciple: Escape to Antioch, and The Last Disciple: Exile in Ephesus.
About the Author
About nine years ago, Kurt did a study for his church on the Apostle John. If you’ve ever been obsessed by anything, you’ll understand what happened. Kurt couldn’t stop researching, digging, diving into the life of John and other first century Christians. Kurt read books by early church historians who wrote quite a bit more more about the disciples, but they often contradicted each other. Further, they never really delved into the daily lives and motivations, joys and sorrows of the first Christians.
Kurt took all of his research and knowledge, all the insights and details he had acquired and turned it into a series of Christian historical novels based on research and Biblical knowledge.
The first four books in the series are now available:
The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem, The Last Disciple: Escape to Antioch, The Last Disciple: Exile in Ephesus, and The Last Disciple: Gospel of John.
You can also read more on why he started the series at his website.
More from Kurt
About 10 years ago, I read a piece on BibleGateway.com estimating that the Gospel of John came out fifty years or more after the Crucifixion of Christ! I couldn’t stop wondering what John did all those years? Why did it take so long to write the fourth gospel? Was it the world’s longest case of writer’s block?
In this new book, The Last Disciple: Gospel of John, we witness John struggling to put down on papyrus the life-changing events he experienced as he walked with Jesus. We go back in time and watch Christ uttering the most beloved verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
While we all know this verse as John 3:16, John himself would not have understood this designation at all. It’s obvious to us that it refers to the book of John, chapter three, verse sixteen.
But, in the course of research for this series, I found out that chapter and verse did not exist in the first century. In fact, the first published Bible that used this format for both the Old Testament and the New Testament was the Geneva Bible published after 1500 AD.
As you can tell, I’m having fun writing these books. Each day I try to faithfully depict the lives of the first Christians and to show their love for Jesus and faith in the gospel message.
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, July 18
Inspired by Fiction, July 18
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, July 19
Bizwings Book Blog, July 20
Artistic Nobody, July 21 (Author Interview)
CeCe Reads and Sings, July 21
She Lives to Read, July 22
Fiction Book Lover, July 23 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, July 24
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, July 25
Simple Harvest Reads, July 26 (Author Interview)
Book Butterfly in Dreamland, July 27
Guild Master, July 28 (Author Interview)
Cover Lover Book Review, July 29
Mary Hake, July 30
Tell Tale Book Reviews, July 31 (Author Interview)
(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)
5 comments:
This should be a very intriguing novel. Thanks for sharing.
I liked a lot of this book, but there were definitely things that I didn't agree with, at the same time.
This sounds like a very good read.
Sounds like a great read.
This sounds like a very interesting book! Thanks for sharing!
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