The Third Testament - Catholic Fiction

Editor's Note: Today, I am happy to welcome a guest contribution from John Eklund, the author of The Third Testament. John shares with us some information about his novel and how it came to be. I invite you to visit John's website at http://thethirdtestamentnovel.com/ and thank him for his contribution. LMH

Several years ago my wife Jennifer and I were planning a trip to Germany, a trip we have yet to take. I bought the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz and was looking through the section on Bavaria. I came across the remarkable story of the village of Oberammergau. In the seventeenth century the people of Oberammergau were ravaged by the bubonic plague, the Black Death. Guided by faith, the villagers made a pact with God to perform a Passion Play every ten years for eternity in exchange for a reprieve from the Black Death. They performed the first play at Pentecost in the year 1634, and miraculously no further lives were lost. To this day the villagers still perform the play once every decade, surrounded by the majestic Alps.

The passage in Schultz’s book captivated me and made me say “Hey, that sounds like something that could be in the Bible.” Around that same time I was reading Dan Brown’s infamous novel The Da Vinci Code. In the novel Brown emphasizes the council of Nicaea, a gathering of bishops in Bithynia (present-day Turkey) led by Roman Emperor Constantine in the year 325. Brown alleges that Nicaea was the place where the early Church leaders decided what events and writings should be included in the Bible. All of a sudden a light bulb went on in my head. I became deeply intrigued by the question - What modern day events and writings would be worthy of being deemed “biblical?” It was then that I decided to begin writing The Third Testament, a pro-Catholic novel about a troubled college history professor who sets out to compile the next testament of the Bible.

I spent the next six years researching and writing about the most fascinating topics in the history of the Church and the world, dating from Saint Peter’s crucifixion to Pope John Paul II and the fall of the Soviet Union. During those six years I discovered incredible stories of devoted saints, uplifting miracles, divine apparitions and heroic martyrs. It was a magical journey for me, a journey that greatly strengthened my faith, and I loved every minute of it.

For those interested, here is more information about my book:

Brief Description of The Third Testament: Widower Fred Sankt is a professor at a small Catholic college who is not at all accustomed to dreaming. When he begins experiencing a series of profoundly vivid dreams that consistently awaken him at 3:00 a.m., he is not alarmed—simply curious. In the last of his dreams, Fred meets a faceless old friend who informs him that he has been chosen by God to record the next testament of the Bible. Fred decides that, even though it has been nearly two thousand years since the last passage in the Bible was written, if it is God's will for him to take on a project of this magnitude, he has no choice but to accept. But his entire world is turned upside down when his doorbell rings unexpectedly one evening. After he is served a summons, Fred thinks things can't get worse until he receives the news that his daughter Ellen's health is in jeopardy. Despite his personal hardships, Fred soon finds that writing is his only solace. As Fred continues on a spiritual journey to unlock the truth, he creates a treasure for all Christians that ultimately reignites the torch of the faithful.

For additional information, visit http://thethirdtestamentnovel.com/