Tin Merchant

The Tin Merchant- A Novel Query Harold Lorin New York On Sunday, May 21, 2006, an article in the Week in Review section of the ‘New York Times’ noted that 11% of Christians believe the Bible to be an absolute source of moral truth. The article (‘It’s Not Just a Movie…) also states there is diminishing belief in the authority of the Bible, and a growing variety of ideas about the divinity and nature of Jesus. Interest in the recently discovered ‘Gospel of Judas’ supports the idea that American Christians are seeking a consistent narrative, an image of Jesus, based on his background, relations with his intimate, and psychology. ‘The Tin Merchant’ provides this narrative. Insurrection, terrorism; religious conflict; colonial oppression; political intrigue; sedition; corruption? Familiar words for our own time, and as well as for the time of Jesus. The Tin Merchant (115,000 words) is the story of the Mission and Passion of Jesus as it happened to a family in a troubled place at a dangerous time. The violence of revolution and terrorism; the political and religious oppression of occupying Roman forces; the attitudes of Diaspora Jews toward Israel, combine to paint a picture of tension that led many to believe it was the Time of Wrath and a Messiah would come to save Israel The narrative is based on the pretence of the discovery of the Memoirs of Joseph of Aramithea. By tradition Jesus’ cousin, Joseph, present at the Crucifixion, arranged for Jesus to be buried in his tomb. In the long standing Glastonbury Legends, Joseph escaped to Britain with the Holy Grail and built the first above ground Christian Church in the Western World. The theme of the book is that the mission of Jesus was deeply influenced by Mary, in turn influenced by Hebrew prophecy and Greek philosophy. The critical event in the life of Jesus was the discovery that Saint Joseph was not his blood father. Joseph tells his story and the story of Jesus to a Druid Priest in Avalon (modern Glastonbury). The Druid listens with a Celtic ear, understanding whom Jesus might be in the context of Celtic myth and faith. The narrative begins with the storm-plagued voyage of Joseph’s escape to Britain, part of the journey with Mary and Magdalene (who leave in the south of

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The Tin Merchant- A Novel France). Joseph meets the Druid and describes the details of the final days of Jesus. His arrest is shrouded in mystery; His pain on the cross described in medical detail, His resurrection reported by Magdalene. During his narrative Joseph explores the character and psychology of Mary, Magdalene, Pilate, St, Anna, and John the Baptist as a close observer. However, it is Jesus the book seeks. Joseph explores the influence of Mary on her son. He examines, sympathetically, the relation between Jesus and Saint Joseph and the shock of discovery the Joseph is not his birth father. The narrative explores Jesus’ own image of his role and mission and his relation to the Law and the Temple Tin Merchant is a novel. It is written to entertain, raise questions, create character. However, it is deeply researched with a significant bibliography and extensive footnotes. The book was written to find the Historical Jesus and to create a reasonable narrative of His life and work that resolves divergences between the Gospels and tries to recapture the Gospels as they might have looked at the end of the first century. The author, has searched the Historical Jesus for ten years, using the techniques and mind set that made him a successful computer scientist, widely published and respected for his deep understanding and innovative solutions of issues in his discipline. .

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