Almost every novel has a back story. It’s the author’s way of pushing his or her’s particular opinion on a subject. A Taste of the Apocalypses is no exception.
On the surface, Apocalypse deals with the legends and myths of the crucifixion of Christ and his resurrection. But for me, it was a way of giving my opinions on religion and spirituality – two subjects, in my opinion – distinct from each other.
Jeremy Nash, due to his strict Catholic upbringing under his grandparents, has forsaken the faith and turned agnostic. In his words, “Why should I care about the existence of God against all the evidence that our interest is not reciprocated?”
As he pursues the kidnappers of his sister, he is exposed to characters that have a spiritual, as opposed to, a religious outlook on God and the ultimate meaning of life. Stanton Roth is one such character. He is enamored with the Essen philosophy – or Gnosis - and like the Essenes believes that ‘heaven’ or salvation is not automatically granted because one performs mindless rituals under the rules of religious institutions.
If Christianity was to grow in vast numbers, St. Paul had to remove the influence of gnosis.
Roth said, “Why do you think Paul pushed for his version of Christianity? Simple salesmanship. Paul knew how to sell a product and the product that the Gnostics had would not sell. That dog wouldn’t hunt. Look. If you’re going to start a new religion, one that can spread quickly around the known world, you need to tailor it in such a way that everyone, not a select few, can join. Like any good salesman you don’t raise objections like having to be circumcised, or not eat certain foods like pork and other cultural restrictions not palatable to your average gentile, who far outnumbered the Jews back then. You also have to build an organization.”
This concept of spirituality, or reaching salvation through self-realization and lot’s of personal work, has been the inner teachings of every Western religion – Christianity (Essen/Gnosis), Judaism (Kabala), Islam (Sufism). You will even find the search for self and the inner meaning of spirituality in the ‘primitive’ cultures like the Yaqui Indians as described by Carlos Castaneda in his books.
I hope you enjoy this first Jeremy Nash book as entertainment but also a little education on what I think is important as it pertains to the ultimate reality of life.
