Author Interview- Kurt Brouwer

Author of the novel The Last Disciple: Sharing the Gospel

1. What inspired you to write this story?

Early one morning when it was still dark outside, I was reading and researching books of the Bible. I read a short piece from BibleGateway.com that showed estimated dates when New Testament books were published. One thing struck me then and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The Gospel of John was probably published fifty years or more after the Crucifixion of Christ! I could not stop wondering what John did all those years? Where did he live? Why did it take so long to write the fourth gospel? My fascination with the life of the Apostle John led me to seek answers to these questions and I found the Bible to be pretty limited on the actual life of John. Early Christians covered him, but they contradicted each other. I was frustrated because I really wanted to ‘know’ more about him. But knowing involved researching and also making decisions about what was likely true and what was not. However, in order to make those decisions, I needed to know more, to research more, to really understand the lives of the first Christians. As I went forward, I felt called to create this series of Christian historical novels about John, the last disciple.

2. What kind of research did you have to do for this story?

Extensive. In the back section of this book, there is a Research Resources appendix, which is 23 pages long. It lists the major research resources I used in this series.

3. How did you incorporate Christian themes into your story?

The Last Disciple Series features the Apostle John, one of Christianity’s most influential and enduring leaders, as the main character. As a result, Christian themes are built in. However, I had to address some unusual historical issues. First, the concept of chapter and verse did not appear in Bibles until about 1500 AD. As I’m writing about the first century AD, I could not refer to a Bible passage as John 3:16 for example. First century Christians would not have known what it meant. John yes, but 3:16 would have made no sense to them. I also had to show John and his followers actually writing the Gospel of John. How did he compile this account of the life of Jesus? Why did it take him so long to write it? Who encouraged and helped him?

4. What character did you find yourself connecting with the most?

Three people from the pages of the Bible drew me in: John, the son of Zebedee, Bartholomew (also known as Nathaniel), and Mary, the mother of Jesus. One fictional character I really like is Emmaus.

5. What is the significance of the setting you chose for the story?

The series begins in Jerusalem at John’s home, where he lives with his adopted mother, Mary the mother of Jesus. That is where the early believers were and that’s where the story begins.

Christians left Jerusalem almost completely during the Jewish Revolt (66-73 AD). Christians fled the onslaught of Roman armies fighting fanatical Jewish rebels and this led to a Christian diaspora to places such as Pella across the Jordan River. Other cities gained from this departure such as Antioch in the Roman province of Syria. This is where the name Christian first was used.

As the Gentiles became more prominent in Christianity, cities such as Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, and Rome grew in influence and Jerusalem fell. Book Five in the series is set primarily in Ephesus, but also some nearby cities such as Smyrna, Laodicea and others.

Giveaway: Kurt is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card. Click the below to enter: https://gleam.io/ecRzf/the-last-disciple-sharing-the-gospel-celebration-tour-giveaway

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