The Silver Chalice (Loyola Classic) | Thomas B. Costain, Peggy Noonan

The Silver Chalice (Loyola Classic) | Thomas B. Costain, Peggy Noonan | Very relevant book for our time also.

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The Silver Chalice...

	The Silver Chalice (Loyola Classic) Thomas B. Costain, Peggy Noonan Loyola Press, 2006 - 820 pages average customer review:based on 11 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Silver Chalice recounts the story of Basil, a young silversmith, who is commissioned by the apostle Luke to fashion a holder for the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper. The Silver Chalice was the best-selling fiction title of 1953 in the United States and was made into a film starring Paul Newman.

On My List of Top 5 Books!

I am a prolific reader and The Silver Chalice is one of my all time favorite books. It has suspense, history, greed, romance, love, longing, spirituality - the list of in depth emotions that the main character experiences is amazing. Basil is adopted by a wealthy family at a young age and upon his adopted father's death he is sold into slavery. The story of how he meets Luke, the great physician, Joseph of Arimathea, and many other bibical characters and their influence on his life is astounding. This is a must read book that you will want to read many times.

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Very relevant book for our time also.

This book was originally published in 1952 and was the year's best seller. The book is just as good today. Costain is a researcher that writes this novel with good background in church history. It was our book club book of this month.

Great book

This is a great yarn and is an easy read. I read it aloud to the family and we all enjoyed it.

Keep the Light Burning

Thomas B. Costain's "The Black Rose" enthralled me during the Christmas 2006 season. I found a copy of his 1952 novel "The Silver Chalice" @ a friends of the library sale and snapped it up with glee. While it sat on my reading table almost a year until Christmas 2007, it was well worth the wait.

Costain weaves his tale, set with a backdrop of the early Christian struggle in the years immediately after the crucifixion. Paul is a major character as is the physician Luke, who of course is credited with writing one of the Biblical gospels. I found it interesting that while The Urantia Book speaks of the Apostle John living until age 101 and dying in the heart of Africa, Costain's novel finds him hiding in caves near Rome.

The fictional story is gripping. Beginning in Antioch, it follows a boy named Ambrose who is sold by his father to a wealthy merchant Ignatius who adopts him and changes his name to Basil. The story follows Basil's artistic talents and temperament until his father's death. Rather than his adoptive son inheriting Ignatius' wealth, his greedy brother Linus disputes the adoption, bribes judge & witnesses, and sells Basil into slavery. Virtually imprisoned, Basic creates lovely jewelry until Luke steps in and pays off his owner and takes Basil to Jerusalem to Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy Christian merchant. Joseph who is elderly and failing wants Basil to create a frame that has the faces of the apostles to hold the silver chalice that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. Costain weaves in romance, as Basil is attracted to Joseph's granddaughter Deborah. The plot takes off from there. In 533 pages, Basil travels to Rome and is entangled in Nero's court.

I found the tale to spark many spiritual feelings in me, the love of Jesus, the appreciation of loyalty in the face of peril and the sweet sense of brotherhood between the early Christians. Costain concludes his novel with Luke envisioning modern times and how Jesus will be as important to later generations. The story is replete with many vivid characters, the giants who defend the camel train for example. I found myself not wanting to turn the light out at night and thinking the extra time reading was worth the experience the next day. This is another charming tale from Costain. I'm so glad I discovered it! Enjoy!

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Religious Fiction

This book gives you an inside view of the Luke and Paul and the other apostles as they struggle to give Jesus' church life. It talks about the danger they were in and the predjudice they faced. I read it before an exam in religion to help me understand the new testament better...it worked! The story follows a young man who was illegally enslaved and then had his freedom purchased by Luke so that he could produce a silver chalice with the likeness of all of the prophets. In order to do so he has to travel around to their lectures and speeches, stay in their homes and become friends with them. It is very insightful. A nice long book, that should keep you busy for quite a few hours of reading time.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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