"The Letters of Nicodemus" - Paperback

by Adam Jacek Morek (Translator), Jan Dobraczynski (Author)

"The Letters of Nicodemus is a fictional account of the impact of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ upon one of the lesser New Testament characters, but it is in no way just another recital of a familiar story. Nicodemus is presented as a man of intelligence and great learning, devoted to the law of Moses and to the conventions of his sect, but drawn to the compelling personality of the miracle-worker from Nazareth through the lingering illness of a favorite daughter. Against a convincing and vivid back-ground of Jewish and Roman politics and known Biblical events, Nicodemus' letters to his former teacher, Justus, reveal the subsequent bitter and bewildering struggle his frank incredulity in a Messiah who could never conform to the expectations of the Jewish priesthood, and his deep need to know and to accept the mysteries of Christ's words and deeds. Jan Dobraczynski, one of the leading contemporary novelists in Poland, has written a moving and scholarly interpretation of the growth of belief amongst those in direct contact with Christ. "The Letters of Nicodemus" is a novel which in its profound religious sense and bredth of imagination will appeal to readers of all denominations.

Author Biography

Jan Dobraczynski was born in Warsaw in 1910, and was educated both at school and university there. His first book "Bernanos the Novelist" was published in 1937. At the outbreak of war he fought as a captain in the cavalry and was wounded. He subsequently spent the war years in political underground activity, being co-editor of two underground periodicals. He was taken prisoner in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 and had been sent to Belsen and other concentration camps. On his release in 1945 he returned to Poland and spent his life in Warsaw, where he died in 1994. He has published over 50 novels, one play, 4 tales, 24 studies, and essays. His greatest successes have been "The Letters of Nicodemus", "The Shadow of the Father", "God's Miser", and "Jesus Christ and His Apostles". Several of his books have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Czech, Slovak, and Italian.