The Word (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Word is a 1972
mystery
/thriller novel by Irving Wallace
, which explores the origin of the Bible
.
written by Jesus
' younger brother, James
in the first century. In the gospel, many facts of Jesus' life, including the years not mentioned in the Bible, are revealed not to be as factual as they once thought to be. Steven Randall, a divorced public relations
executive running his own company in New York City
, is the man hired by New Testament International, an alliance of American and European Bible publishers, to give publicity to James' Gospel as published by them.
Randall, despite his success, is a man of contrasts. His wife, Barbara, is estranged from him; his father Nathan, a United Methodist Church
pastor in his home state of Wisconsin
, derides Steven's love of alcohol, cynicism and overall lack of faith. When the novel begins, Nathan has suffered a stroke that draws Randall to him and, aside from the obvious concern about his health, Steven finds out his teenage daughter, Judy, had been expelled from school due to being caught with drugs.
Randall lived in a condo with his lover, Darlene Nicholson, whom he met sometime after separating from Barbara, and whom he considered merely interested in pleasure.
George L. Wheeler, a big-time religious publisher backed by Oklahoma millionaire Ogden Towery III (who is looking to absorb Randall's company), hires Steven on NTI's behalf to publish the new Bible project, codenamed Resurrection 2. Wheeler warns Steven that there may be a larger threat to publication of Resurrection 2, namely Netherlands Reformed Church
chief Maertin de Vroome, who is described by Wheeler as an apostate who is skeptical of miracles.
. He had initially tried to send Darlene somewhere else, but she refused to be away from him. Thus, he had to register her as his factotum, despite her mere interest in sex with him after hours. Although the ship's final destination is Le Havre
, France, Steven and Wheeler need to meet Dr. Bernard Jeffries, the British scholar of Aramaic who translated the scroll's text. Jeffries tells them about the (real-life) Codex Alexandrinus
and Codex Sinaiticus
, and bemoans that his top student, Dr. Florian Knight, won't be joining him in Amsterdam as a result of personal differences.
After leaving Knight and Valerie, Steven reads the local London Daily Courier. He finds out that Maertin de Vroome has hinted at the discovery, but that he is skeptical of its impact on the faithful.
Arriving in Amsterdam, Steven is led into the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, which serves as NTI's temporary headquarters. The security staff, led by former Interpol
top guy Insp. Heldering, gives him a security clearance and specifies his responsibilities. The security detail is designed to counteract Maertin de Vroome, who is based in town, and
Randall is able to obtain a copy of the two documents, the Petronius Report scroll and the Gospel According to James, from Dr. Deichhardt, and begins to read them. There is nothing new in the Petronius Report; so Randall focuses his attention on the James gospel.
Jesus is shown as very concerned for his parents, even praying to God for the eternal rest of his adoptive father Joseph
when the latter dies.
According to James, Jesus had remained alive during the Burial, although he was very weakened. An Essene physician restored him back to full health, and the Ascension had been just Jesus' vanishing act so he could continue preaching his teachings, this time going abroad, although not on Paul's travels.
James, quoting Paul, states that the real Death and Resurrection of Jesus had taken place in Rome
, some twenty years after the original.
To take his mind off the breakup, Randall asks Naomi to schedule meetings with the next three important people in the project: Prof. Agusto Monti in Rome; Prof. Henri Aubert, the radiocarbon dating
expert in Paris
, and Karl Hennig, the German Bible publisher, in Mainz
. Due to a scheduling conflict, Randall agrees to meet Monti at Milan
, but when he gets there, he only finds his daughter, the beautiful Angela. After talking about the project, Angela shows him around town, they hit it off and Angela actually finds herself falling for him.
In Paris, he meets Prof. Henri Aubert, who had been raised as a Catholic but later stopped practicing, only to come back under the banner of the Opus Dei
. After explaining to Randall the radiocarbon dating
process and its advantages and disadvantages, they meet Aubert's wife, Gabrielle, who is pregnant. Steven then crosses the border into Germany on a train to Mainz, where he meets Karl Hennig, in charge of the European edition of the NTI. Before meeting him, however, he finds that Cedric Plummer was in town, obviously trying to go straight to the source of publication. Hennig is an eccentric man, having had on/off affairs with several young socialites and an actress, but is reputed as a stern boss whose staff have differences with him. After meeting with him, however, Steven finds that Plummer, who was ironically staying at the same hotel, was planning to meet Hennig after hours anyway.
After returning to Amsterdam, he finds Angela waiting for him. They go on a date and after the day is over, they go to Steven's room and make passionate love, and Steven realizes that Angela is more than just a beautiful woman; she is very special to him.
After Randall goes back to his hotel, he runs into Maertin de Vroome, who had followed him to Rome. de Vroome reveals to him that he's found out the Gospel According to James is actually a forgery made by a French expatriate, Robert Lebrun, who is living somewhere in Rome. Although Steven initially brushes it off and leaves, he then makes an effort to locate Lebrun. By coincidence, the restaurant below the hotel building is one of Lebrun's favorite hangouts, and they meet.
Lebrun tells his story. As a lifelong criminal and expert forger, French law had caught up with him, and convicted him to the Devil's Island
in French Guiana
, where he met a priest who thought could save him.
, writing his black book on the false Bible that he once helped publish.
At last, a postcard from Rome bearing Angela's signature arrives, with a message of hope for him. He then cancels the Cosmos Enterprises merger, effectively telling Ogden Towery off; and then he contacts Jim McLoughlin, offering him to publish his work, as long as Jim agrees to read and publicize Randall's exposé.
By Christmas, Randall is back in Oak City, Wisconsin. Nathan Randall has stepped down from his position as chief pastor and handed it over to Tom Carey. After Mass is over, Steven and Nathan drive around town, Steven listening to Nathan praise God for bringing the International New Testament (he refers to it as the "discovery at Ostia Antica"). and then dies in Steven's arms. At Nathan's subsequent funeral, Steven uses the same prayer attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of James to pray for his father's soul.
As he returns to his family home, he sees two female figures making a snowman
. One is Judy, who greets him and keeps on playing. The other is Angela, to whom Steven declares his love. Angela reciprocates and hugs him, and Steven then realizes that she is the one he'd never let go.
1972 in literature
The year 1972 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Fiction:*Richard Adams - Watership Down*Jorge Amado - Teresa Batista Cansada da Guerra *Martin Amis - The Rachel Papers...
mystery
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
/thriller novel by Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace
Irving Wallace was an American best-selling author and screenwriter. Wallace was known for his heavily researched novels, many with a sexual theme. One critic described him "as the most successful of all the many exponents of junk fiction perhaps because he took it all so seriously, not so say...
, which explores the origin of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
.
Plot summary
The plot of the novel is based around the discovery of a new gospelGospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
written by Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
' younger brother, James
James the Just
James , first Bishop of Jerusalem, who died in 62 AD, was an important figure in Early Christianity...
in the first century. In the gospel, many facts of Jesus' life, including the years not mentioned in the Bible, are revealed not to be as factual as they once thought to be. Steven Randall, a divorced public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
executive running his own company in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, is the man hired by New Testament International, an alliance of American and European Bible publishers, to give publicity to James' Gospel as published by them.
Randall, despite his success, is a man of contrasts. His wife, Barbara, is estranged from him; his father Nathan, a United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
pastor in his home state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, derides Steven's love of alcohol, cynicism and overall lack of faith. When the novel begins, Nathan has suffered a stroke that draws Randall to him and, aside from the obvious concern about his health, Steven finds out his teenage daughter, Judy, had been expelled from school due to being caught with drugs.
Randall lived in a condo with his lover, Darlene Nicholson, whom he met sometime after separating from Barbara, and whom he considered merely interested in pleasure.
George L. Wheeler, a big-time religious publisher backed by Oklahoma millionaire Ogden Towery III (who is looking to absorb Randall's company), hires Steven on NTI's behalf to publish the new Bible project, codenamed Resurrection 2. Wheeler warns Steven that there may be a larger threat to publication of Resurrection 2, namely Netherlands Reformed Church
Netherlands Reformed Church
The Netherlands Reformed Church can refer to three distinct Christian denominations:* Dutch Reformed Church* Netherlands Reformed Churches* Netherlands Reformed Congregations...
chief Maertin de Vroome, who is described by Wheeler as an apostate who is skeptical of miracles.
The trip to Europe
Steven finds himself on a transatlantic trip from New York to SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. He had initially tried to send Darlene somewhere else, but she refused to be away from him. Thus, he had to register her as his factotum, despite her mere interest in sex with him after hours. Although the ship's final destination is Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, France, Steven and Wheeler need to meet Dr. Bernard Jeffries, the British scholar of Aramaic who translated the scroll's text. Jeffries tells them about the (real-life) Codex Alexandrinus
Codex Alexandrinus
The Codex Alexandrinus is a 5th century manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early history of Christianity...
and Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Sinaiticus is one of the four great uncial codices, an ancient, handwritten copy of the Greek Bible. It is an Alexandrian text-type manuscript written in the 4th century in uncial letters on parchment. Current scholarship considers the Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the best Greek texts of...
, and bemoans that his top student, Dr. Florian Knight, won't be joining him in Amsterdam as a result of personal differences.
After leaving Knight and Valerie, Steven reads the local London Daily Courier. He finds out that Maertin de Vroome has hinted at the discovery, but that he is skeptical of its impact on the faithful.
Arriving in Amsterdam, Steven is led into the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, which serves as NTI's temporary headquarters. The security staff, led by former Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
top guy Insp. Heldering, gives him a security clearance and specifies his responsibilities. The security detail is designed to counteract Maertin de Vroome, who is based in town, and
Randall is able to obtain a copy of the two documents, the Petronius Report scroll and the Gospel According to James, from Dr. Deichhardt, and begins to read them. There is nothing new in the Petronius Report; so Randall focuses his attention on the James gospel.
The Gospel According to James
James begins the story by stating that all the rest of the remaining family of Jesus had fled Judea, thus only he remained to talk about Jesus.Jesus is shown as very concerned for his parents, even praying to God for the eternal rest of his adoptive father Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
when the latter dies.
According to James, Jesus had remained alive during the Burial, although he was very weakened. An Essene physician restored him back to full health, and the Ascension had been just Jesus' vanishing act so he could continue preaching his teachings, this time going abroad, although not on Paul's travels.
James, quoting Paul, states that the real Death and Resurrection of Jesus had taken place in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, some twenty years after the original.
Randall meets Angela
After reading the Gospel, Randall feels his faith actually increase, and he phones Barbara to tell her that he won't fight her demand for a divorce. Barbara forgives him and accepts him as a friend. Darlene, who had been listening in, appears after Steven hangs up the phone, and demands he marry her now that he's rid himself of his wife, but Steven refuses. Darlene and Steven fight verbally and Darlene ends up leaving to return to America.To take his mind off the breakup, Randall asks Naomi to schedule meetings with the next three important people in the project: Prof. Agusto Monti in Rome; Prof. Henri Aubert, the radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
expert in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and Karl Hennig, the German Bible publisher, in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. Due to a scheduling conflict, Randall agrees to meet Monti at Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, but when he gets there, he only finds his daughter, the beautiful Angela. After talking about the project, Angela shows him around town, they hit it off and Angela actually finds herself falling for him.
In Paris, he meets Prof. Henri Aubert, who had been raised as a Catholic but later stopped practicing, only to come back under the banner of the Opus Dei
Opus Dei
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei , is an organization of the Catholic Church that teaches that everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity. The majority of its membership are lay people, with secular priests under the...
. After explaining to Randall the radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
process and its advantages and disadvantages, they meet Aubert's wife, Gabrielle, who is pregnant. Steven then crosses the border into Germany on a train to Mainz, where he meets Karl Hennig, in charge of the European edition of the NTI. Before meeting him, however, he finds that Cedric Plummer was in town, obviously trying to go straight to the source of publication. Hennig is an eccentric man, having had on/off affairs with several young socialites and an actress, but is reputed as a stern boss whose staff have differences with him. After meeting with him, however, Steven finds that Plummer, who was ironically staying at the same hotel, was planning to meet Hennig after hours anyway.
After returning to Amsterdam, he finds Angela waiting for him. They go on a date and after the day is over, they go to Steven's room and make passionate love, and Steven realizes that Angela is more than just a beautiful woman; she is very special to him.
The trip to Italy: Monti and Lebrun
Steven asks Angela to go to Rome and meet her father, and Angela agrees. It turns out that Prof. Agusto Monti had been insane for a year, and was confined in a mental institution. Angela apologizes to Steven for lying to him several times, and Steven forgives her. During his interview with Prof. Monti, Randall is unable to get any coherent answers to his questions; the only clues he gives him are the correct paragraph of the opening sentence of James' Gospel (which had been missing from the original scroll and Steven did not know about) and a drawing of a fish speared with a harpoon. Steven goes to see the doctor in charge, Dr. Venturi, who explains to him the meaning of the fish drawing, but not of the harpoon.After Randall goes back to his hotel, he runs into Maertin de Vroome, who had followed him to Rome. de Vroome reveals to him that he's found out the Gospel According to James is actually a forgery made by a French expatriate, Robert Lebrun, who is living somewhere in Rome. Although Steven initially brushes it off and leaves, he then makes an effort to locate Lebrun. By coincidence, the restaurant below the hotel building is one of Lebrun's favorite hangouts, and they meet.
Lebrun tells his story. As a lifelong criminal and expert forger, French law had caught up with him, and convicted him to the Devil's Island
Devil's Island
Devil's Island is the smallest and northernmost island of the three Îles du Salut located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana . It has an area of 14 ha . It was a small part of the notorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952...
in French Guiana
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west...
, where he met a priest who thought could save him.
Epilogue
Randall returns to his routine life, only to find it unsettling because he was unable to prevent the launch of Resurrection 2. The proposed Cosmos Enterprises (Ogden Towery's company) merger is put on hold when Towery demands he not publish any book attacking the International New Testament; all his old lovers have gone away, leaving him with only bottles of liquor and his loyal secretary Wanda, who provides sexual solace for a time, but then decides to just be friends with him. All the while, Steven pounds away at his typewriterTypewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
, writing his black book on the false Bible that he once helped publish.
At last, a postcard from Rome bearing Angela's signature arrives, with a message of hope for him. He then cancels the Cosmos Enterprises merger, effectively telling Ogden Towery off; and then he contacts Jim McLoughlin, offering him to publish his work, as long as Jim agrees to read and publicize Randall's exposé.
By Christmas, Randall is back in Oak City, Wisconsin. Nathan Randall has stepped down from his position as chief pastor and handed it over to Tom Carey. After Mass is over, Steven and Nathan drive around town, Steven listening to Nathan praise God for bringing the International New Testament (he refers to it as the "discovery at Ostia Antica"). and then dies in Steven's arms. At Nathan's subsequent funeral, Steven uses the same prayer attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of James to pray for his father's soul.
As he returns to his family home, he sees two female figures making a snowman
Snowman
A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture. They are customarily built by children as part of a family project in celebration of winter. In some cases, participants in winter festivals will build large numbers of snowmen...
. One is Judy, who greets him and keeps on playing. The other is Angela, to whom Steven declares his love. Angela reciprocates and hugs him, and Steven then realizes that she is the one he'd never let go.