A #1 BESTSELLER IN KINDLE HISTORICAL THRILLERS Ancient scrolls hold the key to the origins of Christianity--but some will stop at nothing to hide the truth A suspicious death in Istanbul leaves one ancient scroll and clues to finding another in the hands of Drew Korchula, a thirty-two-year-old American expat, a Turkish dwarf named Kadir, and Zafer, a Special Forces washout. Drew is desperate to turn everything over to the academic community, and in the process redeem himself in the eyes of his estranged wife, but Kadir and Zafer are only interested in what they can get for the scrolls on the black market. Not everyone wants to see the scrolls go public, however, and some will stop at nothing to protect the Church and believers around the world from the revelations embodied in the priceless manuscripts. An action-packed intellectual thriller unraveling the mystery of a theological cold case more than two thousand years old, The Christos Mosaic is a monumental work of biblical research wrapped in a story of love, faith, human frailty, friendship, and forgiveness. Author Vincent Czyz takes the reader through the backstreets of Istanbul, Antakya (ancient Antioch), and Cairo, to clandestine negotiations with wealthy antiquities smugglers and ruthless soldiers of fortune, to dusty Egyptian monasteries, on a nautical skirmish off the coast of Alexandria, and finally to the ruins of Constantine's palace buried deep beneath the streets of present-day Istanbul.

This book, written for college and seminary age students, is the distillation of reflection on the life and career of Jesus of Nazareth for over three decades. Such reflection needs no legitimizing since preoccupation with Jesus of Nazareth continues in one form or another till the present day. The arrangement of the pieces and fragments which make up the "mosaic" in part pursue the usual chronological order as appears in most editions of the Bible. But the interpretation of events within each sequence are this author's own. In discussion with early or contemporary scholars, the text may reflect agreement or disagreement, but assumes the right to and responsibility for a specific point of view. As indicated, the book is a "mosaic," comprised of pieces and fragments. It in no way intends to match the often massive attempts at describing Jesus of Nazareth that have been published over the centuries. Like a mosaic, it will show wear and tear, but it will be sufficient to indicate to the reader precisely whose face appears amid all those fragments and pieces, and enough to awaken reflection on his life and career.

Fiction. Preface by Samuel R. Delany. "Deeply romantic (in the best sense) and darkly evocative, Czyz's lush style explores regions well beyond simple narrative, probing the constantly shifting, oblique connections between failure, memory and the forever-incomplete nature of human desire. A moody, gorgeous and formally innovative collection, ADRIFT IN A VANISHING CITY deserves a wide audience among readers who understand that fiction is about more than getting a character from one room to the next." Greg Burkman, The Seattle Times "Written in hauntingly lyrical prose, Czyz's short stories unfold like a vivid tapestry that is held together by the] thread of human experience." Michelle Howe, Newark Star Ledger "Certain books require a patient reader, one with the ability to concentrate closely and intently. Sentences are not straightforward or transparent, but long and labyrinthine, like intriguing yet shadowy dreams. The writing, more like poetry than prose, calls attention to language, to the fullness of a word, a sentence, with the purpose of expressing inexpressible emotions and experiences. Think of Proust's Remembrance of Things Past or Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury or, more recently, William Vollmann's Fathers and Crows. ...] Vincent Czyz's ADRIFT IN A VANISHING CITY is just this sort of work: lyrical and pensive, an odd and often beautiful portrait of longing." Capper Nichols, Minnesota Daily"

How the billionaire owners of Hobby Lobby are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make America a “Bible nation” The Greens of Oklahoma City—the billionaire owners of the Hobby Lobby chain of craft stores—are spending hundreds of millions of dollars in an ambitious effort to increase the Bible’s influence on American society. In Bible Nation, Candida Moss and Joel Baden provide the first in-depth investigative account of the Greens’ sweeping Bible projects. Moss and Baden tell the story of the Greens’ efforts to place a Bible curriculum in public schools; their rapid acquisition of an unparalleled collection of biblical antiquities; their creation of a closely controlled group of scholars to study and promote the collection; and their construction of a $500 million Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Revealing how all these initiatives promote a very particular set of beliefs about the Bible, the book raises serious questions about the trade in biblical antiquities, the integrity of academic research, and the place of private belief in public life.

Excerpt from The Mosaic System and the Macrocosmic Cross From this point of view the Macrocosmic Crucifixion of Christ the Messiah symbolizes the crucifixion of the creature world in Christ; and. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.