In May and June, I was engrossed in one of Gerald Lund's religious series, "The Kingdom & the Crown." I was taking a New Testament class at the same time, which added to my study of Christ's ministry. This is actually the second time I have read this series, but I think I got more out of it this time around since I last read them sometime in high school. This series is a historical novel following a fictional family in the time of Christ's ministry. What I love about them is that there is a great balance of action, love, history and most importantly, spirituality intertwined into the lives of the characters. You get an idea of what Christ's early disciples were like. You learn what their daily lives consisted of and that perhaps they gained testimonies similar to the way we do: slowly, line upon line. You also get to learn much about Christ's biggest critics (the Pharisees and other Judean rulers) who inadvertently contributed to the completion of Christ's Atonement.
The author has to take many artistic licenses in order to make the novels flow in a readable pattern. But I was happy to find that he sticks very close to the Gospels, often using the exact wording. He leaves chapter notes at the end of each chapter which gives more historical information and also cites his sources.
I came away with a greater understanding of the time in which Christ ministered and a stronger testimony and gratitude for the Atonement. I would recommend them to anyone. Let me know if you want to borrow them!
P.S. I purchased all these books secondhand! The first at DI and the next two at a used bookstore in Orem (Pioneer Books) for $9 and $12! I love good deals and recycling :)
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