Book of Jesus: A Unified Gospel in English Verse - Volume I: 1 - Hardcover

The Four Gospel, Evangelists

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1908936614 ISBN 13: 9781908936615

Publisher: Living Time Books, 2025

Synopsis

Discover the life of Jesus of Nazareth like never before in this new English verse translation of the four gospels into a single, unified account. Volume I presents 100 distinct poetic chapters taking the reader from the time before Jesus' birth up to the first stages of his ministry. Each chapter presents a different episode in his life, based on passages from one or more of the gospels, combining the richness of detail provided by the evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Book of Jesus is a 'Gospel Harmony', that is, an attempt to "harmonize" the texts of the four New Testament gospels into a continuous account of Jesus's life. The first such work that appeared was the 'Diatesseron' of Tatian, which has been dated between 160-175 ACE. His was the first work that brought all of the episodes of the canonical gospels together into a single opus - one then used as a lectionary for the purpose of worship. A far more recent example of gospel harmony was 'A Translation Harmony and Analysis of the Gospels' (1892) by Count Leo Tolstoy, which was immensely popular both in its full version and in an abridged form entitled 'The Gospel in Brief ' that same year. Only a few instances exist of the gospels being rendered into a single work in verse, as presented here by contemporary English language poet Edouard d'Araille ('Adapa's Ascent', 'The Fallen', 'Love Immortal', 'Ground Zero', 'Words Can't Hold...').

Volume I of Book of Jesus presents the events occurring before Jesus' birth, the complete 'Nativity' sequence, Jesus' anointing by John the Baptist, the earliest beginnings of his ministry and the start of his coming into conflict with the established religions of his day. At no point does this translation diverge from the texts of its four sources, the canon gospels.

BOOK OF JESUS:

• Includes the complete text of Volume I of Edouard d'Araille's unified English verse translation of the gospels (over 350 pages of poetry)
• Features 100 individual poetic chapters, each one entirely based on the authorized New Testament canonical gospels in Koine Greek
• Is visually brought to life with 30 original black-&-white engravings by renowned French artist Gustave Doré ('La Bible de Tours')
• Includes the complete essay Apologia Poetæ: The Poet's Apology by poet-translator Edouard d'Araille, where Book of Jesus is set in context
• Also features a special Publisher's Preface, detailed Pagefinder & Textual Annotations

Book of Jesus is ideal for those seeking a new perspective on the gospels. The translator uses the power of poetry to convey the words, acts, thoughts and emotions of the New Testament gospels in English verse, differently than ever before. It is a unique work combining the lyricism of poetry with rigorous scriptural research in order to bring the modern English reader a reading experience that allows them to experience the gospels "with new eyes and new ears". Words and images are perfectly coordinated to forge an integrated textual and visual reading experience.

Book of Jesus Volume II is available from December 10th 2025 - Volume II is Available to Pre-Order Now -

About this title

About the Authors

The authors of the four New Testament Gospels cannot be conclusively verified and virtually nothing is known about them. They have been traditionally named as 'Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke' and 'John', though we do not know for sure that these were the authors' actual names. 'Matthew', 'Mark' and 'Luke' are called the "synoptic evangelists" as they share a large amount of material in common, though at the same time they each contribute their own individual material to their gospels. 'John' is more unique as an author as his account of Jesus's life does not share any source material in common with the other three evangelists, even though the same essential sequence of episodes in Jesus's life is presented in his gospel, including his anointing by John the Baptist, ministry in Israel and events leading to crucifixion by his own people. As far as dating of the canon Gospels is concerned, Mark's Gospel is reputed to have been written circa 70 ACE, Matthew's Gospel is generally agreed as having been written in the last quarter of the 1st Century ACE, Luke's Gospel is considered to have been created in the region of 80-90 ACE, while John's Gospel has been dated between 90-110 ACE, thus being the last of the New Testament Gospels in order of composition.

Contemporary English language poet Edouard d'Araille, born in 1974, released his first volume 'In a Short Space of Time: A Verse Cycle' in 1999. His début collection was followed by seventeen other full-length publications over the subsequent quarter century. Edouard d'Araille's poetic style varies noticeably between his works, though it is fundamentally unified in the use of concise verses, straightforwardly engaging vocabulary and an energetic playfulness of verbal structures. One of Edouard d'Araille's most noteworthy recent works is 'Adapa's Ascent' (2020), a translation of the Adapa legend from Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform tablets into modern English verse, which includes his essay 'The Birth of Fiction'. Edouard d'Araille has previously translated work from French (Alain Robbe-Grillet) and German (Stefan Zweig), while 'Book of Jesus' (2024) is wholly based on the Koine Greek texts of the four New Testament evangelists. For those new to the writings of Edouard d'Araille, the volume 'Je Suis Poëte' (2021) - now available in a newly revised edition - provides a retrospective overview of 25 years of poetry, featuring core extracts from most of his full-length publications. Before embarking on a career in poetry, Edouard d'Araille directed the feature-length documentary 'Last Year at Marianské Lazné' [aka 'Hotel Marienbad'] (1998) about the literary and cinematic fiction of Alain Robbe-Grillet, a series of experimental short films entitled 'Déja Vu' (1999) as well as music videos for Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Cronin. He was screenwriter for the Arts Council film 'Subtitled', by Greek filmmaker Anastassios Kavassis, and is the screenwriter of forthcoming feature film 'Crime Trap' (2026). He lives in the English market town of Wem.

Gustave Doré, born in Strasbourg, France on 6th January 1832, was a French printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is renowned for a prolific artistic output of wood-engravings illustrating classic literature, including the 'Bible de Tours', Dante's 'Divine Comedy' and 'Don Quixote' by Cervantes. He achieved worldwide fame on the basis of his vast output and, even though he did not attain unanimous critical acclaim during his lifetime, he was one of the most famous French artists of the 19th Century. 'Book of Jesus' (Volume I) includes the reproduction of 30 black-and-white engravings by Doré taken from his illustrated version of the Vulgate Bible, mostly from the New Testament portion. In fact, Doré's illustrations of the Bible were so welcomed that a major exhibition of his work was given in London in 1867 and the 'Doré Gallery' was opened on Bond Street shortly thereafter. Other works illustrated by him include Coleridge's 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King' and Milton's 'Paradise Lost'. After the death of his father, Doré carried on living with his mother till he died of a heart attack at the age of 51 on 23rd January 1883. At that time, he was working on a new illustrated version of Shakespeare's plays. Gustave Doré was an accomplished watercolor painter and sculptor.

Edition details

• Publisher: Living Time Books
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908936614
• ISBN 13: 9781908936615
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Doré Gustave L C
• Number of pages: 402