Judas : The Gospel of Betrayal

Praise for Judas... "Imaginative use of biblical incidents gives readers a different way to think about the Bible's biggest villain...If there's any complaint to be made about the book, it's that it's too short." -Booklist "Lures us into the Roman Empire of New Testament times and into the mind of a great villian. There we discover a man like us and find ourselves intrigued or dismayed, or both." -Ken Kuhlken, author of the California Century mysteries The child Judas, illegitimate offspring of a Jewish woman and a Roman soldier, struggles to understand his mother's god, a god who allows terrible things to happen to him and his family. Despairing, he becomes a survivor in the brutal streets of the first century Roman Empire. Later, as a young man determined to avenge the wrongs committed against his family, he joins the rebels led by Barabbas, only to be betrayed by them as well. Beaten and broken, he is brought to the community of Zealots at Qumran and eventually to the one forming around Rabbi Jesus. But his enthusiasm for revolution leads him to make a difficult and-for him and others-fateful choice. Dr. Frederick Ramsay, born in Baltimore, is a graduate of the McDonogh School, Washington and Lee University, and the University of Illinois. While serving on the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, he was ordained an Episcopal priest, eventually serving as Rector of Saint Andrew's Church in Pasadena. Now retired from full-time ministry, Ramsay is focusing on fiction. He lives in Arizona with his wife and partner, Susan. www.frederickramsay.com