Ask the Author: A.J. Deus
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A.J. Deus
Ben, the writing part is easy. The research is four times harder when having to consider strategies and actions from 4 religious cultures rather than from just one. If you want to do a good job, you have to study a lot of primary and secondary material.
Thank you for your interesting comment.
Thank you for your interesting comment.
A.J. Deus
Thank you for you comment, Ben. I am flattered and happy to read about your change.
To your question: while I am intimately familiar with the consensus, I do not usually accept evidence or interpretations from third parties without verifying the primary evidence myself, even if it seems rock solid. You will see in my new book that some of my most significant discoveries originate from exactly this approach. But more importantly, I always try to understand the bigger context of the evidence at hand. In doing so, primary evidence often falls in place on its own.
To your question: while I am intimately familiar with the consensus, I do not usually accept evidence or interpretations from third parties without verifying the primary evidence myself, even if it seems rock solid. You will see in my new book that some of my most significant discoveries originate from exactly this approach. But more importantly, I always try to understand the bigger context of the evidence at hand. In doing so, primary evidence often falls in place on its own.
A.J. Deus
Ben, what a coincidence that you might ask this question. Thank you. My new book is in the publication phase and should be out in October or November.
The book is part of a deep research effort and one of three books to be published this year and the next few. The upcoming book puts the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther and his march toward anti-Semitism into the center of an incredible story. See my informal pre-announcement that I will publish today in response to you in my Goodreads blog.
The consequences of Luther's presence were not only devastating for humanity during the next five centuries, they also have deep ramifications for our understanding of deep history, in particular of early Islam. I have not yet found the Holy Grail, but an entirely new paradigm might open wherein historians need to ask new, fundamental questions (which I formulate here cryptically): what would happen if the biblical promises of the New Jerusalem ever came true? What would life under such a reality look like? Has it ever been achieved? If so, where? Or, where not?
Because the three upcoming books are interdependent, you can perhaps imagine that the completion of this new work did not come easy. It took so many years! Strangely enough, the basic framework of Luther's story fell in place fairly easily. But then, I kept on expanding on the evidence …. Yet, total focus for at least 16 hours every day, 7 days a week, finally got it completed. I could still broaden the evidence, but at some point, I guess, you have to draw a line. Needless to say: I am thoroughly exhausted.
Thank you again, Ben.
Ben, what a coincidence that you might ask this question. Thank you. My new book is in the publication phase and should be out in October or November.
The book is part of a deep research effort and one of three books to be published this year and the next few. The upcoming book puts the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther and his march toward anti-Semitism into the center of an incredible story. See my informal pre-announcement that I will publish today in response to you in my Goodreads blog.
The consequences of Luther's presence were not only devastating for humanity during the next five centuries, they also have deep ramifications for our understanding of deep history, in particular of early Islam. I have not yet found the Holy Grail, but an entirely new paradigm might open wherein historians need to ask new, fundamental questions (which I formulate here cryptically): what would happen if the biblical promises of the New Jerusalem ever came true? What would life under such a reality look like? Has it ever been achieved? If so, where? Or, where not?
Because the three upcoming books are interdependent, you can perhaps imagine that the completion of this new work did not come easy. It took so many years! Strangely enough, the basic framework of Luther's story fell in place fairly easily. But then, I kept on expanding on the evidence …. Yet, total focus for at least 16 hours every day, 7 days a week, finally got it completed. I could still broaden the evidence, but at some point, I guess, you have to draw a line. Needless to say: I am thoroughly exhausted.
Thank you again, Ben.
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