The Book

by John Tierney

The BOOK is a fictional account of a newly ordained Southern conservative preacher who gets his first job in a Northern progressive church. The interaction of core beliefs provide a dramatic context for contrasting and sometimes mutually exclusive views of what God meant when He said this or that in the original Book.

The story centers on the Reverend Peter Simon Christianson who sets out on a mission from God, to make disciples of all nations. He is on his way north on Christmas Eve when a blizzard and an accident strands him in the woods. He makes his way to a mysterious cottage where he is taken in by an equally mysterious old man, Doctor Ball. While waiting for the storm to end, Peter and his host engage in friendly debate over questions such as “How do you know that God exists?” with Peter defending the faith and Doctor Ball acting as Devil’s Advocate. In the process, Peter meets Abaddon, The Angel of Death who continues to be his nemesis throughout the book.

Peter eventually finds his way to the church and to his new life as a country pastor where he encounters other mysterious characters including: Mother Ash, the previous pastor’s widow; Phineas Uriah Du, the little man with the huge brain; Aradia Dawkins, the demure organist or demon guitarist; Little Zoe Potter, the child of grace and beauty; and the Burke Family, Big Joe, Mary and their son Billy soon to be deployed to the Middle East. A provocative supporting cast includes: a priest, a rabbi, an imam, a physician, a researcher, a crusading professor, and a gaggle of church ladies, not to mention two guppies named Adam and Eve.

Follow the adventures of the Rev. Peter Simon Christianson through twelve seasons and one hundred and ten episodes as he pursues his dream to make disciples of all nations and, as he encounters the perils of dreaming.

568 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 21, 2014

About the author

John Marion Tierney is a journalist who has worked for the New York Times since 1990.

Tierney writes a science column, Findings, and the TierneyLab blog for the Times. The TierneyLab takes a contrarian view about science and society:

The Lab's work is guided by two founding principles:
  1. Just because an idea appeals to a lot of people doesn't mean it's wrong.
  2. But that's a good working theory.

Tierney identifies himself as a libertarian, and has become increasingly identified with libertarianism. His columns have been critical of rent stabilization, the war on drugs, Amtrak and compulsory recycling. His 1996 article "Recycling Is Garbage" broke the New York Times Magazine's hate mail record.

(Further information can be found at Wikipedia, and at the author's biographical page at the New York Times.)