Author Ralph Jarrells recommends you read more than one Biblically-based novel by Taylor Caldwell but especially “Great Lion of God” about the life of St. Paul.

One of the most enigmatic characters of the New Testament is Paul.

And one of the most enigmatic authors of our time is Taylor Caldwell.

It’s fitting that their lives converged with her novel “Great Lion of God.”

When I was asked to review my favorite novel, it presented a dilemma. I was tempted to review my first novel, “Ill Gotten Gain.”

No. I had to choose between Tom Robbins and Taylor Caldwell.

I selected the seminal work by the author who published 42 novels over the last 43 years of her life.

Who was she?

Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell was born at the turn of the 20th century in Manchester, England.

She lived in Buffalo and died in Connecticut.

She wrote her first novel, “The Romance of Atlantis” when she was 12, although it was not published until 1975.

Most amazing are her Biblical based, biographical novels. “I, Judas,” “Dear and Glorious Physician” (the story of Luke) and “Great Lion of God” the story of the life of the man named Saul who after his conversion became Paul.

Caldwell’s book uses the story and writings of Paul presented in the Bible as a skeleton around which to develop a plausible, if not believable, biography.

It fit, like a number of her stories, into what we would call Religious Fiction.

The story unfolds through quoted scripture and a detailed and panoramic portrait of Saul/Paul the man.

“Great Lion of God” is an epic story of 621 pages in my copy.

Saul was born in Tarsus to Benjamite parents in what was a Pharisee family.

Caldwell told of Saul’s childhood to establish his fierce adherence to the teaching of the Torah.

Paul’s early years

He was educated at the feet of Rabbi Gamaliel, the preeminent educator in the Jewish world at that time.

This provided the basis of his ardent effort to eliminate the adherents of the new prophet, Jesus of Nazareth.

Caldwell’s story presents a fascinating look at what could have been his early life and conflicts with living life as a good Jew following the Torah in a world that didn’t measure up.

He had conflicts in growing into manhood and experiencing the emotional changes in his life.

His career in the Roman army led to his penchant for killing Jesus’ followers.

It became an obsession that he believed would save his people from a lack of a true faith.

A vision of the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus changed the course of his obsession in the well-known story.

“Great Lion of God” is a human picture of a larger than life individual.

Paul was a Roman citizen, Pharisee, lawyer, theologian, apostle and the central figure in the conversion of the Gentile world to Christianity.

But Saul was a man with doubts, anxieties, despairs, anger and lust of the flesh.

Caldwell paints a realistic picture of Paul against lavish descriptions of the world in which he lived. Her writing, with the Bible as her primary source, seems to make the character Paul come to life. It makes the Saint more understandable.

“Great Lion of God” isn’t for everyone. It is a big book. Caldwell’s writing style may be off-putting to some readers.

Her descriptions are often flowery and, possibly, excessive. But her almost endless details sets the tone and atmosphere that places almost literally the reader in an early Christian “Holy Land.”

I enjoyed reading her book as it is written in a way that leaves the reader with the idea that she is a standing near the action and her descriptions are more like a personal account.

I have read her “Great Lion of God,” “Dear and Glorious Physician,” “I, Judas” and “The Romance of Atlantis” and liked all of them. Currently, I am reading “Dialogues with the Devil”.

Each has provided some believable information about the main Biblical characters and the world in which they lived.

“Great Lion of God” by Taylor Caldwell was published in 1970 by DoubleDay & Co, Garden City, NY

Book signing

Ralph Jarrells will be one of more than a dozen published authors who will be signing their books at our Authors for Literacy event at the Lexington Library 11 am - 2 pm Saturday, Dec. 1.