The Skeleton in God's Closet
(Nashville: ThomasNelson, 1994).
Review of Paul A. Maier,

A review of Paul Maier’s book “A Skeleton in God’s Closet”.

Here's one for you: what if you woke up one morning, turned on the news, and heard that a body had been discovered by archaeologists in Palestine--a body which quite likely was that of Jesus Christ? Such a thing would be as terrifying and as offensive to a majority of Christians as it is inconceivable.  It would take courage for a Christian author to explore such a scenario, and that is a large part of what is impressive about Paul Maier's novel, “A Skeleton in God's Closet”.

"Christian fiction" has been long lampooned as dull, dogmatic, and predictable; but Maier's book is a notable exception to that stereotype, an honest foray into what might happen--to individual believers, to the church, to the world—if someone claimed seriously to have found the earthly remains of Jesus Christ.

It begins when Dr. Jonathan Weber--40-something, recently widowed, and Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Harvard--goes on archaeological sabbatical in Israel--as much for escape as for academics or piety.  Once there, Weber links up with his former mentor, Dr. Austin Balfour Jennings,

who is excavating the town of Rama in Israel.  He also meets Jennings' prettydaughter Shannon, and it's (initially unreturned) love at first sight.

Eventually, Jennings' team finds a sarcophagus, and the skeleton buried within seems to be that of Joseph of Arimathea--the first find of a biblical figure's remains in archaeological history.  Even more exciting, inside the sarcophagus with Joseph is the titulus--the inscription "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" that was nailed above Jesus during his crucifixion.

It seems one of the most astounding finds in archaeological history—until Weber finds a juglet with a further document inside.  When Weber, the party's biblical languages expert, translates the document, what he finds horrifies him to no end--and reduces the rest of the party to tears when Weber reads it to them.

The document turns out, apparently, to be a final, confessional note from the dying Joseph to Nicodemus.  It seems that Joseph, to keep Jesus' remains from being molested, removed Jesus from the garden tomb and reburied him in a separate sarcophagus.  When rumors of Jesus' resurrection exploded

Throughout Judea, Joseph didn't have the heart to tell the truth, and thus cruelly dash the joy of Jesus' followers, or the credibility of the message of hope for which Jesus had died so brutally.

Bottom line: what the team had thought was Joseph of Arimathea is quite likely Jesus instead--and there is nothing readily apparent in the evidence to prove otherwise.  This discovery, naturally, has disastrous implications for the credibility of Christianity.  There is a remote possibility, however, that the whole thing may be a masterful fraud--and in the remainder of the book, Maier ably chronicles Weber's rigorous efforts to do so by all honest means.

A large part of the beauty of this book is how Maier deals with Weber's subsequent, agonizing spiritual journey.  Maier writes out of evangelical convictions, but does not presume evangelical faith to be simplistic.  Similarly, Maier's Jon Weber is a man of faith, even conservative faith—but he is a man of truth first.  This gets Weber in trouble from all sides, but especially from the ultra-right firebrands who do not appreciate his dilemma, and who condemn him as the Antichrist for making the discovery in the first place. 

All this causes Weber to struggle with his faith, and even puts him in physical danger. Yet through it all, Weber stays determined to find the truth, and by implication trusts God to resolve whatever follows from what Weber finds.

On the whole, Maier writes well, develops the plot very well, and captivates his audience with numerous surprises, twists and turns.  There is one potential stumbling block for readers: Maier, a history professor by trade, waxes in some detail about modern archaeological methods and tests.  Throughout the book, Maier makes the results of such tests central to solving the mystery of the alleged "Jesus" remains--and while readers can skim these, they skim too quickly at their peril.  (It's better for those who have knowledge of and/or interest in biblical archaeology.)

All in all, this is easily one of the best Christian fiction works I've read, and one I would heartily recommend to anyone.  It resorts neither to simplistic dogma nor the radical skepticism, but reinforces faith by the paradox of making people think long and hard about it.  You'll still believe in the Resurrection after you read it--but you might not ever take it for granted again.