opportunity to share a few thoughts he had pondered over the years. Each time he read through his writing he was prompted to look into another aspect of gnostic writings, folklore, Jewish traditions, geography, or God's laws. He gained a greater understanding as he researched that additional background information. This writing began as a simple essay that became a novelette, then a novella, until it matured into the short novel it has now become.

Regardless of your response, he is grateful for the knowledge he has gained from the research. He thanks you for allowing him to share his views of one of the most important periods of time in the history of the world.

My name is Dastan Kavod. I was born and raised in the Eastern Midwestern United States. I am seventy- eight years old and enjoy working number puzzles and playing chess in my spare time. Most of my adult life I have struggled against what I believed were historical inconsistencies that has so muddied the waters of historical truth. I decided to touch upon most of those dogmas in a novel that would have a historical basis that could be contested in open debate by opened minds. I hope this writing stimulates that discussion. Every item touched upon in this writing has been attacked or embraced by someone over the centuries. There is nothing new here; just what I believe is a wonderful story that just might explain the first thirty years of our Lord's life.