DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming" by Upton Sinclair. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.
By using Jesus, or Carpenter as Sinclair calls him, as a literary figure, Sinclair exposes the new and upcoming culture of 1920's Southern California, namely Hollywood. The story takes place in the fictional city of Western City, and begins with a man named Billy being attacked by a mob outside of a theater after watching a German film. Billy then stumbles into a church and is visited by Carpenter, a.k.a. Jesus, who walks out of a stained glass window. Carpenter is shocked and appalled by the upper-class culture. The story then roughly follows the biblical account of the Ministry of Jesus Christ. In the end, Carpenter decides to escape the corroded culture by jumping back into the stained glass window from whence he came.
Although Sinclair had written very critically of organized religion in his book The Profits of Religion, in this novel he takes a more human approach to the story of Christ. Of course, the Christ character is repulsed by the show of wealth he finds in 1920s California culture, which ultimately contributes to his leaving. In that sense, They Call Me Carpenter fits well into the canon of Upton Sinclair.
This story of raging comedy and despair centers on the tempestuous marriage of an heiress and a Vietnam veteran. From their "carpenter gothic" rented house, Paul sets himself up as a media consultant for Reverend Ude, an evangelist mounting a grand crusade that conveniently suits a mining combine bidding to take over an ore strike on the site of Ude's African mission. At the still center of the breakneck action--revealed in Gaddis's inimitable virtuoso dialoge—is Paul's wife, Liz, and over it all looms the shadowy figure of McCandless, a geologist from whom Paul and Liz rent their house. As Paul mishandles the situation, his wife takes the geologist to her bed and a fire and aborted assassination occur; Ude issues a call to arms as harrowing as any Jeremiad--and Armageddon comes rapidly closer. Displaying Gaddis's inimitable virtuoso dialogue, and his startling treatments of violence and sexuality, Carpenter's Gothic "shows again that Gaddis is among the first rank of contemporary American writers" (Malcolm Bradbury, The Washington Post Book World).
He thought Christianity was a sham. Then it changed his life. Skeptic Josh McDowell thought Christians were out of their minds. He ridiculed and insulted them, then decided to combat them with his own thorough research to disprove the claims of Jesus Christ. To his surprise, he discovered that the evidence suggested exactly the opposite--that Jesus, instead of being simply a first-century Hebrew carpenter, truly was the God he claimed to be. Josh went on to write the inspirational work on Christian apologetics, More Than a Carpenter, which has sold over 15 million copies. In this revised and updated edition, with over 15 million copies in print since its original publication, More Than a Carpenter has changed countless lives. Now, in this revised and updated edition, Josh is joined by his son, Sean, as they tackle the questions that today's generation continues to ask: "Can I be spiritual without believing in God?" "How can I make sure that my life counts for something?" "Is it really possible to know anything for sure about God or Jesus?" This edition is an accessible read for seekers and a great evangelism tool.
