The Faithful, a novel by Peter W. Van Ness Get an Autographed Book HERE

History and Spirituality in The Faithful

In Chapter Eight ~ The Disciples on pages 104-105, Jimmy tells John about a number of New Testament passages alluding to Jesus teaching his disciples something private. Here are some of the passages he's referring to: Matthew 11:1, 13:10 and 17; Mark 4:10, 4:33, 8:27, and 11:20-24; Luke 8:10, 10:23, and 11; John 3:22 and 6:3.

Thomas Moore's Writing In the Sand: Jesus, Spirituality, and the Soul of the Gospels sheds the most spiritual and realistic light on the life and teachings of Jesus. I also highly recommend his translations of the gospels, with commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

• The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley.
• Spiritual Cannibalism by Swami Rudrananda (Rudi).
• Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki.
• Be Here Now by Ram Dass.
• Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl G. Jung.
• Up from Eden: A Transpersonal View of Human Evolution by Ken Wilber.
• Dialogues with Scientists and Sages by Renee Weber
• Wholeness and the Implicate Order by David Bohm.

• Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by R. Buckminster Fuller. [Chapter Seven, page 96 "Great Pirates"]
• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
• In Chapter 3 ~Part 2~ The Wine on page 50, Simon explains the goblet is made of dichroic glass. You can see pictures of the Lycurgus Cup here. This is a excellent example of ancient dichroic glass. See more detail about the cup and dichroic glass here.
• In Chapter Eight ~ The Disciples on page 108, Jimmy tells John about Darwin's religious beliefs and his notion of "The mystery of the beginning of all things." Here is the passage in Darwin's Autobiograhpy. More about his changing view of God that Jimmy talks about is available there.
• Later in the chapter on pages 111-112, Jimmy tells John about Thomas Jefferson's letters. Here's one of the letters that Jimmy refers to.
• Later on page 112, Jimmy tells John about Ben Franklin's investigation of Mesmer's magnetic fluid. Here's Franklin's report to King Louis XVI's Royal Commission.
• In Chapter Twenty-Five ~Part 2~ Trust on page 259, John and Emily meet Carl at his hideout in the museum of magic adjacent to the Larcom Theatre in Beverly, MA which was home to Le Grand David and his Own Spectacular Magic Company when the story takes place in 2004. This video documents their historic liquidation auction in 2016 (during a time when Vickie and I were presenting concerts at The Larcom). You can see some of the places and items described in the book. If you look carefully, you will see our sound gear on the stage and in the balcony, and our gimmeLIVE backdrop in The Larcom basement.