Book Description

In 93 AD, Loukas, the son of a wealthy Christian trader, is entrusted with a scroll to read in seven churches in Asia Minor. However, the scroll sparks rebellion wherever he goes and the Roman authorities attempt to track him down. But all Loukas wants to do is complete his mission and get back to Ephesus and his fiancée, Iounia.

In 2005 AD, Dima and Natasha, a young Russian couple from St. Petersburg, come across a stone box with a scroll inside, apparently found in Ephesus by Dima’s great-great-grandfather. The scroll is a complete – and early – copy of the book of Revelation. How did this scroll come to be found in Russia? And has it come to light at this very time for a reason?

The Ephesus Scroll is a novel that attempts to answer two questions. What did the book of Revelation mean to the people who first heard it? And what does it mean for us today? 

Introducing "The Ephesus Scroll"

Welcome to The Ephesus Scroll blog, a place for information about The Ephesus Scroll, a novel by Ben Chenoweth.  This novel is available for purchase and download from Smashwords.  Click here for the book's Smashwords page.  It is also available on Amazon.  Click here for the book's Amazon page.  The ebook version is priced at US$4.99.

As of June 2013 (and while stocks last) it also comes in printed form.  To order, please email ephesus.scroll at gmail.com with your name, address and how many copies you would like and I will send you details about how to pay.  (It will be through PayPal, in case you were wondering.)  And if you want the author to sign it, just ask; that will not cost anything extra!  (The following prices are in Australian dollars.)  The printed version costs $12 per copy.  For postage in Australia, add $4.  For international postings, add
$10 for New Zealand, $12 for Asia/Pacific, and $16 for UK / Europe / US.

The novel was inspired by a visit to Ephesus in 2004. There are two timelines and the action cuts back and forth between them, like Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon". The first timeline is set in 93 AD, during the reign of Domitian. The second is set in the recent present (2005-6), mostly in St. Petersburg, Russia. Having two timelines is my way of answering two important questions about the book of Revelation: what did it mean for the people who first heard it, and what does it mean for us today?