The colorful, passionate world of early Christianity comes to vivid life in this story of Basil of Antioch. Basil, a sensitive artisan, is purchased from slavery and commissioned to create a decorative casing for the Chalice that Jesus used at the Last Supper. Basil travels to Jerusalem, Greece, and Rome, meets the apostles, braves the perils of persecution, and finally makes a fateful choice that allows him to “see” Jesus. The dramatic plot, compelling characters, and spiritual depth of The Silver Chalice made it one of the most popular historical novels of the twentieth century.
MY THOUGHTS:
First, I want to describe how this book came into my hands. I was browsing at a secondhand shop, skimmed its blurb and thought, 'Hmm, this looks like one of those Biblical epics. Meh, well, why not?' It joined my stash of old books to be looked at down the track, some of which never see the light of day for ages. A few weeks later, I stumbled across a list of the bestselling books for each year from the 1930s to the early 2020s. And this was on it! It's America's bestselling fiction title of 1952, and Australia probably followed suit. Since I'm keen to tick some off, this serendipitous discovery seemed a perfect starting place. I went in with no expectations.
And it blew me away!
So we're plunged instantly into New Testament times. Some of the events that take place in the Bible's Book of Acts are happening offstage simultaneously. Our hero is a talented young artisan named Basil, who was adopted by a wealthy businessman to be his son and heir. But Basil is majorly screwed over by his wicked step-uncle, who sells him as a slave to an exploitative silversmith. From there, he's purchased by Luke the Physician (yep, that Luke) who brings him to meet Joseph of Arimathea. The elderly church heroes have a daunting commission for our boy. They possess the modest cup used by Jesus and his apostles in the Upper Room at the Last Supper, and want a special silver chalice created to hold it, which must feature the faces of Jesus's most beloved followers. They've chosen Basil, who is about 19 years old at this stage, to be the artist.
His task involves travelling to key places where each model happens to live, often in exile, to record their likenesses so he can start his job. Needless to say, this takes far more than a snap from a phone camera, or a sketch on a drawing pad. Basil must form accurate little wax models, sometimes surreptitiously, for his records. And the scope of the action includes Antioch, his starting point, Jerusalem, Ephesus and Rome. It's extremely perilous, since several passionate groups want to stamp out his effort, including High Jewish officials, Zealots and the Roman conquerors.
I loved Basil. He's exactly the sort of protagonist it's fun to stand behind and barrack for. Essentially, he's just a kid with an amazing talent that proves to be a mixed blessing, turning him into something of a puppet. Basil's social status and time period make it easy for several different people to control his destiny, each with their own agendas in mind. Basil is in no position to do anything about it. When people who pull strings say, 'Jump,' he has to say, 'How high?' rather than, 'Get lost!' as he'd often prefer. The cycle starts when he's only ten years old, and Ignatius the wealthy olive oil magnate arranges with Basil's biological father, Theron, to adopt him. The boy himself gets no say in the matter. But one of my favourite examples occurs when Basil is summoned before the Emperor, Nero. 'Caesar does not invite. He commands!'
There is a fantastic cast of supporting characters. I love the role Luke the gospel writer plays in this story. Paul comes across as bold and bossy as he probably was; the encounter with John was arduous but mind-blowing, and I won't reveal too much about Peter.
The sneaky villain, Simon the Sorcerer plays a huge role, as he attempts to undermine the miracles of Jesus with his chicanery, and the public lap it up. And Basil's intriguing love triangle adds a dash of romance. Two young women are crazy about the young artist. Will his heart swing toward Deborra, the granddaughter of Joseph, or Helena, a former cheeky slave of his stepfather's?
One of the questions driving the plot concerns Basil's ultimate success. He worries that if his ability to make the chalice will depend on the purity of his own state of mind, it's doomed, for lots has happened to make him bitter and vengeful in his short life. I love it that Bible stories are always drawn from by characters as real and living historical precedents to aid decision making, which is so refreshing in our era, when many people sweep them aside as legends or fairy tales.
Overall, I'm impressed that in the mid-twentieth century, a Christian fiction (for what else could you call this?) could make it as the bestselling book on secular charts. Times have certainly changed. And the bestselling non-fiction for the same year was probably unsurprisingly, The Revised Standard edition of the Bible. And now I'm definitely interested to find out more about Costain's other historical fiction. Although he had a huge following in his heyday, this is the first time I'd ever heard of him.
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