The Last Eyewitness: The Final Week

by Chris Seay, Rob Pepper (Illustrator), Brian D. McLaren

A beautiful retelling of the last week in the life of Jesus Christ (from John 13-21), including 17 dramatic illustrations by Rob Pepper. This unique work captures the urgency of the last living disciple telling his students about the most significant event in history. It includes first person commentary told in John's voice with comments from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The compelling story gives the reader the sense of being around a campfire with first century believers, hearing the story directly from John. So come into the story, smell the mixture of the salty air and billows of smoke floating from the bonfire and hear the Last Eyewitness.

134 pages, Hardcover

First published May 10, 2006

Reviews

[Jacquline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had really high expectations for this book, and I am greatly disappointed in its outcome. The whole book was pretty much fiction, not factual, not truth, which is what it should have been. St. John the Beloved is not talking to his audience; what he says is fictional, not the truth that readers are expected to hear. Also, what about the bible translation that the authors used? They said they didn’t want to use a translation, so they went and made their own for these specified chapters. Seriously? What’s wrong with the original bible translation of King James or the New International Version? With the authors making up their own translation just shows how fictional this whole book is. They tried to make it reach a wide audience and shed new light on the holiest week that this world has ever experienced, yet I did not get that feeling because of how fictional the whole book was. None of it was believable because of how terribly written it was. Making their translation discredits the authors greatly. In addition, I hated the use of the words that they used like “the cosmos” and “the Voice.” That is not in the bible. They had a whole team of academics and scholars on board for this book, and they completely ruined the book because of how untruthful it is. They all should be ashamed of themselves because of how terrible this book came out. Lastly, I want to talk about the art by Rob Pepper. His art is absolutely terrible. I don’t claim to be an art critic that knows great art, but any blind person can see how terrible his drawings are. Granted, he used a unique technique to draw by not looking at the paper, but maybe he should have because the art is just atrocious. It is not even worth looking at. Harsh? Well, yeah because something so sacred and so important to our faith should be drawn beautifully. The only good aspect about his drawings is the use of the gold color. It actually brings beauty to something that is not so beautiful. Overall, I would never read this book again or recommend this book to anyone because there is too much fiction and not enough truth.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the creativity of this book. It stayed true to Scripture (not an elaborate, often inaccurate paraphrase like some other projects have been), brought cultural context to light and allowed for a continuous flow of reading extended passages of Scripture. This translation breaks down culture and language barriers and brings the original narrative of God's Word to life. I'm looking forward to reading more translations that are part of The Voice project (check out www.hearthevoice.com)

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read if you want the book of John to come (more) to life. The reason I put "(more)" is because the Bible might already be your favorite book and already alive. Mine felt pretty dull until I read this book. It reminded me that there is a person behind the story.

[Tina Bembry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated the approach this book took to the last week of Jesus' life. It brought the time more alive to me, and the format appealed to me. I enjoyed reading this at the same time as reading a story of Christ's birth, taking in both of these momentous times alongside each other.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole Voice of the Bible series seemed like such an awesome idea. Unfortunately, I guess my brain failed to put it all together. It just kind of came across as different, but not better.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book for Holy Week.