What happened to the others?
The Gospels tell us what Jesus said and did. But what became of the ordinary people who stood nearby—the unnamed witnesses, the people at the edge of the crowd, and those whose lives briefly touched the biblical account? Witnesses imagines nine of their stories.
A boy watches John the Baptizer at the Jordan. A fish becomes part of a miracle. Friends carry a paralyzed man toward a crowded house. A Samaritan woman approaches Jacob’s well. A tormented outcast lives among the tombs. Pontius Pilate looks back on the decision that defined him. Each story begins beside a familiar Gospel moment, then follows a life Scripture leaves just beyond our sight.
Biblical fiction rooted in Scripture
These are imagined stories, not additions to the Bible. They remain faithful to the Gospel setting while exploring the human questions surrounding it: What did an encounter with Jesus feel like? What choices followed? How might grace, fear, doubt, courage, or wonder have changed someone after the crowd moved on?
Readers who enjoy New Testament fiction and Christian historical fiction will find recognizable events viewed from unexpected angles. The voices range from humorous and tender to unsettling and reflective, but all nine stories share an interest in the overlooked person—the witness whose name history did not preserve.
For individual readers and groups
Witnesses can be read straight through or one story at a time. The approachable short-story format makes it suitable for personal reading, Christian book clubs, Bible-study groups, Sunday-school classes, and church discussion groups.
The book includes a Conversation Guide for relaxed discussion and a more detailed Reader’s Discussion Guide for groups that want to look more closely at the biblical context, characters, themes, and choices within each story. A group may discuss one story at each meeting, combine several stories, or adapt the material to its own schedule.
Nine stories. Nine unexpected viewpoints. Nine lives changed by an encounter with the extraordinary.
Literary Titan Gold Book Award