‘The Last Judgment’ for Chambers of Justice Series

By Chris Carpenter
CBN.com Program Director

CBN.com - ANAHEIM, California -- From a spiritual perspective, Jerusalem’s Temple Mount intersects three different religions – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

According to Genesis 22, under the golden Dome of the Rock, Abraham tried to sacrifice his son Isaac to God. Generations later, King David built an altar upon the same rock to stop the plague. His son Solomon built the first temple that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar on this site. Without question, the Temple Mount is the foundation stone of Judeo-Christian tradition.

But the religion of Islam also lays claim to the Temple Mount. When the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 1638, it set the stage for the first mosque to be built there. In fact, the Temple Mount is regarded as third in importance to Muslims, after Mecca and Medina.

The confluence of the three religions on such a small plot of land in such a holy city has led to centuries inflicted with hatred-fueled conflict.

Such an undercurrent serves as the focal point of Craig Parshall’s new legal thriller “The Last Judgment”, from Harvest House Publishers. In this, the fifth and final installment of his Chambers of Justice series, Parshall departs the breezy summer environs of North Carolina’s Outer Banks (“Missing Witness”) and takes attorney Will Chambers to the spiritual epicenter of Jerusalem.

Older and wiser, Chambers is doing his best to settle into a quiet suburban lifestyle filled with school sporting events, recitals, and spending more time with his wife and son. The last thing on his mind is taking on a religious case that has apocryphal implications.

But that is exactly what happens. Chambers makes the decision to defend a young Christian converted from Islam who is charged with staging a religious riot in the United States. With the case settled, Chambers does not hear from the young man again until he receives a call from Jerusalem. His client, Gilead Ahman, has been charged with bombing the Temple Mount into a pile of rubble and stone. At issue is whether Ahman has enlisted a terrorist cult to assist him in the Temple Mount’s destruction or did he act alone.

Now Chambers must figure out whether his client is on a mission for God, for Allah, or none of the above. Further complicating matters is a wife at home who wants him to have no part in the case.

At the book’s core, Parshall effectively explains why the Temple Mount is such a valuable piece of real estate in a world racing forward toward the end times.

“I really believe that Jerusalem is the future,” explained Parshall, in a recent interview with CBN.com. “It is the future of the United States, it’s the global future, and it is also the future of the Christian church. If we lose sight of its importance in God’s grand scheme of things than we really forget why Jerusalem is so special and why it is at the heart of God. Evangelicals can differ on timelines and the eschatology but we all agree on one thing … that is Jesus is coming again and Jerusalem will play an integral part in that. To forget that means we really forget to read the signs of the times.”

Readers of the Chambers of Justice series will find a more seasoned Will Chambers both professionally and spiritually in “The Last Judgment”. It has been refreshing to see the evolution of his faith, a process of spiritual maturity that culminates with some hard choices to be made in the face of cataclysmic events.

“I challenged myself to show growth and change in him (Will Chambers),” Parshall said. “In my first book he comes to the Lord. He is about as unsaved as you can get. He is a man in turmoil, whose life is literally unraveling. In book two, he is trying to figure out how to integrate his faith into the workplace. In book three, his spirituality grows in a world view sense. The fourth book is more of a fun story but Will grows in his relationship with Fiona (his wife) as well as his priorities as a father. In this book, Will learns about sacrifice and the calling of obedience.”

Parshall has made sure to include many of the colorful characters that have accompanied Chambers on his many previous adventures fighting for justice. Along for the ride this time are pilot Tex Rhoady, vindictive scientist Orville Putrie, and his reclusive mentor Len Redgrove.

“These were characters I really liked,” said Parshall. “I didn’t want to say goodbye to these people. A long time before writing “The Last Judgment” I decided that a lot of these characters I somehow wanted to bring back and give them a last curtain call.”

“The Last Judgment” concludes in a hail of gunfire, explosions, and top secret aircraft. When the last gun has been fired and the last bomb has been thrown, readers are left with a man, his faith, and the knowledge that Will Chambers made a difference in the lives of many.

Ultimately, this is a book that delves into the sometimes tense relationship between Christianity and Islam. In the books’ 428 pages, Parshall probes many critical issues, politically and religiously, that may be addressed in the not too distant future.

I highly recommend “The Last Judgment” for several reasons. First, Parshall tackles an issue (the contentious nature of the Temple Mount) he is very passionate about with aplomb. Second, as he has done so eloquently in previous Chambers of Justice offerings, he writes fresh, compelling narrative with mass market appeal. Finally, Craig Parshall is a master at weaving morality into the narrow, litigious margins of the courtroom.

If you haven’t done so already, do yourself a favor today and pick up a copy of “The Last Judgment”.

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Some information used in this article courtesy of Harvest House Publishing.