Dear and Glorious Physician

Dear and Glorious Physician is a historical novel by the American writer Taylor Caldwell, published in 1959. It tells the story of St Luke, the author of the third Gospel.

Lucanus, as Caldwell calls him, grows up in the household of his stepfather, the Roman governor of Antioch. He studies medicine in Alexandria, becomes one of the greatest physicians of the ancient world and travels far and wide through the Mediterranean region healing the sick, and the novel follows him through a life that includes both love and the emptiness of bereavement. As time goes on he learns of the life and death of Christ and sees in him the God he has been seeking, and because he never met Jesus himself he visits the places where Jesus had been and questions everyone who had known him or heard him preach, including his mother Mary. His search takes him through the hills and wastes of Judea, asking what manner of man his Lord was. When he has gathered as much information as he can, he writes down what is now known as the Gospel according to St Luke.

Caldwell travelled through the Holy Land and researched the period before writing the book, and it sets the Roman world of the first century alongside the beginnings of Christianity. It was published in 1959 and has stayed in print for many years since.