At the age of 82, the Rev. William G. Houser has come up with a new way to tell the familiar story of Jesus.

It was no easy task, as he says there have been more books written about Jesus than anyone who has ever walked the earth. But he wanted to retell the old stories in a new way, so he invented a journalist.

Houser’s book, “Who is this Jesus Christ?” is subtitled, “A skeptical Roman Journalist of the First Century Searches for an Answer.”

“It’s different,” said Houser, a Coupeville resident for the past 12 years, “because it’s from the point of view of a First Century Roman who’s a journalist and tries to prove him (Jesus) wrong.”

Predictably, the skeptical journalist slowly becomes a believer after being assigned by the “Jerusalem Gazette” to “follow and report on Jesus of Nazareth.”

The journalist, named Marcus Valerius, does this in a series of columns written after witnessing all the scenes made famous by the Gospels, from the birth of Jesus to his resurrection. He tries to discount and explain away the miracles he sees, but ultimately gives up everything, including his life, for Christ.

The 162-page volume is light reading designed to introduce people to Christianity, but it also contains interesting details about biblical times and customs. Houser is well educated in such matters, having earned several high level degrees in his career, including a Ph.D. in English from Notre Dame, where he jokes that he was the token Lutheran at the Catholic university. A former Navy man, he got serious about religion after walking through Hiroshima a few weeks after the nuclear bomb blast.

Houser offered the work to major publishers of religious books who he said liked it but ultimately decided against printing it. Then he found Publish America, which accepted it at no cost to himself.

The book is now available to everyone at amazon.com. It can also be ordered in Oak Harbor at His Place Christian Book Store, 675-1430.