The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ

I liked this book far more than I thought I would, and after I was finished couldn't help but say the same thing I said after finishing the "His Dark Materials" trilogy upon the recommendation of a friend: was I *supposed* to like this? The book is, of course, a retelling of the familiar Gospel story......more

An interesting premise which was badly executed. Those who have studied the persona of Jesus Christ will be puzzled at an apparent contradiction. Jesus was a rebel: he revolted against the priestly dictatorship of Judaism, made a mockery of its bureaucratic institutions and changed its concept of a v......more

The night after his book was published, Philip dreamed that he met Jesus. He was dressed all in white, sitting at a table on which there was a bottle of wine, two glasses and a copy of Philip's novel. "Please explain it to me," said Jesus politely. The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the l......more

THE GOOD MAN PAUL AND THE SCOUNDREL BRYANT - A CONVERSATION So, another one of your beloved pop theology books, hey? This time a novel. More of a fable. An ironical retelling. Yes, but to what purpose? Let’s cut to the chase here, leaving out the dubious legerdemain of having Christ be Jesus’ evil twin –......more

Well played, Pullman. Philip Pullman meets Alyosha and tells him his story. Alyosha flushed. ‘But... that’s absurd!' he cried. 'Your poem is in praise of Jesus, not in blame of Him — as you meant it to be. And who will believe you about freedom? Is that the way to understand it? That’s not the idea of......more