A review of ‘The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ’ by Philip Pullman.
Even the title of this book will be offensive to many Christians. Philip Pullman, multi-awarded children's author, and very public atheist was asked to contribute to UK publisher Canongate's "Myth" series, and chose… the Gospels. Thus, he clearly is making a statement by the selection of his subject.
Pullman says he had decided to write a story about Jesus when challenged during a debate by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Williams was making the point that in Pullman's openly anti-Christian children's series His Dark Materials Pullman had not made reference to Jesus or the atonement.
In preparation for writing his version of the "myth" of Jesus Pullman read several versions of the Gospels, and was struck how unlike biographies they were: no detail, or description. In an article he wrote for London's Sunday Telegraph, he revealed his conclusion:
In their spareness and urgency the gospel narratives resemble folktales and ballads, except that they have quite a different purpose: to tell us what to believe.
So he wanted to show that they were just fabrications, made up by the gospel-writers, who were simple people led astray by imagination and folk religion. For example, naive Mary is impregnated by a cunning village youth pretending to be "an angel".
Pullman points to the many contradictions of the Gospel accounts, and poses the question:
Could it have come from a man working out his own thoughts as he spoke? Could there have been another voice close by, "correcting' what the first voice said so as to make it conform to an emerging "line'?
Pullman also read the epistles and was struck with the way Paul almost exclusively refers to Jesus as Jesus Christ our Lord. He then began wondering what if there were two sides to the "myth" of Jesus: the good man Jesus, a wise teacher; and the scoundrel Christ conspiring to begin a new religious institution.
In short, it seemed to me that Jesus was a man, obviously a man and no more than a man, but Christ was a fiction.
He solved the problem by making Mary have twins: Jesus and Christ. Jesus is the likable guy, a mischievous kid. Christ is the cunning and manipulative one. It is he who tempts Jesus in the wilderness, and manipulates the recording of Jesus' story, who betrays Jesus to the authorities.
Along the way Pullman has some fun with healings (bribing people to pretend to be well), miracles (all the five thousand had brought items to share in a picnic), and even parables (the Prodigal Son is actually about Jesus and his older brother Christ).
However, this is not just innocent story-telling… Pullman's agenda is abundantly clear:
Anti-church: "As soon as men who think they're doing God's will… the devil enters into them. It isn't long before they start drawing up lists of punishment for innocent activities… And the privileged ones will build great palaces and temples to strut around in…"
Anti-God: "But I tell them you're a loving father watching over them all, and you're not, you're blind as well as deaf… Listen to that silence… You're in the silence. You say nothing."
Anti-spirit: "Body and spirit… is there a difference? Where does the one end and the other begin? Aren't they the same thing?"
Anti-Jesus as history: "And when you come to assemble the history of what the world is living through now, you will add to the outward and visible events their inward and spiritual significance… always… let the truth irradiate the history"
Since there is no God, Jesus is not the Son of God, so clearly the resurrection is a fabrication. Even Pullman is more astute than Mel Gibson in realising that the climax of the Jesus story is not the crucifixion but the resurrection. His device for resolving the issue is simple: two men who look the same, one dies and one stays alive.
Pullman is wanting to challenge Christians, as well as convince sceptics:
That's the question I'd put to every believing Christian: if you could go back in time and save that man from crucifixion, knowing that that would mean that there would be no church, would you or not?
Ultimately Pullman sees the church as a human invention that has perpetuated some good but much evil. Is it worth saving the human Jesus' life to prevent the evil institution forming?
Unfortunately, the sins of the church are exactly what the good man Jesus died for, as well as Philip Pullman's and mine. I would not prevent Jesus' death because it was a choice the man/God made, a willing surrender to provide a solution to the dilemma we each face: how do we deal with the blackness in our hearts that condemns us? Where do we go for words of life and hope?
As Christians, how do we respond to the publication of this book? I clearly, have decided to review it, because I think we have to engage with the ideas it raises. Pullman has described the book as part history and part fairytale. There is little history or fact in what he has presented. We need to ensure we have our facts prepared to make a defence to the mythical elements he has portrayed. Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Josh McDowell), The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel) or The Christ Files (John Dickson) are good resources.
His resurrection hoax especially is easily dismantled. Jesus' body is stolen away: ignoring the reality of the existence of a Roman guard. His brother Christ is the substitution, yet it is impossible to believe that the disciples would be fooled by someone they knew, when there were so many resurrection appearances.
The conspiracy theory about a church doesn't hold water either. Christians were viciously persecuted for almost three hundred years after the death of Jesus: no fancy palaces, no power to wield, just humiliation and suffering.
Ultimately though, in responding to this book as fact, we may well give it too much credence. It is story. In my opinion it is actually quite poorly written story: more rant than powerful plot or clever dialogue.
Unfortunately, this book may lead believers and unbelievers astray. Our most important resource continues to be the Gospels themselves, and the impact they have on us as readers: on our hearts, spirits and minds. This story becomes fact as it affects our story and choices. To that end I would prefer the light, hope and grace of the Gospels to the darkness, confusion and manipulation of Pullman's re-imagination.
