The Scoundrel Christ
I've just finished reading Philip Pullman's new book - 'The Good Man Jesus and The Scoundrel Christ'.
Essentially the book is a re-imagining of the New Testament - on the basis that the baby Jesus had a younger twin brother - named Christ.
The twins are very different characters - one is very headstrong and wilful (Jesus) - while the other is very clever and calculating (Christ).
Jesus grows up to be very pious - if a little dull and naive - but Christ is more wayward and tempted by life's forbidden fruits.
So Christ follows his older brother around - recording his travels and encounters - embellishing ordinary everyday events into the most wondrous miracles.
And so by the end of the book - Philip Pullman is simply saying what most people already know - that the bible and the gospels are all works of fiction - not literal truths.
Stories written hundreds of years after the death of Jesus Christ - then used by organised religion to create a set of rules - by which people should live their lives - according to their religious leaders anyway.
Taken to extremes this can involve murdering any non-believers who reject their absolutist and fundamentalist interpretation - of the 'holy' scriptures.
So the book is well worth a read - though it will no doubt have the 'true believers' tearing their hair out - by the roots.
And not just Christians of course - since fundamentalism is a problem for many religions - once the zealots establish control over people's lives.
I've never read a Philip Pullman book before - though my children both really liked the famous 'His Dark Materials' trilogy - which I must catch up with some day.
If I do - I'll let you know.
Essentially the book is a re-imagining of the New Testament - on the basis that the baby Jesus had a younger twin brother - named Christ.
The twins are very different characters - one is very headstrong and wilful (Jesus) - while the other is very clever and calculating (Christ).
Jesus grows up to be very pious - if a little dull and naive - but Christ is more wayward and tempted by life's forbidden fruits.
So Christ follows his older brother around - recording his travels and encounters - embellishing ordinary everyday events into the most wondrous miracles.
And so by the end of the book - Philip Pullman is simply saying what most people already know - that the bible and the gospels are all works of fiction - not literal truths.
Stories written hundreds of years after the death of Jesus Christ - then used by organised religion to create a set of rules - by which people should live their lives - according to their religious leaders anyway.
Taken to extremes this can involve murdering any non-believers who reject their absolutist and fundamentalist interpretation - of the 'holy' scriptures.
So the book is well worth a read - though it will no doubt have the 'true believers' tearing their hair out - by the roots.
And not just Christians of course - since fundamentalism is a problem for many religions - once the zealots establish control over people's lives.
I've never read a Philip Pullman book before - though my children both really liked the famous 'His Dark Materials' trilogy - which I must catch up with some day.
If I do - I'll let you know.
