The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ Hardcover - 2010

Summary

Excerpt

Mary and Joseph
 
This is the story of Jesus and his brother Christ, of how they were born, of how they lived and of how one of them died. The death of the other is not part of the story.
 
As the world knows, their mother was called Mary. She was the daughter of Joachim and Anna, a rich, pious and elderly couple who had never had a child, much as they prayed for one. It was considered shameful that Joachim had never fathered any offspring, and he felt the shame keenly. Anna was just as unhappy. One day she saw a nest of sparrows in a laurel tree, and wept that even the birds and the beasts could produce young, when she could not.
 
Finally, however, possibly because of their fervent prayers, Anna conceived a child, and in due course she gave birth to a girl. Joachim and Anna vowed to dedicate her to the Lord God, so they took her to the temple and offered her to the high priest Zacharias, who kissed her and blessed her and took her into his care.
 
Zacharias nurtured the child like a dove, and she danced for the Lord, and everyone loved her for her grace and simplicity.
 
But she grew as every other girl did, and when she was twelve years old the priests of the temple realised that before long she would begin to bleed every month. That, of course, would pollute the holy place. What could they do? They had taken charge of her; they couldn’t simply throw her out.
 
So Zacharias prayed, and an angel told him what to do. They should find a husband for Mary, but he should be a good deal older, a steady and experienced man. A widower would be ideal. The angel gave precise instructions, and promised a miracle to confirm the choice of the right man.
 
Accordingly, Zacharias called together as many widowers as he could find. Each one was to bring with him a wooden rod. A dozen or more men came in answer, some young, some middle-aged, some old. Among them was a carpenter called Joseph.
 
Consulting his instructions, Zacharias gathered all the rods together and prayed over them before giving them back. The last to receive his rod was Joseph, and as soon as it came into his hand it burst into flower.
 
‘You’re the one!’ said Zacharias. ‘The Lord has commanded that you should marry the girl Mary.’
 
‘But I’m an old man!’ said Joseph. ‘And I have sons older than the girl. I shall be a laughing-stock.’
 
‘Do as you are commanded,’ said Zacharias, ‘or face the anger of the Lord. Remember what happened to Korah.’
 
Korah was a Levite who had challenged the authority of Moses. As a punishment the earth opened under him and swallowed him up, together with all his household.
 
Joseph was afraid, and reluctantly agreed to take the girl in marriage. He took her back to his house.
 
‘You must stay here while I go about my work,’ he told her. ‘I’ll come back to you in good time. The Lord will watch over you.’
 
In Joseph’s household Mary worked so hard and behaved so modestly that no one had a word of criticism for her. She spun wool, she made bread, she drew water from the well, and as she grew and became a young woman there were many who wondered at this strange marriage, and at Joseph’s absence. There were others, too, young men in particular, who would try to speak to her and smile engagingly, but she said little in reply and kept her eyes on the ground. It was easy to see how simple and good she was.
 
And time went past.

Media reviews

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
 
“Both a perfect and perverse pairing: Philip Pullman and the ‘myth’ of Jesus Christ. . . . It made me think of the story of Christ as just that: a great story. At times, while reading, I had the pleasurable feeling of two versions of a tale, the original and this one, unfolding at once. . . . In other words, I felt myself involved and implicated.”
— The Globe and Mail
 
“Pullman has a gift for creating scenes that make the reader want to put down the book and say ‘wow.’ This is a book that remains in the mind days after the final page has turned. The greatest story ever told has come alive anew.”
— Times Educational Supplement
 
“A fierce and beautiful book which, like the parable of the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov, will move even those who disagree with it.”
— The Guardian
 
“Told in simple, unadorned prose that is none the less beautifully effective, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ traces the familiar journey towards the cross and makes it fresh. . . . A brilliant new interpretation that is also a thought-provoking reflection on the process of how stories come into existence and accrue their meanings.”
— The Sunday Times Review
 
“Inspiring. . . . Pullman displays a marvelous sense of the elemental power of Jesus’ instructions and parables. . . . The action moves toward a conclusion that’s inevitable but still startling and moving. . . . A brisk and bracing story of profound implications.”
— The Washington Post Book World