The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, Philip Pullman

This is a re-telling of the life of Jesus, told mostly in the voice of Jesus' twin brother, Christ. Christ is a fictitious character who plays the role of both story-teller and reality check. Christ often appears as an alter-ego, the shadow of Jesus; Christ is a weak and quiet person, in awe of his brother Jesus who is so charismatic and a natural born revolutionary. After being approached by a 'stranger', Christ is persuaded to write down and record the 'disturbances' that his brother appears to be causing through his preaching. So while Jesus is stirring up trouble with the authorities, Christ is in the background observing and writing reports for the stranger.

Giving Christ the status of Jesus' twin status gives Pullman, an atheist and humanist supporter, a handy device for providing a logical and rational explanation to some of Jesus' miracles, not least the resurrection, in which Christ is mistaken for, and assumed to be, Jesus when the tomb is found to be empty.

So why is Christ a scoundrel? He plays two significant roles – that of Satan when Jesus is in the desert, and that of Judas who betrays Jesus to the authorities. But there are also moments when Jesus' behaviour not as saintly as we might expect. For example, before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane he feels deserted by his god who never appears to listen to his prayers and expresses disillusionment. Jesus also treats his family quite harshly and abandons them in pursuit of his mission.

The re-telling came about when one of Pullman’s admirers, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, asked Pullman during a public debate why having tackled God he had neglected to write about the figure of Jesus. This version of the Gospel stories may appear to be unchristian but it is certainly not anti-Jesus. The main point of the re-telling emphasises the 'Christianity' of Jesus as a person vis-a-vis the corruption of the church. This is the paradox that Christ is able to manipulate for the reader. Christ believes he is doing the right thing when he betrays Jesus, following the strangers instructions, because in that way Jesus will be revered and will become the foundation of a new religion. However, at the end of the story we, and Christ, are faced with the reality that the stranger is as mortal and mercenary as the rest of us, and has no desire to promote the true voice of Jesus' word. Finally the 'Church' takes over the myth of Jesus and interprets the stories for its own ends – as did the stranger.    

I enjoyed this re-telling because it helps me to understand the times that Jesus lived in and to put the crucifixion into a historical context. I also liked the character of Christ because he displays 'normal' human emotions: fraternity, sibling jealousy, loyalty, gullibility, guilt and regret. I have never really got on the the Bible and the Gospels, but I found this re-telling not only a good story, but a very readable account of the life of Jesus.