I was disappointed by the inclusion of one scene in which he chooses to sin – it seemed unnecessary and against character.

It is easy to empathise with the thoughtful brother’s reasoning, even though with hindsight his hopes for the church appear naive. The reader is offered a closer account of Christ than Jesus. What mattered was to get people to repent of their sins and start to behave better, that they may be saved now. No planning for the future was therefore needed. It was Jesus’s belief that the Kingdom of God was imminent. When he spoke of this to his brother, Jesus vehemently opposed the idea. What do I mean by useful? Christ believes that the growing number of followers should be brought together in a church, with leaders appointed to continue the teaching and carry out the good works encouraged. Christ smooths his words out to make them more palatable and useful. Jesus comes across as raw and unswerving, passionate in what he promotes. He is encouraged in this endeavour by a stranger who visits from time to time and takes care of the scrolls. When Jesus becomes a preacher, Christ writes down his teachings that they may be remembered accurately. The key twist in the tale is that Mary gives birth to twin boys – Jesus and Christ.Īs a boy Jesus is the volatile naughty one, often defended and thereby protected by his more considering and compliant brother. Major events covered in the biblical gospels are included in the story: Mary and Joseph, John the Baptist, Jesus’s life and death.

The author asks challenging and thought-provoking questions but in a beautifully clear and simple way. He explores how history is recorded – what is included and how this is intended to influence those of the future. Pullman has pulled off quite a feat in taking the foundation story of the Christian religion and bringing the well known tales encompassing Jesus’s birth, ministry and death to readers in a fresh and enticing form. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, by Philip Pullman, is from Canongate’s Myths series – in which contemporary writers retell a myth in a new and memorable way.

The scoundrel christ