Burning the Torah: Writing as Betrayal in Four Fictional Gospels. (14th December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Walhout, M D
• Is Part Of: Literature and theology. Volume 32:Number 3(2018)
• Page Start: 306
• Page End: 320
• Publication Date: 2017-12-14
• Subjects: Gospel -- Writing -- Fiction; Religion and literature -- Periodicals; Religion and literature; Periodicals; 809.9338205
• DOI: 10.1093/litthe/frx033
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-1205

Abstract

Abstract: In ancient Jewish, Greek, and even Christian tradition, mistrust of writing was not uncommon. This mistrust may not be evident in the four canonical gospels, in which Jesus himself is depicted as reading and writing. But it re-emerges in four of our fictional gospels—Nikos Kazantzakis' The Last Temptation of Christ, Gore Vidal's Live From Golgotha, Norman Mailer's The Gospel According to the Son, and Philip Pullman's The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ . In all four novels, the Evangelists are condemned for having betrayed Jesus with their half-truths, lies, and ulterior motives. The irony, of course, is that our four novelists are guilty of same offence.