The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman - Book Review

(Note : I've not read the Bible, I'm also not a Christian. I'm treating this book as any other story and not as an altered version of the Bible.)

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is a book written by the British author Philip Pullman, famous for his “His Dark Materials Trilogy”. The author is also said to be one of the most outspoken atheists in his field. The book was released in 2010 and has drawn in quite a few controversies.  

Mary, gives birth to twins, boys, namely, Jesus and Christ. During their childhood, Jesus was a mischievous, troublesome kid and Christ had to save him on more than a couple of occasions from getting into trouble. On the other hand, Christ was more calculative person and was obedient towards his parents and was more responsible. He was also well read and was highly knowledgeable. Despite the thoughts of the others, Christ always believed that Jesus was a good man and true to his beliefs, there was a sudden change in Jesus' personality, inspired by John the Baptist. Eventually, Jesus left his family and didn't care about his brother Christ.

Jesus started going from place to place, giving lectures and healing people, with no instrument but faith. Naturally, people from the synagogue did not like him and tried to test him every time. When Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount, he promised the people that the “Kingdom of God” is coming soon, where the meek will inherit the earth, sinners won't be permitted.

On the other hand, Christ also had a very important task. A stranger, whom Christ believes is an angel, gives him the task of noting down every speech of Jesus, without his knowledge, thereby, becoming The Kingdom of God's historian. Eventually, the task of Christ becomes much more complicated and the story is about him trying to accomplish the tasks given by the stranger.

Do not judge a book by its title, that is what I've got to say about this book. It was a well narrated story. There was nothing so special about the language of the book but I liked the simplicity in his writing, thereby, enabling people from any age group being able to read this book. I think people who have read the Bible maybe able to give a better opinion about the book but this is all that I've got to say about this.

I'd give this book a rating of 7 / 10.

Rating : 7 / 10

Have a nice day,

Andy