NOVELIST Philip Pullman has been threatened by religious zealots over his new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ.
Philip Pullman: 'dangerous' atheist
Pullman, an outspoken atheist once described by Peter Hitchens as “the most dangerous author in Britain“, has received scores of letters condemning him to “eternal hell” or “damnation by fire” and accusing him of blasphemy.
Said Pullman:
Many refer to the title itself, for which there is clearly a passionate objection from some out there.
Published next week, the book is written in the form of a gospel. It says that a man called Jesus lived 2,000 years ago but that Christ, as the son of God, was the invention of the disciple Paul.
The letter writers essentially say that I am a wicked man, who deserves to be punished in hell,. Luckily it’s not in their power to do anything like sending me there.
Pullman is expected to have special security when he appears tist Sunday at The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival.
Pullman, famous for the trilogy His Dark Materials, was partly inspired to write the book by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
I was at a debate with him at the National theatre, and he asked why I had not put Jesus in His Dark Materials. So I told him that I would in my next book. And that’s what I have now done.
The two men will discuss the book on Radio 4′s Start the Week on Easter Monday.
See this story from a Christian point of view here.
Hat tip: Alan H & Danny J
Well I wouldn’t have seen that coming… Novelist publishes a book thats not intune with ChristINSANITY and he gets hell threats from Christians, well I did not see that coming…
All I can say to the guy is “Successful Troll is Successful”
As Jonesy would have said, ‘They don’t like it up ‘em, Mr Mainwaring!’
Idiots. My usual response is to by the book. I wonder if these clowns will add to the numbers protesting about the Pope or his top man in Ireland the sicky Sean Brady? Or is all that excused because they are christians?
Got to say, I thought His Dark Materials was absolutely wonderful!
I can’t wait for my son to be old enough to read it.
It was exactly the kind of trilogy I’d have loved as a kid, along with Mervyn Peak, Tolkien and Dickens, whom I’d all encountered and read works by age 5.
I also enjoyed the first Narnia book too when I was a nipper. But I’m an anti-religious bigot now, blinded by the devil, so I like it less.
shargraves – Couldn’t agree more. His Dark Materials was an incredible trilogy and, as you say, on a par with the works of authors like Tolkien (and, for me, Frank Herbert). I’m not surprised that god-botherers in the States got the plug pulled on the making of sequels to The Golden Compass.
I was looking for a new book, now I know exactly what to pre-order.
@shargraves I know what you mean about the Narnia books. Used to read the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Dawn Treader and whatever in bed to my children a long time ago. They came to prefer the Greek Legends, Theseus, The Minotaur, The Odyssey (especially that) and we used to give names to holiday episodes – I particularly remember The Clashing Rocks. Philip Pulman became Xmas presents for my younger relatives.
The idea that a writer should be pursued to the extent that he needs protection is an abomination.
I have asked my local library to obtain Mr Pullman’s new book. But I might mention that no other Jesus novel measures up to UNCLE YESHU, MESSIAH, and despite my enjoyment of HIS DARK MATERIALS, I doubt that Pullman’s book will do so either.
i just happen to find it funny that the christians are basicly shooting themselves in the foot by sending these threats. “beleive what we and a CHILDRENS story book tell you to beleive or we invoke violence against you”….. its ludicrous!
@Broga: The idea that a writer should be pursued to the extent that he needs protection is an abomination.
But books open the mind, don’t they?
@barriejohn And there you have it! The aim is to ensure that the mind stays closed. Read what we tell you. How many books are on the Index of Censorship (or whatever they call it.) Who are they to say what we will read? Sex, of course, really terrifies them and the fear is pervasive. The judge in the Lady Chatterley trial asked the jury, “Is this the kind of book you would allow your wife or your maid to read?”
They want to tell us what we may read; they want to ensure that they decide how we die; they want to ensure the kind of sexual relationships we have; they want to place creationst claptrap in the science classrooms while forbidding explanations of evolution.
On the books issue they don’t actually read them. The title does the trick or a word from a priest or whatever.As you know there is nothing opens the mind; enables us to enter into other eras; share other perspectives; empathise with other people as do books.
I have heard opinions by some freethinkers that jesus was a composite myth, and I have also read and heard respected archaeologists date artifacts as before or after christ.
I suppose I’ll catch some flack for it, but, I tend to believe he is a real historical figure. But, the fact that he never authored a single word indicates he was an uneducated man, no surprise for a carpenter. But, the gospel of Luke was supposedly written by a physician, and Matthew, a Roman collaborator who collected taxes, they were probably literate. And while I do not trust that their written accounts were originally accurate, nor that they have not been altered over time, one theme does seem to emerge between the lines.
That Jesus hated the Jewish religious hierarchy and wanted to see them lose their prestigious status. And that Jesus believed that Jews were emulating their god, i.e., hateful, jealous, and angry, and sought to change that perception into one of a loving, forgiving father who really cared about everyone. If I am right, I have not problem with the man. But, as the threadhead mentioned, Saul of Tarsus, later referred inaccurately as apostle paul, (the apostles were hand chosen by jesus before he died) hijacked the entire ideology and returned it to oppressing women and religious hierarchy.
I have not read the book, but I might take issue with the “Jesus the Scoundrel” idea. But, I hope Mr. Pullman doesn’t go to hell
.
NeoWolfe
Same bullshit, different day.
Broga: Index Librorum Prohibitorum
It was supposedly done away with in 1966, but many believe that it is still in existence, much as it always was. It was the responsibility of the Holy Office, which was, of course, Ratzinger’s old department, and, surprise, surprise, his hallowed name occurs in this piece in Wikipedia!
Some theologians argue that the Index is not repudiated nor condemned, despite its abolition. This view of the remaining moral obligation of not circulating or reading those writings was stated by Cardinal Ottaviani in 1966, in the same document – Notification by Congregation for Doctrine of Faith: “This Congregation for Doctrine of Faith (…) reaffirms that its Index retains its moral value (…) in the sense that it is appealing to the conscience of the faithful (…) to be on their guard against written materials that can put faith and good conduct in danger” – Signed Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, June 14, 1966).
Cardinal Ottaviani, who signed the decree to suppress the Index, was one of the most conservative members of the College of Cardinals at the time, and had himself previously arranged for a number of works (including those of Saint Faustina Kowalska) to be placed on the Index soon after Pope John XXIII took office in 1959.
In a letter in January 1985 to the Archbishop of Genoa regarding the book Poem of the Man God, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) also stated that the Index still retains some moral value “for the more unprepared faithful”.
bjohn,
I’m not sure if I’m understanding this correctly, but I gather that the message is that the will of the church remains above the law of government? But, if that is the case, and they are throwing down the gauntlet, I guess it’s time to slap the shit out of them.
Entertaining, isn’t it? They can shelter pedophilia, yet imagine they still hold the high moral ground.
NeoWolfe
Shargraves, Broga
Can’t beat a bit of Hellenic violence.
They really get you “right in there” and I often cringe at the graphic description of the deaths.
Instead of “Gimme that IPod” it’s “Fucking Bronze armour! I’m having that!”
Book is now available for order at amazon!
As a lifetime reader of C.S.Lewis; Nesbit; Charles Kingsley etc. I find the books wonderful. The fact that Aslan is supposedly an incarnation of Jesus is irrelevant. It is just a story!
Children can learn to distinguish between fact and fantasy, and eventually between history and distortion (so.called holy books).
By the way, as an atheist, I love the bit in the Last Battle, where Aslan tells the young soldier (paraphrased) that it doesn’t matter that he never worshipped him (Aslan), his good deeds are enough.
So different from main stream evangelists.
“a man called Jesus lived 2,000 years ago but that Christ, as the son of God, was the invention of the disciple Paul.”
but…..but….but……isn’t that just what happened? I guess I’m just not able to accept that the “higher truth” can completely contradict the facts; guess i’ll never be a christian. oh well….
I’m still waiting to see any convincing evidence that there was a man called Jesus who lived 2,000 years ago. Even that bit appears to be fabricated.
But I suppose we dismantle the wall one brick at a time.
Yessss!
I used to be a fundamentalist and have studied the New Testament a lot; and even while I was still making my slow journey away from religion and toward where I am now, it seemed to me that there was a difference between the Pauline epistles and the Gospels.
I haven’t made up my mind whether I think Jesus was real or not. But I can totally get the idea that the character of “Christ” and all his attending religious baggage was a fabrication of Paul.
@ Lucky Jean, I recently had the pleasure of hearing Ken Humphreys, author of Jesus Never Existed, give a talk on the existence if the messiah. I have to say he made a very good case for his claim that the character of Jesus was a complete fabrication.
Duke,
I have heard those arguments, and the same arguments can be made that Pharoah Ramses never existed, or that Alexander the Great never existed, or that Abraham never existed. The only source we have in prehistory is available writings by scholars of the day.
Plato described Atlantis, and many doubt it, but the explosion of Santorini, the destuction of the Manoan civilization, and the Egyptian plagues are so close in the timeline that there is rational reason to believe all the above, in a skeptical sort of way.
And while Saul of Tarsus (Paul) might be the most influential figure in modern christianity, it was because his writings were included in the King James Version, while hundreds of others were excluded. And, who would have guessed, they contradict each other in a big way.
NeoWolfe
Isn’t this just a tired exercise in book-selling? The Christians are an easy target (unlike the Muslims), make up some “death threats” and watch the sheeple rush out to buy it…all in the guise of “free thinking” lol…..
Christian zealotry is allowed Num 25:6-13, and 1Cor14:12 but not violence. Under those terms I am a Christian zealot.