“And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62
José Saramago put his hand to the quill and looked back… He looked back deep into the past…
…thought, when all is said and done, as others and we ourselves have observed before, is a great ball of thread coiled around itself, loose in places, taut in others, inside our head. It is impossible to know its full extent, one would have to unwind and then measure it, but however hard one tries or pretends to try, this cannot be done without assistance. One day, someone will come and tell us where to cut the cord that ties man to his navel and thought to its origin.
José Saramago is exactly that someone… He came to retell us the greatest story of all times… and to put our thoughts straight… or at least to make them less wry...
…human words are shadows, and shadows cannot explain light, and between shadow and light stands the opaque body from which words are born.
Who is Jesus? Is he god or man? Or did he get stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea? For God he is just a cat’s paw and for Devil he is just a decoy. He tries to set rules but he is just a toy played in a higher heavenly games.
…forgetting is all too easy, that is life.
In the end any actual human life becomes forgotten and sinks into oblivion. And only myths and legends are eternal.344 s6 comments Luís2,092 884

Everyone knows more or less about the birth of Jesus: the manager, the donkey, the ox, the three wise men, and all that. Adult life, too: without a Christian education, one has a vague idea of ??preaching, miracles, crucifixion, and resurrection. And between the two, childhood and adolescence? We don't know: the bible does not say anything about it, and no credible source exists on the subject (although some myths (trips to Egypt, Asia, and England) emerged later.
José Saramago gives us his vision of this unknown Jesus while reinterpreting some biblical subjects in his sauce. The result is probably not canonical since we see Jesus first educated by the Devil, then discovering sexuality in the arms of Mary Magdalene, a prostitute with whom he falls in love. However, I did not see any desire for satire; on the contrary, we discover a character torn by the codes of the society of his time, the gradual discovery of his identity, and above all, the feeling of being a toy of fate.
The author managed to get me interested in this character again, much to my surprise. Because my catechism lessons and then discussions with a few stubborn fundamentalists had given me a rather old-fashioned image: either a character of absolute drought or, on the contrary, sticky with marshmallow, his questions, doubts, and errors also ended up making him endearing. The story, strongly tinged with humor, also contributes to this, mainly when certain miracles represent a bit of common sense: thus, when Jesus brings out a demon from a man to move him into a herd of pigs, he must flee. The village is running, chased away with stones by the owners of the livestock, who are not very happy to lose their precious source of income. If the prestige takes a hit, one can only feel sympathy for this clumsy full of good intentions.
A wonderful moment in this book company started deliberately at the end of the year's holidays, but it finally fascinated me from the first page to the last page.e-4 jose-saramago214 s4 comments Candi655 4,979

There are two topics that are both sensitive and ‘dangerous’ to discuss both in our everyday lives and in an online forum – politics and religion. I refuse to get into discourse on either subject even with the majority of close friends and family members. I have to know someone quite well and trust him or her implicitly before engaging in real life conversations. Therefore, this review is not going to contain much substance. Not just because I would to avoid debate, but also due to the fact that I am not even close to being informed enough to take on the Bible and any controversial writings that follow it.

I have not read the Bible. I am familiar with many of the stories, however. I am not a religious person, but I am inquisitive and to inform myself about the beliefs of others. I have been very curious about Saramago’s novel for quite some time and couldn’t quite get the idea out of my head that I needed to read this. So I made it a goal for 2021 and knocked it off early. I’m very glad I did. First of all, I found that it confirmed some of my own ideas about Jesus as well as the poor image of women that has been promoted by a number of world religions (something that irks me to no end!) Jesus is portrayed here as a human being with questions, doubts, and desires. Many of the gospel stories that we know are told from a very different perspective. I nearly started to count the number of times Saramago reminds us, with irony of course, the way women were perceived. Here are a couple of examples, which I imagine the author writing at his desk with tongue in cheek:

“Un Joseph her husband, Mary is neither upright nor pious, but she is not to blame for this, the blame lies with the language she speaks if not with the men who invented it, because that language has no feminine form for the words upright and pious.”

“Which part of woman’s nature is demonic and which divine and what kind of humanity they have… I was talking about women, who generate beings such as ourselves and who may be responsible, perhaps unknowingly, for this duality in our nature, which is base and yet so noble, virtuous and yet so wicked, tranquil and yet so troubled, meek and yet so rebellious.”

That’s as far as I go down this road. I have a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head and they’re ly to stay there, simmering. This is my first experience with Saramago. I’ll just finish up with a couple brief reflections on the writing. First of all, it was dense. Dense in subject matter especially! I often wanted to set this down and escape to something much lighter. Paragraphs are very lengthy, often going on for pages at a time. Anyone that resents a lack of quotation marks should be warned in advance. I don’t have a problem with this. In fact, after the first couple of chapters I grasped the flow of dialogue. The prose itself is tightly written and obviously skilled. There is no denying that Saramago was a master at his craft. However, I need to choose a different sort of novel altogether when I next pick him up, and I need to do so before long. I think we might have a bright future; but I’ve had my fill of anything remotely theological for quite some time, even if it does stand popular belief on its head.

“… we refrain from asking a question because we are unprepared or simply too afraid to hear the answer. And when finally we summon the courage to ask, no answer is forthcoming…”
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Jose Saramago is atheist. This should be enough warning for everyone that desires to read the book. It is very explicit and so religion it’s exposed at its weakest and God as a character is revealed. I come from a Roman-Catholic background but I still wanted to read it, ever since the Gnostic gospel where Jesus childhood is revealed and he changes from a mischief bad behave kid to the Jesus from the new testament I wanted to see Saramago’s take on it. Saramago is such a master of words that he makes every bit of faith look totally illogical.

It does not take long for us to find out that Saramago is extremely sharp at finding all contradictions on roman-catholic religion. In the novel God seems to be the greediest of all gods, the vainer, the more detach from his people. Detached even from his son as he appeared to him in different shapes, only in the meeting at the lake did he appear to him as a man. God does not command, he orders, he tricks his own son into following his plan to the end. Ultimately Jesus’s betrayal was his last act of martyrdom.

The devil is given the name of Pastor. This has caused some confusion for English readers. When I was reading the book with some Jesuits this person contacted them just to let them know (as a good Christian I assume) how blasphemous was to name the devil pastor. It took me 30 minutes to explain that person that Pastor does not means priest, but rather it comes from the Latin word “pastor” meaning shepherd. Now did he use the word shepherd on purpose? Yes, what is the devil but a shepherd of men leading them to hell, just as Jesus is a fisherman of men. In the book Pastor is the most humanitarian, the more repented, so repented that when asked to be forgiven a clear distinction between right and wrong has to be made so God decides not to forgive him because what is a good God without evil? Saramago decides there cannot be one without the other.

The characters in the book are fascinating; my Jesuits friends and I laughed and enjoy this book. There were no doubts in our head by the end of the book. We did not feel it shook our religion or affected the way we perceived God. This book was after all under fiction so everyone that is easily offended stay away from this book and stop complaining about blasphemy and crying around little kids. Saramago is a Nobel price winner and foremost a grown man that is entitled to his own opinions. This one of his finest, if not the best, of his book in my opinion, a must read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review122 s K.D. Absolutely1,820

This is a bold fearless work and definitely not for the faint-hearted readers. I am not surprised that when this was originally published in 1991, it created lots of controversies with the Catholic Church condemning Jose Saramago for harboring anti-religious vision and his own Portuguese government asking the European Literary Prize to remove this from its shortlist because of the book’s offensive content to religion. Despite this book’s existence, Saramago won the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature.

This is my third Saramago (Blindness, Double were my others) and my fourth book in what seems to be an unnamed genre: re-telling of the life of Jesus Christ. Last year I read The Last Temptation of Christ (1960) by Nikos Kazantzakis and Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (2005) and Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (2008) by Anne Rice. In my “book,” Temptation came first and I am glad I read it first so the idea of twisting the canons by a mere mortal who lived in our generation is not new (translation: not shocking). For me, Anne Rice’s books now seem to be just afterthoughts of these two works.

But why re-tell the life of Jesus Christ? Because of the mysterious gap in his younger years? Because of the weakening fate of the believers? Because more and more people are now turning into atheism or other religions? This depends on what we believe or what each of us was taught to believe when we were younger. However, since this book is about the life of Jesus Christ who’s being venerated by more than half of the people in the world, then I don’t want to dwell on religion. I am leaving this kind of discussion on faith to some other forums my review on my long staying currently-read book: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Edition that I started reading in September last year and currently in The Book of Ezekiel and hope to finish all books before the end of this year.

I picked this book because I loved the two works of Saramago. Also, it is Lenten Season and I thought that a Nobel laureate him would not blaspheme, paint false pictures or mock Jesus Christ. Yes, he did those in this book. I almost wanted to say that this should rather be called The Gospel According to Jose Saramago but for me, it is disrespectful to a great mind him. After all, he is already dead, was an atheist and a writer so it is not nice for a mere literary enthusiast me to criticize a dead person (who can no longer defend himself), argue with his beliefs (as he did not believe on any god and said to be a pessimist) and he can invoke poetic devise (twisting facts for the sake of telling a grappling story). In other words, he had or has all the right to come up with a work this and his cries for oppression due to censorship when the Portuguese government or the Catholic Church called for banning of this are, in my opinion, all uncalled for.

Jesus having sex with Mary Magdalene in the whorehouse without the blessing of marriage. The demon asking Jesus to use a sheep for sexual release. An angel posing as a beggar during the Annunciation scene. The same beggar-angel walking with Mary to Bethlehem provoking jealousy to the doubting Joseph. Three shepherds instead of 3 kings visiting the family in the Bethlehem. Joseph crucified and dying on the cross mistaken as a zealot. Jesus seeing God in the desert. Jesus riding on the boat with the God and the Devil. These are some of the shocking deviations from the story that Saramago imagined and incorporated to come up with an “irreverent, profound, skeptical, funny, heretical, deeply philosophical, provocative and compelling work.” (Source: Harold Robbin who says that this is his favorite work of Saramago. So far, I agree).

So, how do you rate a book with a disgusting content yet beautifully written? Think J. G. Ballard’s Crash, Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom or Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho or even Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. The first time I read them, I was totally disgusted and hated them to the max. Now I realized I missed the whole point. They are really written to shock so their authors can bring the message to the table.

So, what message does The Gospel According to Jesus Christ want us to realize? For me, it is beyond further humanizing Jesus Christ. It is more what choices, regardless whether he is man, god or a their combination, he had before he said yes to his Father for being the sacrificial lamb to propagate Christianity in the world.

But more than the message, one thing that I enjoyed reading this book is its storytelling style. Many parts are totally hilarious and that style when Saramago directly addressing the reader and he opens your thought by throwing contemporary works and philosophy is just awesome. I have never seen this in any of the works of novelists whose books I so far sampled.

I am rating this with a 4 (I really d it) but will probably not recommend this to anyone. I'd rather that they decide for themselves. If they are as open-minded as my friend and reading-buddy Angus, then I would say go. If not, then check how strong is your faith as Saramago can sway you to question your long-held beliefs. It's having an clever, sweet-talker and well-read atheist in your Bible reading group come one Sunday and he starts questioning what is written in the gospel but he is not obnoxious because he knows what he is talking about. If you are still in Cathecism 101, don't ever dare open this book.
religion97 s Valeriu GherghelAuthor 6 books1,719

Pe José Saramago nu l-au interesat lacunele biografice din evanghelii. L-a preocupat o singur? întrebare: de ce a fost r?stignit Iisus? Numai ca s? ?tearg? p?catul oamenilor? ?tim r?spunsurile teologilor (sfîntul Augustin, sfîntul Anselm). Sînt, negre?it, mai multe ?i nu se împac? prea bine între ele. Dar aceste ipoteze n-au stîrnit mînia nim?nui. În schimb, r?spunsul lui Saramago a ?ocat. Evanghelia redactat? de el i-a scos din min?i nu doar pe episcopii catolici de pe lîng? Sfîntul Scaun, ci ?i pe cuvio?ii politicieni. S? ne fereasc? bunul Dumnezeu de ignoran?a lor agresiv?...

A r?mas de pomin? numele Secretarului de Stat la Cultur? care a retras cartea de la un important premiu literar european: António da Costa de Albuquerque de Sousa Lara, marchiz de Lara, conte de Guedes. Cînd por?i un asemenea nume (a c?rui sonoritate î?i strive?te auzul), ar trebui s? fii ceva mai prudent. În opinia marchizului, romanul lui Saramago ar lovi în îns??i temelia statului portughez. Nara?iunea e o blasfemie, o imens? b?taie de joc, un atentat la morala na?iei. ?i e profund regretabil c? Inchizi?ia a fost desfiin?at?. A resuscitat-o, a?adar, domnul marchiz ?i l-a interzis pe scriitor. În consecin??, iritat de întîmplare, Saramago a emigrat în insula Lanzarote din arhipelagul Canarelor, teritoriu spaniol.

S? m? întorc la întrebarea prozatorului. R?spunsul îl putem afla din discu?ia celor trei personaje „principale”. Iisus a urcat într-o barc?, a vîslit pîn? a ajuns la o negur? deas?, nu mai avea nici un reper ?i s-a oprit derutat. Lîng? el se ivesc subit mai întîi Dumnezeu ?i, apoi, diavolul. Nu e Dumnezeul evangheliilor, ci Dumnezeul Vechiului Testament, care a spus: „Eu m? îndur de cine vreau s? m? îndur ?i am mil? de cine vreau s? am mil?...” (Exodul, 33: 18-19; Romani, 9: 15). Cînd Iisus îl întreab? de ce va trebui s? pl?teasc? cu via?a, prime?te un r?spuns scurt, cinic: „Pentru c? a?a am dispus eu, faci parte din program ?i va trebui s? te supui...”. Dumnezeu nu mai dore?te s? fie doar st?pînul unui popor neînsemnat ca num?r, vrea o Biseric?, vrea s? domneasc? peste cît mai multe semin?ii. Doar r?stignirea poate avea o asemenea consecin??. Iisus în?elege c? e o victim? a unui Dumnezeu însetat de putere (prima victim? dintr-un ?ir nesfîr?it de martiri) ?i c? va trebui s?-i accepte cu resemnare decizia.

Chiar dac? ni se pare c? Saramago a exagerat, romanul trebuie citit cu senin?tate. S-au scris lucruri mult mai grele. S-au proferat blasfemii mult mai t?ioase. În definitiv, nimeni nu-?i pierde credin?a (mult?-pu?in?, cît? e) prin simpla lectur? a acestui roman. Din p?cate, cînd a redactat Evanghelia dup? Iisus Christos, nici Saramago n-a fost cu totul senin. Doar a?a îmi explic ironia lipsit? de orice haz din unele pasaje...
(15.03.23, luni)129 s Paul Bryant2,291 10.7k

I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SLIP SOME BENZEDRINE INTO THIS GUY’S COFFEE

This is a very peculiar novel. I’m not quite sure what the hell it is. Some of it reads deleted scenes from Monty Python’s Life of Brian

Now be off with you, said God, for I have work to do and can’t stay here chatting all day

Or

Mary : Is there any proof that it was the Lord’s seed which engendered my first-born?
Angel : Well, it’s a delicate matter, and what you’re demanding is nothing less than a paternity test.

The rest of it is a whole lot of mumbling, bumbling, fumbling, irritating, rambling, moaning, groaning, huffing and puffing by a narrator who appears to be some ancient old codger who is a shoo-in for the world finals of the Most Boring Man in the World contest.

And the rewrite of the familiar tale of Jesus is so comprehensive that half way through the book Jesus is only 13 and two-thirds through he is still only 18. So it's very different.

AUTHOR VERSUS READER – DING DING, ROUND ONE

Is there any need for this or are we in the land of pretentious literary wankery? Jose Saramago serves us up massive slabs of undifferentiated prose, page after page – he ends a paragraph with extreme reluctance, it’s pulling teeth with Jose, it’s asking John Lee Hooker to change chords. Every paragraph is one or two pages long. As for indicators of dialogue, forget it, pal, you’re on your own. The dialogue is run into the giant paragraphs as part of the ongoing flow, and the lines of dialogue are not separated by anything helpful he said or she said, and not even by full stops, only commas, maybe there was a full stop shortage in Portugal in the late 1980s. I never heard about that, you might think it would have made the news. (“Crates of full stops are still being held up at Lisbon airport as the dispute enters its 9th week”). Anyway, these stylistic choices make the reading a whole lot more annoying and turgid than it might be.

AUTHOR VERSUS READER – DING DING, ROUND TWO

As well as being an old fart, the narrator is a misogynist –

Joseph wondered if he should ask Mary if the pains were still there, but in the end said nothing, for we must not forget that this whole process is unclean from the moment of impregnation until the moment of birth, that horrific female organ, vortex and abyss, the seat of all the world’s evils, an inner labyrinth, blood, sweat, discharges, gushing waters, revolting afterbirth, dear God, how can you permit Your beloved children to be born from such impurity.


WORLD’S MOST BORING MAN – A FEW EXAMPLES

In the first place, there are Samaritans and Samaritans, which means that even at that time one swallow was not enough to make a summer, one needed two, that is to say, two swallows rather than summers, provided there is a fertile male and female and they have offspring.

Suddenly a beggar appeared at the yard gate, a somewhat rare occurrence in this village where people were poor, a fact unly to have escaped the begging fraternity which had a nose for places where there were rich pickings for the asking, and this was certainly not the case here.

As for possessions, the only thing Joseph and Job had in common was the number of sons. Job had seven sons and three daughters, while Joseph had seven sons and two daughters, giving the carpenter the advantage of having put one woman less into the world. And there’s no denying that it is one thing to feed two mouths, then a third, even if only indirectly during the first year, and quite another to find oneself saddled with a houseful of children who demand more and more food once they start growing.

This narrator even knows perfectly well how dull he is!

Four years hence, Jesus will meet God. This unexpected revelation, which is probably premature according to the rules of effective narration mentioned earlier, is simply intended to prepare the reader for some everyday scenes from pastoral life which will add little of substance to the main thread of our story, thus excusing any reader who might be tempted to jump ahead.

WAIT – COULD IT BE THAT THIS NARRATOR IS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE A VILLAGE ELDER FROM THE PERIOD? THAT WOULD EXPLAIN ALL THE BORING RAMBLING

But no, this logical explanation is wrecked by comments the following

It may seem wholly inappropriate to put the complex theories of modern thinkers into the head of a Palestinian who lived so many years before Freud, Jung, Groddeck and Lacan appeared on the scene.

… the only reason why that same Goliath did not become a basketball player is because he was born before his time

Maybe this narrator is deliberately unstable, unpindownable. That would be a nice copout for Jose. Yes, it doesn’t make too much sense, but that’s all calculated. Why? Er, I dunno.

THIS NOVEL MIGHT BE A TONGUE-IN-CHEEK ATHEIST SATIRE ON RELIGION

Because the concept of God as dished out by the old-fart narrator is ridiculously primitive. It appears that in this world God has to negotiate his turf with other gods, and also, in this world, if you are ill it is because you have sinned. Both these ideas can be found in the Bible of course, but at least by the time of Jesus Jewish thought had evolved to the point where they believed that there were no other Gods except the one God. Here’s a few things the narrator says about God :

For in truth, there are things God himself does not understand, even though he created them.

As God warned Eve after she sinned, I will greatly multiply your suffering and your conception, in sorrow you will bring forth children, and after centuries of sorrow and suffering, God is not yet appeased and the agony goes on.

At that time life was hard for the poor and God could not be expected to provide for everyone.

Jesus interrogates Him at one point :

Being God, You must know everything.

Up to a certain point, only up to a certain point.

What point is that?

The point where it starts to become interesting to pretend that I know nothing.

So sometimes it’s this is all clearly a cheeky satire on religion, and sometimes the intractable concepts of God, salvation, sin and so on are presented as hard painful fact.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOSE SARAMAGO

(Note sort of spoilers follow)

The version of the story of Jesus we get here is a whole different thing from the actual gospels. The single event which dominates the first half of the book is something which is mentioned in only one Gospel (Matthew) and dismissed in three verses, the Massacre of the Innocents (When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old or under ). Joseph discovers Herod’s intention, rescues Mary and his own infant son Jesus, and after they make it back to Nazareth he is consumed by terrible remorse – why did he not warn the families of Bethlehem when he could? Why did he selfishly only rescue his own child? When Jesus learns about this he believes he takes on his father’s guilt, and he becomes obsessed. He leaves his family (aged 13) and joins up with a shepherd, then later with some fishermen where he discovers he has magical powers over fish (yes! I am not making this up, Saramago is, basing it on one of the gospel miracles. But in this book, Jesus makes his living for four years by controlling the fish in the Sea of Galilee!).

Then Jesus meets Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, and they fall in love and start travelling round together as man and wife. He encounters God a couple of times and finally gets God to tell him that he is God’s one and only Son, and that God has a task for him, which is to die a martyr’s death so that his can spread the word. And what is the point of it all?

To help me become God of more people says God.

I thought Blindness was a stone 5 star classic, in which the difficult narration perfectly mirrored the desperate difficult plight of the characters, but this Gospel just struck me as very loopy and probably not worth the amount of concentration required to plough through all the unrelenting density.
eurolit novels76 s Sonia Gomes331 111

The Vicar was not happy that I was reading, ‘Gospel according to Christ’ for he felt I would lose my faith, as though Faith is not a part of your inner being, but a handkerchief, one misplaces oh so casually.

I am glad I disobeyed him, for this book only made me surer of my faith.

This book shows Christ in all his Humanity, Humanity so naked, so simple and so beautiful that it humbles you to the core of your being.

If I could say, to this so very Human Christ,

‘Let me but touch the hem of your robe, and I would be healed, or be whole again’.

fantastic lost-in-translation portuguese75 s Skorofido Skorofido275 190


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?? «???? ?????? ?????????» ????? ??? «????????» ?????????, ????? ? ????? ??? ?????, ???? ?????? ???, ?????????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ??? ??? ???????? ?????. ???? ????????????????, ?? ??????? ??? ????????? ????????? ??? ??????????? (??? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ???????), ??? ???????, ??? ?????????? ??? ??? ???????? ?????????? ??? ?????????. ?????, ?????? ????? ?? ???????? ?? ??????, ???????????? ?? ??? ?? ???????? ???? ?? ????????? ? ????? ???????, ??????? ????? ??????. ??? ? ?????????? ????????? ??? ??????? ??????, ?????????? ??? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ????????, ?????????????? ?? ???????? ?? ?? ???? ??? ????? (???????? ??? ?????, ? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ?????, ?? ????? ????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???). ? ???????????? ??? ?? ??????????? ????????? ??? ?????????? ??? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ?????????? ??? ???????? ??? ?????????? ??? ?????? ?? ‘?????’ ????? ??? ????????????, ????? ????? ??? ?????????? ??????? ??? ???.
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??????????: 10/10 ?10 ?! 10
Readathon 2017: ??? ?????? ??? ? ????????????? ????? ???????? ??????? [23/80]
http://skorofido.blogspot.gr/2017/06/...72 s Natalie496 108

Or: Adolescent Jesus as Imagined by a Brilliant Authorial Atheist.

That's unfair and reductive, however. Jose Saramago is an atheist, and the book does explore the parts of Jesus' life that most people pretend didn't exist (early adolescence to just before the time when he knew he had Messianic Son-of-God Superpowers), while at the same time gently but firmly questioning the nature of God, divinity, religious fervor manifesting itself as the oppression of others, bizarre religious ritual, and religious hypocrisy.

The familiar Biblical story arc of Mary and Joseph's pilgrimage to Bethlehem for a census begins the story, though Saramago quickly dispenses with any notion that Mary was a virgin; she also has, in quick succession, many other children after Jesus' birth. (Both of these points, of course, are regarded as highly sacred/controversial in most Church law; it is essential that the Mother of God be stripped of her sexuality, and it has long been denied, mostly by the Catholic church, that Mary gave birth to any other children besides Jesus.)

Throughout the novel, Jesus questions himself, his status as the son of God, the idea that he may be the Messiah of the Jewish people, and even God's own divine plan (revealed to Jesus as a stunning display of hubris, arrogance, and selfishness) - but always remains steadfast in his devotion to Mary Magdalene, with whom he lives freely and openly in a sexual relationship outside the bonds of marriage, and whom he treats as equally as any man. (The book makes clear from page one the wretchedly inferior status of women in ancient Judaic times.)

Saramago points out something that many modern Christians tend to forget, in their re-branding of God as a benevolent Father/Protector/Wish-Granter: the God of the ancient Jews and the Old Testament was a complete prick. If God singled you out for his special attention, that was just as frightening as his anger toward you. He pissed in Job's face, played keep-away with Moses and the Promised Land, turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt simply for showing a bit of momentary concern for her neighbors, and totally Punk'd Abraham about that whole son-sacrificing thing, with all the equal amounts of jealousy and wrath that Old Testament God is famous for.

Of course Satan makes an appearance as a character, but Saramago fashions him as a much more interesting, multifaceted figure, possessed of depth, humor, and perhaps not as evil as he's often cast. He and God are posited to be old friends, not necessarily enemies, and in a co-dependent relationship of sorts in an arrangement to preserve the others' power. A very morally/religiously complex and long chapter is devoted to this balance of power, and for me was the climax of the novel - while God is telling Jesus of the horrific events that will occur in his name, Saramago devotes four pages of God's dialogue to alphabetically listing the names of martyred saints and the graphically violent ways in which they were killed for their belief.

The prose is beautiful, but Saramago's authorial imprint and style is his distinct lack of quotation marks in dialogue, and lack of paragraph breaks during dialogue between characters. It can be difficult to follow, particularly in situations with more than two characters speaking.

This is highly recommended for believers and non-believers a. god-is-dead68 s Krell75345 56

"..giacchè non c'era, che lui sapesse, alcun uomo in tutto Israele che potesse vantarsi di aver visto Dio ed esser sopravvissuto".

---ATTENZIONE SPOILER---
(...anche se questa storia la conoscono tutti)

Per oltre un terzo del romanzo, perchè di romanzo si tratta e non di saggio, l'evangelista racconta gli eventi che precedono la nascita di Gesù soffermandosi sulla figura di Giuseppe.
Molti di questi eventi ripercorrono quelli dei vangeli sinottici, aggiungendo e omettendo, lasciando gran parte del narrato all'inventiva dell'autore. La figura di Maria rimane sempre in ombra, confermando ed evidenziando la realtà sociale della condizione inferiore della donna dettata dalla legge ebraica del tempo.
Il concepimento di Gesù avviene con un rapporto sessuale tra Giuseppe e Maria, nessuna nascita verginale, il che porta il romanzo su un piano più realistico dell'originale. Realismo che viene subito interrotto dalla visita di un Angelo del Signore, denunciando così la presenza dell'elemento sovrannaturale e divino all'interno del racconto.

Sono presenti sia eventi storici non accertati, come la Strage degli Innocenti ordinata da Erode, presente solo nel vangelo di Matteo, sia eventi come la ribellione contro i Romani capeggiata da Giuda il Galileo, figura storica riportata in "la Guerra Giudaica" dello storico Flavio Giuseppe.
Assistiamo ad eventi canonici e non, sui quali Saramago ricama una versione fortemente romanzata come il tormento interiore di Giuseppe per il massacro degli innocenti o la dinamica della sua morte, altri eliminati del tutto, come il viaggio in Egitto o i re Magi.
Le situazioni si alternano continuamente tra la ricerca del realismo nelle situazioni umane dei protagonisti, il seguire il racconto canonico e l'elemento sovrannaturale, comunque sempre presente. Nulla di troppo distante dai vangeli, finora. Non è ancora chiaro fin dove Saramago voglia spingersi.

Poi finalmente si parla di Gesù e di Dio.
Gesù è ormai cresciuto; sofferente per il rimorso della colpa ereditata dal padre Giuseppe abbandona la madre e i suoi fratelli e parte per Gerusalemme alla ricerca di risposte e verità.
(Da notare che i fratelli di Gesù sono cosa ben nota, presenti nei vangeli di Marco e Matteo, ma non accettati dalla chiesa cattolica che preferisce usare il termine "cugini").
Giunto al Tempio di Gerusalemme trova la conferma al suo dolore: la volontà degli uomini è una manifestazione di quella divina, il libero arbitrio solo una finta certezza, l'uomo una marionetta al servizio di Dio. La colpa dei padri ricade sui figli.
La visita a Betlemme e alla tomba degli infanti uccisi alla sua nascita sono una conferma che pesa sulla sua coscienza turbata. Egli è la causa delle loro morti innocenti, anche se indirettamente, per questo dovrà pagare. La colpa degli altri come supplizio interiore da portare sulle proprie spalle, fino alla morte.

Si giunge all'incontro con il Pastore/Dio/Diavolo.
Finalmente c'è l'occasione per il vero confronto, il dubbio sulle certezze acquisite in anni di indottrinamento, la sfida all'autorità proclamata, inflessibile, e al pensiero stagnante. Ecco cosa aspettavo! Un pò di riflessione filosofica tra uomo e divintà.
Purtroppo Gesù si limita al silenzio, rifiutando il confronto.
Il Pastore rappresenta la volontà del cambiamento, fonte del dubbio, che permette alle menti aperte di porsi domande, vera linfa vitale della crescita.
Poi avviene l'incontro con Dio nel deserto e anche questo confronto è imbarazzante, volutamente breve e del tutto a senso unico. Gesù si rivela incapace, succube, chiuso nelle sue tradizioni e preconcetti, non si pone alcun dubbio. Obbedisce.
La reazione del Pastore al suo ritorno, senza la pecora sacrificata, è semplicemente da applausi.

"Non hai imparato niente, vattene"

Come dargli torto?
Rimane il dubbio sull'identità del Pastore e Dio, forse andrebbero invertiti. Io tra i due preferisco senza alcun dubbio il Pastore.

E cosi gli eventi si susseguono.
La pesca abbondante, il miracolo del vino, ecc.. sono situazioni che poco si discostano da quelle dei vangeli. Il Gesù uomo agisce sempre per volontà di Dio, volente o nolente abbiamo già appurato che l'uomo non decide nulla.
Eventi rielaborati come il rapporto intimo tra Gesù e Maria di Magdala ed altre situazioni non canoniche non sono una novità per chi ha già letto saggi "alternativi" sull'argomento.
Il Gesù di Saramago continua tuttavia ad avere caratteristiche mistico-divine facendo miracoli, anche se vengono evidenziate maggiormente le sue sensazioni ed emozioni umane, basate sulle responsabilità e le colpe, i dubbi e le insicurezze. Gesù non ha motivi per essere diverso dai suoi coetanei ma finisce per fare esattamente il volere di Dio.
E' un Gesù incapace di ribellarsi, legato alla volontà divina senza possibilità di scelta.
A nulla serve la sua non accettazione del compito assegnatogli, finisce per fare comuque quello per cui è nato, esattamente come nei vangeli. (rileggetevi i vangeli e la passione, poi ditemi se il Gesù canonico non trasuda umanità. Accetta il suo triste destino con spirito stoico o piange lacrime di sangue, disperandosi?).
Il Dio presentato qui non è diverso da quello del Vecchio Testamento, che di misericordioso non ha alcuna caratteristica. Egli è il Dio degli Eserciti, promotore di massacri. Obbedisci o Muori.
Nulla di nuovo.

Forse per chi ha come riferimento solo il catechismo e la dottrina cristiana, questo romanzo potrà sembrare originale, scioccante o forse addirittura dissacrante. Per me invece non osa abbastanza.
E' lo stesso Saramago ad affermare nel testo che non osa discostarsi troppo dal racconto originale.
Affronta l'argomento alla larga e forse anche con timore rispetto ad altri autori che vanno ben oltre le trovate "alternative" di questo romanzo.
Senza ricorrere ad Angeli, Dio e Satana, nei loro testi questi autori arrivano ad eliminarli del tutto.

Rimane quindi la bravura indiscussa dello scrittore di cui ho già apprezzato "Cecità", ma questo vangelo di Gesù Cristo lo reputo un testo troppo romanzato, troppo poco diverso dai testi originali, poco coraggioso. Il suo messaggio di umanità, impotenza e controllo divino, pur essendo chiaro non discosta troppo questo Gesù dal suo alter ego canonico.
Su questi argomenti "delicati" preferisco rimanere su studi filologici e storici, che mettano davvero in dubbio alcune "certezze" accettate a tavolino e imposte come vere da duemila anni.
E' li che si può rimanere davvero sconvolti.

-------------------------------
"..for there was not, to his knowledge, any man in all Israel who could boast of having seen God and survived."

---SPOILER WARNING---
(...even if everyone knows this story)

For over a third of the novel, because it is a novel and not an essay, the evangelist recounts the events preceding the birth of Jesus, focusing on the figure of Joseph.
Many of these events retrace those of the synoptic gospels, adding and omitting, leaving much of the narrated to the author's inventiveness. The figure of Mary always remains in the shadows, confirming and highlighting the social reality of the inferior condition of women dictated by the Jewish law of the time.
The conception of Jesus occurs with sexual intercourse between Joseph and Mary, no virgin birth, which brings the novel to a more realistic level than the original. Realism which is immediately interrupted by the visit of an Angel of the Lord, thus denouncing the presence of the supernatural and divine element within the story.

There are both unverified historical events, such as the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by Herod, present only in the Gospel of Matthew, and events such as the rebellion against the Romans led by Judas the Galilean, a historical figure reported in "the Jewish War" by the historian Flavius Joseph.
We witness canonical and non-canonical events, on which Saramago embroiders a highly fictionalized version such as Joseph's internal torment for the massacre of the innocents or the dynamics of his death, others eliminated completely, such as the journey to Egypt or the Three Kings.
The situations continually alternate between the search for realism in the human situations of the protagonists, following the canonical story and the supernatural element, which is always present. Nothing too distant from the gospels, so far. It is not yet clear how far Saramago wants to go.

Then finally we talk about Jesus and God.
Jesus has now grown up; suffering from the remorse of the guilt inherited from his father Giuseppe, he abandons his mother and his brothers and leaves for Jerusalem in search of answers and truth.
(It should be noted that the brothers of Jesus are well known, present in the gospels of Mark and Matthew, but not accepted by the Catholic church which prefers to use the term "cousins").
Having arrived at the Temple of Jerusalem, he finds confirmation of his pain: the will of men is a manifestation of the divine will, free will is only a false certainty, man is a puppet in the service of God. The guilt of the fathers falls on the children of he.
The visit to Bethlehem and the tomb of the infants killed at his birth are a confirmation that weighs on his troubled conscience. He is the cause of their innocent deaths, albeit indirectly, for which he will have to pay. The guilt of others as an internal torment to be carried on one's shoulders, until death.

He comes to meet the Shepherd / God / Devil.
Finally there is the opportunity for true confrontation, doubt about the certainties acquired over years of indoctrination, the challenge to proclaimed, inflexible authority and stagnant thought. This is what I was waiting for! A bit of philosophical reflection between man and divinity.
Unfortunately, Jesus limits himself to silence, refusing confrontation.
The Shepherd represents the will for change, the source of doubt, which allows open minds to ask questions, the true lifeblood of growth.
Then the encounter with God in the desert occurs and this confrontation is also embarrassing, deliberately short and completely one-sided. Jesus reveals himself to be incapable, submissive, closed in his traditions and preconceptions, there is no doubt. He obeys.
The Shepherd's reaction to his return, without the sacrificed sheep, is simply applause.

"You haven't learned anything, leave"

How can you blame him?
There remains doubt about the identity of the Shepherd and God, perhaps they should be reversed. Of the two, I undoubtedly prefer the Pastor.

And so events follow one another.
The abundant catch, the miracle of the wine, etc. are situations that differ little from those of the gospels. The man Jesus always acts by the will of God, it or not we have already established that man decides nothing.
Reworked events such as the intimate relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene and other non-canonical situations are nothing new for those who have already read "alternative" essays on the subject.
The Jesus of Saramago, however, continues to have mystical-divine characteristics, performing miracles, even if his human sensations and emotions are highlighted more, based on responsibilities and faults, doubts and insecurities. Jesus has no reason to be different from his peers but ends up doing exactly God's will.
He is a Jesus incapable of rebelling, tied to the divine will without the possibility of choice.
His non-acceptance of the task assigned to him is of no use, he ends up doing what he was born to do anyway, exactly in the gospels. (reread the gospels and the passion, then tell me if the canonical Jesus doesn't exude humanity. Does he accept his sad fate with a stoic spirit or does he cry tears of blood, despairing?).
The God presented here is no different from that of the Old Testament, who has no merciful characteristics. He is the God of Armies, promoter of massacres. Obey or Die.
Nothing new.

Perhaps for those who only refer to the catechism and Christian doctrine, this novel may seem original, shocking or perhaps even irreverent. For me, however, it isn't daring enough.
It is Saramago himself who states in the text that he does not dare deviate too much from the original story.
He approaches the topic at a distance and perhaps even with fear compared to other authors who go far beyond the "alternative" ideas of this novel.
Without resorting to Angels, God and Satan, these authors manage to eliminate them completely in their texts.

Therefore, the undisputed skill of the writer whose "Blindness" I have already appreciated remains, but I consider this gospel of Jesus Christ to be too fictionalized a text, too little different from the original texts, not very courageous. His message of humanity, impotence and divine control, although clear, does not differ too much from this Jesus from his canonical alter ego.
On these "delicate" topics I prefer to remain on philological and historical studies, which really question some "certainties" accepted at the table and imposed as true for two thousand years.
That's where you can be really shocked.altri-classici letture-2022 saramago66 s Miltos S.119 52

???????????? ?? ????? ????? ??? ??????? (???????? ??? ??????? ??? ?????), ??????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ?? ???????? ?????? ???? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????????.
???????? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??????. ???? ?? ??????? ????? ''???? ?? ????" ??? ???? ????? ????, ???? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??????????, ??? ?????? ? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ????? ??? ????????????? ??????? - ???? ??? ?? ????? ??? ????????? ??? ?? ??????, ???????? - ??? ???? ??? ????????? ??? ????????? ?????????? ??? ? ????? ? ?????????? ???? ???????????? ???? ???? ???.?????????? ????????????52 s Jenny198 56

??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ??'???? ?? ??????,?????????..
??????? ??? ???????? ??? ??? ????????,??? ????? ?? ?????????!???? ?????? ?? ???? ???.? ??????? ??????(?? ??? ?? ????????,???? ??? ?????????????? ???,???????):? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ?? ???????.?? ??????? ??? ???????? ?????????????? ???? ??? ??? ?????????? ??????,?? ?????????? ??? ???????? ??? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ?????,??? ?????? ?? ??????? 389-429 ????? ??? ?? ??? ????????????? ?????????? ??????????? ??? ??? ????????.
? ????????? ????? ???? ??? ???,??????????? ?????,??? ???? ??? ????????.
???? ?????????? ??? ????? ??? ????? ???? ?????????? ???,?? ??? ??? ?????? ????.?? ?? ??,???????? ?? ??????????,??????!?????? ?? ???? ?? ????????? ????? ?? ????????? ?? ???????????? ??? ??? ?????!47 s Silvia26 40

Imagino Saramago, um ateu confesso, lendo e relendo a Bíblia para reescrever a história do homem mais conhecido que já pisou na face da Terra. Penso também no culhões que o autor teve para levar a publicação adiante. Mexer com religião é coisa séria. Vide a ilíada do escritor Salman Rushdie com seus “Versos Satânicos”. “O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo” é uma obra corajosa e, diferente de textos que só têm como mérito a polemização, também é genial. A concepção de Jesus Cristo e o seu encontro com o diabo são trechos hilariantes e dotados inclusive de muita filosofia. “O Evangelho” conta história de um mito de forma humana, sem o misticismo sobrenatural da Igreja Católica, o que a torna muito especial.highly-recommended portuguese-literature48 s Dagio_maya 979 297

“Padre, allontana da me questo calice, Che tu lo beva è la condizione per il mio potere e la tua gloria, Non desidero questa gloria, Ma io voglio questo potere”


Questo vangelo comincia con la descrizione di un'incisione. Si tratta de “La Grande Crocifissione” di Albrecht Durer del 1498.


Immagino che la scelta di descrivere l'incisione partendo dall'alto abbia un suo preciso significato: è l’annuncio di una lettura del vangelo che vuole tornare ad essere materia umana.
Finchè, infatti, si rimane circoscritti e limitati nella dimensione divina l’Uomo non può avere una reale comunione con il divino in quanto non c’è una reale comprensione:

" Si vede il sole in uno degli angoli superiori del rettangolo, quello alla sinistra di chi guarda, e l’astro re è raffigurato con la testa di un uomo da cui sprizzano raggi di luce pungente e sinuose lingue di fuoco, come una rosa dei venti indecisa in quali direzioni puntare, e quel viso ha un’espressione piangente, contratta da un dolore inconfortabile, e dalla bocca aperta emette un urlo che non potremo udire, giacché nessuna di queste cose è reale, quanto abbiamo davanti è solo carta e colore, nient’altro."

Saramago procede facendoci entrare in casa di Giuseppe e Maria:
novelli sposi, sorpresi nei loro bisogni, sottomessi ai loro umori psicologici e corporali.

Con queste immagini il lettore li sente più vicini.
Giuseppe ha una buona dimestichezza nel parlare ma non è poi un gran falegname; Maria è una ragazza di soli sedici anni e non ha qualità che la distinguono da altre donne del villaggio.
Fa quello che devono fare tutte le donne:
tacere, rimanere in un angolo, obbedire.
Dunque un uomo ed una donna in un mondo di pari uomini e donne.

E così questo vangelo si serve di più binari: un'amalgama ben equilibrata tra la verità del contesto storico, la fantasia che è permessa al romanziere, il mondo del possibile dato dalle notizie dei vangeli apocrifi.
Se il Gesù dei vangeli canonici ha poteri taumaturgici, il personaggio romanzato non è da meno ma è innanzitutto un Uomo anzi, un ragazzo con impeti e pulsioni più che naturali alla sua giovane età.
In particolare, è ribelle.
I dialoghi tra Dio e Gesù sono piccole sceneggiature teatrali cariche di sarcasmo ed ironia che provocano un sorriso amaro.
Di fronte ad un dio assetato di potere Gesù oppone un rifiuto alla prospettiva di un futuro di morte. Pagine e pagine elencano i martiri trucidati in modo orribile per difendere la propria fede. E la scia di sangue che si tradurrà in guerre senza confine provoca rabbia nel giovane Gesù che non vuole farsi portatore di un credo che tollera queste atrocità.

Questo è il fulcro:

"E qual è il ruolo che mi hai destinato nel Tuo piano, Quello di martire, figlio mio, quello di vittima, quanto c’è di meglio per diffondere una dottrina e infervorare una fede. Le parole martire e vittima, a Dio uscirono dalla bocca come se la lingua all’interno fosse di latte e miele, ma un improvviso gelo fece rabbrividire le membra di Gesù, quasi la nebbia lo avesse avvolto"

"A un martire si addice una morte dolorosa e, se possibile, infame perché l’atteggiamento dei credenti sia più facilmente disponibile, appassionato, emotivo"


Una riscrittura atea per chi rispetta la scelta di una fede ma non accetta chi per questa fede uccide.

[ La mancanza di punteggiatura di Saramago che alcuni lettori vivono come un peso dovrebbe essere spunto di riflessione. Perchè un autore sceglie questo stile? Pigro? Ignorante? E se avesse voluto semplicemente avere dei lettori attivi ? Che si cerchino da sé le proprie pause, che trovino da soli la strada per la giusta intonazione!]5-stelle46 s Wafa156 1 follower

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"Deus é tanto mais Deus quanto mais inacessível for"

É sempre difícil começar a escrever sobre um livro de Saramago, sei que nunca vou encontrar as palavras que façam justiça à genialidade do Mestre, mas como começar a escrever sobre o livro mais polémico do nosso Nobel?

Saramago interpreta à sua maneira toda a história de vida de Jesus, desde o nascimento à morte na cruz. Sendo assim, todo o texto é pontuado por muita ironia, pessimismo e crítica. Este é um livro impróprio para cardíacos e crentes fanáticos, mas na minha opinião Saramago nunca desrespeitou a figura de Jesus Cristo.
De forma muito lúcida, o autor mostra como Jesus sempre foi a vítima do próprio Deus, aliás Saramago consegue humanizar Jesus Cristo, de uma forma que eu nunca tinha percebido. Saramago critica o Deus da Bíblia, um autoritário de primeira linha, ávido de poder. Já Jesus é-nos apresentado como um ser humano falível, cheio de dúvidas e incertezas, que também comete erros.

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