there are moments of heart-rending personal drama. 'Pullman has an extraordinary imagination. 'Provokingly bold' (Boyd Tonkin Independent) He even spots child-abuse scandals to come.' (Boyd Tonkin Independent) Not only does the anarchic prophet predict a future priesthood of hypocrites and persecutors who will 'torture and kill' heretics and infidels. When this Jesus prays, prior to his betrayal in the garden of Gethsemane, he delivers a Dawkins-esque soliloquy. Sets a rhetorical feast before critics of ecclesiastical pomp and pride. Written with unstinting authority, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is a pithy, erudite, subtle, and powerful book by a controversial and beloved author. 'Pullman's rebel scripture striking and suggestive.

'The Gospel according to Pullman, precisely because it is so skilfully constructed, will prompt many readers to turn once more to consider whether or not they should accept the apparently bizarre testimony of the early Christian witnesses.' (A.N Wilson Literary Review) 'It is a small gem or, given its explosive story and its exquisite artistry, a hand grenade made by Fabergé.' (Brian Appleyard Sunday Times)

Pullman's retelling of the central story in western civilisation provides a brilliant new interpretation that is also a thought-provoking reflection on the process of how stories come into existence and accrue their meanings.' (Nick Rennison Sunday Times) Upon its hardcover publication, renowned author Philip Pullmans The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ provoked heated debates and stirred a frenzy of controversy throughout the clerical and literary worlds alike with its bold retelling of the life of Jesus Christ. Though he wears his scholarship lightly as befits a master storyteller, there is no doubt in my mind that Pullman has a complete grasp of the intricacies of the quest for the historical Jesus.' (Richard Holloway Observer) A thought-provoking retelling of the Gospel story from an atheist perspective. will move even those who disagree with it. 'Beautifully written, humane, memorable and resonant.' (Philip Hensher)

'Striking and suggestive.' (Boyd Tonkin Independent) Pullman has done the story a service by reminding us of its extraordinary power to provoke and disturb.' (Salley Vickers Telegraph)

Philip pullman the good man jesus