The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

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**Title** **The Gospel According to Jesus Christ**
Front page of the 1st Portuguese edition
Author	José Saramago
Original title	O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo
Translator	Giovanni Pontiero
Country	Portugal
Language	Portuguese
Genre(s)	Historical novels
Publisher	Editorial Caminho
Released	1991
Released in English	1994
Media type	Print (paperback)
Pages	396 pages (paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 978-0156001410 (paperback edition)

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ is the English translation of the Portuguese novel, O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo by José Saramago. It was translated in 1994 by Giovanni Pontiero, three years after the original was published in 1991. It is deemed to be very controversial, having been criticized by the Catholic church for blasphemy^{[citation needed]}.

1 Plot introduction
2 Plot summary
3 Release details
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot introduction

This book reimagines the life of Jesus Christ, using the events depicted in the canonical gospels as a scaffold on which to build its story. It more or less follows the chronology of the life of Jesus Christ, however much greater emphasis is spent on the earlier part of Jesus' life than in the canonical gospels.

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The book describes a fictional alternate history to the life of Jesus Christ as depicted in the bible. It begins with Jesus's conception, in the spiritual presence of God. Jesus's birth is heralded by a mysterious character, who claims to be an angel. Later, at Bethlehem, Jesus is born in a cave^[1], and three shepherds - including the "angel" - arrive to bring him presents.

As described in the Gospel of Matthew, Herod the Great receives a premonition of the birth of the "King of the Jews" (in the Gospel, he is informed by the Magi; in the book, however, he is visited in his dreams by the prophet Micah). He orders the Massacre of the Innocents. Jesus survives, but his father, Joseph, who has learnt of the plan, neglects to warn the other families in the village, ensuring that his son is safe first and is plagued by nightmares for the rest of his life.

Later, when Jesus turns thirteen, Joseph is crucified by the Romans who mistakenly think him to be a Zealot fighter. From the night of his father's death, Jesus inherits his nightmare. He learns about the massacre from his mother, and grows aloof from his family, amongst whom he can no longer live peacefully. He leaves the family and Nazareth and makes his way to Jerusalem, where he visits the Temple, thence to Bethlehem.

He works as an apprentice to a shepherd (called The Shepherd who is understood to be the Devil and the mysterious "angel" mentioned earlier) until he meets God in the desert. God forces Jesus to sacrifice his favourite sheep, and says he has a design for him. Upon hearing of this, the Shepherd tells him to leave immediately. Jesus makes his way back home through the Sea of Galilee where he discovers an amazing talent to catch myriads of fish, and Magdala where he meets and falls in love with Mary Magdalene back home to Nazareth.

Jesus is not believed by his family, and so he leaves them once again, marries Mary Magdalene and goes to work helping the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. One day out on the Sea by himself, he is visited by God and the Devil. God tells Jesus of his plan for Jesus to institute Christianity, because God is annoyed at being only the God of a one race, and that other Gods seem to get all the glory. Jesus is initially against what he sees as a selfish plan bound to lead to great suffering of many, but is made to see that he actually has no choice in the matter, because God is, in fact, God.

Jesus becomes a prophet of God, continuing to work miracles but also preaching. He gets himself arrested, and, in a move to undermine God's plan, seeks to shatter his own credibility by claiming to be God's Son and immortal. However, it is God's power to make these things be true, which He does. The novel ends with Jesus' realisation that God's plan of instituting Christianity will succeed despite him.