Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
St Martins Pr (1993), Edition: First Edition, 788 pages
Description
An eccentric, hard-drinking professor and an attractive but impetuous student careen through Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and America in search of a lost biblical gospel.
User reviews
LibraryThing member the_awesome_opossum
Gospel is a novel about a lost gospel of Matthias, the thirteenth disciple who replaced Judas. A sardonic burn-out professor named Patrick O'Hanrahan and a shrinking violet grad student named Lucy set off around the world to trace the manuscript and learn what was so dangerous about it, that until
The recurring conflict over this gospel was its reception: whose care should it be in, the dispassionate and careful scholars or the passionate but biased religious fundamentalists? Such a conflict is par for the course whenever the challenge of the historicity of religion comes into play. Careful historians should have an unbiased approach, of course, but perhaps they also ought to be aware that destroying people's faith is a weighty decision. So among the vested interests that characters express for the possession or suppression of this gospel is the concern that it will undermine all of Christianity. Which, maybe, but what would Christianity be without a truth to it?
One of the most charming elements of the book was that God had some wonderful asides. God, in parenthetical comments, answered characters' doubts and questions, encouraged them, scolded them when they needed scolding. Adorable, I thought, and interesting in that both scholarship and fundamentalism talk about God and around God in a third person sort of way. This narrative presence sets in contrast the pettiness of people without a true foundation for their religion aside from their own ends. Yet God is consistent and good, working among imperfect people and in spite of self-interested biases. No character is perfect, but they're endearing and fun to be around and to watch grow in their negotiation of a new faith.
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this point all copies had been presumed burned in the third century for heresy.The recurring conflict over this gospel was its reception: whose care should it be in, the dispassionate and careful scholars or the passionate but biased religious fundamentalists? Such a conflict is par for the course whenever the challenge of the historicity of religion comes into play. Careful historians should have an unbiased approach, of course, but perhaps they also ought to be aware that destroying people's faith is a weighty decision. So among the vested interests that characters express for the possession or suppression of this gospel is the concern that it will undermine all of Christianity. Which, maybe, but what would Christianity be without a truth to it?
One of the most charming elements of the book was that God had some wonderful asides. God, in parenthetical comments, answered characters' doubts and questions, encouraged them, scolded them when they needed scolding. Adorable, I thought, and interesting in that both scholarship and fundamentalism talk about God and around God in a third person sort of way. This narrative presence sets in contrast the pettiness of people without a true foundation for their religion aside from their own ends. Yet God is consistent and good, working among imperfect people and in spite of self-interested biases. No character is perfect, but they're endearing and fun to be around and to watch grow in their negotiation of a new faith.
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LibraryThing member captom
This is much better than the Da Vinci Code and very well researched, its an adventure, a comedy and a well researched novel on religous history, especially catholicisism. Dogmatics beware!
LibraryThing member corgidog2
Excellent fiction about searching for a new gospel, by Matthias. But it is a revelation to the casual reader about Catholicism--saints, popes, beliefs, behaviours. I do not believe in reading a book twice, but this one tempts me to.
LibraryThing member bemidjian
This is one of the best novels I have ever read, offering a literate presentation, good scholarship, a fascinating and believable hero, plausible bad guys and all the terrors of graduate school, combined with some good cloak and dagger material.
Another reviewer has suggested that this book is
Another reviewer has suggested that this book is
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superior to Da Vinci Code. I strongly agree. Show Less
LibraryThing member 5hrdrive
I did enjoy the parts that took place in England, Ireland, and Italy, but after that it was all downhill. Easily could have been three hundred pages shorter.
LibraryThing member ehines
This book took a while to get into and some of the schtick gets a little bit tiresome, but most of its quirkiness is actually charming rather than precious, and there's a seriousness underneath the considerable superstructure of the novel that is carried off quite well.
LibraryThing member Steve_Walker
Why folks read "The Da Vinci Code" and ignored this I will never understand. This is a real novel and well written. DVC is absolute
rubbish written by a hack. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
rubbish written by a hack. Do yourself a favor and read this book.
LibraryThing member wickenden
A wonderful romp through history and europe in search of a first century gospel. This is what Dan Brown wishes he could have written.
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1993
Physical description
788 p.; 9.75 inches
ISBN
0312088027 / 9780312088026
Local notes
FB A huge novel with footnotes and an index. All events and characters are fictitious; all ancient sources, Biblical citings, apocryphal gospels, and historical information contained in the footnotes are true and accurate...a history of Christianity from pagan Goddess cults to modern times.