Customer Reviews

Gospel: A Novel

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Come along on a wild, intellectual ride, careening from Chicago to Ireland to Italy to Greece to Israel to the Sudan to Ethiopia, following the reprobate religious scholar, Dr. Patrick O'Hanrahan, and the semi-hapless perpetual grad student, Lucy Dantan, as they try to track down a lost 1st-Century Gospel, written by one of the Twelve Disciples...and enjoy fine living, abject poverty, attempted murder, theft, intellectual rivalry, religious theorizing, and spiritual agonizing along the way, plus the periodical, parenthetical Voice of God commenting on the action...Wilton Barnhardt (author of Emma, Who Saved My Life, also a grand book) has written a meaty and challenging mystery, whose characters are unafraid of the Big Questions, a book far more accessible than The Name of the Rose but with that same attractive flavor of the mysteries of scholarship and ancient manuscripts. Conspiracies and counter-conspiracies are revealed, characters grow in self-knowledge, and the reader gets to follow along in amazed pleasure (or pleasurable amazement?) as the plot twists and turns to its unexpected, emotionally-gratifying conclusion. I'd recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good academic mystery---it's really well-written, the intrigue nevers stops.

It is rare to have a compelling story with such great research backing it up.

The story line is two academics, one eccentric ex-Jesuit, "has been" and a young stereotypical Catholic woman, in search for a missing gospel. The book is interspersed with passages from the missing gospel, asides from God, and the quest itself; which is funny and entertaining. With that entertainment, comes references of church and bible lore which for their irreverence would surely offend some, so if you are dogmatic, better not read it (no put down intended; you would find it offensive).

However, if you have an interest in historical aspects of how the gospels in the bible were accepted, the politics of the church and the region, and day to day issues of early and mid millennium Christianity, this is a great book without plowing through scholarly texts.

One can compare it to the "Da Vinci Code" but the "Da Vinci Code" does not come near the scholarly references "Gospel: A Novel" uses. What is even of greater interest is "Gospel: A Novel" was written ten years before "Da Vinci Code" and is as a good as a book now as it was then. Do not be concerned by its length, it should hold your interest like a long, slow smoking cigar.

I don't know if this book made much of an impact when it was first published, but it would be a real loss if it never did. Ever since The Da Vinci Code, many books have tried to follow in its success but this book blows them all away.

Gospel is about the search for the loss first-century gospel, and the impact that such a find will have on our understanding of Christianity. The central characters are Patrick O'Hanrahan, a professor emeritus from the University of Chicago, a drunk and disillusioned academic in search of the glory he once had; and Lucy Dantam, a young doctoral student at the same school of Theology, also disillusioned and yet still looking for her own path in life. The two of them take a journey through Europe and Africa in search for this loss gospel, while battling endless intrigue that involves a mad monk, a rabbi, the CIA, a TV evangelist, a multimillionaire, the Iranian government, spies, and much more!

I really enjoyed the characters in this novel, who are laugh-out-loud funny at times. They all battle their own demons, so to speak, and you soon see how their own personal quest to make sense of their lives is interwoven with their larger quest for the lost gospel. There is also the quest of the gospel writer as well, who too is looking for the Truth. Some people seem to dislike the characters for one reason or another. That is fair, but it is surely a good break from the stereotype of the handsome professor and his beautiful sidekick.

Understandably, the length of this novel may be an obstacle to some, but if you enjoy books like The Da Vinci Code or other historical books, this is it. This book was tremendously well-researched, but as with all books like this, I highly encourage you to do your own research to verify what you believe. This book had me scrambling to google every few pages to wonder: Wow, is this really true? Was there really a female pope? Was this saint really martyred in such a grotesque way?





It is unfortunate that Wilton Barnhardt hadn't written more books. I wonder if he would return to this same theme, or similar theme. He seems to have done an extraordinary work in this one.

Bravo Wilton! This guy knows his theology and his history! In this tour de force, the author takes us on a journey in search of a mysterious Gospel (according to Matthias, the thirteenth apostle) written in ancient Meroitic, a mysterious language which at the end of the book turns out to be Greek written in special characters. What does this Gospel say? What will be the consequences of its translation and publication on Christianity and on the world? The main characters of the book are Lucy Dantan, a theology doctoral candidate; Patrick O' Hanrahan, an ex-Jesuit (whom I imagined to look like the mentor of my dissertation); Rabbi Morey Hersh; and God, yes God!I greatly enjoyed the way in which God speaks (sentences in parenthesis), thus becoming a real character in the unfolding story!
Barnhardt does a fantastic life in breathing life into his characters. At one point, we read a fantastic characterization of Dr. O'Hanrahan through a soliloquy he engages in, as he is stranded on Mt. Athos. We could entitle it "The Married Life of An Alcoholic Professor".
What can I say theologically about the book? It is certainly written from a liberal, if not skeptical perspective. The Church as an institution is badly mauled, and yet without a polemical spirit. All the popular superstitions and cults are allowed to speak for themselves, and yet there is no sense of superiority or condescendence toward them. The characters we encounter are either scholarly geniuses or fundamentalist simpletons; men and women of great piety or opportunists and scoundrels. We occasionally encounter intellectuals in search of a stronger faith (Lucy). What ever happened to conservative, intellectually honest minds?
The conclusion reached by Barnhardt seems to be that faith is an attitude of the heart that needs no reasons or defenses: it is, after all, what matters (Isn't this Bultmann all over?)
I would not recommend this book to young believers, as it may disturb their faith. I would recommend "A Skeleton in God's Closet" first. This book may, indeed should, be used, as a corrective to a superficial faith. It can also be used to spark debate about Jesus' resurrection (see "The Resurrection Debate," by Pannenberg)
Barnhardt does have a great sense of humor! (Check out the acknowledgements too)

In the late 1970s I saw an atrocious mini-series on television called "The Word." It starred Darin McGavin (later to become Kolchak, the Night Stalker) and was based on the novel by Irwin Wallace (at least, I think that's what the author's name was). It is my understanding that Wallace's novel is pretty bad, as well--Wallace once wrote a novel about writing the novel he was writing, which even in a post-modern concept sounds pretty terrible (I think, to be really original, he called that one "The Novel"). In any case, the whole premise of "The Word" was that an investigator discovers that the gospels were a hoax--an entirely made up account, based somewhat on historical personages, but expanded on in elaborate ways to create an interest and a cult. Woah, I thought. Why couldn't it have been like this? How do we *know* that the Gospel was inspired, rather than invented? (No use writing in, I'm familiar with the "you must have faith" verses--I might know them better than you, in fact.) Since then I've been fairly skeptical about the word. In some ways, this might explain my fascination with the concept of the unreliable narrator, as ultimately the most unreliable narrator of all is the author him- or herself.

Which is a bit far afield of the novel in question, but puts a little background on why I was interested in this novel about the search for a fifth gospel. While basically an adventure story, with kidnappings and arsons and misunderstandings and close calls, etc., the intellectual basis for this story is solidly researched, as evidenced by the copious footnotes and the index. The danger about mixing such solid research in an extremely James Bond-ish plot (even if none of the characters achieve Bond's superhuman status) is that the audience is not quite sure what to believe.

Interspersed with the adventure story is the lost gospel itself, which tries to cover some of the myths and popular beliefs about the other gospels and the disciples that wrote them. Fundamentalists will be offended, no doubt, just as they were offended by _The Last Temptation of Christ_ and _Live from Golgotha_. But Barnhardt's view has a strong feeling of verisimilitude, even if his made-up gospel doesn't.

The book is long, but not over-long, and the action is exciting, if straining credulity at times, but overall it provides solid entertainment with just enough thought to make you think twice about those other gospels, and the books surrounding them.

In "Gospel," Barnhardt has pulled off a difficult task with grace (pun intended) and style. Ostensibly the story of a Professor and a graduate student from the University of Chicago's Department of Theology hot on the trail of a newly discovered first-century gospel, Barnhardt uses this frame to present us with a panorama of Christianity and Christians, past and present. Along the way, the reader gets a view of many places in the world intimately involved with Christianity, and its troubles: England, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Africa, and Louisiana.

By managing the delicate balance of telling an interesting story and providing an encyclopedic vision of the various strands and streams that comprise Christianity, Barnhardt's work will appeal to those who have delved into work such as that of Elaine Pagels. I found myself willing and eager to go on the journey with Barnhardt's protagonists. In the end, I wondered if the television evangelists whom I find so easy to ridicule are not quite as bizarre when measured against the historical development of Christianity.

In "Gospel," we travel through England to Ireland, where we meet the mysterious Black Pope and his retinue of apostate Jesuits. From there, we travel to Assisi where we meet Franciscans who, not surprisingly, relate that the resurrection of Christ is not a critical aspect of their faith, that feeding the poor is what matters. From there, we travel to the dusty shelves of the Vatican Library, where scrolls lay around undisturbed for centuries. The journey continues to the mythical Mt. Athos, then to Jerusalem, then to ravaged Africa before making a circle of sorts back to a suburb of Baton Rouge.

The blending of fact and fiction made this an irresistible tale for me. One of the things I liked most is the way that Barnhardt uses the figure of O'Hanrahan, apostate Jesuit, Professor of Theology, and chronic alcoholic, as the mouthpiece to impart vast theological learning. After reading the book, I find it harder to dismiss claims of a 900 foot Jesus when compared with the veneration of relics and the stories of the martyrs that form what might be called a good Catholic education. I do not mean to imply that Barnhardt leads one to accept fundamentalism as valid, far from it. However, through the figure of O'Hanrahan he does make one realize that one person's sacred revelation is another person's ridiculous fairy tale.

The gospel of the title is in itself interesting, a sort of "what-if" told by the mythical Mathius, who was the replacement for Judas. Interspersed through the narrative in sections, it makes one wonder who the disciples really were and how they lived their lives after Christ's death.

"Gospel" presents a number of delightful characters, and some sinister ones. When we meet Lucy Dantan, she is a somewhat lost graduate student in Theology, working on but never completing a boring thesis and leading a boring life. By the end of the book, her transformation is complete, as she chooses a brave course for her life. Having been a graduate student myself, I deeply appreciated Barhardt's portraits of the denizens of academic departments.

Part academic novel, part exposition on the forms of Christianity, and part character study (with the voice of the Holy Spirit thrown in for good measure), "Gospel" delights and diverts. Although it is a longish book, it was a joy to read.

Simply put, I did not enjoy this book as much as some of the other reviewers obviously did. As it contains more that 700 pages, the book provides a virtual around-the-world-in-80-days adventure quest involving a young graduate student in search of her errant mentor, an aging theology professor financed by the University of Chicago to lay hands on a missing gospel of one of the original disciples of Jesus. Sadly, the novel's most troubled aspect is in its trite characterizations. Lucy, the grad student represents the quintessential Catholic school girl laden with Irish Catholic guilt while Paddy, the professor in his deluded quest for notarity in the academic world, soaks himself with alcohol from all points of the globe. The only character worthwhile, the Holy Spirit, speaks in asides which are insightful and mildly amusing.

However, if you can get past the rather annoying personalities of the two main characters, focus on the gospel itself that heads each of the major chapter breaks, and enjoy how its revelation awakens the protagonists to their real missions in life, then the book can be called successful.

I was recommended this book after having read the www.Amazon.com reviews of "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. I must say that I was mislead; the books have little in common--Brown's style is much breezier, more in the adventure/screenplay genre--his focus is mainly on the unfolding mystery. Barnhardt's epistle deals more with the change in his characters than the actual plot--I think I would have liked more plot and less character. Barnhardt's resolution at the last chapter called "The Promised Land" mercifully comes off as campy in an otherwise seemingly serious tale of two lost souls that find their way back to an ever patient Holy Spirit.

Barnhardt's research combined with his imagination makes the book seem factual--it is his immense database of knowledge that urges the reader forward through to the end.

Recommended to those who like conspiracy theories and hidden ancient mysteries.

This book is... bizarre. Pieces of it are good old-fashioned novel; they whiz by like beach reading. Pieces of it are irreverent to the point of offensive, which did a great job of putting that bemused "I was about to chuckle but I'm not sure it would be polite" look on my face. And the offensiveness is relevant, as it is supported by detailed footnotes about religious history that are weird enough to raise your eyebrows right off your head. The footnotes read like... well, like footnotes, slow going. You've gotta want to know. But after a few pages, you realize you *do* want to know.

If Wilton Barnhardt were a career theologian, or if the book were nonfiction, I'd know how much of the footnote information to believe. As it's a work of fiction and as Barnhardt has, from all I've read, not concentrated on religion, per se, during his career, I'm left wondering how much of his background material is fact and how much is fiction. It's an important question; the book has huge emotional impact, and a lot of that impact comes from the assumption the reader naturally makes that the footnotes are factual.

The thing that balances out the irreverence and the potential offensiveness of this book is the incredible warmth and heart with which Barnhardt treats his main characters. The real story of this book is the love that each flawed person deserves. The real story of this book is the feeling I came away with: that I was, in spite of my flaws, loveable. Any book that can make you feel that way is well worth buying.

I imagine the low ratings of this book are by people who may be turned off by the view of christianity put forward by some of the characters and the plot... I found it fresh and engaging.

If you liked Da Vinci Code or Geographers Library, you'll LOVE gospel. I read this book several years ago and the story was exciting and fun. After several years, it still sticks in my mind, not just for the story, but for the travelogue as well. The many geographic destinations the book takes you to, both on and off the beaten path, are inspiring! You truly won't want to put the book down.