Because I had read all the books I brought with me on a rainy holiday, I took this book from a 'book swap box' on a street somewhere in France. It describes the doubts of Jesus the day before his crucifixion in the first part, and in the second part Pontius Pilate starts his search for the missing body of Jesus. Schmitt is certainly not the first to re-imagine and re-write with a more modern perspective the stories of the New Testament. It's always an interesting exercise, especially when it's presented as here as a police investigation. Schmitt leaves many aspects hanging in a veil of uncertainty. Pilate remains doubtful, yet his wife Claudia is convinced and becomes a Christian.
Schmitt presents the story with style, but in my opinion with little conviction. Pilate does not ask the right questions in my opinion. Many aspects remain untouched, as if Schmitt wants to use doubt as a possibility that the resurrection actually occured as described in the later gospels (of Matthew, Luke and John), but not in the earliest gospel of Mark, in which the tomb is just empty. And for reference, none of the four evangelists actually ever met Jesus. It is all based on hearsay.
Many of the modernised versions of the bible have only one goal: to convert the doubtful to christianity, in the hope that the language and style of today might be more effective than the real scriptures. I think Schmitt's book does not fall into this category. It has literary merits.
No comments:
Post a Comment