Philip Pullman says Jesus is not God
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/kids-author-says-jesus-is-not-god/?e110909
Dear Mr Pullman,
It's nice to see you lay your cards on the table. If it were me (and not God) whom you were opposing, I would be not a little scared. You are a formidable enemy, though I am not sure God has much to worry about.
You weigh into the age old debate about Jesus' deity with the old news that it was in fact Paul of Tarsus who invented Christianity long after Jesus of Nazareth had popped his clogs at the unfortunately young age of - whatever it was - 33 years old according the legend rubbished by Dan Brown.
You describe Paul as, “a literary and imaginative genius, who has had more influence on the world than anybody else, including Jesus. He had this great ability to persuade others and his rhetorical skills have been convincing people for 2,000 years”.
As a fellow author, Mr Pullman, you must be familiar with the difficulty of getting readers to believe something is true which was written as an obvious complete fiction. In this category, Paul is obviously vastly more successful, perhaps, than you will ever be! Perhaps these thoughts are inspired by not a little professional jealousy?
Of course, you are aware you are writing fiction. You are not trying to convince anyone that his multiple universes are in actual fact, fact. But you are trying to convince everyone that God is not worth following, a fraud, a waste of time, and that belief in the God of the Christians is positively evil. How successful you are is for your readers to decide.
Let us consider however that you are right about Paul. Paul knew he was writing a fiction, a carefully constricted lie, designed to convince people that following God is the highest priority. A lie akin to, for example, The Subtle Knife, or The Amber Spyglass - though pulling in the opposite direction. The interesting thing is Paul was challenged with this in every town and city he went to. He was despised, beaten, persecuted, the subject of judicial and mob violence, and martyred in Rome, for what he believed to be true. He could have recanted at any point - given up the truth - or just simply shut up.
But as far as I can tell, there isn't even a conspiracy theory out there that near the end Paul gave in to the pressure and secretly changed his mind. Paul believed it to the end - a truth that brought him a life of discomfort, imprisonment, torture, insecurity, hatred and threats. There were no riches or reward for him.
So, out of motive, method and opportunity, what you lack in the challenge that Paul made it all up is:
Motive - there is no credible reason why he did;
Method - how exactly did he convince the world that the lie is the truth;
Opportunity - well, actually he had the opportunity. But that alone doesn't exactly make a credible case.
Thanks for your professional opinion Mr Pullman, I enjoy your books. But I am not convinced - either by your books, or your opinions.
Respectfully yours.
Dear Mr Pullman,
It's nice to see you lay your cards on the table. If it were me (and not God) whom you were opposing, I would be not a little scared. You are a formidable enemy, though I am not sure God has much to worry about.
You weigh into the age old debate about Jesus' deity with the old news that it was in fact Paul of Tarsus who invented Christianity long after Jesus of Nazareth had popped his clogs at the unfortunately young age of - whatever it was - 33 years old according the legend rubbished by Dan Brown.
You describe Paul as, “a literary and imaginative genius, who has had more influence on the world than anybody else, including Jesus. He had this great ability to persuade others and his rhetorical skills have been convincing people for 2,000 years”.
As a fellow author, Mr Pullman, you must be familiar with the difficulty of getting readers to believe something is true which was written as an obvious complete fiction. In this category, Paul is obviously vastly more successful, perhaps, than you will ever be! Perhaps these thoughts are inspired by not a little professional jealousy?
Of course, you are aware you are writing fiction. You are not trying to convince anyone that his multiple universes are in actual fact, fact. But you are trying to convince everyone that God is not worth following, a fraud, a waste of time, and that belief in the God of the Christians is positively evil. How successful you are is for your readers to decide.
Let us consider however that you are right about Paul. Paul knew he was writing a fiction, a carefully constricted lie, designed to convince people that following God is the highest priority. A lie akin to, for example, The Subtle Knife, or The Amber Spyglass - though pulling in the opposite direction. The interesting thing is Paul was challenged with this in every town and city he went to. He was despised, beaten, persecuted, the subject of judicial and mob violence, and martyred in Rome, for what he believed to be true. He could have recanted at any point - given up the truth - or just simply shut up.
But as far as I can tell, there isn't even a conspiracy theory out there that near the end Paul gave in to the pressure and secretly changed his mind. Paul believed it to the end - a truth that brought him a life of discomfort, imprisonment, torture, insecurity, hatred and threats. There were no riches or reward for him.
So, out of motive, method and opportunity, what you lack in the challenge that Paul made it all up is:
Motive - there is no credible reason why he did;
Method - how exactly did he convince the world that the lie is the truth;
Opportunity - well, actually he had the opportunity. But that alone doesn't exactly make a credible case.
Thanks for your professional opinion Mr Pullman, I enjoy your books. But I am not convinced - either by your books, or your opinions.
Respectfully yours.
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