Philip Pullman’s Jesus and ‘Christ’—and God?

Abstract

A story which dramatizes the distinction between the historical reality of Jesus and the ‘Christ of faith’ has given new life to a once powerful critique of Christian doctrine. Pullman’s alternative version of the gospel story can be countered by historical scholarship which shares his non-supernaturalist assumptions, but a theological response which communicates the Christian message of the gospels is also needed. The allegorical interpretation that Pullman’s fable invites allows a reading that is compatible with a rational form of traditional Christianity.