King Jesus (1946)

I liked this version of the early history of "King Jesus" A fun read with lots of religious fantasy. ( )

Published in 1946, undoubtedly raised hackles on some who would want a more conventional view of J.C. This book is Grave's own reconstruction of Jesus' life which he creates through rationality and serious belief. Grave's detailed knowledge of how the Roman Empire worked and where King Herod fit into the picture lends real credibility to the details which add plausibility to many of his hypotheses. RMB, CSBS

King Jesus is a retelling of the Jesus story without the supernatural elements of the virgin birth, miracles, and resurrection. The fictional author of the story is Agabus the Decapolitan who is writing after the first Jewish-Roman war. During his childhood, Agabus saw Jesus at the blessing of the children. Now as an old man, he wishes to faithfully record the life of Jesus before the Gentile Christians erase certain facts from their scripture versions in order to convince the Romans that the Chrestians (as they are called) have nothing to do with Jewish nationalism. It doesn't make sense to say caution spoilers, the story does ends in crucifixion, but the why is another matter. As in the I Claudius novels, the Herod family play a very important part in the plot of the novel, as do Augustus and Livia.

Grave's version will make more sense if the reader reads the Historical Commentary first, although it is the last chapter of the book. In that chapter,Graves introduces his concept of iconotropy, the deliberate misinterpretation of a culture's icons and stories for political purposes. Without that knowledge, some of the book will not make any sense.

Much like Paul Park's The Gospel of Corax, Graves pretty much disregards the gospels. Unlike Park's novel, this one presents a noble, transcendent leader whom - unfortunately - no one understands.

Like other works by Graves, this one was way over my head. ( )