Some of my favorite stories are those that are big and well known enough that they have invited us to retell them over and over in new ways. This is why I will never tire of new takes on Spider-Man even if I agree that cinematic takes on the character have been rebooted too many times recently (also, put classic Marvel characters in the public domain!). It’s also why, after reading The Future, I was drawn in by Naomi Alderman’s take on the four gospels, writing four stories that barely intersect with each other and barely intersect with Jesus, retelling the gospels in a new way.

There’s a review of this book on Amazon that, without mentioning the word, is really upset by how often Alderman’s characters and narration use the word “fuck,” trying to appeal to historical accuracy and missing an important point about translation conventions in literary writing—and an equally important point about Alderman’s take on this narrative. These “gospels” are earthy and visceral, not shying away from sex or violence or poverty or the cruelty of empire or the callousness of armed rebellion.

Most characters are sympathetic, but few of them are familiar to someone who’s read other versions of these stories. I would have hated this book if I’d read it 15 years ago; I might not have even finished it, unable to get past my offense and the lack of faith promotion in the story. Yet, even if Alderman is sharply critical of supersessionism in the epilogue (as we all should be), I think there’s still a lot here for the open-minded Christian to take from the story.

At the very least, it’s a beautiful (if challenging) take on the story. It’s clever (Barabbas is frequently put in parallel with Jesus in subtle ways), teasing (no one across the four stories knows what happened to Jesus’s body), and incredibly moving. It feels saturated by culture, history, and context, and I loved the whole thing.

• The Liars' Gospel
• Naomi Alderman
• Jesus
• The Future
• Barabbas
• Mary
• Judas
• Caiaphas