Booklist, the trade journal of the American Library Association, once ran a list of novels based on the life of Jesus. Many of them are controversial, and almost anyone can find a story to offend them. In order of publication, the novels were:
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880) by Lew Wallace. The subtitle is a bit misleading: The Gospel story is merely the frame for the story of Ben-Hur’s enslavement, revenge, and eventual redemption.
The Man Who Died (1929) by D.H. Lawrence. Consistent with the sexual interests of the author of Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Jesus rises from the dead and has an affair with a priestess of Isus.
The Nazarene: A Novel Based on the Life of Christ (1939) by Sholem Asch. Described in more detail elsewhere on this site, the book involves the soul of a Roman soldier int he body of a 20th-century Christian scholar.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1960) by Nikos Kazantzakis. Jesus comes down from the cross — something I longed for as a child almost everytime I saw a Jesus movie — and raises a family.
Behold the Man (1966) by Michael Moorcock. Moorcock is a science fiction writer, and this won the Nebula Award for best science fiction novel of the year. In it a 20th-century sceptic travels back in time only to become the center of religious fervour. He becomes confused with the idiot son of Joseph the Carpenter and ultimately dies on the cross.
The Gospel According to the Son: A Novel (1997) by Norman Mailer. Discussed elsewhere on this site, in this book Jesus tells his own story in a musing, undramatic way.
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