The latest in Canongate’s Myths series sees Michel Faber considering the role of the gospels in the Christian faith, by imagining what would happen if Matthew, Mark, Luke and John didn’t have the last word on the life and times of Jesus. Theo Griepenkerl is an archaeologist on a visit to Iraq, assessing the effects of looting on the collections of the museums over there, when a terrorist attack freakishly reveals to him a set of ancient papyrus scrolls hidden inside a statue. High-tailing it back to his native Canada, Theo sets about translating them from Aramaic (fortunately, that’s his specialism), and discovers them to be a contemporary account of the life of Christ, written by the hitherto unknown Malchus.

The co-incincidences required to bring this about are fairly fantastic, but that’s not really the point – they are contrived in order to bring the new gospel to light, and once Theo has translated it and got himself a publishing deal, that’s when the fun starts. Malchus’s gospel throws cold water on many aspects of the other four gospels, including, crucically, the manner of Christ’s death and his resurrection. It’s bound to cause trouble, but the unreligious Theo doesn’t really think much further than the size of the advance he can get out of a publisher.

The fireworks really starts once the book hits the bookshelves, and predictably becomes an international bestseller – even though Malchus’s story, with its mundane meanderings about his failing health interspersed with profound revelations about the life and times of Christ have had to be padded out with Theo’s pedestrian account of the discovery of the scrolls. Theo, now known as Theo Gripper, goes on a signing tour, and makes the mistake of checking up on the Amazon reviews for his book. Faber does a great job of imagining the range of scorn, vitriol, cynicism and praise that such a book might attract, and the semi-literate nature of many of the comments. Predictably, people can’t let their objections stop at just negative Amazon reviews though, and Theo has to handle the consequences of  his discovery on the faith of others, undergoing exeriences that cause him to question the value of what the book has brought him.

The Fire Gospel is a great exploration of the relationship between faith and proof. Faber shows that while the word ‘gospel’ might have entered the language as meaning ‘absolute truth’, the partially contradictory accounts of the four gospels leave Christians plenty of room for interpretation; ultimately, the burdens of proof are subordinated to the dictates of faith, and anything that contradicts the basis of people’s beliefs will be about as welcome as… well, as Malchus’s gospel turns out to be to an unsuspecting Christian community. A really enjoyable piece of work.

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