La fel ca în Cain, citind această carte, mai ales secvența înâlnirii de pe mare dintre Dumnezeu, Diavol și Isus, am avut impresia puternică că totul nu este decât un mare rechizitoriu în care procurorul este naratorul, iar Dumnezeu principalul inculpat. Domnul este acuzat de răutate, sete de putere și glorie, de vărsare de sânge, de dorința de a domina, de lipsă de milă ș.a.m.d. Câteva pagini au fost umplute doar cu nume de martiri și oameni torturați de Inchiziție pentru gloria Domnului. Din nou, am avut impresia că citesc lista de victime dintr-un rechizitoriu.

Și mai șocant este însă portretul unui alt personaj-cheie, Satana. Pare chiar mai bun decât Dumnezeu și, desigur, mult mai simpatic datorită umanității sale. Spre exemplu, va propune la un moment dat Domnului să scutească omenirea de suferințele impuse în numele Lui. El însă, tipic pentru Dumnezeul din romanele lui Saramago, nu va accepta.

Căci Domnul nu este, aici, decât o putere lipsită de milă și de iubire, iar ca dovezi la dosar ni se aduc urmările Bisericii întemeiate de El: cruciade, inchiziții, torturi și crime.

Recenzie integrală aici: https://booknation.ro/recenzie-evangh...

Očekivao sam sprdnju i to sam i dobio. Mnooogo sprdnje. Ali ovo nije komedija u svojoj osnovi. Smešno ovde uvek nosi sa sobom veliku intelektualnu i ideološku poruku. Baš kao i sve ostalo jer o svakoj rečenici vredi dvaput porazmisliti. I sve je isto ali iz suprotnog pogleda. Nisam očekivao da će priča imati ikakav kontinuitet sa hrišćanskim jevanđeljima. Ali da, ovde ima skoro svih biblijskih čuda. Ima i Boga, i Đavola, i anđela... Ali iako je Isus dobio božanske moći, ljudsko je, naravno, u prvom planu. U Saramagovom humanističkom jevanđelju Bog je jedini negativan lik. On je uzrok svih problema i njemu je usmerena poruka: "Ljudi, oprostite mu, on ne zna šta je učinio." A nažalost, ljudi mu praštaju i dan-danas. Svima njima, a pogotovo cenzorima ovog romana, se poručuje: "misli su takve kakve jesu, i niti su dobre niti su zle, samo su dela važna." A i ta dela nam ne govore sve. Po Saramagu, postoji dualnost dobra i zla: "između dobra i zla nema razlike, a ako je i ima, drugačija je, jer Dobro i Zlo i ne postoje sami po sebi već jedno predstavlja nedostatak drugoga." Bog i Đavo su dobri drugari, jer jedan je neophodan da bi drugi postojao.

Εξαίρετο.Αριστουργηματικό.Αποδομεί την ιστορία της Καινής Διαθήκης κατά τρόπο μοναδικό,διαφορετικό,που καταφέρνει να δημιουργήσει και να εισβάλλει στο βαθύτερο "είναι των πεποιθήσεων" των ερωτημάτων για τον χριστιανισμό και τη πίστη στο Θεό.Σίγουρα γίνεται όλο και καλύτερο όσο προχωράει και όσο προχωράς καταλαβαίνεις ότι πρόκειται για ένα βιβλίο συνταρακτικό,τολμηρό.Φτάνοντας στις τελευταίες σελίδες,η τελευταία εντύπωση που θα αφήσει θα είναι ανεκτίμητη.

All'ulivo si abbraccia la vite

“Però la notte, tranquilla e distante, estranea agli esseri e alle cose, con quella suprema indifferenza che immaginiamo all'universo, o quell'altra, assoluta, l'indifferenza del vuoto che rimarrà, ammesso che il vuoto possa essere qualcosa, quando il fine ultimo di tutto si sarà compiuto, la notte, dicevamo, ignorava il significato e l'ordine plausibile che sembrano governare questo mondo nei momenti in cui crediamo ancora che esso sia stato creato per accoglierci, noi e la nostra follia”.

Vita umana di un Gesù storico e apocrifo, costruita mescolando le fonti con spirito critico e razionale, questa storia vuole cogliere del messaggio cristiano il lato meno conosciuto e forse più autentico, dove trovano spazio l'amore sensuale e terreno, la comunione con i poveri e gli umili, il timore del sacro e del creatore. Un figlio vuole conoscere le ragioni della sua nascita, fuggire l'inganno imperturbabile, peccare per riconoscersi una singolarità, al di là di ogni eredità teologica. Dalla strage degli innocenti alle nozze di Canaan, da Maria di Magdala e Giuda Iscariota, a Lazzaro, Il Tempio e il deserto, il sacrificio di Gesù è narrato secondo una chiave di lettura umanista e sapienziale; la scrittura spinge la coscienza oltre i dogmi alla ricerca del senso più naturale del racconto biografico e religioso. Il figlio dell'uomo, tra le assonanze di Saramago, seppellisce l'uomo e resta egli stesso insepolto. Ma qui non c'è colpa, la prima radice è nel ventre inquieto della terra, il miracolo è diserzione da ogni modello. L'uomo è un soffio, il suo tempo passa come voce e ombra. Gesù è viandante, nascosto nel pregare, debolezza nell'amare, nodo di corda di mare e sale.

“Non ti accetto, non ti perdono, ti voglio come sei e, se possibile, anche peggiore di adesso, perché, perché il bene che io sono non esisterebbe senza il male che sei tu, un bene che dovesse esistere senza di te sarebbe talmente inconcepibile che neppure io riesco a immaginarlo, insomma, se tu finisci, finisco anch'io, perché io sia il bene, è necessario che tu continui a essere il male”.

Η παρακάτω κριτική περιέχει σπόιλερς, που δεν τινάζουν στον αέρα την απόλαυση της ανάγνωσης ετούτου του βιβλίου αλλά είναι σπόιλερς για όποιον θέλει να διαβάσει και να απολαύσει το βιβλίο παρθενικά.



Ο αφηγητής/ευαγγελιστής αυτού του Βιβλίου/Ευαγγελίου ξεκινά με ένα κεφάλαιο που είναι ουσιαστικά η περιγραφή μιας ξυλογραφίας του Άλμπρεχτ Ντύρερ Σταύρωση. Το αμέσως επόμενο ξεκινά με μια σκηνή στο σπίτι του Ιωσήφ του ξυλουργού και της Μαρίας, όπου ο Ιησούς είναι ακόμη αγέννητος, και απ' εδώ θα ξεκινήσει ένα ταξίδι μέχρι το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο που κλείνει ξανά με τη σκηνή της Σταύρωσης, κλείνοντας έτσι τον κύκλο της ιστορίας οριστικά.

Χριστός Παντοκράτωρ, τοιχογραφία 12ου αιώνα,
Παναγία του Άρακα, Λαγουδερά, Τρόοδος, Κύπρος

Πέρσι το Πάσχα αποφάσισα να διαβάσω την Η Καινή Διαθήκη ταυτοχρόνως με τον Τελευταίο Πειρασμό του Χριστού του Ν. Καζαντζάκη. Έτσι φέτος αποφάσισα να κρατήσω αυτό το 'έθιμο' και να συνεχίσω με άλλο ένα βιβλίο που έχει ως κύριο χαραχτήρα τον Χριστό, παρόλο που πουθενά στο βιβλίο (αν θυμάμαι καλά) δεν αναφέρεται ως Χριστός. Αναμφίβολα υπήρξαν συγκρίσεις.
Ο Ιησούς της Καινής Διαθήκης ήταν θεάνθρωπος.
Ο Ιησούς του Καζαντζάκη ήταν άνθρωπος.
Ο Ιησούς του Σαραμάγκου ήταν ανθρώπινος
Ο Σαραμάγκου, Πορτογάλος που βραβεύτηκε με το Νόμπελ Λογοτεχνίας (σε αντίθεση με τον Καζαντζάκη) ήταν άθεος και αυτό το βιβλίο είναι ύμνος προς τον άνθρωπο και οτιδήποτε μη-ανθρώπινο κατακρίνεται (Θεός, Άγγελοι, Δαίμονες).

Xριστός Παντοκράτωρ, ψηφιδωτό 13ου αιώνα, Αγία Σοφία,
Κωνσταντινούπολη, Τουρκία 

Από το πρώτο κεφάλαιο ο Σαραμάγκου ξεκινά να αθωώνει ανθρώπους που στην Καινή Διαθήκη περιγράφονται σχεδόν πάντα ως κακοί
[...] ένας άντρας απομακρύνεται, [...] Κρατά στο αριστερό του χέρι ένα κανάτι και στο δεξί ένα καλάμι.
Στην άκρη του καλαμιού πρέπει να υπάρχει ένα σφουγγάρι, [...] και το κανάτι, [...] περιέχει νερό με ξίδι.
Αυτός ο άνθρωπος, [...] θα πέσει θύμα συκοφαντίας, ότι, από μοχθηρία ή χλευασμό έδωσε ξίδι στον Ιησού όταν εκείνος ζήτησε νερό, ενώ το σίγουρο είναι ότι του έδωσε από το μείγμα, ξίδι και νερό, που είναι ένα από τα καλύτερα δροσιστικά για να σβήνει τη δίψα, όπως τότε ήταν γνωστό και συνηθιζόταν. σελ. 15

Ευτυχώς, ένας Φαρισαίος που περνούσε και πρόσεξε τον ξεψυχισμένο μικρό τον λυπήθηκε, το μέλλον,
άδικο, θα επιφορτιστεί με τη δημιουργία μιας χείριστης φήμης για το λαό αυτόν, στο βάθος όμως ήταν καλοί άνθρωποι, όπως αποδείχτηκε σ' αυτή την περίπτωση. σελ. 179

Xριστός Παντοκράτωρ, ψηφιδωτό 11ου αιώνα,
Μονή Δαφνίου, Χαϊδάρι, Ελλάδα

Ξεκινάς την ανάγνωση του βιβλίου και λες, αυτό δεν ήταν μέσα στην Καινή Διαθήκη, αυτό ήταν, αυτό δεν ήταν, σαν να μαδάς μαργαρίτα. Στο τέλος αποφασίζεις ότι πρέπει να αναμένεις λιγότερες ομοιότητες σε σχέση με αυτές που είχε η Καινή Διαθήκη με το βιβλίο του Καζαντζάκη. Πολλά στιγμιότυπα που ξέρουμε από την Κ.Δ. απουσιάζουν ή είναι αλλαγμένα εδώ. Ο Ιησούς στην έρημο δεν συναντά τον διάβολο αλλά τον Θεό, ο Θεός δεν αναφωνεί Αυτός είναι ο αγαπημένος μου Υιός, αυτός είναι ο εκλεκτός μου.
κατά τη διάρκεια της Βάπτισης του Ιησού αλλά κατά τη διάρκεια της Σταύρωσής του, κάτι που περιέχει νότα χλευασμού. Δεν υπάρχουν αναστάσεις, δεν υπάρχει μεταμόρφωση, ούτε ανάληψη, ούτε μυστικός δείπνος, ούτε όρος των ελαιών. Είναι ένα βιβλίο θα έλεγα ιστορικό με νύξεις μαγικού ρεαλισμού, όσο το δυνατό λιγότερες.

Xριστός Παντοκράτωρ, ψηφιδωτό 12ου αιώνα,
Καπέλα Παλάτινα, Παλέρμο, Σικελία, Ιταλία

Στην αρχή νιώθεις ότι ο αφηγητής/ευαγγελιστής αυτού του βιβλίου/ευαγγελίου είναι σύγχρονος του Ιησού αλλά σε ανύποπτο χρόνο σχολιάζει με μοντέρνες φράσεις και λέξεις όπως εμπορικό κέντρο, Βολταίρος, Φρόυντ, αυτοκίνητα, Κρο-μανιόν κλπ και συνειδητοποιείς ότι είναι σύγχρονος δικός σου. Δεν τον ενδιαφέρει να δείξει μια θετική άποψη της θρησκείας αλλά με επιχειρήματα και διαλόγους φιλοσοφικούς προσπαθεί να δώσει απάντηση στα αναπάντητα ερωτήματα της θρησκείας.

Xριστός Παντοκράτωρ, Αγιογραφία 6ου αιώνα,
Μονή Αγίας Αικατερίνης, Όρος Σινά, Αίγυπτος

Αυτό ήταν το πρώτο μου βιβλίο από τον Σαραμάγκου και σίγουρα δε θα είναι το τελευταίο. Σειρά παίρνει πιθανότατα ο Κάιν, άλλο ένα βιβλίο που καταπιάνεται με θρησκευτικό θέμα. Αυτά είχα προς το παρόν να πω, καληνύχτα, Καλό Πάσχα, και καλές αναγνώσεις!

Philosophical question 1
If you knew that someone was going to kill all the children under three, would you tell others to save their children? Or just save your own child?

Philosophical question 2
How do you feel knowing that so many others died but you survived?

Philosophical question 3
What do you think of your father who saved you but not others?

Those are some deep questions. And if you are Jesus and your father was Joseph, you would be into some serious head scratching. Or maybe you find out that you are the son of god and all of this was foretold. Planned. The will of god.

Then you meet God and the Devil. They tell you the future. What is planned. What you need to do. What kind of deal you are getting into. What will be will always be. We just need to get the ball rolling.

Perhaps it’s all about balance? Good and bad. Life and death. Power and glory. Romans and Jews. Men and women. Dios y diablo. John the Baptist and Jesus the anointed one. Mary the virgin and Mary Magdalene la puta.

Consequences. Joseph was accidentally crucified. Jesus was purposely crucified. Jesus the shepherd; Jesus the fisher. Gather the crowds and scorned by the people.

The art of the deal. The sacrificial lamb. What’s in it for me? Two thousand years of endless people dying in the name of religion. The martyrs, the religious wars, the Inquisition (yeah, don’t forget about this?).

An awful lot to ponder. Seriously reflect. What did I just read? In the words of José Saramago, an absolutely wild read. Amen.

دع انجيلك جانبا و من باب أولى أيضا لا علاقة لهذا الكتاب بما ورد عن المسيح في القرآن.
إن كنت قد قررت الدخول و خوض التجربة فاعلم ان هذه رواية و ليست انجيلا جديدا و لا كتابا في اللاهوت. رواية بها كل اضطررابات الكاتب و تناقضاته و نفسه القلقة و روحه الطامحة للحرية.

ماذا أراد ساراماجو أن يقول في هذا الكتاب الذي يلمح إلى أنه انجيل جديد يرويه المسيح نفسه لا أحد تلاميذه؟
هو كالممثل على خشبة المسرح الذي يلبس تاج الملك ليوجه رسالة ما إلى الجماهير دون أن يجعل ذلك منه ملكا و دون أن يدّعي بعد انتهاء دوره انه صاحب الصولجان.

لقد ألبس روايته ثوب الإنجيل و ألبس شخصياته رداء الله و المسيح و الشيطان و مريم و الحواريين ليخلق حالة من الجدل الفلسفي في قالب روائي عن الخير و الشر و الدم و العنف و صراع ابن الله و ابن الإنسان داخ�� كل منا.

هي إذن رواية تبحر بك بعيدا إلى أبعد مكان في هذا العالم لتجد نفسك في النهاية داخل ذاتك مواجها نفسك و ممسكا بالحقيقة من تلابيبها منكرا كل حرف مما فهمته عائدا أدراجك بملء إرادتك لعالم يتنفس زيفا و خطيئة.

What I like the most about this day, 8 of March, in case GR posts a different date on this text, which is a great day as any other day to live, is that from early morning following my daily path on the strolling alleys (that is on the ground) but also under-ground (that is by metro) I have been hit by groups and groups of men, each carrying in their arms a big bucket of flowers (thin flowers but very beautiful with lots of colours). Most of them displayed wide smiles while maybe feeling themselves a bit different than yesterday because of this very soft, delicate but wondrous burden they were delivering to their places of work. I have enjoyed more than the other days of the week my morning journey to work. But the nicest surprise was when I entered the office building where was this bodyguard who handed over to me a beautiful yellow rose with a wish of happy woman’s day. He made my day! Happy to see and be a witness of such lovely gestures and, wishing that the message and the intentions behind this int’l celebration should not fade away without producing any positive change within our hearts and minds.
This was supposed to be a review but as usual I am sliding on a different track and I reach nowhere

Saramago has me at a loss for words yet again. I can't decide if this is his best work (from what I have read of his) but it definitely is at least equal to Blindness and Death with Interruptions. I'm not a religious person, so I had no problem with the liberties he took in this novel. In fact, I was blown away by his characterization of Jesus Christ and how he managed to humanize him. The writing is also pure Saramago, it bewitches you and doesn't let you go. It also feels so effortless, he really is a God. Speaking of Gods, the interaction between Jesus and God is something I don't think I'll be able to forget anytime soon. Wow!

Jose Saramago is atheist. This should be enough warning for everyone that desires to read the book. It is very explicit and so religion it’s exposed at its weakest and God as a character is revealed. I come from a Roman-Catholic background but I still wanted to read it, ever since the Gnostic gospel where Jesus childhood is revealed and he changes from a mischief bad behave kid to the Jesus from the new testament I wanted to see Saramago’s take on it. Saramago is such a master of words that he makes every bit of faith look totally illogical.

It does not take long for us to find out that Saramago is extremely sharp at finding all contradictions on roman-catholic religion. In the novel God seems to be the greediest of all gods, the vainer, the more detach from his people. Detached even from his son as he appeared to him in different shapes, only in the meeting at the lake did he appear to him as a man. God does not command, he orders, he tricks his own son into following his plan to the end. Ultimately Jesus’s betrayal was his last act of martyrdom.

The devil is given the name of Pastor. This has caused some confusion for English readers. When I was reading the book with some Jesuits this person contacted them just to let them know (as a good Christian I assume) how blasphemous was to name the devil pastor. It took me 30 minutes to explain that person that Pastor does not means priest, but rather it comes from the Latin word “pastor” meaning shepherd. Now did he use the word shepherd on purpose? Yes, what is the devil but a shepherd of men leading them to hell, just as Jesus is a fisherman of men. In the book Pastor is the most humanitarian, the more repented, so repented that when asked to be forgiven a clear distinction between right and wrong has to be made so God decides not to forgive him because what is a good God without evil? Saramago decides there cannot be one without the other.

The characters in the book are fascinating; my Jesuits friends and I laughed and enjoy this book. There were no doubts in our head by the end of the book. We did not feel like it shook our religion or affected the way we perceived God. This book was after all under fiction so everyone that is easily offended stay away from this book and stop complaining about blasphemy and crying around like little kids. Saramago is a Nobel price winner and foremost a grown man that is entitled to his own opinions. This one of his finest, if not the best, of his book in my opinion, a must read.

Μια ιστορία που δεν πίστευα ότι θα με τραβούσε ...ωστόσο έκανα λάθος...μια άλλη ματια στην περιγραφή των γεγονότων σε ένα βιβλίο που χωρίς να το περιμένω μου άρεσε πολύ...
Για μένα αυτό που μου έμεινε ότι το καλό και το κακό συνυπάρχουν...κάθε πραξη μας κάποιον επηρεάζει...καποιον θετικά κάποιον αρνητικά....
Με κάθε βιβλίο του Σαραμάγκου που διαβάζω εδραιώνεται η θέση του στους αγαπημένους-top συγγραφείς!!!!!!!

S T R E P I T O S O!!!

Partendo dal presupposto che la Bibbia in generale ma i Vangeli in particolare sono una storia fighissima, indipendentemente da come la si pensi sulla religione, qui abbiamo un premio Nobel (a mio parere IL premio Nobel…), che ci racconta la vita di Cristo, scegliendo di dargli un taglio umano, intimo, profondissimo, avvincente, originale e tutti gli aggettivi più belli e calzanti che vi possano venire in mente.

Ci sono dei passaggi veramente pazzeschi.
Il mio preferito quando Gesù, Dio e il Diavolo parlano del destino dell’umanità in una barca in mezzo al mare per quaranta giorni.
Con una metafora lunga moltissime pagine, Saramago ci fa capire quanto sia labile il confine tra bene e male, tra luce e oscurità e come in fondo forse Dio e il suo contrario siano facce di una stessa medaglia.
Quella parte la rileggerei all’infinito, incredibile.

Bellissimo, leggetelo.