36 Novelistic portrayals of Jesus

According to Mary Magdalene is a novel by the Swedish novelist Marianne Fredriksson. It attempts to portray the life of the biblical figure of Mary Magdalene as told by herself. The author claims to have based the book on Gnostic manuscripts, such as the Gospel of Mary, that were discovered in recent times. The English version was published 1999.

Acts of God is the concluding novel of the Christ Clone Trilogy, written by James BeauSeigneur. This book primarily chronicles the Bowl Judgements as foretold in the Book of Revelation, as well as the institution of the Mark of the Beast, and the growing persecution of the followers of God. Other biblical prophecies from the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel are depicted as well.

Behold the Man (1969) is a science fiction novel by British writer Michael Moorcock. It originally appeared as a novella in a 1966 issue of New Worlds; later, Moorcock produced an expanded version which was first published in 1969 by Allison & Busby. The title derives from the Gospel of John, Chapter 19, Verse 5: "Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them Behold the Man."

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ is a novel by Lew Wallace, published by Harper and Brothers on November 12, 1880 and considered "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century". It became a best-selling American novel, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) in sales. The book also inspired other novels with biblical settings and was adapted for the stage and motion picture productions. Ben-Hur remained at the top of the US all-time bestseller list until the publication of Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (1936). The 1959 MGM film adaptation of Ben-Hur is considered one of the greatest films ever made and was seen by tens of millions, going on to win a record 11 Academy Awards in 1960, after which the book's sales increased and it surpassed Gone with the Wind. It was blessed by Pope Leo XIII, the first novel ever to receive such an honour. The success of the novel and its stage and film adaptations also helped it to become a popular cultural icon that was used to promote numerous commercial products.

Birth of an Age is the second third of the Christ Clone Trilogy, by James BeauSeigneur. This book primarily chronicles the Trumpet Judgements as foretold in the Book of Revelation. Other biblical prophecies from the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel are depicted.

The Bronze Bow is a book by Elizabeth George Speare that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1962.

The Brothers Karamazov, also translated as The Karamazov Brothers, is the final novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger from January 1879 to November 1880. Dostoevsky died less than four months after its publication.

The Childhood of Jesus is a 2013 novel by South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee. The book was published on 7 March 2013, by Jonathan Cape. The U.S. edition was published on 3 September 2013, by Viking.

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (2005) is a book by Anne Rice that depicts the life of Jesus Christ at the age of 7 to 8. Rice wrote the novel after returning to the Catholic Church in 1998.

The Eagle in the Sand is a novel written by Simon Scarrow, published by Headline Book Publishing in 2006. It is the seventh book in the Eagles of the Empire series, starting with Macro and Cato's transfer to the eastern provinces of Rome.

The Escaped Cock is a short novel by D. H. Lawrence that he originally wrote in two parts and published in 1929. Lawrence wrote the first part in 1927 after visiting some Etruscan tombs with his friend Earl Brewster, a trip that encouraged the author to reflect upon death and myths of resurrection. He added the second part in 1928 during a stay in Gstaad, Switzerland.

Glorious Appearing: The End of Days is the 12th book in the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Released on Tuesday, March 30, 2004, this book sees the surviving believers awaiting the return of Jesus Christ as the war of Armageddon and the seven-year Tribulation period draws to its climax. It was on The New York Times Best Seller list for 22 weeks.

The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is a novel by Philip Pullman.

The Gospel According to Jesus Christ is a novel by the Portuguese author José Saramago. A fictional re-telling of Jesus Christ's life, depicting him as a flawed, humanised character with passions and doubts. The novel proved controversial, especially among the Roman Catholic Church, accusing Saramago of having a "substantially anti-religious vision". It was praised by other critics as a "deeply philosophical, provocative and compelling work".

The Gospel According to the Son is a 1997 novel by Norman Mailer. It purports to be the story of Jesus Christ, told autobiographically.

The Gospel of Corax is a 1996 novel by Paul Park about an escaped Roman slave (Corax) who travels from Caesarea to India with a burly Essene man named Jeshua.

In His Image is a science fiction novel by American writer James BeauSeigneur, the first book in the Christ Clone Trilogy.

Jesus on Mars is a 1979 science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer, set on Mars and involving an alien civilization. It makes social commentary on a just society and on religious belief.

Jesus Video is a 1998 novel by German writer Andreas Eschbach. Its plot revolves around the search for a hidden video camera that is believed to hold digital footage of Jesus made by a time traveller.

Judas, My Brother: The Story of the Thirteenth Disciple is a 1968 historical novel by Frank Yerby. The novel provides a narrative attempting a demythologized account of the events surrounding the life of Jesus and the origin of Christianity.

King Jesus is a semi-historical novel by Robert Graves, first published in 1946. The novel treats the historical Jesus not as the Son of God, but rather as a philosopher with a legitimate claim to the Judaean throne through Herod the Great, as well as the Davidic monarchy; and treats numerous Biblical stories in an unorthodox manner.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal is a novel by American writer Christopher Moore, published in 2002. In this work the author seeks to fill in the "lost" years of Jesus through the eyes of Jesus' childhood pal, "Levi bar Alphaeus who is called Biff".

The Last Temptation of Christ or The Last Temptation is a historical novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in its original Greek in 1955 before being translated into English in 1960. The novel depicts the life of Jesus and his struggles with various forms of temptation, including fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, and lust.

The Light of Other Days is a 2000 science fiction novel written by Stephen Baxter based on a synopsis by Arthur C. Clarke, which explores the development of wormhole technology to the point where information can be passed instantaneously between points in the spacetime continuum.

The Man Nobody Knows (1925) is the second book by the American author and advertising executive Bruce Fairchild Barton. In it, Barton presents Jesus as "[t]he Founder of Modern Business," in an effort to make the Christian story accessible to businessmen of the time.

Man of Nazareth is a 1979 historical novel by Anthony Burgess based on his screenplay for Franco Zeffirelli's TV miniseries Jesus of Nazareth. It is one of a trilogy of Burgess books with biblical themes, the others being The Kingdom of the Wicked and Moses.

The Master and Margarita is a novel by Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 during Stalin's regime. A censored version was published in Moscow magazine in 1966–1967, after the writer's death. The manuscript was not published as a book until 1967, in Paris. A samizdat version circulated that included parts cut out by official censors, and these were incorporated in a 1969 version published in Frankfurt. The novel has since been published in several languages and editions.

The Messiah is the third novel in a trilogy by Marjorie Holmes based on the life of Jesus Christ. The story continues where Three from Galilee left off, with Jesus ready to begin his earthly ministry as the Messiah. The book was published in 1987.

Quarantine is a novel by Jim Crace. It was the winner of the 1997 Whitbread Novel Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction the same year.

The Robe is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion of Jesus, written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the New York Times Best Seller list in October 1942, four weeks later rose to No. 1, and held the position for nearly a year. The Robe remained on the list for another two years, returning several other times over the next several years including when the film adaptation was released in 1953.

The Schooldays of Jesus is a 2016 novel by J. M. Coetzee. It is Coetzee's 13th novel and is a sequel to the 2013 novel The Childhood of Jesus. It resumes the story of a young boy named David who is brought up in a foreign land.

The Secret Magdalene, American writer Ki Longfellow's third book, was published in 2005. The historical novel challenges the traditional view of events chronicled in the New Testament, specifically the ministry of Jesus Christ and his relationship to Mary Magdalene. It is told entirely in the first-person voice of Mariamne.

The Secret of the Kingdom is a 1959 novel by Finnish author Mika Waltari about the early days of Christianity. The story is told through the eyes of Marcus, a Roman citizen who arrives in Jerusalem on the day Jesus is crucified.

The Small One is a 1947 Christmas novelette written by Charles Tazewell and illustrated by Franklin Whitman about a young boy who has to sell his donkey named Small One. It was adapted into the Disney featurette in Christmas 1978.

They Call Me Carpenter: A Tale of the Second Coming is a novel written by Upton Sinclair in 1922 that exposed the new and upcoming culture of 1920s Southern California, namely Hollywood. Sinclair does this by using Jesus, or Carpenter as Sinclair calls him, as a literary figure.

Three From Galilee is the second novel in a trilogy by Marjorie Holmes based on the life of Jesus Christ. It begins three years after the birth of Jesus in Two from Galilee and continues through the start of his earthly ministry at age 30. The book was published in 1985.