The Man Who Met God in a Bar: The Gospel According to Marvin

by Robert Farrar Capon

It's time for a drink, Marvin Goodman decides after missing his red-eye out of Cleveland. Moseying into to the airport bar, he encounters a charismatic young chef named Jerry—who also claims to be God. Before long, Marvin finds himself in the middle of a spiritual revival—witnessing miracles, healings and one everlasting anchovy pizza—in this weird and wonderfully inspired account of the Gospel story.

Genres: Fiction

223 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Robert Farrar Capon was a lifelong New Yorker and served for almost 30 years as a parish priest in the Episcopal Church. His first book, Bed and Board, was published in 1965 and by 1977 left full-time ministry to devote more time to writing books, though he continued to serve the church in various capacities such as assisting priest and Canon Theologian. He has written twenty books on theology, cooking and family life.

His lifelong interest in food intersected with his writing and led to his becoming food columnist for Newsday and The New York Times and also teaching cooking classes.

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, how I love Robert Farrar Capon! His book The Supper of the Lamb is fantastic, so when my husband ordered this one by him I immediately stole it. It's so good. I love that he stands our erroneous views of "Jesus with the glowing robe and wavy blonde hair" on their end. I love that he had me thinking several times, "Wait! Jesus (or Jerry) can't say that!" and then realizing, yes, he actually did. I love how he takes the gospel story and dumps it in Cleveland and makes it come alive. Not for the faint of heart. You will be challenged, in the best way.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this way back in 1991, and these are some notes I made at the time.
The Man Who Met God in a Bar was certainly worth reading, although some of the ideas are a bit offensive, such as making Mary and Elizabeth psychics, and having the Marvin/Peter character so adulterous. I know Peter said he was a sinner, but was he really like this? I guess emphasizing the sin is all part of the process of making the whole story real to us, which it certainly is.
Some things don’t succeed, but I guess that’s hardly surprising. Having Marvin’s mother-in-law healed at a distance a bit of a cheat, although the thing works, and making the Judas character gay seems unnecessary, since it contributes nothing. But the raising of Lazarus and of Jairus’ daughter, the Last Supper, and the feeding of the five thousand are excellently done. The fact that people didn’t respond to Jerry/Jesus is an eye-opener. We tend to think it was only the Pharisees and Scribes and Herodians who didn’t respond, but of course, he was just as unknown to many people in those days as Jerry is in this story.
I’m not sure I’m convinced by Jerry’s laid-back Christ, and the Ascension is a bit of a dud. So is introducing the devil (Mr Phosphorus) at the last minute. And I don’t feel the ‘message’ is ever very clear. The whole thing of what they’re all going in for seems pretty obscure – maybe it was in a way – to the disciples. That might account for the seeming dullness in their thinking. Nevertheless, Capon succeeds brilliantly in getting home his basic message of how ordinary the people were that Christ was dealing with.

[Roe Tell-Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really did convince me it was as inspired as the gospels, by the end. In some points it illuminated theology and parables better than any other discussion I've experienced, like when it said the kingdom of heaven is like a dance session on a cruise ship, or when the modern Jesus character explained why he couldn't stick around. That whole "why just there, just then" question has always bothered me, and this book helped me explore it, and it had one killer line about respecting the boundaries of time and space. I thoroughly enjoyed this silly novel as an exploration of theological ideas. The look back at life in the 1990s was also fun.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's time for a drink, Marvin Goodman decides after missing his red-eye out of Cleveland. Moseying into to the airport bar, he encounters a charismatic young chef named Jerry—who also claims to be God. Before long, Marvin finds himself in the middle of a spiritual revival—witnessing miracles, healings and one everlasting anchovy pizza—in this weird and wonderfully inspired account of the Gospel story.

[Richard Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

My New Favorite Theologian

Great and fresh take,nicely updated, on Jesus and his ministry along with a solid notion of what that might look like in our world. If Jesus is confusing, try reading this book and then talking about it with a friend.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful, Allegorical, Entertaining

Capon beautifully puts Jesus in modern times and conveys the real message of grace in a tangible way, leaving a surprise ending to make you think.

[Sam Reinhard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a response to the question of "what would it be like if the story of Jesus took place during modern times?" It was enjoyable and did give me some fresh perspective on exactly who is it Jesus called to be his disciples - sinners. I have been really enjoying Capon lately.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hillarious. The Shack meets Douglas Adams (with a dose of grace/reformed theology).

[Josh Dockter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, entertaining and creative. Capon really knows how to write. Only three stars for this one because of Capon's universalist leanings.

[Eaycrigg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but definitely had so problems with it.

[Kyle Dupic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find myself entranced by Jesus again by this modern reimagining of a gospel account of Jesus’ life. Cant recommend this enough. I was transported by this book.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, that was interesting.

Summary: Belief is all there is.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was definitely clever, and there were certainly some theological elements that were intriguing, but not a whole lot of...heart? compassion? something to make Jesus seem a bit less like a bro?

[Josh Cranston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun take on the gospel story. I enjoyed this immensely.

[Pablo Colazurdo · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time reading something from Capon. Will definitely read a lot more!

[Esther B · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 Creative, timeless writing including a cussing Jesus, who is a chef - love it! A clever novel that renders the Gospel accessible to all.

[Ooniemme · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this book; it has a lot that made me think, especially on how Capon articulates Jerry's message such that it both is Jesus' message but done in a way that it seems just as strange to us as Jesus' message would have seemed to his hearers.

Only critiques are the Judas figure is gay, which, I should note, is never presented as a problem or related at all to his role in Jerry's death. It just seems an unnecessary detail that could be read as connecting homosexuality with ignorance.