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The Last Temptation of Christ

Nikos Kazantzakis,

Peter A. Bien (Translator)

4.16 · Rating details · 11,360 ratings · 746 reviews

The internationally renowned novel about the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, The Last Temptation of Christ is a monumental reinterpretation of the Gospels that brilliantly fleshes out Christ’s Passion. This literary rendering of the life of Jesus Christ has courted controversy since its publication by depicting a Chr ...more

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Paperback, 506 pages

Published March 1st 1998 by Simon Schuster (first published 1951)

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Aug 31, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, greek-20th-c, classics, nobel-lit

This book was scandalous when it was published by Kazantzakis in 1955 and the reason that he - despite being a fervent Orthodox Christian - was refused an Orthodox burial. It was of course the source of the similarly scandalous movie of 1988 with Willem Dafoe as Jesus. Why the scandal? Well, like when Rushdie imagined in The Satanic Verses that perhaps Satan sat on Mohammed's shoulder and dictated parts of the Qu'ran, Kazantzakis looks at the human side of Christ (as depicted in the Gospel of Ma ...more

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May 20, 2007 Greg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction

Back in October of 2002 my parents had the wacky idea to take a family vacation in Florida. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but I went along with it because none of the excuses I could come up with sounded good.

I started thinking about this book because the it was something I read while on this vacation, and this vacation was the scene for one of my big anxiety induced breakdowns, where I acted out in very undesirable ways, made everyone around me really uncomfortable and probably baffled my fam Back in October of 2002 my parents had the wacky idea to take a family vacation in Florida. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but I went along with it because none of the excuses I could come up with sounded good.

I started thinking about this book because the it was something I read while on this vacation, and this vacation was the scene for one of my big anxiety induced breakdowns, where I acted out in very undesirable ways, made everyone around me really uncomfortable and probably baffled my family by wondering why their son/brother ended up curled up on a couch crying less than two hours after landing.... and since I pulled a minor reprise of the Greg completely loses his shit anxiety show this evening it made me think about this vacation. And then this book. And to get my mind out of the anxiety ghetto I thought maybe I'd write a review to help move my brain back to it's usual state.

The flight down was a horrific ordeal. I hate to fly under the best circumstances. Flying for me is physically painful the pressure of taking off and landing feels like needles are being stuck into my head. I can barely hear anything while I'm in the air (or for a couple of hours once I land), my sinuses generally feel like they are filled with expanding balloons and I find the seats in airplanes to be really uncomfortable with not inadequate legroom so my knees are usually jammed into the seat in front of me.

That is my situation in the best possible conditions for flying. On this particular flight I was flying on Jet Blue, which was the equivalent in 2002, at least for flights from NYC to Orlando, as being about as white trash as riding the Greyhound bus between rural area A and rural area B. This flight was all the pain of flying coupled with all the worst parts of any bus ride I'd ever taken.

This is going somewhere. At the time I took my awful flight to Florida I was reading this book. My plan had been to bring the book, read it on the plane and hopefully make the two hour flight go by really quickly. That didn't work. I succeeded in getting my seat and started to read the book while the rest of the cretins were boarding. And I was reading my book, minding my own business when the person sitting next to me sat down. It was a woman, and she probably weighed close to three hundred pounds. She didn't fit into her own seat and spilled out liberally into my personal space. I don't like having physical contact with strangers so I wedged myself as far from her as possible, but still couldn't really escape some physical contact. She loudly complained to her equally large husband that she didn't have enough room and about the rudeness of other people who take up too much space (I guess that would be me), she then proceeded to dig through a large paper shopping back filled with snacks and began eating. I was feeling disgusted by my neighbor. It was after I began to think, what a disgusting and loud person this is (she was loudly commenting on what she was eating with her husband who sat across the aisle, who was also eating from his own big paper bag of snacks) that she turned her attention briefly away from her feeding to notice what I was reading. She then loudly told her husband that I was reading a disgusting book and how could anyone read something like that. She may have gone on about my book for a while longer but her attention returned to her feeding.

Once the plane started to take off my ears and sinuses did their thing and I couldn't read anymore. I spent the rest of the flight staring at the little TV screen, watching the progress of where the plane was on a map.

I'm amazed that a person had the kind of reaction she had to this book. It had been quite a while since the movie had pissed off Christians and caused a sensation. But she remembered and probably lots of other people did too, but what they thought of the book (and movie) didn't necessarily have anything to do with what was actually in either. I remember when the movie came out all the uproar, and what passed into my young teenage mind was that Jesus has fantasies of graphic sex with Mary Magdalene while he's on the cross. This isn't what the last temptation of Jesus is in either the book or movie. The temptation that the devil gives to Jesus is the possibility of living a regular life. Marrying Mary Magdalene, having a family, not being crucified, not having the weight of being a savior on his shoulders. Having a happy life. Being a man instead of the son of God (so yes in the temptation he would have had sex, but it would be like the sex people normally have who are married and have kids).

I don't understand what the problem Christians have with this. Personally, after reading the book and seeing the movie I'd be more willing to take the Jesus story seriously. It adds a humanity to the figure of Christ and creates a sort of existential hero out of Jesus, as opposed to a rather boring story of a thing that knows it's a God and goes through with an ordeal of pain knowing full well that it can't really hurt him since he is more divine than human. The story in this book is almost a reverse of Pascal's Wager. Jesus could be divine, but he's uncertain. The Devil offers him the choice of taking the consolation prize, grabbing the sure thing of a happy life. Not taking the Devil's offer is taking the old Kierkegaard leap, trusting with faith and knowing somewhere in the back of your mind that all the suffering could be in vain.

What I find disgusting is the idea that Christians would be so disturbed with the humanity and doubts of Jesus. I'd get it if they found the whole Jesus was a man thing disgusting, but they have no trouble with knowing he was man enough to be die. What sick fucks! The only humanity that they will give to the guy who they claim to worship is the human condition to die. To live, to be human, is an outrage to them.

I loved this book and the movie. ...more

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Sep 30, 2017 Tom LA rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Nikos Kazantzakis (1883 - 1957) was one of the greatest Greek writers of the last century. In 1957, he lost the Nobel prize to Albert Camus by one vote. One vote. Ugh!

Most people who hear about "The last temptation of Christ" immediately think of the 1988 Scorsese movie with Willem Dafoe as Jesus - and other equally atrociously miscast actors - a film that was meant to come across as scandalous and provocative, in the typical Hollywood low-brow fashion.

I never saw the movie and probably never ...more

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Jul 22, 2015 Edward Lorn rated it liked it · review of another edition

WARNING: If you do not like your faith being questioned or dissected, I suggest you stop reading now. There is a high probability you will be offended. I do not have pleasant views regarding religion and I'd hate to hurt your feelings without warning you first. If you choose to discuss Christianity in the comment section, by all means, go ahead. Know that I am an atheist and that I will respect you as long as you're respectful. However, I do not respect religion in any form and do not wish to be WARNING: If you do not like your faith being questioned or dissected, I suggest you stop reading now. There is a high probability you will be offended. I do not have pleasant views regarding religion and I'd hate to hurt your feelings without warning you first. If you choose to discuss Christianity in the comment section, by all means, go ahead. Know that I am an atheist and that I will respect you as long as you're respectful. However, I do not respect religion in any form and do not wish to be converted. I've had more than enough religion thrust upon me. My view is that religion is like herpes; it's easy to catch but everyone is better off without it.

The Last Temptation of Christ reads like any good fan fiction. It's faithful to the original characters while adding enough twists and turns to piss off any avid fan of the source material. This book has been upsetting Christians since it was published because it supposes that Christ had a choice. So much of a choice that when the time came for him to be tempted one last time, he jumped off the cross to answer Mary and Martha's booty call. (Not his mother Mary... at least I hope not. If it was... just... yuck.) But that's only the last four chapters. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed. I was hoping for more Naughty Christ shenanigans.

Example: "Jesus jerked himself erect." Love that quote, even if it is taken out of context.

I approached this read differently, deciding to take on a chapter a day until the book was finished, which came out to be thirty-three days. I looked at it as an assignment. While the concept of this book has always interested me, I've never actually wanted to read it. I suppose I could have watched the film adaptation, but I prefer the original over someone else's interpretation whenever possible. And since I do not know Greek, I had to resort to the English translation. What interested me was the promise of a Christ that was not perfect. If Jesus Christ was real, I suspect this is what actually happened: He was a magician (an illusionist, if you prefer) who was deified because the era and area in which he was born was waiting on a messiah. After his tricks were outed as illusions (more than likely by his homedude Judas), he was crucified for lying about being the son of God. His crew wrote down their version of events, and that became the Bible. I would much rather hear something like the Santa Claus Speech from believers: "Kids, Christ is more of a feeling than he is a real person. People use him to make children (and some adults) behave properly in the hopes that he will bring them gifts ranging from their favorite sports team winning the super-series-pennant-cup-race playoffs all the way up to eternal life, if you can dig it."

But I digress. Of course your religion is the right one. All these other fools are just barking up the wrong invisible man.

Religion is a reward system that dictates behavior. This author understood that. There are several quotes I highlighted, but my favorite is: "True or false - what do I care! It's enough if the world is saved." I won't tell you what to believe because I don't want you telling me what to believe. If you want to believe in God so that he keeps bringing you gifts year after year, that's fine by me. If it helps you be a better person, awesomesauce. If religion makes you want to do good deeds, by all means, do 'em up! What I have a problem with is the vilification of nonbelievers. What also annoys me is the idea that nonbelievers are somehow in danger. Point in fact: I saw someone on Facebook reply to an atheist's post with: "I know you won't take me seriously, but if I don't say something it would be like me watching a good friend stuck in a burning building and not trying to save them. Who wants to burn alive? Not me!" Odd, because, the way I look at it, it's more like someone standing on the sidewalk screaming up to me that the building is on fire when it's obviously not. Religion is the only acceptable form of insanity and mob mentality. If you hear voices, you're mad. If you hear God, you're a prophet. Dig it: Hearing from God is so acceptable by the religious right that politicians use "God told me to run" in their campaigns, as if that isn't the wackiest shit. Imagine the results of a politician saying "The Easter Bunny told me to ask for your vote!" or "Martians want me to be president!"

Then you have the people who believe "just in case religion got it right". My question to them is: How do you know you picked the right religion? Wouldn't it suck to pop into the afterlife only to find Cthulhu instead of Saint Peter?

In summation: Yes, I have used this review as a soapbox. Not pleasant, is it? Now, if you would like to proclaim how you'll be praying for me in the comment section, pray on, Christian soldier. I've been ostracized by half of my family for not believing, because that's what Christians are good at. Making everyone else feel wrong by being passive-aggressively right. "You haven't met the right Christians." Oh honey... trust me, I've met more than enough. As far as the book is concerned, read it or don't. It won't make a difference in your life.

Final Judgment: Made me jerk myself erect.

...more

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Jan 09, 2008 DROPPING OUT rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Carol, Seth, B

It has been almost 25 years since I read this and I really ought to re-read it, for I SO loved it the first time encountered it. Two stories... I recommended it to a friend of long standing who is a devout Orthodox Christian, thinking he might enjoy the "mind-game" Kazantzakis played. But he declined because his priest disapproved of the author and because of the brouhaha in Kazantzakis' native Greece involving the Orthodox clergy. Pity - My friend's loss. Just after I finished reading it, I rec ...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Peycho Kanev rated it it was amazing

This book is a scream. Pure scream made out of love and pain. And it will sound until the end of time. That is all I can say.
Maybe because of this book Nikos Kazantzakis is buried on the wall surrounding the city of Heraklion near the Chania Gate, because the Orthodox Church ruled out his being buried in a cemetery.

His epitaph reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."

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Jan 08, 2010 K.D. Absolutely rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Nenette

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Shelves: 1001-core, retelling

According to the imagination of this Greek writer who was 1 vote away to grab the 1952 Nobel Prize for Literature, Nikos Kazantzakis, the last temptation of Christ happened while he was hanging on the cross. In the book, at that point that he was about to be nailed, the sunny heaven suddenly turned dark, the earth shook and Simon of Cyrene (the innkeeper) saw angels coming down from heaven, were the ones who nailed Jesus to the cross and took him away upon his death.

This book regularly appears in various l ...more

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May 23, 2008 Jeffrey rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone with an open mind

This is not your grandparent’s gospel. That’s the first thing you must accept if you are going to make it through this novel.

Nikos Kazantzakis states in the introduction to The Last Temptation of Christ, “This book is not a biography; it is the confession of every man who struggles.” He explains that the book explores the “dual substance of Christ,” the struggle between his flesh and spirit - the stronger the struggle the richer the final harmony, a union with God. A struggle that he claims al
This is not your grandparent’s gospel. That’s the first thing you must accept if you are going to make it through this novel.

Nikos Kazantzakis states in the introduction to The Last Temptation of Christ, “This book is not a biography; it is the confession of every man who struggles.” He explains that the book explores the “dual substance of Christ,” the struggle between his flesh and spirit - the stronger the struggle the richer the final harmony, a union with God. A struggle that he claims all men go through with Christ as the ultimate example. In other words Christ was a human carrying out God’s Will – not an easy task. And Kazantzakis takes a lot of liberties with the tale to explore his idea - which is where all the controversy comes from.

In the book, after Jesus has asked Judas to betray him, Judas asks Christ, “If you had to betray your master, would you do it?” Jesus replies after reflecting for a long time, “No, I do not think I would be able to. That is why God pitied me and gave me the easier task; to be crucified.” In a lot of ways I think this pretty much sums up Kazantzakis approach to the story. How would a normal human deal with the burden of carrying out God’s will. At every turn Christ struggles with his burden and experiences just about every emotion a human could go through.

If the reader is prepared to explore man’s struggles through a fictionalized tale of Christ then this book is for you. I was won over by the first chapter and couldn’t put it down. It varies greatly from the film (which I also enjoyed) which barley touched the surface of what the novel explores. The writing is a bit heavy at times, it’s not an easy read, and some of the minor character’s become a bit muddled but it doesn’t take away from the story. I found the characters of Jesus and Judas to be fascinating and multidimensional (which surprised me in a story where I was already familiar with them).

In short a captivating novel that at times is a bit hard to get through, which sounds like a bit of a contradiction but is true none the less. It certainly will give the reader plenty to think about.
...more

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Sep 06, 2008 Brad rated it liked it

Shelves: doing-the-dishes, notorious, undermined-the-love, better-as-a-movie

Once again, I've destroyed my love for a book (although I do still like it). I first read The Last Temptation of Christ in '88, just before Martin Scorsese turned it into a movie, and I remember being blown away. Unfortunately, my literary concerns were different back then; the me who read The Last Temptation of Christ over the last couple of weeks doesn't match the me who read it twenty-two years ago.

I care more about consistency today. I care more about character, theme and message. And beautiful prose.. ...more

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Jan 27, 2008 Clark S rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Last Temptation is my very favorite book of all time.

I believe this is my edition, translated by P.A. Bien.

Although not particularly religious, I was so moved by this book that I seriously looked into trying to learn Greek so that I could see if I had lost anything in the translation.

There was a passage early in the book, a series of three or four paragraphs only, where Kazantzakis, (through a translator) was able to evoke the perfume of a garden with only a handful of ty ...more

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Jan 01, 2014 Christopher rated it it was amazing

Shelves: greek, fiction, 20th-century, modern-classics, favorites

This book (along with its film adaptation) is infamously controversial. That's the one thing I knew about it before reading it. I speculated upon its possible blasphemies: might it propose a conspiracy between Jesus and his followers to fake Jesus's death and resurrection? Or connect dots between Christianity and Eastern mystical traditions? Or even place Jesus in a sexual relationship with one of his female groupies?

But the most surprising thing about this book is its utterly devout ...more

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May 27, 2011 Moon Rose rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2011-shelf, fiction, favorite-books-of-all-time, favorite-writers, transformative, masterpieces, christian-fiction

THE POWER OF SUFFERING

As the wheel of life turns, sometimes one finds oneself at the very bottom. These are moments in one's life when emptiness engulfs it. As it devours the flesh, it plunges one's existence into an abysmal darkness, weakening the already wounded BODY thereby propelling the SPIRIT to awaken from its deep slumber...

Usually prompted by such inevitable events in life like an incurable disease, an excruciating physical or emotional pain, an utter loneliness or a self-imposed i ...more

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Jan 18, 2016 David K. Lemons rated it it was amazing

I read this book at a very interesting time: I was working in Jeddah, about 600 hundred miles south of Judea, training Saudi soldiers on the Raytheon Hawk Missile program. I had just visited Greece the month before with a Greek colleague where we had to be discreet in discussing politics, for on April 21st the military staged a coup. Two months later Nasser of Egypt would attack Israel which caused his defeat and reversals all over the Middle East.
In 1965-66 I had visited Nazareth, Jerusalem, B ...more

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Jan 08, 2009 Andrés Franco Medina-Mora rated it it was amazing

Shelves: review

Kazantzakis at his best! This book is simply a master class of storytelling that shows why this author is one of the very few true masters of narrative.

This book has raised great controversy among the Christian and particularly the Catholic Church and devotees. However the way faith driven men and women interpret this book's message is a good indicator of those who read the scriptures and those who study the scriptures. The book frightens the God-fearing people who are intimidated by ...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Amy Neftzger rated it it was amazing

This is a beautifully written fiction of the life of Christ that focuses on the human aspect of the savior. Rather than assuming that Jesus knew what would happen through the course of time, Kazantzakis shows how Jesus struggles with events and temptations and still manages to triumph. Aside from the beautifully written prose, what I liked most about this book is how it makes the person of Jesus more accessible to the average person by focusing on His struggles. In addition, the author does a wo ...more

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Jun 16, 2018 Fede rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

"This book is not a biography", wrote Kazantzakis in his introduction. "It is the confession of every man who (...) struggled, was much embittered in his life, and had many hopes."
His version of the synoptic Gospels is a masterpiece of literary expressionism indeed, a masterful display of writing skills ranging from a classical, old-school technique (reminding of the great 19th century novel) to an often modernist approach. What strikes the most here is obviously not the narrative; it's Kazantz "This book is not a biography", wrote Kazantzakis in his introduction. "It is the confession of every man who (...) struggled, was much embittered in his life, and had many hopes."
His version of the synoptic Gospels is a masterpiece of literary expressionism indeed, a masterful display of writing skills ranging from a classical, old-school technique (reminding of the great 19th century novel) to an often modernist approach. What strikes the most here is obviously not the narrative; it's Kazantzakis' sense of aesthetics. Pure physiognomy, poetically, artistically exploited in order to paint an impressive fresco of a transcendental as well as exquisitely earthly Passion.

Kazantzakis' work is among the 'bêtes noires' of modern Christianity; one of those embarrassing books that seem to elude any attempt to unravel its mysterious, charming unorthodoxy.
It's neither heresy nor blasphemy really; although the Greek Orthodox Church is still treating both the book and the author as such, "The Last Temptation of Christ" is neither a serious doctrinal challenge nor a truly outrageous attack. What the religious authorities do dislike is the way Jesus of Nazareth embodies in an intense, physical way what the author perceives as a painful fracture between the Old and the New Testament, between Jewry and Christianity, thus re-opening a theological wound that, sadly, will never stop bleeding. In fact I found this book quite flattering for any Christian believer, whereas - were I Jewish - I would dream of having Kazantzakis' head delivered on a silver platter. Like Queen Herodias, one of my all-time faves.

The book starts with a heartrending depiction of the spiritual and political turmoil of Jesus' times. Israel was more than ever tormented by its inner contradictions as well as by the iron-fisted Roman government. The ancient messianic prophecies had been turned into mere ideology by rebels and zealots, whose (suicidal) violent reaction against the Romans and their sympathisers threatened to end up in a bloodbath that would destroy Israel once and for all.
In this overheated climate Jesus is a self-destructive, psychotic mystic who struggles to understand whether the voice he hears within himself is God's or Satan's. This Manichaean attitude is despised by Judas, a political activist involved in the ferocious Jewish guerrilla.
Jesus is desperately trying to escape God by building crosses for the Roman centurion, but God's will prevails over his weakness: his resistance wanes and the Son of the Carpenter realises what part he is to play in his life... and beyond.

I suppose there's no need to waste time and words telling the story, which is definitely well-known: what is worth talking about here is the way it is told.
I mentioned Expressionism and physiognomy as Kazantzakis' literary choices. When natural landscape and human feelings reflect and affect each other, that's Expressionism. When the characters are hunchbacked, dwarfish, limp, ugly, decrepit, and their behaviour is equally monstrous, well, that's physiognomy. Judas is possibly the best specimen, with his face divided in two halves, each with a different expression; but also a crowd of misshapen, demented monks; filthy villagers smelling of sweat and dung; crazy pilgrims wandering in the desert with rotting bodies and deranged minds. Even Christ's apostles are dumb, moronic, mean, opportunistic creatures whose ugliness is both moral and physical.

Kazantzakis' Jesus is the embodiment of a fracture: it's hard not to see him as such, when his human experience is the transition from a paralysing fear (the Jewish God is a ferocious man-eater devouring the believer's body and soul) to the most refreshing peace of the mind; from God's Anger to God's Love - or rather, God as the purest Love of all, embracing all mankind... including the Gentiles and the Roman enemy. Hence the fracture.
As for the Jews, they're blinded by their dreams of revenge and grandeur; their Messiah must be a military commander advocating violence and rage, not a preacher of joy and tenderness. Freedom is just a political matter: who cares about the soul when the body is afflicted by hunger, illness, injustice? That's a blindness neither Jesus can cure. The most painful temptation tormenting his soul is indeed the feeling of being fighting a nonsensical war, and the prospect of living a peaceful life as a father, husband (Mary Magdalene is always an easy target...), humble worker will haunt him to the end.

An interesting characteristic of Kazantzakis' writing style is the use of astonishingly incongruous words, although I can't fathom whether it is conscious or not: I mean, these 1st century AD men talk about friars, abbots, China, gunpowder... I felt a weirding, puzzling effect, the same feeling I get watching the denim trousers of the Roman soldiers in "Jesus Christ Superstar". It's not unpleasant at all, though; it adds an onyrical atmosphere I enjoyed both artistically and conceptually.

I'd really like to give this five stars, but there are two flaws that can't reasonably be overlooked.
Kazantzakis tends to mannerism: his characters seem to be on stage. Their gestures are often too emotionally charged, dangerously close to become stereotypes, as though acting in a Greek tragedy. Of course the Old Testament is full of melodramatic reactions - they were part of the ancient behavioural code; anyway, here they sound a bit repetitive and unseemly.
The plot is also excessively orchestrated, to the point of being (sometimes) too predictable; when it comes to his characters' actions Kazantzakis seems unable to let loose his visionary intellect.

However, this book is worth reading for the sake of it. It's an aesthetic pleasure that has nothing to do with faith or theology. After all, one doesn't need to be Catholic to enjoy the beauty of the Sistine Chapel. ...more

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Oct 05, 2017 Stacey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1001-books-before-you-die

I had bought this book years ago, but after sitting on a bookshelf for years, I finally gave it away when I moved. Though I'd seen the movie and liked it, I just couldn't get myself to read it. When the banned book theme was added to this year's Goodreads challenge, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to finally sit down and read this masterpiece and I'm glad I did.

First of all, as a non-Christian and non-bible reader, I found the book extremely easy to read and the story o I had bought this book years ago, but after sitting on a bookshelf for years, I finally gave it away when I moved. Though I'd seen the movie and liked it, I just couldn't get myself to read it. When the banned book theme was added to this year's Goodreads challenge, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to finally sit down and read this masterpiece and I'm glad I did.

First of all, as a non-Christian and non-bible reader, I found the book extremely easy to read and the story of Jesus' life as a prophet and his parables easy to understand. I enjoyed Kazantzakis' prose very much: it's both lyrical and austere and I often felt transported to the land of milk and honey of over 2,000 years ago.

As for this controversial story, which is really about Jesus' teachings, desert wanderings and spreading the gospel along with his apostles, I don't really get it. Jesus' "temptation" is really about his visions while on the cross and his early desire to forfeit his divinity. Early on, Jesus is scared, unsure of himself and doesn't want to be God's right hand man. It's more about his choosing the life of a humble man over life as the son of God, but I can see how some people would get very upset, banning the novel and labeling it blasphemous. This is an alternative look and a "what if" Jesus had succumbed to the devil's temptations and had been saved from crucifixion -- to go on to lead a long, happy life as a married man with children and grandchildren being a humble carpenter. In this story, his mother Mary wanted only this for him. When the movie came out, many were outraged to think of this -- that Jesus would be stripped of his divinity in any way and could appear "just like one of us". On the other hand, it is an interesting premise.

I also enjoyed learning about the apostles who are not all sweetness and light, fighting amongst themselves, drinking, being jealous of their status alongside Jesus. Judas plays the biggest role in the novel, as Jesus' real "go to guy" for honest advice and opinions, good or bad. Learning much of Jesus' message for the first time, as well as the magic and miraculous healings he supposedly performed, left me awestruck, yet questioning. Like many other people, I think some of what we read in Matthew's biblical testimony to Jesus' existence proves to be an amalgam of many men and many thoughts that were floating around at the time, plus a touch of written (and any other type one could imagine) embellishment and magic (walking on water; anthropomorphism) that makes for a better story. ...more

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Mar 15, 2007 Kathryn rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone who was raised catholic/christian

This book singlehandedly restored my faith in the historical Jesus and is absolutely the most spiritually affirming novel I have ever read. What better figure to explore the theme of sacrifice with other than Jesus? By the end of the book, you truly empathize with the burden this man carried as "God's chosen," frought with self-doubt and at times feeling like he was losing his mind; wanting desparately to live the "normal" life of a husband and father. A very sophisticated take on "torment" of d ...more

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Jul 09, 2007 Tatiana rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics

I loved this book! It puzzles me deeply why some Christians didn't like it. Perhaps a statement such as "Christ is both fully divine and fully human" can sometimes sound fine to people as an idea, but we don't want to think through what that means in actuality. We still want to think of Christ as 100% divine and maybe 10, maybe 20% human. Heaven forbid that he be actually, you know, human!

I was raised Catholic, but was in my high school religious exploration phase, and was actually Buddhist a I loved this book! It puzzles me deeply why some Christians didn't like it. Perhaps a statement such as "Christ is both fully divine and fully human" can sometimes sound fine to people as an idea, but we don't want to think through what that means in actuality. We still want to think of Christ as 100% divine and maybe 10, maybe 20% human. Heaven forbid that he be actually, you know, human!

I was raised Catholic, but was in my high school religious exploration phase, and was actually Buddhist at the time I encountered this book and Kazantzakis' other masterpiece Zorba the Greek. This book had the effect of pulling me back towards Christianity, a pull I still feel today, because it opened up to me a deep connection with the character of Christ. And because Kazantzakis' struggles with Buddhism resonated with me, his theme of being torn between a life of contemplation and renunciation on the one hand, and one of action, usefulness, and industry on the other. This is also the central choice Jesus makes in the book. Should he be a man or should he become the Christ? Is life's meaning in the doing, in daily accomplishments, politics, struggles, successes? Or is it to be found in ideas, pure thought and ideals, spiritual contemplation, and renunciation?

This question of Kazantzakis which runs throughout his work, came to him in the context of the Greek civil war, to which some of dearest friends were giving their lives at the time he wrote. I can see the young man he was then, someone not much older than I at the time of my high school searchings, and torn between choices for his own life.

Paradoxically Jesus' ultimate choice, though an act of renunciation on the surface, caused the profoundest transformation of the universe possible, became the most important action anyone ever did. So thought and action through Christ become one choice.

I have a friend, Katharina, who feels that if she were Mary, if she were Jesus' mother, she would have wanted him to grow up to be a happy, normal, married, steady carpenter. That would be her wish for her son and for the whole universe. That worries me, and I can't get it out of my mind. You mean, you'd rather there have been no Christ in the history of the universe? So your son could have a normal life? Isn't his surpassing joy now in triumph not worth the cost? All of our joy and our salvation? No. Marriage, kids, mastery of his craft, daily bread, plain happiness, is what she would wish for her son. And I mean, who can look at The Pieta and not understand in some way that wish? What heartbreak could ever surpass that of this lone woman cradling the torn body of her first and favorite son?

So the dichotomy resonated with me in high school. At the time Buddhism seemed to call me into a life of contemplation and renunciation, and Christianity into full engagement with an active life. That may simply have been my misunderstanding of Buddhism, since Matthieu Ricard seems to feel empowered by his religion to establish clinics and schools all over the Himilayas. In fact, I'm just realizing this instant that both religions actually call us to both halves of the central question, both to the truest ideals and the most active of actual lives. At the time, though, it seemed very different.

To finish the story, in high school I eventually settled on Science and Atheism as my religion. It remained so until the latter half of my third decade, in which I was called back to Christianity, specifically this time to the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Mormons don't have any great literature to their credit yet, at least not that I've found, I may be slandering someone by this statement. But the restored gospel itself has all the greatness required, and Kazantzakis' view matches the real and living person of Christ I find in it more closely than any other depiction of the paradoxical divine and human man.

It may just be that my fundamental way of understanding the world is through literature, and this novel speaks to me of the living Christ more clearly than sutras or scriptures can. ...more

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Sep 14, 2007 Logan rated it it was amazing

Beautiful book. I grew up Catholic and Jesus is always hitting me in the back of the head, but this book is good for all non-religious types (of which I definitely am despite the upbringing). I'm not sure how many translations into English are out there of this, or which one I read, but this book reads a lot of the time like prose poetry. Seriously beautiful. I remember wishing the Jesus in this book was the Jesus I was brought up with. That sort of response is why he got booted from the Orthodo ...more

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Aug 17, 2007 Nicole Nardone rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: ALL

this is a fantastic book! if you haven't concieved that the Gospels within the Bible and the stories taught in Sunday schools are just that--stories told & retold by humans, just as The Last Temptation of Christ is a story--this book will open your eyes to the idea that history and religion are not facts but interpretations of experience retold by human. The Last Temptation of Christ is more fictional than historical, but it forces you to question your paradigm through which you see and what ...more

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Jul 13, 2018 J.M. Hushour rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"What business do you have here? Why weren't you crucified? Coward! Deserter! Traitor! Was that all you accomplished? Have you no shame? I lift my fist and ask you: Why, why weren't you crucified?"

A fantastic novel made famous/infamous by the American Taliban's vehement and often violent protesting of its film version, "Last" is a stunning, beautiful, vehement, and emotionally violent look at the greatest What-If? of all.
But the titular last temptation, what if Christ decided t ...more

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Feb 06, 2008 Smarti rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: anybody having a personal or scholarly interest in christianity

Shelves: romaneab1900, 1001-books

This was a difficult book for me to tackle - I finally finished it yesterday and I am glad I stuck with it. In essence, this is a retelling of the life of Jesus Christ and of the ultimate necessity of his death. For me, for the most part of the book, Kazantzakis wrote a very spiritual novel, faithful to the gospels. As I am not really religious, some parts were really hard to get through, hence, I had to stop several times in order to read something in between. In the end, though, Kazantzakis do ...more

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Sep 29, 2007 Virginia rated it it was amazing

I told my mother (who is Catholic and protested the movie's release in the 80s) that if I had seen the movie or read the book when I was a kid, I would probably be a Christian today.

This book made Jesus more real to me than anything else ever did.

Additionally, it started a huge obsession with reading all of the biographies and historical accounts of Jesus that I could find, including about 15 different versions of the bible.

It is an amazing book.

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Jun 04, 2008 Terence rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: religion-general, historical-fiction

I remember going to see the Willem Defoe version of Kazantzakis' novel when it first came out.

I have never quite understood why a certain strain of Christian condemns this book. In the end, the author affirms Christ's divinity and messianic mission.

I'm not a Christian myself (though raised Catholic and wanted to be a priest when I was 8 :-) but I enjoyed this book, and found it an intelligent consideration of what it means to be both God and Man.

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Dec 03, 2013 Danny Tyran rated it it was amazing

I loved this book so much! And the movie was great too. Finally, a true living Jesus. Not just a metaphysical lie.

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Nov 07, 2014 Eslam Abd Elghany rated it really liked it

Shelves: movies, politics, nobel-prize, sufism, history, psychology, novels, science, sociology, thought

TILL WE MEET AGAIN...

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Jan 25, 2011 CHris.T.o.S rated it liked it · review of another edition

KAZANTZAKI'S CHRIST IS A CHRIST I AM NOT FOND OF!!!I DONT EVEN WANNA REVIEW IT ALL BEEN SAID BEFORE,man what a waste of time.I dont feel less christian for reading it either way u can believe in whatever u want to.The issue with this book wasn't blasphemy it was stupidity.Anyway besides the retailing of the new testament it is not smthng special except Christ's final vision which i found extremely interesting.kazantzakis is a great writer his whole work is magnificent but u know what? whoever wr ...more

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Sep 09, 2008 Erinn rated it it was amazing

Banned by the Church? It's got to be good. AMAZING! Explores what would have happened if Christ had taken the temptation to end the crucifixion. It also gave an incredible perspective on Judas and his motivation to betray Christ. Fascinating.

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Feb 15, 2008 Ade Bailey rated it it was amazing

The most wonderful climax of Christ's temptation on the cross - a reverie on the temptations of respectability, status, wealth, human love, happy families..... and the tempting dreams of psychological security.

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Reading 1001: The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis	1	8	Apr 22, 2019 08:27AM
Around the Year i...: The Last Temptation of Christ, by Nikos Kazantzakis	1	16	Oct 05, 2017 12:12PM
مناقشة الجزئيات	23	53	Sep 21, 2014 12:04PM
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Controversy around 'The Last Temptation of Christ' vs 'The da Vinci Code'	2	50	Dec 19, 2013 07:08AM

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About Nikos Kazantzakis

Nikos Kazantzakis

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Nikos Kazantzakis (Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης ) was a prolific Greek writer, whose works include essays, novels, poems, tragedies, travel books, and translations of such classics as Dante's The Divine Comedy and J.W. von Goethe's Faust.

Like his hero, Odysseus, Kazantzakis lived most of his artistic life outside Greece-except for the years of World War II. "I am a mariner of Odysseus with heart of fire but wi ...more

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Quotes from The Last Temptati...

“You will, Judas, my brother. God will give you the strength, as much as you lack, because it is necessary—it is necessary for me to be killed and for you to betray me. We two must save the world. Help me."

Judas bowed his head. After a moment he asked, "If you had to betray your master, would you do it?"

Jesus reflected for a long time. Finally he said, "No, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to. That is why God pitied me and gave me the easier task: to be crucified.” — 84 likes

“When everyone drowns and I'm the only one to escape, God is protecting me. When everyone else is saved and I'm the only one to drown, God is protecting me then too.” — 46 likes

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