"The conjunction of the Jesus novels by Rice and Wangerin isn’t surprising — writers have continually produced fiction about Jesus. Among them: Sholem Asch, Anthony Burgess, Robert Graves, Nikos Kazantzakis, D. H. Lawrence, Norman Mailer, Jose Saramago and Gore Vidal. It’s a difficult challenge. None of these novels are masterpieces, and often they just seem absurd... You don’t know whether to laugh or to cry, both with the pious variety and the debunkers.” John Wilson, editor of the evangelical journal Books & Culture

Author: The difficulty is producing with the full art and skills of a great writer, psychologist and spiritual mystic, a portrait of Jesus that comes anywhere close to the image of Jesus, the Christ, in the gospels. How can you produce a more magical and alive picture of the figure of the man than the one already created by the gospels, and reinforced by millions of people's belief systems? You probably cannot.

Wangerin is mentioned above as just having put out a book called, Jesus, The Novel. Having read his Paul, I pronounce it an utter failure as literary fiction, and as portraying the character of what Paul must have been like, and the complexities of his mind. Wangerin does not have half the mind to try and equal the mind of either Paul or Jesus. What we realize again is how good Paul was at adding religious thought and fervor to the Christian message which is in some ways different from but equal to the message and teachings of Jesus. In fact, what a number of scholars realize is that Paul is more the founder of Christianity than Peter or Jesus.

John Wilson, quoted above, is right. None of the writers mentioned has come up with either a really good read, or an image of Jesus written about in such a powerful way as the four, or five, gospels write about Jesus together. What I know of Wangerin is that he is trained as a Lutheran pastor and teaches at a university, hardly a qualification to write a great novel, or understand the psychological complexities of one of the greatest historical figures ever born on earth. His novel, Paul, is simply of poor literary quality. He must win awards because of religion and not because of his skill at writing which has shown more problems in the children's story area.

The issue still is, how can a modern writer hope to present a fully dynamic new picture of the historical Jesus? You better be at least as good as Jesus, all the gospel writers, and the Church to come up with a significant novel on Jesus. Such a statement virtually defeats Wangerin, Anne Rice and myself as the author of The Jesus Novel, as it certainly defeated the other writers mentioned above.

I have the backing of hundreds of historical Jesus scholars who sometimes differ among themselves but have contributed terrific new ideas on the real Jesus which I have read and am taking advantage of.

I have no need and no desire to stay within the parameters of the gospel outlines because this is Christian gospel and dogma. I do not try to preserve the Christian archetype. The Jesus I portray is not the Jesus Christ of the Christian Church but Jesus of Galilee, a great religious, wisdom teacher.

I have standing and development in my own right as a mystic and spiritual thinker, having taught the texts to students and having practiced from them myself.

I am committed to inspiration that comes from a source other than my personal ego in this project. Most of what comes is occurring because of a flow of insights, values and ideas not created by my personal ego. If through me some other "presence" is speaking, who am I to deny it? My job is to write it out and refine it. I ultimately must not lay the dominant claim to writing the Jesus novel. I write as if I am there living in direct experience happening now.