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Muriel Clemens
Dr. B. Lee Hobbs
ENG 226 Survey of English Literature II (Honors)
March 31, 2010
Entry Ticket #5

The Last Temptation of Christ
By
Nikos Kazantzakis

Question:
Why do you think Kazantzakis made Jesus so human?
Answer:
The Jesus we read about in the New Testament seems more god-like then human. Kazantzakis has made Jesus more like us. The biblical Jesus is very patient. The only time we see him lose his temper is at the temple. He cares for and loves everyone. Most of us have a hard time relating to this. Sometimes we simply need to see him as human. We need to know that perhaps Jesus struggled with the battle between spirit and flesh.

Tommy Tagliavia
April 1st, 2010
Entry Ticket 4
The Last Temptation of Christ Entry Ticket

1. In the beginning of the book, Jesus was asked who is “tormenting” him and why he was washed away. Who was tormenting him and why?
Jesus was tormented by God, his father. He responded without saying that it was God who was tormenting him because it was his secret and he did not want it to escape from him and cause chaos. The village people still did not know yet that the boy was God’s son, Jesus. God was tormenting Jesus because God had a dream of what he wanted Jesus to fulfill in his shoes while on Earth.
2. What is this novels attitude towards women? How is it compared to the play A Doll’s House?
Women in this book are treated pretty low. They have no high role or importance in this novel. The only woman who has any part of being important would be Mary, because she was Jesus’ mother. Compared to Ibsen’s A Doll’s House the woman here have more role and influences than in The Last Temptation of Christ. In the book women have no enforcement or rights, at least in A Doll’s House Nora had rights and stood up for herself. In the time of the book The Last Temptation of Christ, women have no rights to do anything.

Reference:
The Last Temptations of Christ; Nikos Kazantzakis

Mary Strand
ENG 226
Dr. Hobbs
March 30, 2010

Is Kazantzakis’s novel, The Last Temptation of Christ, a blasphemous work, or a modern approach on telling the complex story of Christ’s life?

I believe that Kazantzakis’s novel is a complex story that brings about a whole new line of thinking for many people. Not only is the morality of Christ jeopardized in the text but, also the faith of its readers could be as well. Those that view it as blasphemy will never change their minds because they are set in the ways of their faith, and will object to anything that could potentially compromise it. Those, like me, see Kazantzakis’s work not as blasphemy, but a unique display of his love for and interpretation of his creator. Jesus was displayed as God but this characteristic was reciprocated by his pure human nature and instincts. I would like to think that Jesus was a man, and like all people of this earth, he was not perfect in every sense of the word.
In the prologue of his novel, Kazantzakis says, “Every man partakes of the nature in both his spirit and his flesh. That is why the mystery of Christ is not simply a mystery for a particular creed: it is universal. The struggle between God and man breaks out in everyone…” Every man of faith, throughout their life, is ultimately grasping their own perspective of their creator, and loving and serving him. Kazantzakis did not have the answers, but he had a story that would change the way many believers and nonbelievers went about looking for them. Jesus has been known as a pure and holy man, but what if he struggled with his destined path?! What if temptation won him over and he possibly had instinctual sexual thoughts? These ideas to the majority of believers are of pure blasphemy and would never be acceptable. Kazantzakis’s story is a unique depiction of Christ’s life and struggles which compromises faith, but helps put it back together in a unique way.

Diana Parizon
Dr. Hobbs
English 226 – Honors
1 April 2010
Entry-Ticket #5

Question: On page 157-158, Judas and Jesus come to the subject about death during their conversation. Jesus states “Death is not a door which closes; it is a door which opens. It opens, and you enter… the bosom of God.” What does Jesus mean with this statement? In addition, what path does Jesus choose to follow and why?

Answer: Judas still cannot believe or trust Jesus, so he keeps asking Jesus various questions, one of which was the question if Jesus feared Death. Normally, during Jesus’s time, people feared God and believed that He eagerly punished mankind. Upon the Roman occupation in Israel, the Jews started fearing God. However, Jesus does not, at least, not at this point of the story. Before, he feared God, who kept pushing Jesus to speak up until He took actions, and opened Jesus’s mouth himself. Jesus was destined to become the Messiah; nonetheless, Jesus fought as much as he could to deny his destiny by willingly opposing His direction (lying, being a hypocrite, building crosses). Once Jesus allowed God to lead him, he ceased to fear Death. Death is “the Bosom of God”. Kazantzakis’s word choice of “bosom” in this context means that one has warmth and closeness to another person, so this means they trust each other, but “bosom” for me can also represent nurture. A woman’s bosom nourishes an infant, causing the child to grow strong and healthy, thus Death can only mean one is strong and healthy after life on earth. Jesus tries to convince Judas that God is not fearful, but rather, is like a father who protects and loves everyone on this earth. And if one dies, he or she will leave the earthly life, but will continue to live in paradise for eternity.

Works cited
Kazantzakis, Nikos. The Last Temptation of Christ. Trans. P.A. Bien. New York:
Faber&Faber, 1988.
 

Katie Ganning
Dr. B. L. Hobbs
ENG226: Survey of World Literature II
1 April 2010
Temptation is Everywhere

1. How does the lust for someone is Jesus’ life overpower his love for God?
When Jesus is a young man, he believes that he wants to be with Mary Magdalene and to marry her, but God’s feelings over power him causing him to not choose a wife and live the life he was called to do. Since God is his father, he is called to obey his father’s wishes, even though he wants to be with Magdalene. Eventually, temptation draws him to believe that he wants her in order to be happy which leads him to anger that the world and Satan want to happen to him. At the end of Jesus’ life, he realizes that this was all part of God’s plan, for him to fall into the likings of the world and the pain each man feels in order to free the people from falling into the hands of Satan.
2. As much as he wants to be with Magdalene, why does the obeying of his parents eventually take control of his life?
Whether one wants to become like their parents or not, through the nature of our family and the nurture of the world, eventually we gain the traits of each of our parents. As our parents let us move on in the world alone, they know we may fall and sometimes they try and help, but overtime we are able to recollect what we are taught as children and young adults and become like our parents in ways to satisfy our own life. Even though Jesus at first does not want to be the Messiah as a young man, he eventually takes the role which his father has called for him to do, which is to be crucify and die for man. God knew his son would fall for the temptations of the world and possibly even try to leave his role in life, but since he is the creator of the world and has some control of what the world does, his son would come back to his reason for living and take on the task he was really meant for.
 
Works Cited
Kazantzakis, Nikos. The Last Temptation of Christ. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1960.

Dawn Serzanin
Dr. Hobbs
ENG 226 H
1 April 2010
Entry Ticket
1. In the play Mary of Magdalene is a prostitute similar to the traditional story of Jesus’ life. Do you think it seems like Kazantzakis wanted to show Jesus feeling sympathy towards women by using Mary in this sense?
It seems that Kazantzakis uses Mary of Magdalene to show the emotion of sympathy in Jesus. It almost seems as if he feels sorry for her and her profession. Jesus travels a distance to tell Mary that he feels bad for her in this novel as well. It almost seems as if he was feeling guilty for what she did as her job.

2. Why do you think Kazantzakis uses the lion as one of Jesus’ temptations?
Often times in religion the lion symbolizes God, because of its majesty and dominance in the wild. A lion represents a thought of warrior like qualities which is what the lion was trying to convince Jesus to be. Kazantzakis uses the lion as a beautiful strong temptation to catch Jesus’ attention and make him try to believe war is the answer to everything Jesus had been worried about.

Dana Jennings
Dr. Hobbs
ENG-226
1-4-10

Entry Ticket: Last Temptation

1. Why do the Rabbi and Mary both find it difficult to believe that Jesus is more than a burdensome young man?

A. The Rabbi and Mary, like the Apostles after them, must have difficulties recognizing Jesus for what he is, the Son of God. This is to denote Jesus’ suffering at the hands of those closest to him, molding him into the man he will become, i.e. the God he will become.

2. Why did Kazantzakis decide to make Mary Magdalene’s profession that of a prostitute?

A. Mary being a prostitute is a source of the shame and guilt that Jesus feels for his actions, or inactions, towards her, as he believes he caused her degradation into her chosen profession. While she even acknowledges that her encounter with Jesus spurred her to prostitution, to say that he forced her into the profession is absurd; she chose her life of sin on her own. Her profession also gives Jesus a physical manifestation of her temptation towards him. She already is a temptation for him, but with her willingness to give her body to any man, she represents a temptation he could have at any time.

Patricia Pothier
Survey of World Lit.
Dr. Hobbs

1. One of the biggest controversies stemming from Kazantzakis’ novel is the human quality he gave to his main character Jesus through the use of fear. Why is the use of fear as a temptation so controversial?
a. Nikos Kazantzakis took the beginning of Christianity and put his own spin on it. In the prologue Kazantzakis states that Christ had a “yearning, so human, so superhuman of man to attain to God… or to return to god and identify himself with him.” After reading this passage we are left with the impression that Jesus, being God in the flesh, was working diligently to become like God. This suggests that Jesus could have chosen to give in to the temptation he faced at any moment sacrificing the salvation of the human race. One of the biggest issues facing the church today is that of predestination. In Romans 8:29 of the bible it is written, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Over the years followers of Christ have used this verse along with other verse much like it to suggest that God predetermines who will be saved and who will not. This however eliminates the need for free will as if God has already chosen you; you do not have a choice. If Jesus cannot overcome his fear of being the messiah, it is possible that after experiencing the dream of marrying and raising a family like a mortal human man, Jesus would not fulfill his Father’s work. Many Bible thumpers were angered at the novel for suggesting that God might not be omniscient in that his own Son could choose to defy him. Also, that such a brave savior who sacrificed his life for the salvation of humanity was at first no better than a common human is blasphemous as it brings Jesus down to a lower level. At the outset of the novel it is understood that Jesus, though the Son of God, suffers from night terrors which leave him almost paralyzed with fear upon awakening. His fear causes him to run to the desert and at times deny that he is the true messiah. For Jesus to have carnal desires is contrary to the belief that Jesus was perfect and all Christians should strive to be like him. Also if Jesus was God in the flesh, it also suggests that God is imperfect.

2. Nikos Kazantzakis humanized Jesus by placing several temptations in front of him. What were they and what did they represent?
a. Mary was depicted as a prostitute tempting Jesus to sin. She represents his carnal desire to lust for a woman, to engage in premarital sex, and possibly have and raise a family. These are the desires of man. Jesus is tempted by a lion which represents another struggle that he faces. He can become a warrior king like that of King David. He is also tempted by the archangel. The angel tells Jesus that he can live the life of a mortal.

Branka Trivanovic
ENG 226 [HONORS]
Due April 1, 2010
Entry Ticket #5
Q. 1) In Nikos Kazantzakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ, what is Jesus’ profession? Why are people so upset with him for it?
A. 1) In the book, just as in the Bible, Jesus’ profession is that of a carpenter, but the reason why people are mad at him in the book for it-- and why they view his as a traitor is because he is a Cross maker for the Romans who. The Romans are using the crosses to execute Jewish people and that gives Jesus and his family a bad name because he is essentially helping the Romans execute his own people.
Q. 2) Jesus goes to Magdala to see Mary Magdalene to apologize to her. Do you think that he should feel guilty for her choosing to be a prostitute or is it her own shame and blame?
A. 2) On page 89, Jesus arrives in Magdala and upon seeing Mary and her line of clients waiting to be pleased, he feels guilty and begs for her forgiveness once his “turn” comes. She shoots him down and tells him to get out of her yard. She says that it is too late and that she does not want God. He tells her not to blame God, that is it his fault to which she retorts that they are one in the same. They have the same “snout”.
In my personal opinion, it is Mary’s own fault that she is a whore. It is not as if Jesus told her to go sleep with a bunch of men. Their child’s play might have opened a door to her sexuality but in the end it is her own choice to sleep with all those men. She could have gotten married and been satisfied that way but she wanted to make money and she did not seem the least bit concerned with what she was doing. She was willing to risk her life by “working” on the Sabbath. If she’s not afraid of being punished by man or God, then she has no one else to blame for her situation. If I was Jesus, I don’t know that I would have apologized, but I’m not Jesus so my opinion doesn’t really matter.

Antonette Boynes
HON ENG 226
Dr. Hobbs
04-03-2010

The Last Temptation of Christ Reading Response

The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis is one of the books that I probably would have been very uncomfortable reading before taking some of the previous courses at this school, mainly because of its orientation. It seemingly contradicts some of the things in the Bible, which is something I do not condone because of my Christian faith. Nevertheless, there is something I would like to discuss from the book.
Jesus is portrayed very human in the novel as having very earthly qualities and characteristics. His ambivalent feelings toward carrying out God’s will of him being crucified is shown. He shows lucid signs of depression and reluctance as he continuously questions himself over and over again. Symptoms of lust, fear, and doubt are also illustrates as the book continues throughout His time of temptation. At one point it appears as though Jesus has given into the temptation of the devil when he says that the devil is inside him. This shows weak faith in God because a real, true, deep faith would not question the commands of the master, but thinking about the pain and anguish that he would suffer on that cross would lead just about anyone to question their destiny.
I found it very ironic that Pilate and Barabbas attempted to cease the crucifixion of Jesus, but the other people rioted to let the thief go, and continued with the execution of a man who did nothing to them. I think this was a motion to prove, like in the “Our Father’s Prayer,” God’s will will be done. Jesus could have protested and easily be saved from the crucifixion, but had that happened, then the world would not be able to be saved form sin.
There is one very positive conclusion that I can draw from this book that is not straightforwardly explained, but can be implied. Although many see The Last Temptation of Christ as an account of Jesus’s journey throughout His temptation in a human mind state, as Kazantzakis intended, I think that it serves as a great guidance for people in general showing that even though the mind and soul may be tempted, that is not the reason to give in, and in fact it may be concluded that Jesus after all had a deep faith because he was afraid, and you are supposed to Fear God!

Branka Trivanovic


ENG 226 [HONORS]


Due April 6, 2010




READING RESPONSE #5




The Last Temptation of Christ is a book that has been controversial since it was first published back in 1960. Originally written in Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, the book was translated into English by P.A. Bien.


The story follows the story of Jesus and his life and struggles from his perspective. A carpenter and Cross-maker for the Romans, Jesus and his family are somewhat disliked in Nazareth. The story starts off on a rather negative note with Jesus having a dream about being chased by a “redbeard”. In his dream he is pursued at “The One”, but looking at the description of his declining health, even Jesus finds it hard to believe that he is the one that will save the world. On top of being somewhat emaciated, Jesus also suffers from terrible attacks from an invisible vulture claw. Before bed, Jesus whips himself with “a strap studded with two rows of sharp nails” in hopes of bleeding out the painful attack and any temptation that might come to him in his sleep (13). Jesus’ uncle Simeon insists that God is the one “tormenting” Jesus, not the devil and thus there can be no exorcism. Jesus, in an attempt to get rid of God commits sins, but none the less, it is constantly foreshadowed that he is the Son of David. As the story goes on, Jesus comes to the realization that the redbeard for his dream is in fact Judas. Judas on the other hand ponders the possibility of Jesus being The One…


There are many facets related to this book that it would take nearly as long as the book is long to describe them. The main theme of the book is to show Jesus’ struggle between being a “regular man” and having fears, being doubtful, and lusting versus accepting his fate as the one who will wear David’s crown. Many times he questions if he is really “The One”. The idea was put into his head at a very young age by a gypsy who looked at his palm, but he has a hard time accepting who he is because he is so guilt ridden. ONE of his biggest obstacles in the book is that of Mary Magdalene. He blames himself for her choosing to become a prostitute because they used to play naked together when they were kids. He goes as far as begging for her forgiveness while she was whoring herself out in Magdala. He saved her life when the people wanted to stone her upon finding out that she was “working” during the Sabbath. One of the temptations that Jesus experienced while spending three days in the desert was that of a snake coming to him and telling him to forget about everything else and to go marry Magdalene and live a “normal” life. Jesus receives a sign in the wind to say no and after the snake explodes, Jesus weeps for what he has lost.


As hard as saying no to Magdalene was to him, his biggest test of faith and FATE was when he was crucified. The pain of the moment led him to faint and in his unconscious state he saw what life would have been life for him had he given into the temptation… He awoke next to a flowering tree and his wounds were being healed. He is greeted by an angel who leads him to pleasures that Jesus has long waited for, including that of Mary Magdalene. This happiness is short-lived, however, because not too long afterward, Magdalene is killed by Saul. Jesus is then taken to Bethany where he marries two women—Martha and Mary, works as a carpenter and has children.
The thing that made him snap back into reality and into the realization that he did NOT give into the final temptation of humanity was the visit from a few old friends… Judas starts to berate Jesus calling him a traitor and a deserter. These words hurt him and after a while of listening, Jesus admits that he is a coward. Soon the scene fades away and Jesus finds himself on the Cross yet again. This time he is happy because he knows that he has done what he was called forth to do. “He uttered a triumphant cry: IT IS ACCOMPLISHED!” (496)

Works Cited


Kazantzakis, Nikos. The Last Temptation of Christ. New York: Simon & Schuster Inc., 1960.

Mary Strand
ENG 226
Dr. Hobbs
April 5, 2010

Reverse
The ‘modern’ style of writing started to emerge during the late 18th century and is still seen in some artists’ works today. This style was used to question the world and the truths that were widely accepted throughout it. Many different styles and techniques surfaced during this period, in order for authors to portray his or her arguments against traditions. The reversal of traditional roles is one of the many modernist techniques that have been and are used to present ideas and themes in a nontraditional manner.
In chapter twenty nine of Nikos Kazantzakis’, The Last Temptation of Christ, Jesus is brought to Pilate, in what seems to be Pilate’s last attempt to let Jesus redeem himself, and his fate. Within this scene I felt that there were two reversals of traditional roles which lent Kazantzakis a hand in presenting his ideas.
On page 437, Pilate orders his guards to scourge Jesus and dress him in a crown of thorns, with a scepter so he can be presented to the people. The way in which Pilate went about doing this, to me was very ironic. Nikos says, “Ha had devised to present him to the people in this pitiful state, hoping they would feel sorry for him.” Accepted, is the idea that Jesus’ crown of thorns was placed on his head to make a complete mockery of the Word he had been spreading. But, in this modernist re-telling of the story, Pilate did this to potentially save Jesus’ life. Could Kazantzakis have possibly changed Pilate into a sympathetic and almost accepting ruler? I believe so. Pilate seemed to be unsure of whether or not what Jesus had done was deserving of death. This non-traditional role of Pilate changes the way he was presented in the Biblical telling of Jesus’ death.
The second reversal of roles I feel is worth mentioning, and also correlates with the first, is the way in which Pilate places Jesus’ fate in the hands of the people. He asks them which of the two, Jesus or Barabbas, they would like to see crucified. Pilate has the power to decide the fate of Jesus, and most traditional rulers would have not taken so much time to decipher the fate of a lowly ‘prophet’; as was done in the Biblical telling of Jesus’ death. After the people have shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!,” Pilate says “I wash and rinse my hands,” he said. “It is not I who spill his blood, I am innocent. May the sin fall on you” (page 357). Pilate is not willing to accept the blame for the death of Jesus, the lowly prophet, unlike many traditional rulers. Although he made not have made known his wish to be free of the blame, his role of prosecutor was turned over to the people in this instance which changes the traditional view of the roman ruler.
With Kazantzakis’ modernist retelling of Jesus story, and the many techniques used to alter the story, the truth of how Jesus came to death can be questioned. Kazantzakis story brings about many questions concerning the way events in Jesus’ life came about, which I believe is exactly the way he wanted to present his argument or tradition.
 
Reference
Kazantzakis, Nikos. The Last Temptation of Christ. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.

Diana Parizon
Dr. Hobbs
English 226 – Honors
6 April 2010
Mary: Human or Holy?

Nikos Kazantzakis started questioning the life of Jesus in his book “The Last Temptation of Christ,” but in addition, the life of Mary and her character is put into question. As is commonly taught in Christian tradition, Mary was a very young and innocent girl who favored God, and followed God’s will to bear Jesus. God chose her because of her faith; however, Kazantzakis questions her faith by portraying Mary as a very heartbroken woman who feels betrayed by God.
As portrayed in the Bible, Mary was the one encouraging Jesus to fulfill his first miracle by turning water to wine at a wedding he attended. Conversely, in Kazantzakis’s story, Mary could never really accept Jesus’s fate of becoming a Messiah, and sobs during his journey of becoming one. Instead of helping Jesus dealing with his mental disturbance caused by God (Jesus rebels against God’s will), helping accepting her son’s fate, as the traditional Mary from the bible would have done, Mary, in Kazantzakis version, longed for a daughter-in-law and many grandchildren. She even went as far as to state: “I don’t want my son to be a saint…I want him to be a man like all the rest. I want him to marry and give me grandchildren” (Kazantzakis 169). Instead of understanding and helping her son follow God’s will; she hoped God would let Jesus live a life as an ordinary man. She wanted her son to follow Joseph’s footsteps “build troughs, cradles, plows, and household utensils…” (Kazantzakis 64). It is as though Mary not know before Jesus’s birth that Joseph was not his father. Mary constantly asked God: “Lord, pity my son” (Kazantzakis 59). The Biblical Mary would have never made such a absurd request
Mary did not see herself as special, but rather, cursed to be chosen as the Mother of the son of God. She tries to deny who she really is. She wants to be a normal woman, as she says: “I am like all woman” (Kazantzakis 63). Subsequently, she wants Jesus to be a normal man. She feels God cursed her with her status as a widow and that God sent her “but one boy, and he a blemished one” (Kazantzakis 167). I personally, can understand Mary’s point of view if one understands the lifestyle during Jesus year. Not only was Jesus different than any other man; Mary also was different than any other woman, and to be different than others is always difficult to handle and accept. She also, just like Jesus, tries to ignore God’s will. Another point to consider is that Jesus, at one point, did not acknowledge Mary as his mother, but the crowd that followed him as his mothers and brothers and saw God as his father, as opposed to Joseph. Kazantzakis just wanted to show the human side of Mary. Whether or not she felt this way, can never be known, but at least due to Kazantzakis, Mary’s Biblical strength and faithfulness can be more thoroughly appreciated.

Works Cited
Kazantzakis, Nikos. Teh Last Temptation of Christ. Trans. P.A. Bien. New York:
Simon&Schuster, 1988.

Dana Jennings
Dr. Hobbs
ENG-226
6-4-10

Judas Saves

The Last Temptation of Christ is a unique and eye-opening look into the life of Jesus, who is someone most Christians believe they know and understand. Jesus is an unsympathetic character for much of the first half of the novel, and other characters are treated out of the norm for most Christian followers. Judas is shown to be Jesus’ strongest and most ardent follower, and this is why Jesus has to convince him to betray him: “God will give you the strength…it is necessary for me to be killed and for you to betray me. We two must save the world. Help me” (421). Judas is traditionally seen as simply a necessary evil that betrayed Christianity’s messiah, but in this novel he is given a chance to show his humanity and suffering.

I believe that Kazantzakis weaves a compelling story and gives humanity to a character that is mistakenly usually seen as a divine entity only. Throughout my blasphemous childhood, the snippets I heard of Jesus was of his being the Lord, and that he loves everyone. Although this is a very weak understanding of Christianity, and I have since learned much more, it is indicative of what is learned outside of the church’s walls. It is known by history that Jesus Christ walked the earth two thousand years ago, and that he became a symbol for billions of men and women, but what is it to see what he might have been like in his head at the time? What it is to really feel that he is human, flesh and blood, not wine and crackers? These are the poignant questions that Kazantzakis attempts to answer, or at least start people thinking about them. This is his power of the novel.

This text is a story; Kazantzakis never meant for it to be canon. Beliefs aside, when people get offended by his novel, it is because they are attempting to place it into their biblical understanding of their Lord and savior. That wasn’t his intent, although he probably anticipated it. Jesus is shown with the humanity we all share insomuch as an attempt to show the struggle of our own lives and give the belief and faith that we can be saved in the afterlife.

Work Cited
Kazantzakis, Nikos. The Last Temptation of Christ. New York: Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1988. Print

Patricia Pothier
Survey of World Literature
Dr. Hobbs

At the outset of the novel, Kazantzakis discusses his desire to portray the struggle he suffered internally between his spirit and flesh. It is almost as if Kazantzakis is describing his own inner struggle to further humanize Jesus. By stating that the “anguish has been intense”, he tells of a battleground within him that raged between his immortal soul and his weakened flesh. Kazantzakis’ depicts an antihero who suffers from a condition that is strikingly similar to that of his own. By closely relating his struggle with the saviors, the author scandalously humanizes Jesus, attempting to bring the story home on a more personal level with his audience.
Kazantzakis proposes that the birth of his struggle comes from a “weak soul”, which “does not have the endurance to resist the flesh” (2). This bold statement implies that the flesh is what leaves the soul apart from God because it is weak and prone to sin. His flesh diminishes his capacity to defy temptation because it is where his sin originates from. In the novel, Jesus follows down the same dwindling path as he struggles with the very same conflict. Though he has been made aware of his destiny he still fears it and is for a long time unable to overcome it. Fighting against what he knows to be his primordial duty, the very reason he was created by God, he becomes like his followers, a lost sheep.
Kazantzakis’ description of his own inner demons is painstakingly beautiful as he reveals a yearning and a burning passion for reconciliation with his spiritual maker. He further attempts to universalize his desire: “The struggle between God and man breaks out in everyone” (2).
Kazantzakis writes the “struggle between the flesh and the spirit, rebellion and resistance, reconciliation, submission, and finally—the supreme purpose of the struggle—union with God” (2). Kazantzakis states that a stronger soul will fight to attain this union with the Lord but the reward will be sweeter. He uses the prologue as a biography to represent his struggle as that of Jesus’. Just as God “does not love weak souls and flabby flesh” (2), Kazantzakis fights to rid himself of such a disgrace just as the hero which he writes about did. Although the novel conveys a story much different than the Biblical tale, often considered sacrilegious, Kazantzakis does well to generalize the fight. Just as Jesus struggled to accept his fate and follow through, Kazantzakis labors to fend off the weakness and temptation that stems from his body. The tale of the last temptation and its’ author collide in a riveting story of the battle that rages within us all; one which forces humans to appreciate Jesus’ life tale whether we have faith in him or not.

Muriel Clemens
Dr. B. Lee Hobbs
ENG 226 Survey of English Literature II (Honors)
April 6, 2010
Reading Response 5

The Conundrum That is
The Last Temptation of Christ
By
Nikos Kazantzakis

In reading The Last Temptation of Christ I was puzzled by many of the statements and references that were made in the story. This story was very involved and full of symbolism so the things I questioned I didn’t take lightly, but time was not on my side and I could not do more research. Kazantzakis used terminology that was incorrect for the time period and it made me wonder what his reasoning was. In chapter two he describes Rabbi Simeon and he says: “The two skeleton hands with their monstrous, birdlike talons squeezed the sacerdotal crosier with the pair of entwined snakes at its top and banged it down on stone” (Kazantzakis 20). The word sacerdotal (Merriam-Webster 637) means priestly and crosier (Merriam-Webster 172) is a ceremonial staff carried by a bishop or an abbot. These are Christian terms and I can’t help but feel he is using these terms for a reason.
In chapter eight we learn about the Monastery and Joachim the Abbot. In all of my research I have been unable to find a Jewish Monastery that may have existed during the time of Jesus. When we think of Monasteries we usually think of a group of celibate men living together in one big happy family but in the Jewish communities of Christ’s time, celibacy was an exception and not the rule. There were a few very small Jewish communities that did practice celibacy, but it was not part of the Jewish belief system. It was pointed out to me that perhaps Kazantzakis was referring to the Essenes and the remains found at Qumran, but the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls was in it’s infancy at the time this book was written and there is no definitive proof that the Essenes were the people who were at Qumran. This is a subject that is creating a great deal of debate in the academic world right now.
The next conundrum is in chapter six. We are introduced to the “The Curse.” A being that is “covered head to foot with interlocking scales of thick bronze armor. But the head was not a human head; it was an eagle’s with yellow eyes and a crooked beak which grasped a mouthful of flesh” (Kazantzakis 79). This being and what she might represent fascinated me. In all my research I was unable to find anything on such a creature. Perhaps she was the part of his soul that was meant to do the right thing and sacrifice himself for the good of humanity. Armor usually represents a warrior and eagles are seen as majestic. Could she have been his honorable side, the part of himself he feared the most because of the sacrifice he knew he would have to make? I wish I knew the answer.
The Last Temptation of Christ was a book that I really enjoyed reading and once I got past all the historical inconsistencies I began to wonder why Kazantzakis would make Judaism more Christian. There has to be a reason and I wish I had the time to do more research. This was a fascinating book and I look forward to seeing the movie.

Works Cited

Kazantzakis, Nikos, and Peter Bien. The Last Temptation of Christ. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998. Print.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2004. Print.

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