The Last Temptation of Christ

This article is about the 1955 novel. For the 1988 film, see The Last Temptation of Christ (film).

The Last Temptation of Christ (or The Last Temptation) is a historical novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1955. It was first published in English in 1960. It follows the life of Jesus Christ from Jesus's own perspective. The novel has been the subject of a great deal of controversy due to its subject matter, and appears regularly on lists of banned books.

The central thesis of the book is that Jesus, while free from sin, was still subject to fear, doubt, depression, reluctance, and lust. Kazantzakis argues in the novel's preface that by facing and conquering all of man's weaknesses, Jesus struggled to do God's will without ever giving into the temptations of the flesh. The novel advances the argument that, had Jesus succumbed to any such temptation, especially the opportunity to save himself from the cross, his life would have held no more significance than that of any other philosopher.

Film version

Main article: The Last Temptation of Christ (film)

In 1988, an equally controversial film adaptation by Martin Scorsese was released, which starred Willem Dafoe as Jesus and Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot.

In popular culture

It is discussed in The Da Vinci Code when in a flashback Sophie remembers her grandfather defending the film version.

In The X Files episode "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati", Fox Mulder has a hallucination that Earth has been colonized by the aliens. His hallucination of the colonization bears a resemblance to the intended theme of the novel.

See also

• The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
• Temptation of Christ