The Gospel of Afranius
Author | spy novel |
---|---|
Publisher | Self-published (1st edition) |
Publication date | 1995 |
Media type |
The Gospel of Afranius (
A free online English version, endorsed by Eskov, appeared in December 2022.[2]
Publication history
As described by Eskov,
Structure and plot
The book is divided into two parts. The first part is a non-fiction essay and polemic in which the author, a Russian biologist, challenges the claims made by
The second part of the book is a novel and a
Due to intense operational secrecy, Pilate and Afranius do not report about this discretionary operation to Rome, and their secret is thus soon gone, with a hidden scroll being the only memory of it. The plan also partially succeeds in the long term when Jewish-Christians refuse to participate in the Jewish War, confirming Pilate and Afranius's foresight. Their plan has an unexpected and unforeseen byproduct: upon having a religious vision,
The story is Eskov's illustration of his preceding essay's positions, arguing that all the events as portrayed in the New Testament, and corroborated by known archeological and historical evidence, could be explained without the need for a supernatural intervention;
Reception
In 1997, the book won the Grand Prix at the Festival of Science Fiction Authors in Odesa (Fancon, Фанкон).[1] It also won a Big Zilant award in 2001 at the Zilantkon .[4] Reviewing this work for Nature in 1998, Mikhail Mina noted that it is an expression of Soviet-era state atheism clashing with post-Soviet resurgence of religious belief. He observes that it is both a pleasant read (with "humour [that] is sometimes biting, but never insulting") and a successful counter to McDowell, noting that it would likely "find many interested readers if it were published in English".[1]
Historian Richard Carrier noted that this work is "popular in the slavic world, from Russia, Poland, the Baltics, and Ukraine" and "much overlooked" in the West; he praised it and concluded that it "disproves Christianity".[11] A short synopsis of this work was a top 5 finalist of the 2023 TITAN Screenwriting Contest.[12]
See also
- Political decoy § Sukarno/unknown (1950s)
- Zersetzung
- "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
- Myth of Er § Comparative mythology
- Scarlet Sails
- Historicity of Jesus
References
- ^ S2CID 35300944.
- ^ a b c d PDF, taken from Eskov's official publication page; see also the (much shorter) complementary introduction by the translator. A direct translation of the 1995 edition (different from the 2022 version) - Amazon link, also approved by Eskov, appeared in 2024.
- ^ "Кирилл Еськов. Путешествие дилетанта".
- ^ a b Кирилл Еськов "Евангелие от Афрания" (in Russian).
- ^ a b "Ewangelia według Afraniusza – encyklopediafantastyki.pl". encyklopediafantastyki.pl. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
- ^ a b "Esensja: "Fantastyczny apokryf" – Sebastian Chosiński". Esensja.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-12-28.
- ^ a b "Esensja: "Bazując na Bułhakowie" – Wojciech Gołąbowski". Esensja.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-12-28.
- ^ "Esensja: "Nie znacie dnia, ani godziny, ani sposobu" – Paweł Pluta". Esensja.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-12-28.
- ^ https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.02338
- ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7txEy8708I
- ^ Carrier, Richard (May 21, 2023). "Christianity Is a Conspiracy Theory • Richard Carrier".
- ^ "Announcing the 2023 TITAN Awards Semi-Finalists". September 30, 2023.