PHILIP PULLMAN MAY INTRODUCE JESUS IN NEXT NOVEL AFTER DEBATE WITH ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS

Philip Pullman, the acclaimed children’s author and prominent atheist, revealed he might include Jesus in his next book during a high-profile debate with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, at London’s National Theatre. Pullman, whose His Dark Materials trilogy famously concludes with the death of an aged, weakened God, declined to elaborate on Jesus’s potential role.

Though some anticipated conflict over Pullman’s anti-theistic worldview, Archbishop Williams defused tension by recently recommending Pullman’s novels for inclusion in religious education curricula. Still, he criticized Pullman’s fictional Church as devoid of redemption—focused solely on control—contrasting it with his vision of Christianity as rooted in grace and transformation.

When pressed on Christ’s absence in his books, Pullman noted only one passing reference to Jesus in the context of human wisdom—and confirmed no plans for personal conversion, asserting that morality does not require belief in God. Williams responded: “One of the intriguing things about the Church in your books is that it is a Church without redemption… Although that’s how a lot of people see the Church here, it is not how I see it.” He added wryly, referencing Anglican divisions: “Chance would be a fine thing.”