The Gospel of Afranius (Russian: "Евангелие от Афрания"), published in 1995, is the first book by Russian author Kirill Eskov. A Demythification of the events of the New Testament, it was written as a response to another book by Protestant evangelist Josh McDowell. McDowell argues that the Gospels, if assumed to be genuine historical documents, necessarily prove that Christ resurrected. Accordingly, Eskov sets himself a challenge: to find a non-supernatural explanation for the Resurrection that still lines up perfectly with the Gospels. After closely examining various discrepancies and points of note in the Evangelists' narratives, he presents his own version in the form of a novella narrated by the titular Afranius, Pilate's secret service chief from The Master and Margarita.
As Afranius tells it, he himself engineered Yeshua's note rise to fame as part of Operation FISH—a covert operation meant to spread Yeshua's pacifist ideals throughout Judea and Galilee and quash their resistance to the Roman occupation. After a key agent jumps ship, however, Yeshua's life comes under threat, and Afranius and his colleague Fabricius are forced to resort to drastic measures to keep the operation afloat—and save their own skins.
This book contains the following tropes:
- The Ace: According to Afranius, Judas is a master of "surveillance, disguise, the use of caches and communication systems, and both armed and hand-to-hand combat."
- Anachronism Stew: Despite being set in Roman Judea, the novella is chock-full of references to such flagrantly modern concepts as special forces, SWAT teams, detective stories, Aryans (in the Master Race sense), and chess.
- And Then What?: After Nathaniel tries to convince Afranius that the hitman sent to kill Yeshua was merely a hallucination, Afranius uses his own logic against him:"What are you going to charge [the disciples] with exactly? Chopping the ear off a ghost?"
- Badass Bookworm: Fabricius is a young aristocrat whose hobbies include translating arcane texts and studying Eastern religion, but also a genuinely dangerous spy who has sent many an agent to their death.
- Benevolent Boss: Zig-zagged with Pilate. On the one hand, he's highly competent at his job and holds Afranius to relatively reasonable standards, even offering to cover up for his failures. On the other hand, however, he's just as quick to fly into a rage or seriously threaten Afranius' life.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: Neither Afranius nor his Judean rivals can be said to have the moral upper hand, with all of them operating more out of loyalty to their respective governments than out of genuine self-interest. Politically Incorrect Villain, Corrupt Bureaucrat, and serial torturer Quintus Simplicius, meanwhile, is truly despicable by comparison.
- The Charmer: Judas' greatest asset as a spy is his charisma, which allows him to get the drop on countless enemy agents...and Afranius.
- Chekhov's Gun: Towards the beginning of the novella, Afranius launches into a long, seemingly pointless diatribe complaining about his agency's constant reorganization, casually mentioning that one of their spy stations was destroyed by enemy agents. At the very end, it turns out the attack was caused by Corrupt Bureaucrat Quintus Simplicius—which allows Afranius to blackmail him and ensure that FISH remains a secret.
- The Chessmaster: Afranius and Fabricius, big-time. Both of them are rather fond of chess metaphors to boot.
- Cultural Posturing: Pilate's guiding ideology following his appointment as procurator:"The local savages, Jupiter knows why, had been granted all the comforts of civilization, from Roman law to running water—yet it was clear these Asian swine had no other desire than to lie back down in the ditch they were spawned in."
- Dead Man's Switch: The entire purpose of Afranius' letter is to take Pilate down with him in the event he gets killed.
- Death by Materialism: Judas only gets killed since he just can't resist returning to his stash of coins in Gethsemane.
- Didn't See That Coming: Afranius is taken completely aback when Yeshua refuses his offer and willingly goes to his death on the cross, to the point where he literally falls to the floor in exhaustion.
- At Gethsemane, Nathaniel's plan unfolds perfectly... until Peter comes out of nowhere and chops off the hitman's ear.
- Driven to Suicide: Not Judas, surprisingly, but Fabricius.
- False Flag Operation: Afranius' men capture John the Baptist while dressed in the uniforms of the Galilean police force.
- Fantastically Indifferent: Afranius, in a downplayed example. At one point, he watches firsthand as Yeshua heals two genuine paralytics. While somewhat surprised by this, he is far more focused on the fact that this implies Judas has been embezzling state funds.
- Foregone Conclusion: Obviously, the operation is a success; moreover, most of the major plot points are based on Eskov's observations in the first part.
- Friendship Denial: Despite trusting Fabricius enough to let him in on FISH, Afranius later claims that he "strongly dislikes" him on a personal level (albeit he has come to terms with his idiosyncrasies).
- Genre-Busting: The first half is an essay where Eskov examines various episodes in the New Testament; the second half is a novella that can be simultaneously considered historical fiction, religious fiction, and a spy thriller (with elements of black comedy).
- Half-Breed Angst: Pilate is so embarrassed by his mother's Samnite ethnicity that he develops intense Patriotic Fervor to make up for it.
- Insult Backfire: In the first part, Eskov suggests that John the Baptist didn't actually believe Jesus to be the Messiah, but was misunderstood by the latter's Sarcasm-Blind disciples:"Guess you’re right, buddy, you’ve come to the wrong guy. You know what, I shouldn’t be the one baptizing you—you should be the one baptizing me!"
- Jesus Was Way Cool: Eskov (an agnostic) has genuine respect for Christ and his disciples, and refuses to accept any theory depicting them as dishonest:"At the end of the day, no matter what the Church Fathers might say, every person has their own Christ. And while, from the point of view of orthodox dogmatics, my Christ might be utterly monstrous [...], under no circumstances is he a liar."
- Kansas City Shuffle: Nathaniel leads Afranius to think someone in his unit is going to assassinate Yeshua, when the real hitman is hiding off to the side.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Did Yeshua really heal those paralytics, or, as Eskov mentions in the first part, was their illness solely psychosomatic? Did he really know about Operation FISH, or was his remark to Fabricius just a coincidence? These, and other questions, are left unanswered in the end.
- Oh, My Gods!: Said practically verbatim by Fabricius.
- Reformed Criminal: Nathaniel used to be a terrorist before joining the Temple Guard Corps.
- Selective Obliviousness: Exploited by Afranius and Fabricius in their final plan; they're only able to show off their impersonator because Yeshua's disciples want to see him alive again.
- Shout-Out: Predictably, both parts make heavy reference to The Master and Margarita—among other things, Jesus is exclusively called "Yeshua" in the second part.
- At one point, Afranius asks Nathaniel if he got his new scar in Al-Jeghazi.
- That's an Order!: Afranius orders Fabricius to go on vacation after he falls into a deep depression.
- Torture Always Works: Quintus Simplicius' preferred interrogation method.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Undeclared Station Chief for the Central Intelligence Directorate of the Empire, General Staff Centurion Gaius Fabricius.
- Unwitting Pawn: Yeshua, according to Afranius' plan. In the end, however, the possibility is left open that it's really Yeshua using him and Fabricius as pawns.
- Xanatos Speed Chess: In the span of just one day, Fabricius manages to come up with a new plan not once, but twice.
