John the Baptist

John the Baptist was a 1st century Jewish preacher and ascetic regarded as a prophet by four religions: Christianity, Islam, Mandaeanism, and the Bahá'í Faith.1

The reference in Gravity's rainbow, which occurs at Beyond the Zero: Episode 22 is significant in that the reference to this supposed true prophet of Jesus is juxtaposed with Nathan of Gaza, a character famous for being a prophet of a false messiah. Whether this is to be read as a denunciation of Jesus' divinity or as an opposition is ambiguous.

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part and episode listing

Beyond the Zero: [2]

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page numbers

14

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references

  1. ^Wikipedia, Contributors, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Baptist (accessed: 2007-03-20)
  2. ^Pynchon, Thomas, Gravity's Rainbow (London: Vintage, 2000), p. 14

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The Online Gravity's Rainbow Reference by Martin Eve is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.