McNair told me that this week marks exactly 40 years since he first performed the Fifth Gospel. It was January 1972. I saw it for the first time sometime during that first year and I was hooked. That means it pre-dated Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar as the first time anyone had popularized the life of Christ by making it relevant to the human experience. For many it bordered on sacrilege: Jesus in a water fight with his disciples… Jesus at 15 nervous about inviting Elizabeth to the temple bazaar… Jesus answering his disciples who were fighting over who would be the Vice Son of God… and McNair got away with it by calling him not Jesus, but Howard, Son of God. That was to help rid the observer of pre-conceived notions of who Jesus was or wasn’t.
To me, that continues to be the value of this piece. It strips away all religious trappings and leaves you with the bare minimum: God became a man and lived among us. It’s the essence of the story. It’s profound, but profoundly simple. And it’s something none of us would have thought up. It’s just outside the realm of human invention.
And once again, the Isaiah House audience proved that this universal story touches everyone. As Marti pointed out yesterday, there was no way anyone could separate the homeless from the housed at this performance. All were equally involved and thoroughly entertained. For me, the picture I will take from this performance is watching the Women of Vision sitting next to Isaiah House women and watching their faces equally childlike, equally glowing. There we are, all of us.
John Fischer The Catch 
Thank You John for your message this morning.
There were only four Gospels…. stick to the truth!
RALPH, each of us (believers) has an opportunity to LIVE the gospel daily. Our lives may be the only gospel the world will ever “read.” When I created my first one-man play, “The Fifth Gospel”, I did not want to presume to be the official representative of the gospels of Jesus according to Matt., Mark, Luke, and John as found in the canon. I was most interested in looking at the huMAN being at the heart of those stories. In four decades I have performed this play in seminaries, Christian colleges (literally hundreds of them, across denominational lines) and numerous ministerial conferences.
I’ve had hundreds of conversations about the power showing God as man, one of us, among us. The only time there was any problem with the “Fifth” in the title is from those who have not seen the play. Once they have—if they will—they know I’m not trying to add to, correct, or amend scripture. Growing up in the church (my entire life) I came to a place of needing my Savior to also be a friend. The church seemed to avoid ANY discussion of the “man” in “God man.” I developed “The Fifth Gospel” as a discussion starter, to INCLUDE the human moments in Jesus’ life with the grand and important God moments. My play does portray the camaraderie of Jesus with his closest followers (hence the water fight on a hot day), but I also portray miracles, the trial and crucifixion and the startling discovery of His empty grave. “He’s alive!”
After 1500+ live performances it has touched lives from atheists in a packed auditorium at U.C. Berkeley to seasoned pastors at ministerial gatherings. Hope you’ll SEE it.
I stand by my admonishment! The gospels have done a pretty good job over the years of portraying the Truth of God and what He requires of man. People hear and” believe or not believe”. The Good News does not need anything added to it! ….. or changed! …..like “Howard!” Ralph Gaily
I think I would enjoy seeing ” The Fifth Gospel” presented. I am not sure to which version of The Good News Mr. Gaily is referring, since there are myriad acceptable translations of the Scriptures, many with entirely different meanings, depending on the words used. Since the four Gospels themselves do not agree on several different points of Jesus’ ministry, I see no harm in exigeses of various Christian beliefs. The Christian faith is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.
Check out mcnairwilson.com for further info on McNair and the Fifth Gospel as well as other plays he has written and produced.
Not QUITE the first time. Read Dorothy L. Sayers’s radio play cycle “The Man Born to Be King” sometime. 🙂 It’s from the ’40s, and it’s fantastic. (And she took a lot of flak for it, too.)