Expected One (McGowan) - Discussion Questions

Discussion Questions
1. Maureen has her students take a vow to remember: "History is not what happened. History is what was written down." She later discusses the importance of "experiential understanding" when touring the Cathar region of Languedoc, France with Jean-Claude. How do you feel about Maureen's approach to studying the past? What are the benefits and drawbacks to relying on oral traditions for information?

2. Maureen's book, Herstory, proposes that, throughout history, male record-keepers and scholars have intentionally slandered women. Identify some of the historically important women mentioned in The Expected One. Discuss and compare their stories as you first learned them to their stories as retold by characters in the novel.

3. Many characters in this novel struggle to reconcile the idea of religion with faith, "Church" with spiritual experience. Describe some of the personal conflicts that these characters encounter, such as Maureen's visions versus her disdain for the Church. What concepts or situations in the novel leave you feeling similarly torn?

4. Father Peter Healy explains, "for people of faith the facts simply don't matter. But don't make the common mistake of confusing faith with ignorance." Do you think his opinion has changed by the end of the novel? Do you think that faith and fact can coexist? What are the dangers of holding to faith to the exclusion of fact, and vice versa?

5. Why do you think the author chose to interject passages from the Arques Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Book of Disciples, throughout the novel? Discuss how each cited passage relates to the text it precedes.

6. Names are an important factor in genealogy. Identify the characters with names that have significance to the story. For example, Maureen ("Little Mary") and Paschal (which indicates her relation to Mary the Shepherdess and the Expected One prophecy).

7. As she pursues the truth about Mary Magdalene and Jesus, Maureen learns much about the politics of the early Christian movement. Discuss the ways in which politics influenced this novel's version of biblical events.

8. In this novel, both John the Baptist and Jesus are martyred for different reasons and to different effects. How were the deaths of these two critical figures each beneficial and detrimental to the Christian movement as described in the novel?

9. When did you first suspect who the "Messiah" of the Guild of the Righteous was? Were you surprised to learn that followers of John have developed such a different variation of Christianity than followers of the Nazarenes?

10. Tammy and Maureen contemplate the resistance of most theologians to the idea of Jesus as a married man. Tammy says to Maureen, "How does that impact his divinity? I just don't see it." What do you think? Would it change your opinion of Christianity if Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered children? Do you think he could have been both the Son of God and a family man? Why or why not?

11. Regardless of his motives, John the Baptist is portrayed as an abusive, controlling husband to Mary. Yet Mary prays for his forgiveness for the rest of her life. Is this a realistic response? Contrast this with Salome, who schemes to have John arrested and whose manipulations ultimately lead to his death.

12. Love and forgiveness are critical elements of Christianity, or "The Way" as the Jesus and Mary Magdalene of this novel taught it. For Maureen, forgiving her cousin Peter for his betrayal seems to come so easily. Which other characters are also in a position to forgive? Which choose to do so and why?

13. It is clear early on that someone is watching Maureen very closely. Were you surprised to find out that it was Peter all along? Did you expect Peter to steal the scrolls to give them to the Church? What clues, if any, did you pick up on throughout the novel?

14. Many of the characters in The Expected One turn out to be quite different than they appear. Which characters' true roles in the plot were you most surprised to discover, and why?

15. If the information presented in this novel turned out to be true, how do you think it would change Christianity? Do you think it could change the world? Why or why not?

16. Every story has two sides. Identify and discuss the alternate views presented in the novel regarding historical figures, events, and works of art or literature such as the execution of John the Baptist, Joan of Arc, da Vinci's "The Last Supper" and Mary Magdalene.
(Questions by publisher.)

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