A WORK IN DEFENCE OF THE MIRACULOUS ELEMENT IN OUR LORD’S MINISTRY UPON EARTH, BOTH AS AGAINST RATIONALISTIC IMPUGNERS AND CERTAIN ORTHODOX DEFENDERS
First published in 1873, The Fair Haven was written and should be read in a spirit of strong irony. Without a sense of irony, the work comes across as a staunch defence of Christianity; however, it was actually meant to be read as a rejection of it. Indeed, it has been described as a literary hoax. The book has its genesis in the research done by Butler for an earlier pamphlet published in 1865, after his return to England from New Zealand, entitled “The Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as given by the Four Evangelists critically examined” and it also grew from Butler’s deep disillusionment with the theological teachings he had learned from his Anglican parents and in his education. He had a strong sense of the folly and double standards of life in general and these thoughts influenced many of his works, including this one.
Butler used heavy irony and a fictionalised method of making his point, in order to make the whole argument more palatable to the general reader, but it was so believable that some contemporary commentators refused to accept it was irony at all, one pious critic writing “His exhibition of the certain proofs furnished of the Resurrection of our Lord is certainly masterly and convincing.” In the end it seemed to have little impact on people’s views anyway; in later years, Butler commented that his criticism of Darwin had caused more disquiet than anything he had said about religion.
Despite the fact that it is a non-fiction work, The Fair Haven has elements of a novel. The narrative is presented by John Pickard Owen, who is a staunch defender of the gospels. In fact, the first edition is presented as if this person wrote it; it was only in the second edition that Butler’s name was added and his preface included reinforcing the fact that it was not to be taken as a defender of religion.