I have read 85% of a book that a friend gave it to me. It is a book by Christopher Moore and is a work of humorous religious fiction. The title is "LAMB: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BIFF, CHRIST'S CHILDHOOD PAL". It is simply put, one of the best books I have ever read. The book is ostensibly a work of comedy, and it really is unbelievably funny. Without a doubt it is the funniest book I've ever read. But while the comedy is what prevails, what is truly amazing is how moving this story is. The book will have you laughing one minute, crying from sadness or joy the next, and thinking deeply throughout. It is aesthetically pleasing, entertaining and spiritually moving. I cannot believe what I am reading.
The book tells two stories alongside each other. The first story is the story of the resurrection of Jesus closest and oldest friend, Levi whose nickname in life was "Biff". Levi is resurrected to write a new Gospel in commemoration of Jesus' 2000th birthday. The problem is that Raziel, the absent-minded guardian angel of Jesus, woke him up, as usual, 2 years too late. Biff and Raziel's journey through the modern world is the backdrop for the larger and far more important story. The book is a work of comedy, and Biff's constant ribbing on Raziel is gut-busting in its hilarity.
The real story, however, is Biff's recounting of the life of the messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as Biff remembers it. It is that story that will be the focus of this review. A big part of Biff's job is to fill in Jesus' early years, which are missing from the rest of the gospels because those who wrote the Gospels didn't know Jesus before his ministry began. Biff and Jesus meet at six years old, and are the closest of friends. Now, this is important, Biff is a "little bastard" in the most colloquial sense of that phrase. Think about one of the South Park kids. It is like Jesus hanging out with Kenny. He is sinful, sex-obsessed, foul-mouthed, rude, sarcastic and will do anything for a laugh. Throughout their lives together, it is the contrast of Jesus' holiness and spiritual power and Biff's worldliness that is the theme of their friendship.
The earliest part of the book is impressive in that it really captures what it would be like for the Son of God, for a divine being, to inhabit the world as a human child. Jesus is completely human and completely divine in this book. He is born with great power and it manifests in ways He can't fully control. In many ways He is like a holy force of nature, confused and lonely. What is striking about this early part of the book is how historically accurate it is. So impressive is Moore's grasp of the historical setting and what we surmise about Jesus early life, that I had to do some investigating of my own into Moore's background. It seems he indeed did some extensive research, and it shows. It not only shows, but it makes for better storytelling. There are significant swaths of the book that are more fact than fiction. The importance of Sephora, a Greek city outside Nazareth, is an example. Another is Jesus instruction by Pharisees. The dress, the details of the sacrifice and pilgrimages, Moore gets all of these right.
As for the story, during this time Jesus meets Mary Magdalene (whom Biff, who nicknames everyone, calls affectionately 'Maggie') and it is the interplay of Biff's love for Mary, Mary's love for Jesus, and Jesus love for His Father in Heaven, that forms the conflict and story-driving for this part of the novel. At this point, the story is no different from any other love triangle, though the love triangle of children and teenagers. Moore captures all of this beautifully. And throughout, Biff provides laughs for the reader. I cannot overstate how funny the character is.
The book then moves into a time when Jesus starts to search for His destiny. He needs to learn how to use His divine power, what it means to be the messiah, and to discover the nature of sin. Jesus, being sinless, cannot grasp the hows and whys of sin. He feels certain temptations, but he doesn't know what it is like to give into them. Biff, being the unrepentant sinner that he is, takes over this part of Jesus training. But for the rest, what is needed are teachers of great power. And so Biff and Jesus go off on a journey to find the three wise men who visited Jesus when He was born. This is a takeoff of some old, and non-historical legends that exist in the near east about Jesus lost years. The recounting in LAMB is far different from those legends, however.
In this section, Jesus engages in the study of eastern philosophy. He is taught by various 'masters' of Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism. They teach Jesus spiritually and mentally, and help Biff become a better liar, a better lover, and a better warrior, so as to fulfill his role as Jesus' friend and protector. This section is very much like a Kung Fu movie or comic book superhero story. The historical foundation is completely abandoned. Moore doesn't care about being accurate during this part of the book. This section of the book his highly sexualized as Biff's worldliness comes crashing full-steam into, well, the wider world. There is a lot of violence and a lot of very cartoonish characters. But there is instruction as well. The book gives a good overview of eastern philosophy, and imagines what it would be like if Jesus had, say, mastered Kung Fu or Yoga. What would these practices be like in the hands of a human being who had within him the essence of the Foundation of the Universe? Wonder and hilarity ensure.
It is here that Moore's personal philosophy, a kind of Christianized Buddhism, comes fully into play. This section is in part a manifesto of Moore's own personal beliefs. But Moore is able to communicate all of this without getting didactic or pedantic, and that is a very big deal indeed. The humor remains, as does the riveting storytelling. As a comic book guy, this section more than entertained and instructed. And somehow, despite the differences between this section and what came before and after, the whole thing flows surprisingly well.
The last section recounts, this time from Biff's point of view, the gospel stories we are all familiar with. Jesus' message of peace, love and the Holy Spirit, His parables and His lessons, all pull from sources that Biff has established in the other sections of the book. We see Jesus' childhood experiences and His eastern encounters now used to organize His cousin John the Baptist's movement into a force for positive change in the world. Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene re-enters the picture, complicating Jesus' life and giving Biff yet more opportunity for sin and comedy. The struggles Jesus faces in taking His divine experiences and finding some way to organize them into a coherent message, the work of building an earthly ministry, all of this is engaged with the same historical perspective found in part one, but with the background now of an entire eastern experience.
Thematically, the book does many interesting things.
It makes Jesus look both human and divine. It imagines very well what it would be like for a being to be both. Jesus struggles with temptation but not with sin. He has great power but only limited understanding as to how to use it. He can feel God and reach out to him, but only occasionally hears His voice.
It finds the divine in the comical. I have argued many times that humor is an experience of God. This book essentially says the same thing. Many actions that would otherwise be sinful are not sinful if they are comedic, for the comedic is divine.
Moore obviously sees Jesus as a Buddha, and he spends some time painting that picture. But he abandons that view later on, for Moore is trying to speak to Christians first and foremost, I think. The final picture of Jesus is very much in line with basic orthodoxy. This is especially true of Jesus' message. Jesus gives up the dietary restrictions of the Jews, for instance, in the book. This is something many Christians think Jesus actually did. Jesus teaches salvation for all people. There is a simplicity to Jesus' final messages that line up with Christian orthodoxy. On this point Moore has abandoned his strict historicism. For much of what Jesus believes in the book, is not what Jesus likely believed in real life, according to most scholars.
There is a strong juxtaposition of the profane and the sacred. Jesus lives in a sinful, profane world, and the holy in this world lives in the midst of the profane. Jesus does not remove himself from profane people or situations, but tries his best to heal those situations. This juxtaposition, though dangerous, is true to the facts of the world. There are only two places that Moore goes too far, having Jesus do things that I think are truly out of the divine character. But those two mistakes are easily forgiven in a book this wonderful, moving, and funny.
In the end, the real focus is on what it means to be a Christian in this world. Biff is the model for the average Christian. He is disgusting, sinful, and disrespectful. He has no saving graces of his own, except one: He loves Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ loves him. I have not made it to the final end yet...the crucifixion and resurrection, which I know are coming. But what is clear is that Biff, disgusting, sinful, sexualized, is a dude like any other, but a dude who loves Jesus Christ and finds salvation in that love. It is not Biff's holiness, but Jesus', that saves him. In the end, Biff is the model for every Christian. He is a stupid, sinful loser who can see only one good thing in his life, only one thing worth doing: loving Jesus. In that love is his salvation. In Jesus' love is ours.
With that kind of message, this book has the power to really give insight and help people understand what it means to be a Christian. For that reason, for the aesthetic reasons, for the humor, for the drama, I highly recommend this book. It is not for children, that is for sure. But for adults, there is much to be gleaned, and much to love.
No comments:
Post a Comment