Well I finished the book. I can't tell you much more about it without giving too much away, as when I wrote the first review I was already ALMOST finished. To demonstrate how good this book actually is: I usually read about 100-150 pages a week. This book is 441 pages. I read it in 7 days. Even with a vacation, this is unusually fast for me. I simply couldn't put it down.
In the end, I just feel it is a good representation of what it is like to BE a Christian. We are sinful little bastards, pushed by impulse, and life is funny throughout. A Christian is not any better than anyone else, they are just in love with Jesus Christ. They know the insignificance of their lives but they find meaning and purpose in the life of their friend. Love of Christ is what saves.
This isn't to say that a life with Jesus Christ will look no different. Certainly, Biff's life is changed by his relationship with Jesus. He is more aware of just how sinful he really is. The light of Jesus' perfection shines a burning light upon Biff's iniquity, but this light in no way oppresses Biff. It rather inspires him. What's more, the entire course of Biff's life is directed and shaped by his relationship with Jesus Christ. His life is more fun, more funny, and a grander adventure. Biff's worldliness is more attentive for his relationship with his friend. And it is redeemed.
Salvation is not found by escaping the grit of human life. It is found rather within the midst of that grit, for God has incarnated Himself in one particular human being, who dwelled among other particular human beings. This book is ultimately incarnational.
There are some silly questions it explores for the sake of levity and adventure. "What would it be like if a human with divine power learned Kung Fu?" Christopher Moore says in an afterword that once this question entered his head, he had to play it out in the book. But the primary questions are ones of depth: what is the place of the comic in the drama of the Divine? What is human nature? How does God save what is sinful? What is the meaning of my life? Where do we find God?
These questions are explored with comedic awareness and that makes them that much deeper. I loved this book, and it is now on my list of best books of all time. Check it out.
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