Bible copycats?

June 26, 2007 1:51 PM

Books that imitate/parody/use-as-inspiration the story of Jesus?

Do you know of any literary works that imitate the gospels, in terms of parodying the story of Jesus, or copying the style or structure of the gospels (a contemporaneous account of the life of a mystic, for example)?

It doesn't have to be humorous and could be a more heavy-weight literary effort. Note that I'm not interested in apocrypha. Maybe things like Monty Python's Life of Brian, or Will Self's Book of Dave, or anything older (Pilgrim's Progress, as a debatable example).

Polite request: This isn't the place to offer your views on religion, or Jesus, or authenticity of The Bible. Thanks!

posted by deeper red to media & arts (37 comments total)

Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
posted by tastybrains at 1:54 PM on June 26, 2007 [2 favorites]

Terry Pratchett, Small Gods. Not quite a direct parody, but certainly resonant with the mythology.
posted by fuzzbean at 1:54 PM on June 26, 2007

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:54 PM on June 26, 2007

Well done, tastybrains.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:55 PM on June 26, 2007

The Boomer Bible, R. F. Laird

Also, Joseph Girzone's Joshua books.
posted by box at 1:57 PM on June 26, 2007

Apparently somewhat disputed (according to Wikipedia), but there are some very heavy parallels in the Chronicles of Narnia.
posted by Partial Law at 2:00 PM on June 26, 2007

El Evangelio de Lucas Gavilan by Vicente Leñero is a mock gospel set in modern Mexico (or in Mexico in the 70s, rather).
posted by micayetoca at 2:03 PM on June 26, 2007

Only Begotten Daughter, James Morrow.
posted by xil at 2:15 PM on June 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Jonathon Livingston Seagull has some Jesus allegory.
posted by Atreides at 2:25 PM on June 26, 2007

"Bring me the king of the Jews that I might meet him... this Supply Side Jesus."
posted by hodyoaten at 2:30 PM on June 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

These are the ones I have read and recommend:

Joshua (and the whole series), by Girzone
Jesus Christ Superstar (a play)
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, by Saramago
Jesus the Son of Man, by Gibran [my personal favorite in this list]
Lord of the Rings draws just as heavily as does the Narnia series.
posted by iurodivii at 2:43 PM on June 26, 2007

Partial Law

The parallels between Christian doctrine and Narnia are not the subject of the dispute; Lewis admits that parallels are present, but objects to people taking them as evidence of allegorical intent.

In that a correct evaluation requires specialized education (or an innate 'gift'), it's kind of like arguing about what is or is not ironic.
posted by The Confessor at 2:47 PM on June 26, 2007

Quarantine, by Jim Crace. (Excellent book, btw.)
posted by veronica sawyer at 2:53 PM on June 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Tom Robbins' "Another Roadside Attraction" contains a chapter that is an imagined meeting between Tarzan and Jesus during his temptation in the desert.
posted by hermitosis at 2:55 PM on June 26, 2007

One of the settings in "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov involves a satirical retelling of the passion (although the chief protagonist is Pontius Pilate).
posted by arha at 3:04 PM on June 26, 2007

The Gospel According to the Son - Norman Mailer

I also strongly second the the Lamb recommendation.
posted by Roach at 3:20 PM on June 26, 2007

Anything by Richard S. Bach.

And...The Little Prince.

And...anything by Khalil Gibran.
posted by TomMelee at 3:22 PM on June 26, 2007

The Kids in the Hall did a Dr. Seuss Bible:

"His name will be Christ and he'll never wear shoes. And his pals will all call him the King of the Jews!"
posted by futility closet at 3:23 PM on June 26, 2007

Didn't Stranger in a Strange Land have some parallels with the Jesus story? Oh and thirding the Lamb rec.
posted by shrieking violet at 4:14 PM on June 26, 2007

This book covers the topic.
posted by TheRaven at 4:24 PM on June 26, 2007

The Cockroaches of Stay More by Donald Harington
posted by Methylviolet at 4:35 PM on June 26, 2007

Sholem Asch, The Nazarene
Robert Graves, King Jesus
Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ
posted by thomas j wise at 4:48 PM on June 26, 2007

Nthing "Lamb". Best Jesus book EVAR.
posted by spinturtle at 5:14 PM on June 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

"The Last Temptation of Christ" by Nikos Kazantzakis (the movie by Scorsese is also quite good)

If you're also looking for movies, "Dogma" is a good one.
posted by Alabaster at 5:46 PM on June 26, 2007

Almost everything James Morrow published has a biblical root.

Aye on Tom Robbins.

Not a fan but Ishmal might be worth exploring. By Daniel Quinn.
posted by Toekneesan at 6:29 PM on June 26, 2007

The Old Man and the Sea is largely an allegory for the story of Christ.
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:36 PM on June 26, 2007

I wish you had said movies because Jesus of Montreal is one of my favourites.
posted by loiseau at 6:40 PM on June 26, 2007

Of course, there are stories which precede the Christian gospels which are remarkably similar to the story of Jesus.

There is a LOT of material discussing these similarities, and there is much hand-wringing over questions of the causal relationship between these stories. This is an especially amusing, yet interesting, Wikipedia article which touches on the topic. I have yet to see an article with more disclaimers attached!

The most interesting introduction to this topic I could find is an essay, "The Influence of the Mystery Religions on Christianity," by Martin Luther King, Jr. It's worth a read... for many reasons.
posted by funkbrain at 6:53 PM on June 26, 2007

Oh... now I read your polite request. I hope you don't think my comment is out of line. I see now that it isn't all that relevant to the spirit of your question, though. Sorry!
posted by funkbrain at 6:58 PM on June 26, 2007

Apart from Bulgakov's masterpiece, The Master & Margarita, another pretty good Russian novel deals with the passion: The Faculty of Useless Knowledge, by (from memory) Yuri Dombrowsky.

In both cases, the situation of Christ & Pilate is used, in some way, as an allegory for how things operate in Soviet Russia.

(in Soviet Russia, things operate on you!)
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:33 PM on June 26, 2007

The second half of Dan Simmons' Hyperion series (Endymion and Rise of Endymion): the story is centered around a messiah doomed to sacrifice herself for all mankind.

Might be a bit of stretch, but it loosely fits the "use-as-inspiration" category.
posted by JaredSeth at 9:04 PM on June 26, 2007

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah is not unlike a gospel or two.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:01 PM on June 26, 2007

Michael Moorcock’s Behold The Man.
posted by misteraitch at 11:48 PM on June 26, 2007

Dune.
posted by blacklite at 12:04 AM on June 27, 2007

Sorry, I messed up the link: Behold The Man.
posted by misteraitch at 12:09 AM on June 27, 2007

D.H. Lawrence, The Man Who Died.
posted by felix grundy at 6:20 AM on June 27, 2007

"Live from Golgotha" by Gore Vidal.
posted by outlier at 6:25 AM on June 27, 2007