Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
by Christopher Moore
$14.99

Paperback: 444 pages

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; First Perennial edition (February 4, 2003)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0380813815

ISBN-13: 978-0380813810

Annotation/Flashtalk:

Have you ever wondered what happened to Jesus between the story of his birth and when the story picks up around 26AD when he his baptized by John the Baptist?  The missing Gospel is finally available, and it’s been written by Levi (also known as Biff) Jesus’ childhood friend.  See what Jesus was like as a teenager and find out how he came to understand that he was to be the ultimate sacrificial lamb.

Summary:

The Bible seems to leave out much of the story of Jesus’ life after about the age of 12 up until the time he is around 26; the lost Gospel that fills in the gaps is finally available.  As a teenager, Jesus is not feeling much like the messiah he is supposed to be.  In Lamb we find out about Jesus’ early and teenage years as he and his childhood friend Levi (who is known as Biff) travel the Orient to track down the Three Wise Men to help Jesus come to understand his true mission.  Biff’s telling of the tale makes Jesus more human than we can ever imagine; "Don't you go believing the messiah never hit anyone.” We learn the origins of why Jews eat Chinese food on Christmas, how the Easter Bunny becomes associated with Easter, and why Jesus feels so strongly about “knock and the door will be opened to you.”  (Luke 11:9 and Mark 7:7)

Genre/Subgenre: Humor/Historical Fiction/Christianity

Evaluation: 4-stars.