Not on my Christmas reading list
The Ironic Catholic points to a new novel called Lamb, which is subtitled "The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal."
Okay the subtitle is bad enough and it is hard to imagine a Jew named Biff in the first place. I just wondered how awful the book could be so I read the first page of it at Amazon.
It starts with Biff describing a 6 year old Jesus letting a lizard play in his mouth. I'm not kidding. Biff yells "Unclean, unclean", but the mothers around him ignore him. Jesus' "younger brother" manages to take the lizard and then smashes it with a rock. Jesus takes the dead lizard and places it into his mouth. The lizard is then resurrected and crawls back out of his mouth. His "younger brother" than kills it again.
Now we know the later story in Jesus life is based on Lizardus. Though it would be hard for child Jesus to say "Lizardous come forth" with the lizard in his mouth. As an adult I guess he had perfected his technique.
It seems this book has the flavor of the Gnostic books that also described a child Jesus making clay birds and bringing them to life.
Known as 
My gosh, are writers getting desperate. My opinion has been this: the moment an artist trots out sacrilege is the moment their creativity has died. How better to get noticed than be "shocking" and "controversial." Yawn.
I'm sure the author is visualizing wild sales success while clutching his lucky rabbit paw. Or at least a PBS children's special.
Be rightly appalled, but this is not remotely new. The book came out way back in 2002 or 2003.
I've read it. Its obviously not for the easily-wounded-pious at heart, but Jesus does come out looking good.
As to the unhistorical name-having someone named Biff in Judea is suppose to be ironic, I should think.
To be fair--maybe fairer than deserved, since I haven't read the book--I think the author is going for broad humor here. I thought the title was funny, anyway.
I'd just say one thing: the book is not for people looking for historical accuracy and for those easily offended, based from what I've heard. Still, 'Jew-do' never fails to make me chuckle.
BTW, the apocryphal Gospel where the child Jesus makes clay birds (the Infancy Gospel of Thomas) is not Gnostic - the Gospel of Thomas is, or may be. Not all apocryphal Gospels are Gnostic (they could sometimes be just 'pious' fanfiction by orthodox Christians hungry for more stories), and not all Gnostic literature are apocryphal Gospels (sometimes they could be rather incomprehinsible and dry commentaries on a given theme). ;)
I'd just say one thing: the book is not for people looking for historical accuracy and for those easily offended, based from what I've heard. Still, 'Jew-do' never fails to make me chuckle.
BTW, the apocryphal Gospel where the child Jesus makes clay birds (the Infancy Gospel of Thomas) is not Gnostic - the Gospel of Thomas is, or may be. Not all apocryphal Gospels are Gnostic (they could sometimes be just 'pious' fanfiction by orthodox Christians hungry for more stories), and not all Gnostic literature are apocryphal Gospels (sometimes they could be rather incomprehinsible and dry commentaries on a given theme). ;)