For the last couple days I've been working on writing a comedic parody of the life of the character Jesus. I won't tell you my storyline yet, but rest assured it's a laugh to write and hopefully it will be to read when done. An interesting consequence though of this project is that it's giving me the closest look I've had at the gospels since I was a kid and I'm noticing things I never did before.
The first observation--I'll put more later--is the frequent recurrence of names. I noticed this first when I was figuring out my through-line for John and then became confused over how he was at the last supper when he had been beheaded earlier. I also thought it was strange that he was writing the book after he had been decapitated. All of these things I'd previously assumed were just continuity errors and the improbability of John having actually written the gospel (if indeed he ever existed). Needing to settle this though, I learned via Yahoo Answers that there were, in fact, two Johns. Okay, cool.
Turns out the King Herod that troubled Jesus as an infant was not the same King Herod that sought Jesus' death as an adult. A multitude of Peters, Simons, and even Judases (or is the plural Judi?). There were two Salomes and Jesus was also hooking up with a woman who had the same name as his mother (Shall I invoke Oedipus?).
In all likelihood there were limited names in this society, certainly Korea is that way to this day, but it reminds me of confusing old Norse Sagas. As a kid I think I merged these characters. Now, I'm taking care not to in my (hopefully) beautifully written work of blasphemy.
Comment
Comment by mistercliff on May 24, 2011 at 5:43pm
Comment by David Anam on May 24, 2011 at 10:51am Bravo for doing research!
Far too many people would just say "who cares if it's accurate? It's not meant to be taken seriously." Comedy is at its best when it gets the small stuff right.
Joan Denoo commented on Ruth Anthony-Gardner's group Hang With Friends
John Hutcheson posted a blog post
Ian Mason commented on Ruth Anthony-Gardner's group Hang With Friends
Nerdlass replied to Ruth Anthony-Gardner's discussion Cicadas taste like asparagus in the group THE KNIFE & FORK
Nerdlass commented on Debra Stevenson's blog post Some Wiccans and their seeking approval from Christians
Hiram replied to Hiram's discussion Epicureanism: a Secular Doctrine for Happiness
Hiram commented on Maruli Marulaki's group Epicurean Atheists© 2013 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: Richard Haynes.


You need to be a member of Atheist Nexus to add comments!
Join Atheist Nexus