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

The theme of the commingling of religious beliefs is essential to the novel’s premise, structure, and overall meaning. Apart from Luke’s account of Christ’s visit to the Temple in Jerusalem at age 12 (Luke 2:41-52), the Gospels in the New Testament skip from Jesus’s birth to the start of his ministry at age 30. In the Bible, Christ’s message suddenly appears fully formed and matured just as he does. Christopher Moore, on the other hand, focuses on these early years and presents Joshua’s message as something that formed gradually. Joshua’s teachings don’t appear in a thunderclap of divine inspiration. Rather, Joshua develops them through years of diligently studying different belief systems and reflecting on the world around him.

Moore uses setting, structure, and characterization to support the theme of religious commingling. The Roman fortress of Sepphoris stands “an hour’s walk north of Nazareth” (9), Christ’s hometown. Moore utilizes this proximity to expose his young Messiah to a religiously diverse population that includes Romans and Greeks. Three of the novel’s six parts focus on Joshua and Biff’s quest to find the Magi. In Moore’s reinterpretation, each of the wise men becomes an adept practitioner of a different belief system.