Writing a modernized account of the biblical gospel comes with a new challenge I’ve never encountered in fiction writing.
I continue to add material to my forthcoming book Blue Gospel, and I’ve recently added an account of the central figure’s birth by a young girl named Mary.
I have a new chapter that I like very much. It covers what we know as the conception of The Mystic by “a holy spirit”, no room at the inn, the manger scene, the three Collectors, and the flight south to escape civil authorities who view him as a threat.
I have some portrayal of Mary’s parents, Frank and Rosalind (who assume she got “knocked up” and don’t believe her outrageous conception story. To them, she’s just a promiscuous teen girl who got pregnant by her boyfriend Josef, and they are livid about it.)
My problem is that in the more ancient manifestations of Christianity that are still alive and well today, there is apocryphal material from the 2nd century that names Joachim and Anne as the parents of Mary. And Mary was conceived without sin. And Mary never committed a single sin her whole life. And that of course means she and Joseph never had relations.
These ancient traditions take the apocryphal story of St. Anne extremely seriously and cherish it deeply. Many churches and institutions are named after her.
In fact, I’m sure there is a whole lot of material that is going to send adherents to apocryphal teachings right through the roof!
This raises the specter of a very large contingent of my potential readership having a strong sense of violation and loss and diminishment of the sacred narratives. Close friends who happen to be Catholic or Orthodox may find the book too disturbing to read and either renounce it or read it and miss the thrill of my updated, 20th-century version.
(Although, I would argue that I am doing exactly what the non-apostolic 2nd-5th century writers did in making up a gigantic body of apocryphal and adjacent narrative and characters to accompany the authorized gospels.)
My story is very much a Protestant tale. Mary is an ordinary teenage girl, a good girl, but not sinless, although her conception was a miracle. Anne and Joachim, who are never mentioned in the Bible, are bumbling, suspicious parents.
Any Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Church of England readers — do you have any advice for me?
Please leave me a comment and share your thoughts
Hi Jeffrey,
My name is Kevin, recent attempter at finding a discontinued book of yours, and lifelong Catholic-raised-now-on-again-off-again-attendee-of-church. One thing that is somewhat universal about the Catholic experience is a strong feeling of protectiveness over that which is sacred. Even as a Holiday Catholic, I felt a pit form in my stomach from the moment I read ‘modernized account’ and ‘biblical gospel’ in the same sentence. And that is to be expected, one of the major reasons people find Catholicism refreshing is because of its dedication to the original source material without watering it down or changing it beyond that which is necessary for smooth translation purposes. My advice to you would be true to yourself and your goals for the story. You mentioned yourself that it is a Protestant tale; that means that this story may simply not be for everyone. I would encourage you to study meticulously and strive for accuracy, but also to understand that many more traditional Catholics will steer clear regardless. And that’s fine too. All the best 🙂
Hi Kevin, thank you for your calm, dispassionate yet honest comments about my project. Although I was never Catholic, there was a time when I was very touchy about anyone messing with biblical material. I remember the scandal surrounding “Jesus Christ, Superstar” and the even greater scandal when “The Last Temptation of Christ” came out. More recently, the novel by Nobel-winner Jose’ Scaramago, “The Gospel According to Jesus Christ.” I was indignant at both and considered them just more slanderous attacks at the true gospel from worldlings keen to make money on a central culture-historical figure. I assumed these accounts were all created by people who either couldn’t stomach the supernatural, wanted to humanize Jesus, or wanted to refute centuries of accretion of legends and traditions to which many everyday believers cling to that clouds the pure biblical message.
I appreciate your friendly response. Actually, I am almost choked up by a comment that is not typical internet immoderation. So thank you for your kindness. If you are looking for my discontinued book “The Former Hero”, you will only find fresh, new copies for sale here on my website.
Regards