THE MISCONCEIVED CONCEPTION OF A BABY NAMED JESUS

Burkland’s religious satire offers an alternative retelling of the conception of Jesus.

The story begins with biblical figures Isaiah and Micah delivering prophecies. Isaiah is depicted as a drunkard whose prophecies are intentionally ambiguous, while Micah communicates mostly with a group of cats. The latter learns of Isaiah’s prophecy of a virgin birth and tries to one-up him by predicting that the birth will be in Bethlehem. Joseph is a humble carpenter from Nazareth, while Mary is a strong-willed young woman sent to that town by her parents to separate her from her rebellious friend, Vashti. Mary and Joseph develop a romantic relationship, and as they travel to Bethlehem for the Roman census, they anticipate the disapproval of Mary's strict, religious parents. When they arrive, they meet “The Keeper,” a 103-year-old innkeeper who helps Mary bring her child into the world in a stable. Mary’s father, Jerome, and the High Priest join forces and convince drunken shepherds to spread a fabricated story about an angelic visitation and coerce the Wise Men to proclaim the miracle of Jesus’ birth. Soon, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus leave Bethlehem to escape the ensuing chaos. As the family settles into their journey, they reflect on the strange events that have shaped their lives; the story concludes in a modern setting. Burkland’s satirical recasting of the New Testament account of Jesus’ origins is most successful in its humorous character descriptions, as when it paints Jerome as “a noodle of a man with…rapidly receding hair that looked as though a handful of thin, lethargic worms had been indiscriminately dumped on top of his tiny head.” The dialogue is similarly clever, as it offers critiques of the era’s conventions, as when Mary’s mother, Elisheba, says to her daughter: “You may be a grown woman of fourteen, but you are in my house.” Devout Christian readers will take issue with some aspects of the tale, but overall, it offers a humorous departure from the original text that many readers will enjoy.

A fun, pithy sendup of one of the best-known origin stories.