The Prostitute in the Family Tree: Discovering Humor and Irony in the Bible - Douglas Adams
Immediately following The Humor of Christ I read this book. Adams (not the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) challenges us to consider the unrecognized humorous elements of many biblical stories, including the story of Abraham, Jonah, many of Christ's parables, and some of Christ's transactions with his disciples. "Humor gives us hope" (3) and allows us to see that we can all be Christ's disciples. Indeed, when we recognize the bumbling, stumbling, fumbling character of Christ's disciples - including that "blockhead", Peter - then we can have deeper confidence in our faith-journey. Adams writes, "With disciples such as these, it is possible for anyone to be a disciple" (62). Unlike Trueblood, who despairs of finding any humor in Paul, Adams uncovers banter in Paul's epistles. The body parts talking to another (1 Corinthians 12), his anti-autobiography (2 Corinthians 11), sarcasm (1 Corinthians 4:6-10), and "cutting" cut-downs (Galatians 5:12) are proof of Paul's sense of humor. Adams also provides a wealth of resources to help immerse a congregation in biblical truth. Cheering and booing to Matthew's genealogy, making animal sounds to accompany Revelation 13, and writing our religious achievements on toilet paper in order to better practice Paul's pronouncement, "I consider all these things to be dung (or, more literally, sh*t)" (Philippians 3:8). I leave you to guess what Adams suggests we do with the toilet paper once we have completed the exercise! All in all, a provocative, interesting, and unique book!