Man” (McCullough, 1985:326). Judith confronts Joshua about his messianic
obsession by telling him:
I f there is any reason in the world why you are where you are and
who you are on this day, that reason is me! I put you here, I
created you! And I did not put you here to act out a second
coming (McCullough, 1985:324),
and in doing so, she is almost enunciating the words that Mary the mother of the
Christ-man could have uttered.
There are many parallels to the New Testament Jesus story and many of the
characters may be equated with characters in the New Testament. For example,
the experience and action in the final year of the life of Dr Joshua Christian parallel
those of the last three years of Jesus’ life and Joshua, like the Biblical Jesus, was
born in late December before the beginning of a new millennium (McCullough,
1 985:98). Joshua like Jesus dies at the age of thirty-three. An important parallel
can be made from the well-known passage in 1 Corinthians 13:3, regarding faith
hope and charity, the same three qualities that Joshua seeks at the beginning of his
mission (McCullough, 1985:149). The name Joshua Christian echoes the name
Jesus Christ but is a more authentic rendering of the Hebrew Yeshua rather than
the Greek Jesus. Even His father is called Joseph. As DeMarr points out, Judith
Carriol’s name echoes that of Judas Escariot (DeMarr, 1996:126), the traditional
betrayer of Jesus, although many scholars have believed his actions much more
complex than mere betrayal, as born out by the recently published Gospel of Judas
(2006). An analogous reading of this work to Christianity gives a distinct impression
that McCullough is alluding to the present day impotence of the more fundamental
expressions of that faith.
DeMarr identifies many other similarities between the Joshua and Jesus
narratives, besides some historical personages with parallels in the novel. The
incident of Jesus feeding the multitudes (Luke 9:10-17) is specifically compared to
the phenomenal sales of the Bible (McCullough, 1985:194), while the dispatch of
Joshua’s brothers to Europe and South America (McCullough, 1985:278) is not
unlike the travels of the apostles to preach to the world the message of Jesus
(Luke, 9:1-6). Joshua’s appearance on a television show just prior to the
publication of his book (McCullough, 1985:246, 264) might well be seen to parallel
the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus which contained his essential teachings.