The Church of the Comic Spirit: Including the Bear Lake Scrolls

One evening Father Alazon Lustlieb appears on a popular evening talk show to announce that he has received a series of revelations. Several God-sent angels he reports instructed him to find and translate a set of twelve scrolls then choose four disciples to help him interpret these scriptures--the Bear Lake Scrolls--and establish the Church of the Comic Spirit.The Scrolls the original versions of some of the more famous Biblical stories form the centerpiece of this novel. Each of the twelve tales has its own distinct plot style genre (short story film script newspaper coverage of a congressional investigation diary series of letters to the editor) brand of comedy (wit satire parody sex farce) and characters (Eve and Adam Methuselah Noahs wife Elsie Abraham and Sarah Lots wife Jane Moses Job David and Bathsheba Goliath) all of whom are cast in the roles of schemers rogues buffoons fools and schlemiels. God is often the central character the comic hero though his rôle and character change from story to story much as in the standard Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.The teachings of the Church of the Comic Spirit are set forth in a short catechism consisting of answers to FAQs. Whether God really exists or whether somebody has just been posing as God? Whether women are smarter than men? Whether the profits generated by the theme park Bear Lake World Inc. should be tax-free? Whether irreverence is the highest virtue? Whether laughter is the way to salvation? How many angels can dance on the edge of a hot tub?