Elements of the Sacred in Patrick Roth’s Novel Corpus Christi

Abstract

The article discusses the novel Corpus Christi, the third part of a literary trilogy by Patrick Roth, a contemporary German writer currently living in Los Angeles. All Roth’s plots focus on human attitudes towards the received message concerning the Messianic Jesus. The author concentrates on the image of Jesus present in the psyche of contemporary people in order to show the process of cognition of spiritual matters. The analysis aims to trace in the novel both biblical references and elements which depict the mystical experience leading to an individual’s spiritual transformation. The novel Corpus Christi, whose very title has theological connotations, features scenes, characters and plot patterns derived from the Bible. they are, however, subject to the author’s innovative modifications. The text contains more references to the transcendental than depictions of the temporal. Both realities are inseparable and intersect. The sacred, which imposes the need for worship and transcends the horizon of the temporal, is shown by means of images deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition.