The essay presents two types of analysis of the novel The Word and the
Flesh: the first, which focuses on its stylistic elements, and the second one,
which refers to the perspective of religious studies. The author makes explicit
reference to Stefan Szymutko, who said: “Osroes’s letters were written
better than quasi-Markia’s letters”. As a proof of equivalence of both parts of
the novel, the author quotes wordplays (e.g. puns, polyptotons, homonyms)
and flowery style (asianism) that dominates in the second part of this work.
In The Word and the Flesh Teodor Parnicki presented the turn of the second
and third centuries of the modern era. It was a period of ardent religious
discussions and quarrels over such questions as Christ’s return, Mary’s virginity,
Gnosticism and the canon of the Holy Scriptures. The novel’s asianism
camouflages and obscures clear antichristian arguments, which are delivered
by the main characters of that 666 pages long novel
