The paper is an analysis of The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee as seen from the perspective of cultural studies. Treated as a document of culture, it depicts recent changes in Western civilization, particularly in such spheres as religion as and philosophy (specifically axiology and epistemology). The pseudoapocryphal character of Coetzee’s novel provokes one to giving consideration to the attitude western culture has towards its own roots and towards the role the source myths and religious symbols play in it, that is to the shape of the cultural identity of contemporary West. The picture which emerges from the analysis is a culture threatened with ‘amnesia’. It is, however, a erverse picture since it has been painted with the use of the symbol which is “present in absence”.