Hammering the point home
If the readings at evensong today are anything to go by, Biblical characters would have been superb in the modern age, showing something of a knack for composing algorithms.
(Abram and Lot's living conditions have become a tad cramped; when their herdsmen have a difference of opinion, Abram divines the following solution.) Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. (Genesis 13:9)
(Jesus, in the third chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, is spelling things out in words of mostly one syllable.) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit: but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. (Matthew 7:17-18)
Eleanor, sitting in front of me, suggested the readings were a bit predictable. Personally, I was all for adding the following passage:
(God ensures St Attila is in no doubt about the correct deployment of what would subsequently become an Holy Relic.) First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three: no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three; five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it. (Armaments 2:17-21)
(Abram and Lot's living conditions have become a tad cramped; when their herdsmen have a difference of opinion, Abram divines the following solution.) Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. (Genesis 13:9)
(Jesus, in the third chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, is spelling things out in words of mostly one syllable.) Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit: but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. (Matthew 7:17-18)
Eleanor, sitting in front of me, suggested the readings were a bit predictable. Personally, I was all for adding the following passage:
(God ensures St Attila is in no doubt about the correct deployment of what would subsequently become an Holy Relic.) First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then shalt thou count to three: no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three; five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it. (Armaments 2:17-21)
posted by Anthony at
22:43
2 Comments:
That passage from Matthew is one of the places I find troubling. Surely Jesus is not really talking about fruit trees, anymore than he was really talking about houses built on sand or talents buried in a field. But it seems to imply that "good trees," or people of faith, I suppose -- more specifically, Christian folk -- can only bring good into the world. That seems empirically untrue to me. The corollary, that "bad trees" can bring forth "only" bad fruit also seems untrue. Hmm. Ponder.
By
Andy, at 27/2/06 19:30
In many such cases, I'd put it down to the Bible being outdated in some respects. We know all too well the horrors done in the name of God - it goes at least as far back as the crusades - and I think it's unlikely that such things did not happen in Jesus' time. (To a great extent, the crucifixion itself is proof of this.) For that matter, the suggestion that bad trees equates bad fruit is in direct opposition to the principles of redemption ...
I'm beginning to wonder if Kevin Smith wasn't on to something. According to his introduction to the British edition of the Dogma screenplay, one of the nuns who taught him as a boy believed that when Christ described Peter as the "rock [upon which] I will build my church", He was teasing a friend who wasn't the strongest of men, one He knew who would disown Him - in short, she humanised Jesus.
It would be taking things a bit far to suggest Christ is indulging in a spot of hyperbole, making sure everyone retains something from the Sermon on the Mount, but there are times when I wonder ...
By
Anthony, at 27/2/06 21:21
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