kh (03/14/83)
Well, I've been reading a little of the New Testament lately, and I
could see how the philosophy might be attractive. The purity of the
spirit shown in the "Surmon on the Mount" is appealing, but I really
don't think it's very realistic. Ghandi showed much better results,
after all. I think it's appalling how Jesus goes around complacently
accepting (and implicitly approving) of such injustices as slavery.
At least he stopped the aldulteress from being stoned to death. (I doubt
Falwell would have lifted a finger.) It's interesting to consider Jesus
in a historical perspective; the story is supposed to take place in
the unrest that followed the death of Herod the Great. It seems to
be a place of clashing cultures and uncertain morals. I remember reading
somewhere, once, about the other Jewish cults that were formed around
the same time, but at the time I wasn't very interested in it. If anyone
knows of a good source for that topic, I'd like to hear about it.
Also, does anybody know how many people were killed in the sack of
Jerusalem (about 40 years after Jesus died)? I've heard from a fairly
reliable source that it was almost a million, but that seems high. Things
like that make Jesus' collaborationist attitude understandable.
Isn't it amusing how much emphasis is placed on Jesus's
healing in the Gospels. Driving out spirits must have gone over big
back then (sort of a prerequisite to messiah-hood), but since the
advent of medicine, it just tends to discredit the story. I was
surprised by many little things, too. I didn't realize that
Joseph and Mary had a pack of little kids. Also interesting that
the sons names were listed, but not the daughters'. I certainly
didn't expect the bursts of irrationality from Jesus, like the time
he cursed (and apparently killed) a tree that wouldn't produce fruit
out of season.
By the way, I highly recommend the introduction to the New Testament
part of the Interpreters Bible. I found it extremely informative. The
description of what Herod did for Palestine reminds me of the scene in
"Life of Brian": "Right. But besides the aqueduct, education, sanitation,
the roads, irrigation, law and order, what have the Romans ever done for
us?!"
Kenny Hirsch
duke!unc!kh
kh.unc@UDel-Relay
Chapel Hill, N.C.sjk (03/14/83)
What's amusing about the emphasis on Jesus' healings? If modern medicine and the world at large was willing to learn by his example the human species would be a much healthier organism. To me what's amusing is the phony trash on Sunday morning religious TV. The irony is that it can still inspire some people in a true and honest spiritual way even if it's fake. God works in mysterious ways. scott <ucbvax!sjk, sjk@ucbvax>