cms@gatech.edu (05/29/90)
In article <May.24.01.05.39.1990.21632@athos.rutgers.edu>, cattanac@casca.cs.uiuc.edu (Scott Cattanach) writes: > Something I saw in a magazine: > > In AD 6, Varus, the Roman procurator, quelled a Jewish uprising in the > town of Sepphoris by crucifying 2,000 zealots along the road to > Nazareth, only 4 miles away. It was Roman custom to conscript local > carpenters to construct crosses. > > -catt (cattanac@cs.uiuc.edu) I would guess that one person cognizant of this information was Nikos Kazantzakis, the author of THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. In this novel, and the subsequent movie, Jesus is a carpenter whose major business practice is constructing crosses for the Romans; he almost relishes crucifying God's almost-messiahs. He is being obedient to the Father's will, however, and everything he does for the Father's will he relishes, in all fairness. I thought it was a good book. The most moving, yet puzzling, section for me was when Christ describes to John (the beloved disciple) an incident in which he shouts to the mountains, demanding why (I think), hears the answer (this is my beloved son?), and, behold, it was an echo. What he specifically asked escapes me; like many passages in the Bible, the details are irrelevent compared to the theological point the author was trying to make, and that is, that Jesus Christ is God and prayer is his method of conversing with himself. -- Sincerely, _///_ // SPAWN OF A JEWISH _///_ // _///_ // <`)= _<< CARPENTER _///_ //<`)= _<< <`)= _<< _///_ // \\\ \\ \\ _\\\_ <`)= _<< \\\ \\ \\\ \\ <`)= _<< >IXOYE=('> \\\ \\ \\\ \\_///_ // // /// _///_ // _///_ // emory!dragon!cms <`)= _<< _///_ // <`)= _<< <`)= _<< \\\ \\<`)= _<< \\\ \\ \\\ \\ GO AGAINST THE FLOW! \\\ \\ A Real Live Catholic in Georgia Okay, okay....Cindy Smith