tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29128991.post8632989204091368719..comments2023-10-10T09:50:34.565-07:00Comments on Find and Ye Shall Seek: Re-imagining JesusMystical Seekerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10828225180668865911noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29128991.post-85253154984110018422007-08-01T06:27:00.000-07:002007-08-01T06:27:00.000-07:00"That is why I think it might be necessary to at l...<I>"That is why I think it might be necessary to at least be consciously aware of the non-literal nature of religious myths"</I><BR/><BR/>Nod. That's what I meant to get at when I said "we speak entirely in metaphor".Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17980181582122445265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29128991.post-19565342084392459242007-07-30T21:15:00.000-07:002007-07-30T21:15:00.000-07:00I think the idea of "the authentic self" or being ...I think the idea of "the authentic self" or being "truly human" is an interesting one. I once viewed part of the "Saving Jesus' DVD, which is a sort of adult education curriculum for churches designed to get people to think about who Jesus is; I recall that the idea came up from one of the theologians who spoke on the DVD of Jesus being fully, authentically human, as such served as a sort of model for how we can try to be more fully human as well.<BR/><BR/>Of course, there are a lot of things that we associate with humanity that don't really jibe with divinity. To err is human, after all; to be human is to be vulnerable, uncertain, and to fail sometimes.<BR/><BR/>Matthew, regarding your analogy with a play, I understand what you are saying. The only comment I would make is that none of us when we view a play actually thinks that it is real. There is a shared understanding that we all have about what dramatic fiction is. But that isn't the case with religious myths; a lot of people <I>do</I> take them literally. That is why I think it might be necessary to at least be consciously aware of the non-literal nature of religious myths, in a way that is unnecessary with viewing a play or reading a novel.Mystical Seekerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10828225180668865911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29128991.post-5642227772857009362007-07-30T18:32:00.000-07:002007-07-30T18:32:00.000-07:00**On the one hand, I think Jim Burklo has put his ...**On the one hand, I think Jim Burklo has put his finger on something--specifically, the evils of dogmatism and orthodoxy, and the need for people to work out their own theological understanding. **<BR/><BR/>This is why I don't think there's such a thing as "Sola Scripture." It's more like "Sola Tradition." I can't speak as to why you're not a Trinitarian, but when I read the Bible, it was vague to me, and become more so when I started studying the Greek and the traditions around the Bible. And yet those who hold to "Sola Scripture" would say I'm wrong -- even though I'm going by the Bible alone. <BR/><BR/>John also made mention of the god-man no longer being functional. I think much of that has to do with how can one possibly follow a god-man? Such an entity would be perfect, whereas humans are flawed. Failure at some point is inevitabl. Would we set a standard before our children that they could never reach? <BR/><BR/>Rather, in reading the Gospels, especially the Synoptics, I see Jesus coming to show people how to be truly human. How to truly connect with each other, with our world, and with God. And the key to being human is that what works for one does not work for the other.OneSmallStephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08189124855157679020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29128991.post-60998213017799371902007-07-30T12:05:00.000-07:002007-07-30T12:05:00.000-07:00"A movement that should have accepted the fact tha...<I>"A movement that should have accepted the fact that Jesus was dead, and then gone on from there, ended up trying to hope him out of the grave."</I><BR/><BR/>Of course! The solution to our problems is to stomp on both metaphor AND hope! Genius!<BR/><BR/><I>"Is mythologizing fine as long as we recognize that we are mythologizing?"</I><BR/><BR/>I don't even think we have to continually unpack our specific myths. That seems a little like attending a play and reminding yourself every few minutes, "it's no big deal, these are just actors, and this is just a play."<BR/><BR/>Instead, I think a little intellectual humility would be a good place to begin, starting with the observation that we speak entirely in metaphor, and so the story or proposition that I affirm as true will always be slightly different than the story or proposition that you affirm as true, even if we use exactly the same words.Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17980181582122445265noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29128991.post-68483027225201100282007-07-30T11:26:00.000-07:002007-07-30T11:26:00.000-07:00I am reading Walter Wink's the Human Being. In it...I am reading Walter Wink's the Human Being. In it he suggests the the 300 year quest for the historical Jesus is really a quest for the authentic human being, or the myth of the human Jesus. The myth of the god-man Jesus is no longer functional for many of us, yet the historical person (if one could be found) is simply an historical person. <BR/><BR/>His suggestion is that our need is for the authentic Self. The myth of the human Jesus is really the impetus behind this quest even though we don't admit it.John Shuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00798753206614838161noreply@blogger.com