Terrorism, Domestic and Foreign

Terrorism, Domestic and Foreign

I dislike using “terrorist” as a boogeyman label, but there are some interesting questions here.

Jesus is my friend by "Sonseed" on Vimeo

Jesus is my friend by “Sonseed” on Vimeo

(via Charlie Park)

The Jefferson Bible

The Jefferson Bible

Thomas Jefferson created his own version of the Bible, editing it down to just the moral codes and laws.

Naked Chocolate Jesus Nixed

Naked Chocolate Jesus Nixed | The Onion - America’s Finest News Source

“If I had that sculpture, I would trade it in a heartbeat for thirty chocolate coins.”

The Superman Code

The Superman Code

Recent readings paint Superman as Jesus, though he should probably be looked at as a Moses figure instead.

Over Three Hundred Proofs of God's Existence

Over Three Hundred Proofs of God’s Existence

Good stuff.

devoted1.com

devoted1.com

I can’t help but think this would also be useful against vampires while jogging at night.

The Meaning of Jesus’ Suffering: What Mel Missed

My dad sent me an interesting article today that discusses the most important difference between The Passion of the Christ and the Gospel: the Gospel glosses over all the suffering. While Passion will probably do a great job at depicting how terrible a thing to die on a cross would be, the Gospels themselves don’t focus on it. It wasn’t until many years later that Christian rhetoric centered on the suffering instead of the sacrifice.

[To focus on the details of the crucifixion] would be as odd as welcoming home a wounded soldier, and instead of focusing on the victory he won, dwelling on the exact moment the bayonet pierced his stomach, how it felt and what it looked like. A human soldier might well feel annoyed with such attention to his weakness rather than his strength. He would feel that it better preserved his dignity for visitors to avert their eyes from such details, and recount that part of the story as scantly as possible to focus instead on the final achievement.

This is the sense we pick up in the Gospels. Jesus’ suffering is rendered in the briefest terms, as if drawing about it a veil of modesty. What’s important is not that Jesus suffered for us, but that Jesus suffered for us.

Of course, the film’s purpose is to tell the story to modern audiences for whom suffering is an integral part of the tale, but the fact that it wasn’t at the time is interesting. Since the suffering is now such a big part of the Passion, I wonder if one could say that it doesn’t mean the same thing it did 2000 years ago. And if it doesn’t, wouldn’t that bring huge theological consequences if our culture has rewritten the single focal point for our faith? Are we getting it wrong?

Go read: beliefnet: The Meaning of Jesus’ Suffering — Mel Gibson’s Passion Contrasted with Early Christian Thought

The Passion Controversy

It says a lot about a certain segment of Americans that people are worried a movie about Jesus, the figure of forgiveness, might provoke hate towards Jews, a group that had already been persecuted for thousands of years before His crucifixion. Apparently dying on a cross just wasn’t enough.