On Medium: The Sin of Trying to Rationally Justify Christian Beliefs
Read on about how the Gospel of John uses Doubting Thomas as a foil to counter Gnosticism, to proclaim that faith should be blind rather than a type of knowledge.
Between now and 2040, humanity will emit another teraton of CO2, because the alternative is collapse of the ultimate scam, AKA the global economy, which operates by looting posterity. China is already the world’s largest consumer of automobiles, and is busily constructing an interstate highway system three times the size of America’s. We’re reduced to helping them: the Alberta tar sands are destined for them, not us. This is not only because the fossil fuel dynasties seek to preserve their advantages, but more deeply because geoengineering epitomizes humanity’s exceptionalist narrative, which claims that our success flows directly from our specialness, heroism, and ingenuity. The possibility that our success was merely a predictable consequence of the fossil fuel windfall, and therefore temporary and doomed from the start, is as unthinkable as comparing humanity to yeast in a bottle.
Something about about that doubting Thomas story that has always baffled me is why Thomas needed to see the wounds on the resurrected Jesus' body and place his hands in them. Didn't he see his master crucified? Wasn't it enough to see that Jesus himself was alive; never mind his scars? The only explanation I can think of is that Jesus looked different after he was raised. That would explain why Mary Magdalene, who was the first disciple to see him after he emerged from his crypt to, did not recognize Jesus. This further leads me to wonder if the resurrected Jesus was not Jesus at all, but an impostor who exploited the hope and the grief of his disciples as part of some con.
That's sort of the Life of Brian scenario, a case of mistaken identity, or of massive confusion and incompetence underlying the later legend that was concocted to clean everything up.
But in John, Thomas is used just as a foil, as a contrast with proper Christians. There's no sense in imagining what Thomas must have been thinking because the character is just a puppet in John's morality tale (propaganda).
John's point was that Thomas was always irrationally focused on the wrong thing. Here, Thomas was fascinated with Jesus's mere physicality, not understanding that Jesus was about to be transfigured for his ascension.
I've been too depressed recently to do much more than those things I need to do every day just to stay alive and not look (and smell) like someone who is suffering from crippling depression. But I have been keeping up with your blog; at least sporadically.
Between now and 2040, humanity will emit another teraton of CO2, because the alternative is collapse of the ultimate scam, AKA the global economy, which operates by looting posterity. China is already the world’s largest consumer of automobiles, and is busily constructing an interstate highway system three times the size of America’s. We’re reduced to helping them: the Alberta tar sands are destined for them, not us. This is not only because the fossil fuel dynasties seek to preserve their advantages, but more deeply because geoengineering epitomizes humanity’s exceptionalist narrative, which claims that our success flows directly from our specialness, heroism, and ingenuity. The possibility that our success was merely a predictable consequence of the fossil fuel windfall, and therefore temporary and doomed from the start, is as unthinkable as comparing humanity to yeast in a bottle.
ReplyDeleteSomething about about that doubting Thomas story that has always baffled me is why Thomas needed to see the wounds on the resurrected Jesus' body and place his hands in them. Didn't he see his master crucified? Wasn't it enough to see that Jesus himself was alive; never mind his scars? The only explanation I can think of is that Jesus looked different after he was raised. That would explain why Mary Magdalene, who was the first disciple to see him after he emerged from his crypt to, did not recognize Jesus. This further leads me to wonder if the resurrected Jesus was not Jesus at all, but an impostor who exploited the hope and the grief of his disciples as part of some con.
ReplyDeleteThat's sort of the Life of Brian scenario, a case of mistaken identity, or of massive confusion and incompetence underlying the later legend that was concocted to clean everything up.
DeleteBut in John, Thomas is used just as a foil, as a contrast with proper Christians. There's no sense in imagining what Thomas must have been thinking because the character is just a puppet in John's morality tale (propaganda).
John's point was that Thomas was always irrationally focused on the wrong thing. Here, Thomas was fascinated with Jesus's mere physicality, not understanding that Jesus was about to be transfigured for his ascension.
It's been awhile, by the way.
I've been too depressed recently to do much more than those things I need to do every day just to stay alive and not look (and smell) like someone who is suffering from crippling depression. But I have been keeping up with your blog; at least sporadically.
DeleteSorry to hear you're not feeling well. I hope my writings aren't adding too much to that depression.
Delete