Blatherskite

Foolish gibberish

about

I am a Children’s Librarian living in the Portland, Oregon area. When I am not Children’s Librianing I like to play with cameras and film. I also like playing the ukulele, knitting, sketching, and hiking.

Holy Blood

June 18, 2003

I am reading this book, “Holy Blood, Holy Grail“. The hypothesis of which is that Jesus survived the crucifixtion, and married Mary Magdalene. I began to be intrigued by this idea by reading the popular mystery, “the DaVinci Code“. I have to say, as much as I didn’t really like the DaVinci Code, I am intrigued by this idea. I don’t know if I believe it. But, admittedly, it is easier to believe than the alternative view, that Jesus rose from the dead and roamed the earth with his disciples. I’m not saying that I don’t believe that, either. But you have to admit, it is a little bit hard to believe….

I am reminded of one of my all time favorites scenes from any movie. It is a scene from “The Last Temptation of Christ“, the scene in which Jesus watches with surprise, the Apostle Paul preaching to the city the Gospel. Jesus, who has been told by an “angel” that he can choose not to be crucified, and that he can choose a life of marriage with Mary Magdalene (which he does choose), tries to tell Paul that he, in fact, is Jesus, and that he did not rise from the dead. He was standing right there in front of him. He is not the risen savior. Paul becomes very angry with Jesus and threatens him. He says something like, “Don’t ruin this for me.” Paul had quite a life traveling and preaching the Gospel, you know. Anyway, I find this scene so brilliant because Paul in this scene depicts Christians today. They are so blinded by what they are told by thier pastors or preists that they can’t see the truth, and they wouldn’t be able to see it if it walked up to them on the street.

When I used to read the bible I always wondered about Paul. I mean, he never even met Jesus. His big claim to apostledom his that he had this “experience”. And what he preaches is so different from what Jesus preaches.

Well, I guess that’s enough Jesus-talk for one day.

Posted in Random

5 responses to “Holy Blood”

Robert C. Martin

July 30, 2004

First of all let me make it clear that I am “practicing Christian” – some would say that I a “heathan”, but I prefer to think of myself more of “Jack-Christian”. I have not read “Holy Blood, Holy Grail”, but I find fault with your decision to critique this book and tying your critique with the movie “The Last Temptation of Christ”. The movie was a theatrical expression of one mans idea of “what if”. You said that you “used (use) to read the bible”. I feel that you need to back and read the bible and not base your faith, opinions, or religion upon one person’s hypothesis. I feel that a true Christian should not question the bible or have doubt in its teaching, but have faith in it, and trust the almost 2 Billion people who have trust, faith and devotion and love, based on the bible. Not to mention the thousands of Biblical Scholars that try to educate people in the teachings of Christ, and not just the “opinion” of a few. The Bible has survived the test of time – right or wrong – it has be the spiritual guidance for human kind for over 2000 years. If you want to be “nice” to people or feel that trees and mountains are a part of the human expirence, than maybe you should become a Budist or Shinto. If you feel that the bible is not giving you enough guidance and you feel that you need more discipline, you could even follow the teachings of the Koran.
But don’t sit upon the mount, passing judgement upon the one of the oldest religions, just becuase you read a book or saw a movie.
If I “missed the point”, then by all means, please enlighten me.

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Anonymous

July 30, 2004

I am not basing my faith, at all on one man’s idea. That is my point. I merely said that I FIND THIS IDEA INTRIGUING. I think it is interesting to think about and mull over. I don’t know if I believe it. I am not convinced that what is talked about in Holy Blood Holy Grail is true. But in some ways believing the Holy Blood hypothesis makes more sense than believing the hypothesis laid out in the Bible. When you forget everything that has been told to you by preachers, priests, etc. and logically look at what is being said in the bible (Suspend faith momentarily), the stories about Jesus logically don’t make sense. Immaculate conception? Raising from the dead? It does take faith to believe these things because they don’t makes sense logically, while the hypothesis in Holy Blood, logically makes more sense.

I think it is fine for people to question thier faith. I think it is glorious, in fact! By all means, we should question what is being fed to us! We should question what people tell us to believe! God gave us a mind, intelligence, didn’t he? Aren’t we glorifying God by using it? And when I go through all of this questioning and come to the conclusion that I still love Jesus and have faith in him, I believe that I am a better Christian for it. I am not passing judgement on “one of the oldest religions”. I am, however, passing judgement on the people who blindly follow what thier pastor preaches from the pulpit without using thier OWN mind and coming to thier own conclusions. In fact, the Bible itself admonishes Christians in 2 Corinthians to: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (13:5). Therefore, questioning one’s faith is an act of a good Christian, rather than blindly following the Bible merely because billions of people around the world follow it.

The Bible also talks about the Glory of God in Nature: “From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.” [Romans 1:20 NLT]. Appreciate a tree or a mountain and you also appreciate God. As this passage clearly reveals, He is revealed through his creation. I don’t have to study Buddhism to appreciate this. I can appreciate nature and still appreciate God, and still be a Christian.

The cornerstone of the Christian faith is to be nice to people. Christ himself said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ” [John 13:34 NIV]. And we can’t forget “The Golden Rule”: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ” [Matthew 7:12 NIV]. Being nice to people is the very essence of being a good Christian. If you are not being nice to people you are not following the Golden Rule and, therefore, not being a good Christian.

Perhaps you need to read the Bible, since it is obvious you are ignorant of it’s teachings. You claim to be a Christian (albeit Jack-Christian), and you tell me that I should base my life on the Bible because a billion people in this world do, and yet don’t know what the Bible actually says? I find that very hippocritical.

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Cyrus

July 30, 2004

I am passing judgment on the Bible as an inviolable document. It has neither withstood the test of time nor the scrutiny of historians. It is rife with redactions, inconsistencies, and impossibilities. Contrary to popular belief, the “synoptic” gospels do not achieve perfect harmony; where there should be unison, there is discordance. The gospels differ in their accounts of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. They also tell fantastic stories. For eaxample, Matthew writes that the bodies of dead saints rose from their graves and walked about Jerusalem (27:52-53). One would expect an event of that magnitude to be recorded elsewhere. It isn’t. In general, if one listens closely to the symphony of “facts” that compose the Bible, one will hear a cacophony of contradictions. When taken literally, within the strident clamor and racket, the religious text does, however, briefly come into unison: it tells “believers” to ignore their intellect and accept the absurd.
I am not suggesting that the Bible isn’t great literature. It is. Jonah’s plight, King Solomon’s proverbs, and even the teachings of Christ are exquisite works of art. “The church,” however, denigrates the sanctity of the stories by coercing worshippers into believing a deliberate and categorical interpretation of them. They are too busy ripping the strings from violins, jackhammering the keys of pianos, and slashing drum-skins to realize that they’re ruining the orchestra.

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Judy Doyle

July 30, 2004

The bible is a history book about a tribe of people. Every organized religion has their history book. If someone chooses to believe what is says in that book, that is their choice. The ten commandments are a great guide for any nation to follow. They tell us how to live within a society. As humans, sometimes we need something written down to remind us what is wrong and what is right. Again, as I said every religion has these stories and legends to had down from generation to generation. Native Americans told their stories of Cayote, the Mormans have their book. Millions of people believe these things to be true. I am reading the DaVinci Code and plan on reading Bloodline I am very interested in learning about all of these so called mysteries that the church has said, should not be questioned. Maybe I will believe what the book says, maybe I won’t. That is my choice. That is my right. I believe there is a God, it is as simple as that.

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Bosefus

July 31, 2004

Mankind has forever been questioning the origin and stature of man and GOD. Ifind it interesting that we are still argueing it as if we somehow have read a book and have found the answer. There is the bible ,and a WHOLE LOTTA PEOPLE believe that that is IT! There however quite a few people that that doesn’tquite answer ALL the questions. I happen to be one of them. My final answer will be was I right . Guess what , only I will find that out when I die. And guess what it won’t matter to any one but ME>

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