The Greatest Story Ever Told

[poliphilo]

The Greatest Story is not the greatest story

It begins and ends in fairytale and has a central section where the hero just bats about from place to place causing awe.

You've seen one healing miracle, you've seen 'em all.

Relationships are sketchy and there's no love interest.

The central figure is almost impossible to identify with.

The role of Jesus kills careers. Max von Sydow went from being Bergman's leading man (unforgettable as the knight in the Seventh Seal) to sitting beside his Hollywood pool waiting for the phone to ring. Robert Powell went from nowhere very much to playing a curly haired comic policeman opposite Jasper Carrott.

The only Jesus movie I've ever watched from beginning to end was Jesus Christ Superstar. It was crap.

Comments

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I had a long talk with my 85-year-old mother yesterday. She, understandably, thinks about her death often.

She told me she wishes she could still believe the "stories" she knew as a girl, because they were comforting.

She helped me when I was very young and arguing about evolution with my geography teacher, who was also a preacher.

I told her I was in over my head, arguing with a fierce grownup, and she said, "Look: what do YOU think?" She taught me young to think things out for myself.

She is very interesting. She struggles to understand astronomy and says that is where she finds God. I so understand! And agree!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The universe is so very, very big. So much bigger than we used to think. Its size is one of the things that makes our man-centred ideas of God seen implausible.

I remember the title of a book of liberal theology from back in the day- "Your God Is Too Small."

I believe there's some sort of sense to the universe, but I've given up believing I'll ever understand what it is.