NARMOD OANRMD DNAORM RANDOM

[Good Intentions]

I'm constantly amazed by how little people know about the Bible here in New Zealand, secular country that it is. Not that I expect every place to be religious. It's just that the Bible is undoubtedly the most influential and referenced work of literature in our culture, and being unfamiliar with it means that enormous swathes of of culture are simply going to make no or little sense without knowing its background. Especially 18th century and earlier, but right up to the very present this remains true. I mean, it's not that Mary Magdalene is a version of the virtuous prostitute idea - she is the virtuous prostitute idea.

[RavingLunatic]

I had the same confusion, but only abstractly. I never gave it enough thought to really be preplexed by it.

This was pretty much where I was at too. I Googled Mary Magdalene but was too lazy to read much past "she was an important disciple of Jesus's." Was she really Jesus's girlfriend at some point or was that earlier comment by Ella a joke?

[jm]

I had the same confusion, but only abstractly. I never gave it enough thought to really be preplexed by it.

This was pretty much where I was at too. I Googled Mary Magdalene but was too lazy to read much past "she was an important disciple of Jesus's." Was she really Jesus's girlfriend at some point or was that earlier comment by Ella a joke?

I imagine it's a half-joke.  There is no scriptural reference to her being his "girlfriend" or anything like that.  Just a prostitute that he didn't actively condemn.

[jebreject]

THERE ARE THEORIES

[Good Intentions]

There's a tradition of speculation stretching back to the earliest days of Christianity that not only were Jesus and Magdalene romantically involved, but they had children.

[Ignatius]

the culmination of these theories has produced a book starring audrey tautou

[G.C.R]

psht, that always happens when a dude hangs out with a prostitute he doesn't actively condemn. Clearly they just had to be boning.

[Anne the Man]

He only actively condemned all over her face

[fishjim]

As I recall, he came very close to doing just that in the fantasy sequence in The Last Temptation of Christ. 

[Greg Nog]

That's the weirdest turn on the "virtuous prostitute" character type I've ever heard. But it does make a kind of sense. Wouldn't be surprised if it was a secret tenet of the Gnostics.

The Gospel of Mary!

[elpollodiablo]

I'm constantly amazed by how little people know about the Bible here in New Zealand, secular country that it is. Not that I expect every place to be religious. It's just that the Bible is undoubtedly the most influential and referenced work of literature in our culture, and being unfamiliar with it means that enormous swathes of of culture are simply going to make no or little sense without knowing its background. Especially 18th century and earlier, but right up to the very present this remains true. I mean, it's not that Mary Magdalene is a version of the virtuous prostitute idea - she is the virtuous prostitute idea.

This is totally true, and something I've struggled with, at times unknowingly. Being raised in a religion, too, whatever its other faults or failings, introduces you to a hermeneutic culture that's very textual and argumentative and of a kind very rare in the secular sphere. Without it, in addition to struggling with allusion and reference, you're left to cobble together your own understanding of how language & text shape the world, and you're not really challenged to make sense of your place in an ordered understanding of it. Except to the extent of like, picking a brand of cigarettes.
Of course there's also the obvious question, which is why don't you educate yourself about some of your culture's essential narratives, jackass?

[Greg Nog]

Apparently, my sister-in-law was raised in a similarly Biblically-devoid household, and she was at some wedding at some point where the preacher was telling the story of Adam and Eve, and she realized that she was the only one who was actually listening to the story because she didn't know what happened in it.

[davy]

ALL I KNOW

is that there were rumors He was into field hockey players.

[fishjim]

That's the weirdest turn on the "virtuous prostitute" character type I've ever heard. But it does make a kind of sense. Wouldn't be surprised if it was a secret tenet of the Gnostics.

The Gospel of Mary!

See, pollo, even the alchemists get confused.

And...

Apparently, my sister-in-law was raised in a similarly Biblically-devoid household, and she was at some wedding at some point where the preacher was telling the story of Adam and Eve, and she realized that she was the only one who was actually listening to the story because she didn't know what happened in it.

I grew up among Christians of all kinds, so I know the canonical stuff pretty well. But while I talk like I know the Gnostics, I've read very little. Most of what I know I got from Jung.

Funniest thing I think I ever heard in church was a new member reading aloud on the trial of Jesus. When she got to where Pontius Pilate washes his hands (and seals his fate, natch) she pronounced his surname,

Pee LAH tee

I knew then I was among idiots.

[Good Intentions]

Of course there's also the obvious question, which is why don't you educate yourself about some of your culture's essential narratives, jackass?

It's even worse than that though, isn't it - how would you know that is what you're missing? I think of some conversations I have with the kids I tutor, like when one tells me a part of a story and I go 'oh, is that like Jonah and the whale?' and she had no idea it wasn't something the author had made up. And, especially as the world becomes more and more secular and the times you hear about the Bible it's as a reference to a different way of life, not as a cornerstone of literature, so you could very easily never realise that it's not all a series of commandments and weird beliefs, but also contain some very striking and influential poetry, images and allegories (though heaven knows it's among the most uneven pieces of literature ever written).

[RoyBiggins]

Do people still post here when they don't want to work at work?

[Greg Nog]

YES THEY DO MISTER BIGGINS

[RoyBiggins]

GOOD.

How you livin', Greg?  I haven't even dug up any food-related threads yet to see what you've been up to.  I heard Dick's getting married, tho.

[coldforge]

my eyes hurt
sunglasses at work

[RoyBiggins]

Forge, I'm reading a  book on Buddhist thought.  It's pretty great.  Also, Chrome wanted to spellcheck my ham-fisted spelling of Buddhist to "Talmudist."

[elpollodiablo]

What's up, Brian!

[jm]

Forge, I'm reading a  book on Buddhist thought.  It's pretty great.  Also, Chrome wanted to spellcheck my ham-fisted spelling of Buddhist to "Talmudist."

they're basically the same thing

[RoyBiggins]

I had pretty much assumed so.  Not so many ways to bless food, though.

[C of heartbreak]

Hi Biggins! I generally post at work, but I work in the middle of the night so no one else is usually around.

[Greg Nog]

How you livin', Greg? 

MAD LARGE