Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 15:44:52 EST
From: F726243 at AOL.COM
Reply-To: johnny at charm.net
To: johnny at charm.net
Subject: Re: Mexican TV and the parables



If we cannot understand Jesus and/or Christianity without completely
understanding the historical context, then we can't understand Plato either,
or the Tao, or Pride and Prejudice, or The Brothers Karamazov, all for the
same reason. And you can't understand me, because you aren't a 27 year old
woman living in an apartment in Andersonville, Chicago, etc, etc.

You know what - I can't understand God, because I'm not God. And I can't
understand Plato, because I'm not Plato, and I can't understand Alyosha,
because I am not Alyosha. And I will never be God, and I will never be Plato,
and I will never be Alexei. And you will never be me. But that doesn't mean I
don't love God and Plato and Alexei (in different and varying ways). And that
doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't try to understand. 

If I want to understand Plato, I'll read the Platonic dialogues. If I want to
understand the relationship between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, I'll read Pride
and Prejudice. If you want to understand me, I'll give you a copy of my senior
essay and maybe some poems I wrote, maybe this e-mail even. If I want to
understand Jesus, I'll read his words and study his actions as they are
recorded in the Bible.

True, I don't have all the historical context beyond the prophecies, histories
and laws that Jesus is always quoting from. But most of the images Jesus draws
from are agricultural or general, not so specific as Roswell or X-Files; when
they are that specific they usually refer to the Hebrew scriptures that are in
the first 2/3s of that book I'm always reading.

If you want to know me, start with what I say, how I act and/or what I write.
Then start asking me about my background, geographical and historical context,
geneaology (see Matthew 1), etc. After that you can start filling in
gaps/details from other sources. You will never know me completely, but it
makes since to start with the important things and work down to the details.
The same is certainly true with God, even more so, since God is far more
complex and incomprehensible than I am. I think there is plenty to learn from
the parables without ever leaving the context of the Bible, although it's
certainly valid to look at other sources - after considering it as a
story/spiritual truth first by itself and then within the context of the whole
Bible. Certainly we'll never understand it completely. Is that so surprising?
What can we ever understand completely? But I'm willing to try and figure it
out.
     Does that make sense or am I rambling? (See; I don't even know whether
I'm making sense or rambling. Sigh).  : )
           -Francie