Da Vinci Code & Man-eating Bears
I am officially an ex-employee of Bowie High School, as of yesterday. That feels weird. (long pause)
Well, anyway, time to move forward, right? For those of you who do not know, I will resume doctoral studies in literature at the University of Dallas this fall. Actually, this blog was created with the intention of sharing my experiences in grad school with all my friends in cyberspace. More about that later...
We finally saw "The DaVinci Code" yesterday (and neither of us had read the book, so it was kind of a surprise). Of course, I'd heard the buzz about the book - as well as some of the controversy. I was a bit shocked that I actually liked the movie and felt that it was pretty decent Hollywood entertainment, with a little added bonus of metaphysics, history, and far-fetched religous speculation. I suppose what I'd like to say is that I'm also quite surprised that certain Christian groups are so worked up about it. I don't want to give away the plot for those who haven't seen it, but I guess the big question that the movie raises is this: Could Jesus have been married? And that question begs this other question: If Jesus had been married, would that change anything about the way we view him? I've been thinking about it, and I really don't see how it does. It's not like the bible says "Jesus was NOT married!" The bible simply doesn't ever address that question. So what's the big freaking deal? I wish someone would explain what is so dangerous or wrong about asking this kind of question.
Well, you mull that over and get back with me about it. I'm checking out for a couple of weeks for vacation, and if I'm not devoured by hungry bears while sleeping in my tent, I'm sure I'll have at least one interesting story to share from our travels. Until then, keep it real! Goose-fraba.
posted by mavengloiven at 4:43 PM
3 Comments:
I'm about 30 miles from Yosemite on vacation, so I only have a moment... I enjoyed these comments - thanks for posting. I *haven't* read the book because... well... I'm a book snob... I admit it. Be back in a couple o' weeks! BTW, Scott - Mrs. Bohan/Kelley is now in possession of your Brave New World "Starry Night" rendition - I was carrying it around on my last day, and she pretty much threatened me if I didn't give it to her. I should be hanging in her office if you want to make a covert effort to retrieve it.
Yeah, I see your point, Montillion. If sex = being naughty, then Jesus sex = Jesus being naughty, which kind of kind of goes against the whole "Jesus was never naughty" doctrine of Christianity. Maybe it was a Platonic marriage, or perhaps a marriage of convenience. Perhaps Mary was a Samaritan and therefore ostracized by the pure Jewish community that Jesus was hanging with. Marrying a Jewish dude would allow her all the perks of Jewish life, kind of like how you can get automatic American citizenship if you marry an American. Anyway, it's an interesting question.
In response to the Dark Blue - Jesus' bride is only metaphoric, otherwise it is a worse blasphemy than saying Jesus was married in the first place. Think about it: If Jesus' bride is the Church, and the Church is made up of millions of people, then Jesus is married to millions of people (polygamy), and he's on "intimate" relations with them as well (adultery). That wouldn't look good either.
Maybe Paul used that very analogy to get people to stop asking about Jesus' marital status... kind of like changing the subject.
Yeah, but maybe the REALLY big deal about Mary Mag was that she was his trusted friend and intellectual equal which totally pissed all the DUDES off (because the dudes like to rule things) so it's even better to say Mary Mag was Jesus' wife than that she was his fella advocator of truth. Or, like Pope Gregory, you could just say she was a harlot and that would get her out of the story completely. Mary Mag ROCKED it intellectually and spiritually -- but Pope G didn't want us to know about THAT, now did he??
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