Nicholas van Rijn says:
"'The very first miracle Our Lord did was turning water into wine, and a select vintage it was, too.'"
-Poul Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (New York, 2011), p. 136.
So the Marriage Feast at Cana and van Rijn's many modest repasts are scattered along the same timeline! And later along that timeline, Fr Axor says:
"'Now Our Lord was born once upon Terra... If science can show that the gospel account of Christ is not myth but biography; and if it then finds that his ministry was, in empirical fact, universal...'"
-Poul Anderson, Flandry's Legacy (New York, 2012). pp. 209-210.
If a proposition is proved scientifically or empirically, then it is known and no longer a matter of faith whereas, if it remains an article of faith, then it has not yet been proved scientifically or empirically.
Axor is a Wodenite who finds spiritual significance in events that occurred in ancient Galilee whereas Adzel was an earlier Wodenite who found such significance in ancient India. Both find it on Earth. What a pity that they could not meet - except maybe in someone's version of a hereafter?
3 comments:
Hi, Paul!
And I do believe the Gospels to contain real history, in this case, the history of Christ and his revelation of himself to mankind as God Incarnate, the Messiah, Redeemer, and Savior. Given that, the Gospels could not possibly be like ordinary histories and biographies because Christ is more than a mere man. Yes, I know, you don't believe that was the case! (Smiles)
But, if you want to examine the Gospels from the POV of merely ordinary history, I could hardly do worse than recommend to you Fr. John Meier's massive four volume MARGINAL JEW series.
I am puzzled as why so many deny or minimize the actual reality, the actual existence of Christ as a Person when they don't have trouble accepting that Julius Caesar existed. After all, there were non Christians who spoke of Our Lord living: men such as Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Suetonius, etc.
Sean
Sean,
i accept Jeshua's historical existence and have done my best to come to an understanding of what might have happened.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Fair enough! I think what bothers some who might otherwise have believed in Christ was bafflement over why God chose to intervene in human affairs by such messy means as becoming Man himself and dying an appalling death on the Cross (altho the Resurrection soon followed). And to entrust this Revelation of himself to a Church the governing of which He entrusted to frequently weak, foolish, stupid, and sometimes downright WICKED men.
Sean
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