The Feast of the Annunciation.
Gabriel to Mary:
When Eve, in love with her own will
denied the will of Love and fell
she turned the flesh Love knew so well
to knowledge of her love until
both love and knowledge were of sin:
What her negation wounded, may
Your affirmation heal today;
Love's will requires your own, that in
the flesh whose love you do not know
Loves knowledge into flesh may grow.
W.H. Auden
ReplyDeleteHer name will be forever exalted.
Mary back to Gabriel:
ReplyDeleteHuh? Are you going to rape me?
-KW
And this is the KW we have come to know and loathe.
DeleteDavid,
DeleteThe unknown authors of 'Luke' and 'Matthew' were using one of the three methods used by people in the Ancient World to deify individuals, the others being exaltation and a god descending to Earth to assume mortal form.
Early Christianity used the exaltation form - Jesus became a god similar but less than God at the Resurrection. 'Mark' had it happening at baptism by John the Baptist. 'John' had a god descending and assuming human form.
Take your pick. You can't accept all three as being true (assuming that any are).
Bach - I don't think you have it right. Doctrine is that Jesus is God from eternity, the mystery of the incarnation notwithstanding. The doctrine of the Trinity covers the issue. Father, Son and Holy Spirit - all one (1) God. As we cannot quite get our minds around this, the simple (Mohammed, for instance) dismiss it as impossible.
DeleteKW - another thing here. Since Mary said "…be it unto me even as you have spoken." she thereby gave her assent. So your comment is ridiculous in every respect.
DeleteDavid,
DeleteThe Trinity was a fourth century invention. From the Nicene Council.
Anyway. Mohammed was actually Jesus. Islam started out as a Christian sect, which didn't regard Jesus to be God. Mohammed means 'he who is to be blessed'. 'There is but one God, and Mohammed (ie he who is to be blessed - Jesus) is his messenger' is the catch cry of Arab Christians who denied that Jesus was divine - just a prophet.
And then in the 8th century the ruling ruling Arab dynasty changed, moved from Syria to Arabia and (as rulers often do) invented a modification of their religion to justify their rule.
And had the Koran written.
Nicea recognized what was there all along. The 'Trinity' wasn't 'invented' any more than relativity was 'invented' by Einstein.
DeleteBart Ehrman has just had published a new book yesterday 'How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher From Gallilee'
ReplyDeleteIt's a discussion of how individuals became to be regarded as divine in the Ancient World (and there were many). And one of the ways was sexual union between a god and a mortal woman.
Sound familiar?
I take it you'll dismiss the book unread.
I'll add it to my list. A very LONG list. Of books for which I have neither the money, nor the time, nor the space. Though the desire is there….
Delete