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Right now I'm reading an interesting book entitled - "Writing in the Sand - Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels" by Thomas Moore. In the introduction, Moore writes the following:
"Jesus was a sophisticated man who lived simply, walking from town to town, healing and comforting, while espousing a spiritual philosophy that has yet to be fully appreciated and understood. He lived in primitive times compared to our own, but his thinking was more advanced than ours. I suspect that our tendency to sentimentalize him or turn him into a moral crusader is a defense against the sheer radical challenge of his intellect. As long as we piously enshrine his personality, we don't have to feel the full force of his vision for humanity."
So, have you ever heard Jesus referred to as a sophisticated man? What do you think of that concept?
"Jesus was a sophisticated man who lived simply, walking from town to town, healing and comforting, while espousing a spiritual philosophy that has yet to be fully appreciated and understood. He lived in primitive times compared to our own, but his thinking was more advanced than ours. I suspect that our tendency to sentimentalize him or turn him into a moral crusader is a defense against the sheer radical challenge of his intellect. As long as we piously enshrine his personality, we don't have to feel the full force of his vision for humanity."
So, have you ever heard Jesus referred to as a sophisticated man? What do you think of that concept?
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"" I suspect that our tendency to sentimentalize him or turn him into a moral crusader is a defense against the sheer radical challenge of his intellect. As long as we piously enshrine his personality, we don't have to feel the full force of his vision for humanity."
ReplyDeleteBrilliant, Brilliant! Mr. Moore understands how easy it is for us to dismiss the "simple"
Thanks for this snippit.
I also love the snippet Bruno chose. I just looked sophisticated up in the dictionary. As well as the urbane image that first comes to mind, it can refer to "complex or intricate".
ReplyDeleteBruno and Tess, Thank you for commenting.
ReplyDeleteI may have blogged about Jesus/sophisticate some place in the last year. I read another quote that was similar to Moore's and the thought has stuck in my mind that in all the years I have been worshiping Jesus, words like radical, meek, mild, rebel, impatient, angry have come across my radar screen. I particularly like the idea of Jesus' intellect and in Tess' comment the reference to a "complex or intricate" mentality. It gives me even more reason to honor and follow this man's example and his philosophy that would save us from ourselves!!!
Thanks for your comments.
I found a similar concept in The Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault's book, "The Wisdom Jesus."
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