It’s not as if I’m hurting for things to talk about, since I have tons of ideas for blog posts. But to encourage perhaps a little bit of comment activity around here, and to make sure I’m actually interacting with someone, let’s have our first installment of “Ask the Deacon.”
Feel free to actually ask me a question (I’m not a degreed bible scholar, but I have at least half a brain and some help from the Holy Spirit) or simply suggest future topics.
Let ‘er rip, folks!
Hey Deacon, I just stumbled across your blog (more on that below) and – despite being a devout agnostic – I found both your content and your tone incredibly refreshing. In my experience, the combination of sincere devotion and fair-mindedness about how faith fits into real life that’s reflected in your posts (or at least the ones I’ve read so far) is a welcome deviation from the more dogmatic flavor of theology that I run into more often in blogland. Thanks.
As to how I found you in the first place, I saw your “ask a question” post and wanted to ask if you’d try out a Q&A widget I built called Askablogr. It takes reader questions and your replies and automatically turns them into inline posts. Your blog and coompleted Q&A are also featured on the Askablogr site with links back to you, making it easier for readers (and search engines) to find you. You can see it in action on my blog (crashdev.blogspot.com) and get your own at Askablogr.com.
Thanks for considering it, and keep up the great writing!
I’ll definitely give it a look-see when I have a chance. Thanks for letting me know.
And agnostic or atheist or otherwise, I look forward to having regular or periodic visitors of all stripes in addition to Christian folk. And next time, Chris, don’t be shy about trying to throw me a curve ball or pick my brain to see what (if anything) makes me tick.
Since no one has asked me a question yet, I’ll have one of my invisible friends from childhood do so:
Q: Hi, my name is Skippy, and I’m wondering, Deke, if the Angels and the Padres were somehow to end up against each other in the World Series, whom would God root for?
A: The Cubs.
Why is it that Church history is a no-fly zone for most christians? Why the church would think you heretic for entertaining the thought that maybe Mary Magdalene was closer to Jesus than any of the Disciples and that she was never a prostitute. Why you are to allowed to think ‘Confession’ to a priest was not in original Catholic Doctrine. Why the issue of Divorce gave birth to the Protestant Church. Why reading the Apocryphal is a sin. Ok.. I’m veering off the path I started..but what are your feelings about study of church history?
History…goooood. Ignorance…baaaad.
Ok, that’s my caveman impression for you, but it’s my basic feeling on things. I’m no rabid historian or anything, but I try to have a grasp of some basics and to fill in my knowledge where necessary.
As for whether Mary was closer to Jesus than any of the apostles, I’d have to say “no.” Perhaps AS close, but not closer. The apostles were Jesus’ core group, the people (well, 11 of them at least, since Judas offed himself after betraying Jesus) who were to build the basis for spreading the gospel. Mary could has been AS close but not closer, unless you entertain thoughts she was in the sack with Christ, and that wouldn’t be the case unless you want to completely toss out the concept of Jesus’ sinless life (since sex outside of marriage would be a sin)..
Not sure what your second question quite means.
Divorce did play a big role in the split in the church that led to Protestantism…and I’m glad it happened b/c I think have those two halves is a good thing in the long run.
Reading the apocrypha isn’t a sin, though the books in there aren’t necessarily all that additionally illuminating. Reading some of the more questionable texts like the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Judas (which were written soooo long after Jesus’ death that they could actually have been written by either) and preaching them as TRUTH would be a sin, but reading them out of curiosity isn’t.
Hey Deacon, I’m getting a feel for your blog and really liking it. I I appreciate your sane, realistic way of looking at things. I might not agree with all you say but hey, how f’d up would this world be if we all followd the same rain of thought. Just wanted toget that out there. I’m not a historian, but I love history, specially religous history.. so I’m always injecting my wee bit of historical knowledge into my thoughts.. I’m not entertaiing the thought that Jesus was in the Sack with Mary, just as much as I don’t entertain the thought that my pops was i the sack with any other miss than my mom before they got married, but if it is ever proven to have been, will never change who Jesus is to has been to me, is to me and will be to me. I have to disagree that writings such as he Apocryphal or even the dead sea scrolls are not illuminating. They are mostly writings dated about the same time as what ended up in the bible. Its interesting insight into thought processes and ways of life during the time of Jesus and not long after. If the bible had been put together by the Jews instead of the Romans, any number of those writings would have made it into the bible. To some point, I think we narrowed down what TRUTH is and what is Heresy based on what was acceptable to the Romans.