Not really sure what to do with that idea…I came up with it by accident yesterday and have been chuckling over it ever since.
I mean if Christ can be a lion or a lamb, what about a dinosaur? Somehow, Old T-Rex doesn’t really seem like the right guy for the job. Maybe Jesus Brontosaurus? That’s bring Old Bronto back from the grave.
I came up with one last week that I think I might actually write: “Holy Mary, Assassin of God”.
The concept is that, for those nine months when she was pregnant with Jesus, Mary must have been essentially indestructible/unkillable/immortal. So Zacharias, father of John, struck mute by the angel Gabriel, hits upon the idea that Mary should go out and assassinate evil Roman statesmen. It would be a whole series of stories with a progressively pregnant Mary waddling around on missions.
(I may have read too much “Hellen Killer” lately.)
Kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer taken even a step further.
Personally, I must say I see Mary more as a kind of a Princess Nausicaa (Valley of the Winds) figure rather than the assassin type, but we must each follow our own vision. ;-)
Mary is clearly not the assassin type, which is what makes it so fun, I think. Having been conceived without original sin, the standard rules wouldn’t apply to her, too. She could have, like, “righteous anger” in place of berzerker rage.
I like righteous anger.
Have you seen Rurouni Kenshin? Maybe she could be like that…kick-butt but finding ways to do something other than kill.
To do it right, she’d be an assassin who never killed.
I can imagine Mary at 7 months, heading to the “next job” and kvetching about swollen ankles: Oy vey!
Hmmmm, Tyrannosaurus Christ…makes me think of Jormundgand in The High House.
Maybe Tyrannosaurus Christ is the way He appears when He needs to say something harsh? I dunno. Love the idea, though! :)
Jormundgunder Christ is also a scary/cool idea.
Maybe Christ as Dragon.
Especially with the line, “If the snake in the wilderness is lifted up.” Oddly enough, I think this is the only time serpent imagery is used positively in the Bible. Interesting. :)
“Wise as serpents, gentle as doves”?
Obviously you have not yet encountered the Internet meme of Raptor Jesus.
No…but my son Juss (age almost 6) spent ten minutes describing the battle between Triceratops Christ and the Pteradactyl Devil. From the sound effects, I think this battle included martial arts.
I came up with one last week that I think I might actually write: “Holy Mary, Assassin of God”.
The concept is that, for those nine months when she was pregnant with Jesus, Mary must have been essentially indestructible/unkillable/immortal. So Zacharias, father of John, struck mute by the angel Gabriel, hits upon the idea that Mary should go out and assassinate evil Roman statesmen. It would be a whole series of stories with a progressively pregnant Mary waddling around on missions.
(I may have read too much “Hellen Killer” lately.)
Kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer taken even a step further.
Personally, I must say I see Mary more as a kind of a Princess Nausicaa (Valley of the Winds) figure rather than the assassin type, but we must each follow our own vision. ;-)
Mary is clearly not the assassin type, which is what makes it so fun, I think. Having been conceived without original sin, the standard rules wouldn’t apply to her, too. She could have, like, “righteous anger” in place of berzerker rage.
Hmmmm, Tyrannosaurus Christ…makes me think of Jormundgand in The High House.
Maybe Tyrannosaurus Christ is the way He appears when He needs to say something harsh? I dunno. Love the idea, though! :)
I’m afraid I’m too drenched in Old Testament idiom to take this along its merry way. Lion of Judah and sacrificial lamb I get. Closest we get to dinosaurs are dragons or serpents in Eden, I do believe. And they seem linked to evil so not so good for a Jesus metaphor.
However, I have thought about how the imagery used to speak to believers in the old and new testaments related to those everyday things people knew.
Today people do not know agrarian principles. How would a testament written today differ?
John and I discussed Jesus the Dragon and decided that, even though it could probably be done very well out of context, in context there’s just too much symbolism for dragons and evil for it to make sense.
As for todays testament, I suspect it would be written in very different language…something that speaks to the modern experience. A lot of references in the Bible are obscure to us…but still beautiful and perhaps better than a modern version might be.
beautiful versions
Yes, although I find the New International Version is better for sharing with a general modern audience, I do prefer much of the language of King James’ translators.
Most people at our church have a copy of each because some passages just speak to them better in “the original.”
Yes, they know it’s not really the original, but it’s what they knew from childhood.
Speaking of which, the new pastor seems to be finding his footing quickly. Steve’s children’s moment (which he does in front of the church) was on “the clean slate” for the new year. The kids told him things that worried them generally. He wrote them down and made it clear that with God, by laying your problems on Him, a clean slate is always possible.
His youth church centered on the idea that God makes no problem for you that he does not equip you to handle, albeit imperfectly as we humans are.
Already we are getting more people, including young people.
Here’s to hoping–and praying!
Re: beautiful versions
I am only familiar with the KJV, which I love. It often makes me sad that so many people have moved away from it, as it used to be that you could quote it and most people recognized the quote. No longer. Even something as simple as “Adam, where art thou?” people don’t recognize now, because their version is different.
(I have no objection to other versions for the purpose of clarity. I just wish more effort was made to understand the older language.)
Cool about Steve’s clean slate moment…what a nice way to present those ideas to children! Glad to hear that the new pastor is settling in!
Obviously you have not yet encountered the Internet meme of Raptor Jesus.
Jormundgunder Christ is also a scary/cool idea.
Maybe Christ as Dragon.
I like righteous anger.
Have you seen Rurouni Kenshin? Maybe she could be like that…kick-butt but finding ways to do something other than kill.
No…but my son Juss (age almost 6) spent ten minutes describing the battle between Triceratops Christ and the Pteradactyl Devil. From the sound effects, I think this battle included martial arts.
To do it right, she’d be an assassin who never killed.
I’m afraid I’m too drenched in Old Testament idiom to take this along its merry way. Lion of Judah and sacrificial lamb I get. Closest we get to dinosaurs are dragons or serpents in Eden, I do believe. And they seem linked to evil so not so good for a Jesus metaphor.
However, I have thought about how the imagery used to speak to believers in the old and new testaments related to those everyday things people knew.
Today people do not know agrarian principles. How would a testament written today differ?
I can imagine Mary at 7 months, heading to the “next job” and kvetching about swollen ankles: Oy vey!
Especially with the line, “If the snake in the wilderness is lifted up.” Oddly enough, I think this is the only time serpent imagery is used positively in the Bible. Interesting. :)
T-Rex carries associations with violence, which doesn’t go so well with Jesus. Brontosaurus, on the other hand, would make a better Ghandi than Christ – vegetarian and passive imagery. I’d probably pick Styracosaurus or Stegasaurus – something that doesn’t go out and pick fights, but isn’t tame, either, as Lions go.
Juss wants to go with Triceratops. He says Jesus Tri vs. Pteradactyl Devil. ;-)
Works for me. There’s even bonus Trinitarian imagery in the three horns. :)
T-Rex carries associations with violence, which doesn’t go so well with Jesus. Brontosaurus, on the other hand, would make a better Ghandi than Christ – vegetarian and passive imagery. I’d probably pick Styracosaurus or Stegasaurus – something that doesn’t go out and pick fights, but isn’t tame, either, as Lions go.
John and I discussed Jesus the Dragon and decided that, even though it could probably be done very well out of context, in context there’s just too much symbolism for dragons and evil for it to make sense.
As for todays testament, I suspect it would be written in very different language…something that speaks to the modern experience. A lot of references in the Bible are obscure to us…but still beautiful and perhaps better than a modern version might be.
Juss wants to go with Triceratops. He says Jesus Tri vs. Pteradactyl Devil. ;-)
beautiful versions
Yes, although I find the New International Version is better for sharing with a general modern audience, I do prefer much of the language of King James’ translators.
Most people at our church have a copy of each because some passages just speak to them better in “the original.”
Yes, they know it’s not really the original, but it’s what they knew from childhood.
Speaking of which, the new pastor seems to be finding his footing quickly. Steve’s children’s moment (which he does in front of the church) was on “the clean slate” for the new year. The kids told him things that worried them generally. He wrote them down and made it clear that with God, by laying your problems on Him, a clean slate is always possible.
His youth church centered on the idea that God makes no problem for you that he does not equip you to handle, albeit imperfectly as we humans are.
Already we are getting more people, including young people.
Here’s to hoping–and praying!
Works for me. There’s even bonus Trinitarian imagery in the three horns. :)
Re: beautiful versions
I am only familiar with the KJV, which I love. It often makes me sad that so many people have moved away from it, as it used to be that you could quote it and most people recognized the quote. No longer. Even something as simple as “Adam, where art thou?” people don’t recognize now, because their version is different.
(I have no objection to other versions for the purpose of clarity. I just wish more effort was made to understand the older language.)
Cool about Steve’s clean slate moment…what a nice way to present those ideas to children! Glad to hear that the new pastor is settling in!
“Wise as serpents, gentle as doves”?