Author Information
Visit To One Of The Seventy
(to Burton Mack)
[after Luke 10:1]
"He sent us out ahead of Him; and we---
"to make improvement on flawed memory---
"set down what He had taught in Galilee
"(and His Words seemed to many, as to me,
"as if the very Heaven's poetry
"had come to us). But men are frail, you see;
"and we were not a few, but Seventy;
"selected to speak unilaterally
"about Him. (Common sense and history
"show that remembering an incident
"is easier than sentences' content,
"for words are lively.) Thus, before we went
"each made a copy of one master scroll
"to keep the message accurate and whole."
Starward
[*/+/^]
Amazing insight. What calms
Amazing insight. What calms my querying is that little note from John the Evangelist at the end of his Gospel that the whole world itself could not contain the books that would be written if they be written, as if to say, what makes its way to us today if enough and suited to our need and plenty enough to fill our thoughts and longings. But that's just me. Thanks for sharing. /Rik.
here is poetry that doesn't always conform
galateus, arkayye, arqios,arquious, crypticbard, excalibard, wordweaver
Thank you. The French
Thank you. The French Poet/diplomat, Paul Claudel, once remarked that Q had inspired a tremendous amount of scholarly activity considering it was a book no one had ever seen. Its existence is totally speculative, and its content is derived from this formula: those sayings of Christ that are common to Matthew and Luke, with any materal found in Mark deleted.
About twenty years ago, I exchanged several emails with Burton Mack, a prominent theologian and scholar, who has written extensively about Q. In my undergraduate training, the concept of Occam's Razor---that the explanation with the least amount of assumptions was probably the most correct one---dominated the department in which I pursued my major, History. Burton Mack has put forth an explanation requiring, if I recall correctly, four or five assumptions---which, as I pointed out to him, was a vulnerability when viewed through Occam's Razor. I submitted that, accoring to Occam, an explanation with a single assumption would defeat the one with four or five. My explanation, and its one assumption, was that Q consists of notes (written or mental), taken by the Seventy in preparation to carry out their mission as recorded in Luke 10. And, if I recall correctly, after presenting that explanation with the suggestion that it defeated Doctor Mack's, I found my follow-up emails blocked. In saying all this, I do not mean any disrespect to Doctor Mack, whose accomplishment (with most of which I do disagree) is formidable, and whose reputation in the scholarly community is deservedly massive. I was grateful that he, holder of a PhD, would deign to correspond with a failed historian wannabe who held only a BA.
Starward
Wow
That is an amazing tale of intellectual travel. And that the journeyers both could have been farther apart from each other. Perhaps like Paul and Mark, sometime in the prophetic future, in body or in resurrected body, there shall be a reunion and a resolution as all is revealed at Christ's return. God bless.
here is poetry that doesn't always conform
galateus, arkayye, arqios,arquious, crypticbard, excalibard, wordweaver
Please forgive me for failing
Please forgive me for failing to reply to this comment in a timely manner. I always love your theological insights, and this one, in the comment above, is one of your finest. I regret my negligence and delay to acknowledge it, and I ask your forgiveness.
Starward
Thank you kindly for getting
Thank you kindly for getting back to me. This is much appreciated, more than can be put to words.
.
here is poetry that doesn't always conform
galateus, arkayye, arqios,arquious, crypticbard, excalibard, wordweaver
Thank you for the kind
Thank you for the kind affirmation. My failure embarrassed me twofold: I had neglected to reply a fellow member of PostPoems, which was compounded by being neglect of one of the most spiritual Poets on all of this site. Gosh, when I screw up, I do it royal, right? So, again, please accept my sincere gratitude for your reply.
Starward