Saturday, March 11, 2023

I remember my Anthropology of Religion professor... urging us to ask not whether Jesus walked on water but what the gospel writer wanted to communicate by writing that Jesus walked on water... The professor’s answer, that the writer wanted to convey Jesus’ mastery over nature, and the dependence of the world of nature on something beyond it, seemed to conflict with his dismissal of Jesus’ actually walking on water. If Jesus didn’t, or couldn’t, walk on water, then what are we to make of the symbolic claim that nature depends on something beyond it? To maintain the dependence of nature in the face of Jesus’ inability to walk on water, command the wind and the waves, heal the sick, etc., is not contradictory, but it is epistemically undercutting in the sense that it involves asserting a thesis while denying the possibility of any evidence for it. That epistemic incoherence lies at the heart of the naturalistic, symbolic interpretation of Christianity that many leaders of the _____ Church currently embrace.

... Daniel A. Bonevac, from “Are You a Religious Extremist? Religion and the Academy,” in The Truth That Makes Them Free, Donald G. Davis, Jr., ed., Austin, Texas: Christian Faculty Network, 2011, p. 34 (see the book; see also John 6:16-21; Ps. 107:28-29; Matt. 8:24-27; 12:39-40; 14:22-33; 28:18; Mark 1:27; 4:37-41; 6:45-52; John 5:37-40; 10:25-26; 12:37; more at Dependence, Jesus, Nature, Religion, World)

 
Compilation Copyright, 1996-2024, by Robert McAnally Adams,
        Curator, Christian Quotation of the Day,
        with Robert Douglas, principal contributor
Logo image Copyright 1996 by Shay Barsabe, of “Simple GIFs”, by kind permission.
Send comments to curator@cqod.com.

Last updated: 04/14/16

Fun stuff

Tweet this      

     CQOD is now available to include on your personal home page, blog, or church web site—perfect for a sidebar.
     To display CQOD on your web site, updating daily, copy the line below and paste directly into the position that CQOD should appear:

     <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cqod.com/js/"></script>

     To display this particular quotation on your web site, copy the line below and paste directly into the position that CQOD should appear:

     <script type="text/javascript" src="https://cqod.com/js/index-03-11-23.js"></script>

     For more information, see CQOD Web Home

    Previous day’s CQOD (Bloesch)
    Following day’s CQOD (Allen)
    This month’s CQODs

 
    CQOD for today
    CQOD on the go!
 
    Use our double opt-in listserve to receive CQOD by email
 
    CQOD daily index
    All monthly archives
    What’s New on CQOD
    Author index
    Title index
    Poetry index
    Scripture index
    Subject index
    Search CQOD (or see below)
    CQOD Blog
 
     CQOD RSS
 
     Facebook CQOD Fan Page  
     Follow CQOD on Twitter  
     Follow CQOD on Instagram     About CQOD
    CQOD on the Web
    CQOD FAQ
    CQOD Liturgical Calendar
 
    Mere Christianity: a conversation
    Simple Songs for Psalms
    Quotations Bible Study
    Essays Archive
    Bookworms
    Spotlights
 
    Publications:
    Jonah: a miracle play
    Ruth: a play
 
    Also visit these organizations:
    Arab Vision
    Crescendo
    Oratorium
    More devotionals
 
    Search CQOD: