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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: St Peter and the three theologians
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Simon
Editor
# 1
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Posted
Joke submitted by Newman's Own:
Karl Rahner, Hans Kung, and Cardinal Ratzinger all arrived at the gates of Heaven on the same day. St Peter informed them that he had been instructed to go over a few matters with each individually before their admission.
He called Karl Rahner into the side chapel first. Five minutes later, Karl emerged, near tears, and said, "How wrong I was!"
Hans Kung was next. Half an hour later, he emerged, quiet and humbled, and murmured, "How wrong I was!"
Ratzinger was last. Six hours later, St Peter emerged, sobbing. "How wrong I was!"
[ 12. August 2005, 17:19: Message edited by: Simon ]
Poll information
This poll contains 2 question(s). 60 user(s) have voted.
You can't view the results of this poll without voting.
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Eternal memory
Posts: 3787 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2001
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The Scrumpmeister
Ship’s Taverner
# 5638
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Posted
Didn't someone post this on the Ship very recently? It was funny, though.
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If Christ is not fully human, humankind is not fully saved. - St John of Saint-Denis
Posts: 14741 | From: Greater Manchester, UK | Registered: Mar 2004
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Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Back-to-Front:
Didn't someone post this on the Ship very recently? It was funny, though.
Just like someone put on the ship recently that Laugh Judgment was for observation AND discussion, I wonder who said that? Oh of course that was me Hosting. Hint, hint.
P
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It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
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John Donne
Renaissance Man
# 220
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Posted
I found this hugely amusing for a number of reasons:
- the mental image of the great St Peter, keyholder, fisherman, wrangling 6 hrs with J., Cardinal R. for then emerging a broken, sobbing man tickles me: the improbability and absurdity element.
- the idea of those theological greats being wrong... and then even the man Jesus chose to 'feed his sheep' to be wrong. Humour in the incongruity.
I think it says something about J.R's relentlessness and persuasiveness, yet I don't think we are expected to conclude that J.R.'s theology is more correct than St Peter's. Rather we know St Peter's is beyond reproach, thus the humour comes from the idea that J.R. is so convinced in his rightness and so persuasive that he could even convince St Peter that he is wrong.
Posts: 13667 | From: Perth, W.A. | Registered: May 2001
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Newman's Own
Shipmate
# 420
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Posted
This joke has long been a favourite of mine. I know it has at best a limited appeal - the humour would not be apparent to anyone unfamiliar with the theologians, though I dare say there is a higher proportion on the Ship of those who would than in the general population. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Part of what I find so funny is that fisherman Peter, certainly no theologian, has such a tendency in the New Testament to say or do the 'wrong thing,' and (except for such occasions as confessing 'you are the Christ') often does not seem to 'get it.' I'm a very academic type, as were many people I knew, and I'm laughing at the mental picture of the brilliant theologian Ratzinger going on and on with an 'informational discussion' with earthy, peasant Peter - who, were the two to meet in life, would have no notion of what Ratzinger was talking about. (Overly academic sorts, myself included - though I'm certainly not implying that I have one tenth of Benedict's intelligence - would never notice that!)
I'm old enough to remember when Ratzinger and Rahner (neither of whom is a heretic by any standard) were both regarded with wariness as 'dangerous liberal theologians,' a set of whom most members were German-speaking, and some would still place Kung in that category. There is particular humour in Ratzinger's having been in the position as 'grand inquisitor,' when he once was watched carefully - and his 'informational discussions' were well-known. The mental picture of his explaining to Peter where the denials, the misunderstanding of the Transfiguration, or the 'get thee behind me Satan' incident were wrong - for all that Peter has enjoyed the beatific vision for two millenia - amuses me greatly.
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Cheers,
Elizabeth
“History as Revelation is seldom very revealing, and histories of holiness are full of holes.” - Dermot Quinn
Posts: 6740 | From: Library or pub | Registered: Jun 2001
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Isn't Cardinal Ratzinger the Pope now? Can't we update the joke before we post it?
This was mildly amusing but not at all offensive.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
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Posted
Yes Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope, well spotted. However for the joke to work his slightly tougher , more conservative and harsher former incarnation is necessary. Therefore in joke-land he has not yet been assumed upward, for comedic affect.
A point worth noting for other threads too. Sometimes stuff is deliberately overstated, lied about or a gross generalisation made for comedic affect. Jokes do not get funnier the closer to the truth they are, they get funnier the better the story is. If Ratzinger needs to remain a cardinal then for a laugh and to make the point then he does.
P
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It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
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themanwiththegingerhair
Apprentice
# 9691
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Posted
Personally I didn't find it in the least bit amusing and was amazed at the poll results. There is not enough story here. It is the beginnings of a joke but it needs to be fleshed out.
What happened in that meeting? There is so much potential but the punch line doesn't punch it just slips out from under a stone. By the time you notice it, the moment has passed.
Some other posters seemed to find it amusing but had heard it before so maybe they heard a better version. Most jokes are "in the telling" and this one just fell flat.
Posts: 28 | From: Birmingham | Registered: Jul 2005
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balaam
Making an ass of myself
# 4543
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Posted
If you need to explain a joke, it no longer is a joke. I say leave it as it is.
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Last ever sig ...
blog
Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003
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RuthW
liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by themanwiththegingerhair:
What happened in that meeting?
I think this joke is best told to people who can all too well imagine what was said in these meetings.
Posts: 24453 | From: La La Land | Registered: Apr 2001
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IngoB
Sentire cum Ecclesia
# 8700
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Back-to-Front:
Didn't someone post this on the Ship very recently? It was funny, though.
Yep, I did in Heaven, in a thread asking for pope jokes.
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They’ll have me whipp’d for speaking true; thou’lt have me whipp’d for lying; and sometimes I am whipp’d for holding my peace. - The Fool in King Lear
Posts: 12010 | From: Gone fishing | Registered: Oct 2004
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IngoB
Sentire cum Ecclesia
# 8700
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Posted
<double post because of hosting>
quote:
Originally posted by Pyx_e:
Just like someone put on the ship recently that Laugh Judgment was for observation AND discussion, I wonder who said that? Oh of course that was me Hosting. Hint, hint.
Note to myself, read more than one post at once... ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
OK, I think this is an entirely harmless joke. It was slightly less harmless in my version, which had Papa Ben making Jesus cry. But by and large it's just a play on Catholic preoccupation with precise doctrine, and probably is enjoyed at least as much, if not more, by RCs.
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They’ll have me whipp’d for speaking true; thou’lt have me whipp’d for lying; and sometimes I am whipp’d for holding my peace. - The Fool in King Lear
Posts: 12010 | From: Gone fishing | Registered: Oct 2004
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