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Source: (consider it) Thread: Humour and Christianity
Latchkey Kid
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quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
To clarify: it's just that you'll be hard-pressed to find anything in Scripture where God laughs except in scorn over "his" enemies. However, the Bible speaks very much of God's joy, pleasure, and delight, and we may well imagine God laughing - as the Rabbis clearly do, and as many Christians do.

The only funny bits in the scriptures are the naming of Isaac and the last phrase of Jonah AFAIK.

I wonder why it is that Jews successfully incorporate jokes about their faith into their spirituality, whereas we Christians, while liking jokes, seem to do so much less.

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'You must never give way for an answer. An answer is always the stretch of road that's behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.'
Mika; in Hello? Is Anybody There?, Jostein Gaardner

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Enoch
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quote:
Originally posted by Latchkey Kid:
The only funny bits in the scriptures are the naming of Isaac and the last phrase of Jonah AFAIK....

What about Gal 5:11-12? And that's St Paul.

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Anyuta
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I heard once, from someone much more qualified to judge these things than I(an Orthodox bishop who spent time on Mt. Athos, and actually speaks Koine Greek..yes, Koine...apparently that is what they speak at some of the mono stares on Athos). He told me that many of the parables and other sayings of Jesus are in fact jokes of a sort..he used plays on words, sarcasm etc., but that much of thi disappears in translation.

Having been a translator/interpreter in the past, I know that humor is often the most difficult thing to translate properly. So it would not surprise me at all to learn that many jokes in the Gospels just didn't make it to us in the right form.

I wish I could remember the concrete examples this man gave, but sadly, my memory is not that good. But they sounded very obvious when he said them, and I remember thinking about one in particular "oh, it makes so much more sense that way".

Anyone know enough Koine to confirm?

[ 28. January 2013, 01:44: Message edited by: Anyuta ]

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Timothy the Obscure

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Jesus was quite a comedian himself, really. People choking on gnats while swallowing camels? People walking around with 4x4s in their eyes? There's some Monty Python animation waiting to happen...

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When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
  - C. P. Snow

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Moo

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I have the impression that camels were seen as humorous, just as we see hippopotamuses that way. If you talk about swallowing a hippopotamus, it's much funnier to us than talking about swallowing a camel.

Moo

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SvitlanaV2
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quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
quote:
Originally posted by Anselmina:
Oh dear. I occasionally use funny punchline stories or jokes to illustrate where I'm going with a particular point. I feel convicted now.

Please don't. Remember, he tells jokes for a living. So he's bound not to want people doing it for free.

It's like the clergy and apostolic succession, lawyers and people representing themselves or the police and have-a-go heroes.

I know I'm not the only layperson who finds pulpit humour a bit cringeworthy sometimes. Maybe this feeling is enhanced when congregations have a somewhat sycophantic response, laughing far more than the 'jokes' merit.

Do I lack a GSOH? Probably. Or it could be that I just haven't experienced enough high quality pulpit humour. That's my bad luck!

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venbede
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I do wish preachers did not feel they had to tell jokes. People's sense of humour differs. A relevant anecdote is quite different: but the relevancy is the important thing.

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Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

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venbede
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quote:
Originally posted by Enoch:
quote:
Originally posted by Latchkey Kid:
The only funny bits in the scriptures are the naming of Isaac and the last phrase of Jonah AFAIK....

What about Gal 5:11-12? And that's St Paul.
Listening this Sunday to St Paul going on about how we honour our less respectable bits but don't honour respectable bits, I again thought this man has a total humour bypass.

--------------------
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

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Latchkey Kid
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Maybe those who decided on the canon of scripture left out Paul's letters which had jokes in them. [Big Grin]

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'You must never give way for an answer. An answer is always the stretch of road that's behind you. Only a question can point the way forward.'
Mika; in Hello? Is Anybody There?, Jostein Gaardner

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Karl: Liberal Backslider
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quote:
Originally posted by Moo:
I have the impression that camels were seen as humorous, just as we see hippopotamuses that way. If you talk about swallowing a hippopotamus, it's much funnier to us than talking about swallowing a camel.

Moo

To be honest, they're both pretty weak humour wise. They're not exactly Father Ted are they?

"Peter, let's go through this again. These sheep are very small" (holds up child's toy sheep) "but those sheep" (points to distant hillside) "are very far away."

"No, Jesus, I still don't get it."

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Might as well ask the bloody cat.

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