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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Who do you say that I am?
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Simon
Editor
# 1
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Posted
Joke submitted by Living in Gin:
Jesus said to some Anglicans, "Who do you say that I am?"
They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kerygma of which we find the ultimate meaning in our interpersonal relationships."
And Jesus said, "What?"
[Title]
[ 02. August 2005, 11:19: Message edited by: Pyx_e ]
Poll information
This poll contains 2 question(s). 96 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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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
I actually find the original version I heard funnier simply because it had a double catch line.
Not just the "what", but the person asking replying "O good, you do not understand either". As for it being Anglicans, the version I heard had Peter in their place and it was the first part of the question asked "Who do people say I am?" As this is based on German Theologians (Schliermacher & Keirkegaarde at least) stances I think that is fairer.
Jengie
[ 27. July 2005, 09:22: Message edited by: Jengie Jon ]
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
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KenWritez
Shipmate
# 3238
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Posted
Boooooooooooooring....
This is joke is unintelligible to listeners without some deepish knowledge of theology. It's certainly not clear enough or good enough to be worth repeating down at the corner pub. It's a "boutique" joke.
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"The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd." --Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction
My blog: http://oxygenofgrace.blogspot.com
Posts: 11102 | From: Left coast of Wonderland, by the rabbit hole | Registered: Aug 2002
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Foaming Draught
The Low in Low Church
# 9134
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Posted
Wasn't this someone's sig?
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Australians all let us ring Joyce
For she is young and free
Posts: 8661 | From: Et in Australia Ego | Registered: Feb 2005
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Newman's Own
Shipmate
# 420
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Posted
I really like this one - and it is one of few that I'd be quite likely to repeat.
Indeed it is a 'boutique' joke, with limited appeal. Yet I like its sophistication, and the various meanings it would have for those who are very interested in theology.
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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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Hazey*Jane
Ship's Biscuit Crumbs
# 8754
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by KenWritez:
Boooooooooooooring....
This is joke is unintelligible to listeners without some deepish knowledge of theology. It's certainly not clear enough or good enough to be worth repeating down at the corner pub. It's a "boutique" joke.
I'd disagree with the 'deepish knowledge of theology' - I confess to not actually knowing the proper definitions of eschatological or kerygma, but I thought it was funny because of the way that we can invent all these terms and try to analyse God to the nth degree, which sometimes I think He might be scratching His head over, wondering why we need to do it.
As to whether I'd be capable of reapeating it down the pub...
Posts: 4266 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2004
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TomOfTarsus
Shipmate
# 3053
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Posted
I like it, like Hazey Jane says. You don't have to understand it. And I like Jengie Jon's add-on. It's more a wry joke than a howler, but I enjoy the pointed jab it makes at thev way we tend to complicate the simple, and screw it all up in the process. What's that old line? "Eschew obfuscation!" (probably spelled it wrong!)
Blessings,
Tom
[edit for sp/clarification]
[ 27. July 2005, 12:45: Message edited by: Pyx_e ]
Posts: 1570 | From: Pittsburgh, PA USA | Registered: Jul 2002
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rewboss
Shipmate
# 566
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by KenWritez:
This is joke is unintelligible to listeners without some deepish knowledge of theology.
Goodness, you're not supposed to actually understand the theological waffle -- actually, the whole point of the joke is that it is impenetrable theological waffle.
It does have a limited appeal, but not that limited. Anyone who has ever picked up a scholarly commentary, taken part in a debate on the precise wording of some leaflet or been to a Bible study led by someone who fancied himself a theologian (or worse: listened to a 20-minute sermon given by the same) will at least recognise the waffle and Jesus's reaction to it.
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The latest from the world of rewboss
Posts: 1334 | From: Lower Franconia, Germany | Registered: Jun 2001
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Marquis
Apprentice
# 9750
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Posted
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
Best joke so far, if only because it could have been written about the Ship of Fools!
Only offensive to those individuals who DO understand the definition given.
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"I believe that the words Favour", "Owe", and "Big" were used....."
Posts: 28 | From: NYC | Registered: Jul 2005
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RuthW
liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
I actually find the original version I heard funnier simply because it had a double catch line.
And I of course find the version I sent in much funnier because there was a whole lot more set-up that first slagged off Lutherans and Catholics before it got to Episcopalians. (Pouting because Simon didn't post my version! ![[Biased]](wink.gif) )
Posts: 24453 | From: La La Land | Registered: Apr 2001
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Midnight Scholar
Shipmate
# 9112
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Foaming Draught:
Wasn't this someone's sig?
Yes, it's my .sig.
Someone posted it (anonymously) on the students' noticeboard at Heythrop College, back in '85 - not too Anglican on that occasion.
I agree that it's a niche theologian's joke which is why I didn't send it in to this board myself.
cheers
mn
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Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth.
Deal with it.
Posts: 129 | From: out there | Registered: Feb 2005
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saysay
Ship's Praying Mantis
# 6645
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by KenWritez:
Boooooooooooooring....
This is joke is unintelligible to listeners without some deepish knowledge of theology. It's certainly not clear enough or good enough to be worth repeating down at the corner pub. It's a "boutique" joke.
I disagree. I actually think it's funnier if you don't know the theology - because I think, at its core, that this is a joke that pokes fun at really pretentious religious people rather than religion itself.
And if you've managed to live your life without contact with really pretentious religious people, then you're luckier than I have been.
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"It's been a long day without you, my friend
I'll tell you all about it when I see you again"
"'Oh sweet baby purple Jesus' - that's a direct quote from a 9 year old - shoutout to purple Jesus."
Posts: 2943 | From: The Wire | Registered: May 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Oh, I don't know--seems to me that you don't need a deep theological education, you just need a working bull-shit-ometer.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Rossweisse
High Church Valkyrie
# 2349
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
Oh, I don't know--seems to me that you don't need a deep theological education, you just need a working bull-shit-ometer.
Exactly.
I think it's the funniest one posted yet. (Is that saying much? I leave it to you, the reader, to decide THAT for yourself.)
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I'm not dead yet.
Posts: 15117 | From: Valhalla | Registered: Feb 2002
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Simon
Editor
# 1
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by RuthW:
(Pouting because Simon didn't post my version! )
OK, here's Ruth's Variant, complete with alternative ending...
quote:
Three clergymen die on the same day: a Lutheran pastor, a Roman Catholic priest, and an Episcopal priest. When they arrive at the Pearly Gates, they find that it's St Peter's day off and Jesus is administering the entrance exam.
Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?"
The Lutheran pastor goes first: "The Bible says..."
Jesus hits a button and the trap door beneath his feet opens up, and down to Hell he goes.
The Roman Catholic priest goes next: "The Pope says..."
Jesus hits a button and the trap door opens up, and down he goes.
The Episcopal priest goes last: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!"
Jesus smiles broadly and the Pearly Gates swing open.
"But on the other hand..."
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Comments: Some people tell it with a fourth person, the Episcopal seminarian, who says, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed."
And Jesus says, "What?"
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Eternal memory
Posts: 3787 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2001
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Poppy
Ship's dancing cat
# 2000
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Foaming Draught:
Wasn't this someone's sig?
I had something very similar as a tag line a couple of years ago. It was a pig to fit into the space allowed.
And Jesus said unto them, "And whom do you say that I am?"
They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed."
And Jesus replied, "What?"
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At the still point of the turning world - there the dance is...
Posts: 1406 | From: mostly on the edge | Registered: Dec 2001
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Lurker McLurker™
Ship's stowaway
# 1384
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Posted
I find this to be one of the funniest of the whole lot. Not offensive in the slightest, though.
It pokes gentle fun at a certain type of person; and is short and to the point.
I actually love the brevity of this one, compared to RuthW's version.
[ 28. July 2005, 20:26: Message edited by: Lurker McLurker™ ]
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Just War Theory- a perversion of morality?
Posts: 5661 | From: Raxacoricofallapatorius | Registered: Sep 2001
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RuthW
liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Simon:
quote:
Originally posted by RuthW:
(Pouting because Simon didn't post my version! )
OK, here's Ruth's Variant, complete with alternative ending...
Wow, pouting doesn't usually get me anything--thanks, Simon! ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
[silly code]
[ 28. July 2005, 23:18: Message edited by: RuthW ]
Posts: 24453 | From: La La Land | Registered: Apr 2001
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Trudy Scrumptious
BBE Shieldmaiden
# 5647
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Posted
First time I heard this one was on a board full of Unitarian jokes.
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Books and things.
I lied. There are no things. Just books.
Posts: 7428 | From: Closer to Paris than I am to Vancouver | Registered: Mar 2004
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The Lady of the Lake
Shipmate
# 4347
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Posted
It's funny if you're around theologians a lot, especially systematicians. However you definetely have to understand the jargon.
Delia Smith quotes it in her book 'A Journey Into God'. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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If I had a coat, I would get it.
Posts: 1272 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Apr 2003
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
I find RuthW's a lot funnier... sorry, the joke posted by RuthW is a lot funnier.
I think because of the set up; it makes you think it's going to be a smugly superior Episcopal joke... but ends up poking most fun at their double minded nature; even to the point of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Papio
Ship's baboon
# 4201
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mdijon:
I find RuthW's a lot funnier... sorry, the joke posted by RuthW is a lot funnier.
I think because of the set up; it makes you think it's going to be a smugly superior Episcopal joke... but ends up poking most fun at their double minded nature; even to the point of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Agreed. RuthW's version was funnier.
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Infinite Penguins.
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Posts: 12176 | From: a zoo in England. | Registered: Mar 2003
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Alicïa
Shipmate
# 7668
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Papio.:
I do know what the all the words in the joke mean, but I think it is almost certainly funnier if you don't.
Therefore, I disagree with Kenwritez.
I agree with Papio... and heres my confession, many a time I have read through some of the threads on the ship and though ... what is all this terminology??? ![[Confused]](confused.gif) and often I have given up trying to understand it all ... suppose I should get myself a glossary... anyway I think the joke is actually funnier when you don't get all the words, it kind of appeals more imo.
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"The tendency to turn human judgments into divine commands makes religion one of the most dangerous forces in the world." Georgia Elma Harkness
Posts: 884 | From: Where the Art is. | Registered: Jun 2004
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote:
... many a time I have read through some of the threads on the ship and though ... what is all this terminology??? and often I have given up trying to understand it all ... suppose I should get myself a glossary... anyway I think the joke is actually funnier when you don't get all the words, it kind of appeals more imo. [/QB]
That is exactly what makes the joke funny to me.. it is kind of like Jesus is standing in for those of us who prefer plain speech.
I would have made him say "Say what?" though. Just to add a little spice.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Rat
Ship's Rat
# 3373
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Posted
Yep. I sort of understood eschatological, but it all went rapidly downhill after that.
And I thought it was funny.
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It's a matter of food and available blood. If motherhood is sacred, put your money where your mouth is. Only then can you expect the coming down to the wrecked & shimmering earth of that miracle you sing about. [Margaret Atwood]
Posts: 5285 | From: A dour region for dour folk | Registered: Oct 2002
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churchgeek
Have candles, will pray
# 5557
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Marquis:
Only offensive to those individuals who DO understand the definition given.
I agree with that. I was raised in a somewhat anti-intellectual environment (it was a strong strain in my church and in one side of my family), and those are the people I could see finding it funny - if they understood it just enough.
I found it mildly amusing the first time I heard it, although it was a slightly different version, I think with multiple responses by different people/groups.
It's funny enough to me as a student of theology to the degree that I'm willing to not take myself/my field of study too seriously. (Like when Kant called one of his own books "dry and unnecessarily long-winded.") But I take issue with the idea that God finds our subtleties and theologies obscure or worthless. If anything, they're too simplistic for God. And the Bible is a deeply theological book, after all, debating itself within its own pages. The Gospels and other NT books answer the question about who Jesus is in subtly different ways.
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I reserve the right to change my mind.
My article on the Virgin of Vladimir
Posts: 7773 | From: Detroit | Registered: Feb 2004
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Rat:
Yep. I sort of understood eschatological, but it all went rapidly downhill after that.
I was with it as far as "You are..."
quote:
And I thought it was funny.
Quite so ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) .
I love the way this joke pokes fun at all those 'esteemed theologians' who use increasingly vague and bizarre words in an effort to pin down exactly what Jesus is/was. When all we really need to know is "You are the Christ", and leave it at that...
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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TomOfTarsus
Shipmate
# 3053
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Posted
Posted by Kelly Alves:
quote:
I would have made him say "Say what?" though. Just to add a little spice.
Or perhaps, "Gesunheit!"
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By grace are ye saved through faith... not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ... ordained that we should walk in them.
Posts: 1570 | From: Pittsburgh, PA USA | Registered: Jul 2002
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The Revolutionist
Shipmate
# 4578
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by KenWritez:
Boooooooooooooring....
This is joke is unintelligible to listeners without some deepish knowledge of theology. It's certainly not clear enough or good enough to be worth repeating down at the corner pub. It's a "boutique" joke.
I disagree - it's still funny if you don't understand what they're saying as anything but gobbledegook, as you still have the funny contrast between Jesus being down to earth and his followers making things all convoluted and complicated.
Posts: 1296 | From: London | Registered: May 2003
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Long-Johns Silver
Apprentice
# 1763
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Posted
The earliest version I heard of this (in the early 1970s, as a teenager) was the funniest. It had Jesus asking the question of Peter, and going "WHAT????" at the reply. The joke being even HE didn't understand our theological claptrap. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) Interestingly after a three year BA in theological claptrap I saw the similarity in meaning between the biblical & apocryphal answers. It's quite a good translation of "you are the Christ" into a certain dialect of theologigcalese. ![[Two face]](graemlins/scot_twoface.gif)
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"Smile", they said "it could be worse".
So I did...
And it was.
Posts: 49 | From: "The Church" - Church Inn that is :-) | Registered: Nov 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by TomOfTarsus:
Or perhaps, "Gesunheit!"
heheheheheheheheh....
![[Snigger]](graemlins/snigger.gif)
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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AdamPater
Sacristan of the LavaLamp
# 4431
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Posted
Ruth's version (or something similar that I was too lazy to type out) is one of the funniest religious jokes I've heard. But I've found it only goes down well with a sub-set of Anglicans - other groups just stare blankly, unless they've had a lot to do with a sub-set of Anglicans.
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Put not your trust in princes.
Posts: 4894 | From: On the left of the big pink bit. | Registered: Apr 2003
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yellowcat_HK
Apprentice
# 10233
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Posted
quote:
Jesus said to some Anglicans, "Who do you say that I am?"
They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kerygma of which we find the ultimate meaning in our interpersonal relationships."
And Jesus said, "What?"
Nah..... not those that falls in to the so called vilification of religions....
There are others that I still cannot find, like those jokes to fundamentalist or the "Kiss Han's Ass" joke....
Posts: 1 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
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Posted
Hi yellowcat, welcome to the ship. Please make sure you re-read the 10 commandments (link in frame to the left) and you have a good wander around all the boards and get used to it all. Some parts of your first post were a little difficult to understand, PM me if there is a problem. I hope you have a happy time on board.
Pyx_e LJ Host.
(missed out a word that made my post hard to understand, oh the irony)
[ 01. September 2005, 10:01: Message edited by: Pyx_e ]
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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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