Ship of Fools: Who do you say that I am?

Thread: Who do you say that I am? Board: The Laugh Judgment / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Simon (# 1) on :

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 ]

Posted by Jengie Jon (# 273) on :

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 ]

Posted by KenWritez (# 3238) on :

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.

Posted by Foaming Draught (# 9134) on :

Wasn't this someone's sig?

Posted by Newman's Own (# 420) on :

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.

Posted by Hazey Jane (# 8754) on :

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...

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

Heard that one 30 years ago.

Posted by TomOfTarsus (# 3053) on :

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 ]

Posted by rewboss (# 566) on :

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.

Posted by Marquis (# 9750) on :

[Killing me]

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.

Posted by RuthW (# 13) on :

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! )

Posted by Midnight Scholar (# 9112) on :

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

Posted by saysay (# 6645) on :

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.

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

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.

Posted by Rossweisse (# 2349) on :

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.)

Posted by Simon (# 1) on :

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..."

---

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?"

Posted by Poppy (# 2000) on :

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?"

Posted by Lurker McLurker™ (# 1384) on :

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™ ]

Posted by RuthW (# 13) on :

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]

[silly code]

[ 28. July 2005, 23:18: Message edited by: RuthW ]

Posted by TrudyTrudy (I say unto you) (# 5647) on :

First time I heard this one was on a board full of Unitarian jokes.

Posted by The Lady of the Lake (# 4347) on :

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]

Posted by mdijon (# 8520) on :

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.

Posted by Papio. (# 4201) on :

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. [Biased]

Posted by Papio. (# 4201) on :

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.

Posted by Lady Alicia of Scouseland (# 7668) on :

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]

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.

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

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.

Posted by Rat (# 3373) on :

Yep. I sort of understood eschatological, but it all went rapidly downhill after that.

And I thought it was funny.

Posted by churchgeek (# 5557) on :

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.

Posted by Marvin the Martian (# 4360) on :

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

.

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...

Posted by TomOfTarsus (# 3053) on :

Posted by Kelly Alves:

quote:
I would have made him say "Say what?" though. Just to add a little spice.

Or perhaps, "Gesunheit!"

Posted by Caleb Woodbridge (# 4578) on :

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.

Posted by Long-Johns Silver (# 1763) on :

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]

Interestingly after a three year BA in theological claptrap [Big Grin]

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]

Posted by Kelly Alves (# 2522) on :

quote:
Originally posted by TomOfTarsus:
Or perhaps, "Gesunheit!"

heheheheheheheheh....
[Snigger]

Posted by AdamPater (# 4431) on :

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.

Posted by yellowcat_HK (# 10233) on :

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....

Posted by Pyx_e (# 57) on :

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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