Jeremiah Ought To Be Put To Death

(Carl Ebert, The Destruction of Jerusalem, 1869; Wikimedia, PD-Old-100) — (Carl Ebert, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, 1869; Wikimedia, PD-Old-100)

In those days, the princes said to the king:

“Jeremiah ought to be put to death;
he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,
and all the people, by speaking such things to them;
he is not interested in the welfare of our people,
but in their ruin.”
King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your power”;
for the king could do nothing with them.
And so they took Jeremiah
and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,
which was in the quarters of the guard,
letting him down with ropes.
There was no water in the cistern, only mud,
and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

Ebed-melech, a court official,
went there from the palace and said to him:
“My lord king,
these men have been at fault
in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,
casting him into the cistern.
He will die of famine on the spot,
for there is no more food in the city.”
Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite
to take three men along with him,
and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before
he should die.

–Jeremiah 38, First Reading, 20th Sunday in the Ordinary

This Weakened Edition (#14) is an opportunity for you to see what’s not weak this week at Cosmos.

Before launching into the TOP10 most read posts of the week I’d like to mention a significant new book by Matthew Tan (of Divine Wedgie blog fame), Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus:

Why are zombies consuming the popular imagination? This book–part social analysis, part theological critique, and part devotional–considers how the zombie can be a way to critically situate our culture, awash with consumer products. Matthew Tan considers how zombies are the endpoint of social theory’s exploration of consumer culture and its postsecular turn towards an earthly immortality, enacted on the flesh of consumers. The book also shows how zombies aid our appreciation of Christ’s saving work. Through the lens of theology and the prayer of the Stations of the Cross, Tan incorporates social theory’s insights on the zombie concerning postmodern culture’s yearning for things beyond the flesh and also reveals some of social theory’s blind spots. Turning to the Eucharist flesh of Christ, Tan challenges the zombie’s secularized narrative of salvation of the flesh, one where flesh is saved by being consumed and made to die. By contrast, Jesus saves by enacting an alternative logic of flesh, one that redeems the zombie’s obsession with flesh by eucharistically giving it away. In doing so, Jesus saves by assuming the condition of the zombie, redirecting our logic of consumption and fulfilling our yearning for immortality.

The title and premise are totally weird, but they work.

While working on this Sabbath I am contemplating Matthew Tan‘s Foucauldian axiom from Redeeming Flesh, “the city is a prison turned inside out, designed to give the illusion freedom for the individual to do whatever he or she wants….”

This is the sort of demoralizing news that makes for the best theology.

Without further ado here’s this week’s TOP10 cheer you down:

After reading today’s post you might be interested in answering the question: Did God Rape the Prophet Jeremiah?

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Jeremiah Ought to be Put to Death