{"id":45076,"date":"2017-11-29T21:36:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T04:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=45076"},"modified":"2017-11-30T08:34:09","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T15:34:09","slug":"historical-jesus-unearthly-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2017\/11\/historical-jesus-unearthly-beauty.html","title":{"rendered":"The Historical Jesus and an Unearthly Beauty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Interlaken<\/a>
A view of Interlaken, Switzerland, on a winter\u2019s night (Wikimedia CC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think that most Latter-day Saints or other Christians who have toured in Israel, or who are planning to do so soon, or who hope to do so eventually, will enjoy this article in the current (December 2017) issue of National Geographic:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Archaeology is Telling Us about the Real Jesus: Believers call him the Son of God. \u00a0Skeptics dismiss him as legend. \u00a0Now, researchers digging in the Holy Land are sifting fact from fiction\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sepphoris (see my\u00a0\u201cSepphoris \u2014 \u2018The ornament of the Galilee'\u201d<\/a>), the Church of the Nativity, the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (see my\u00a0\u201cArchaeological evidence that it really IS the site of Christ\u2019s burial and resurrection?\u201d<\/a>), the Garden of Gethsemane, the newly discovered synagogue at Magdala (see my\u00a0\u201cDid Jesus teach in this ancient synagogue?\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cProcessing fish and calling apostles on the Sea of Galilee\u201d<\/a>), the synagogue of Capernaum and the very possible house of Peter that sits near to it (see my\u00a0\u201cCapernaum bears witness of Christ\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cThe archaeology of Peter\u2019s hometown\u201d<\/a>), even the ossuary of Caiphas and the ankle bone of the crucified man that \u00a0are both housed in the Israel Museum \u2014 these are all things that I regularly visit with my tour groups. \u00a0Sometimes, too, we\u2019ve visited the so-called \u201cJesus Boat\u201d at Kibbutz Nof Ginosar. (If\u00a0it were totally up to me, we always<\/em> would.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, I posted something just this morning that mentions the Palestinian bagpipers who are pictured in the National Geographic<\/em> article:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cChristmas in Bethlehem\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And, also coincidentally, just yesterday I shared three links on the question of<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDid Jesus Even EXIST?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I indicated my own point of view on the topic, which, it turns out, is pretty much exactly the same viewpoint as that of the scholars cited in the National Geographic<\/em> article. \u00a0I approve, of course, of what they say \u2014 which reminds me of one of the definitions given in Ambrose Bierce\u2019s famous 1911\u00a0Devil\u2019s Dictionary<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cAdmiration, n.<\/strong> Our polite recognition of another\u2019s resemblance to ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I alert you to the \u201ccall for papers\u201d just issued by the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. \u00a0The Society will be holding its 2018 annual meeting on the campus of Utah State University, 15-17 March 2018. \u00a0If you would like to submit a paper proposal to be considered for a presentation to\u00a0that conference, the deadline is 15 January 2018.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can find the call for papers here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I share with you the first installment from the Christmas initiative \u201cLight the World\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Day One: \u00a0\u201c\u201dFreely ye have received, freely give.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I hope you\u2019ll watch the video. \u00a0I hope you\u2019ll share it. \u00a0I hope you\u2019ll act on what\u2019s being taught. \u00a0I\u2019m<\/em> going to try.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, a favorite piece of music for the season:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Es ist ein Ros entsprungen,<\/span>
\n aus einer Wurzel zart,<\/span>
\n wie uns die Alten sungen,<\/span>
\n von Jesse kam die Art.<\/span>
\n Und hat ein Bl\u00fcmlein bracht<\/span>
\n mitten im kalten Winter,<\/span>
\n wohl zu der halben Nacht.<\/span><\/p>\n

Das R\u00f6slein, das ich meine,<\/span>
\n davon Isaias sagt,<\/span>
\n hat uns gebracht alleine<\/span>
\n Marie, die reine Magd.<\/span>
\n Aus Gottes ew\u2019gem Rat<\/span>
\n hat sie ein Kind geboren<\/span>
\n wohl zu der halben Nacht.<\/span><\/p>\n

Das Bl\u00fcmelein, so kleine,<\/span>
\n das duftet uns so s\u00fc\u00df,<\/span>
\n mit seinem hellen Scheine<\/span>
\n vertreibt\u2019s die Finsternis.<\/span>
\n Wahr Mensch und wahrer Gott<\/span>
\n hilft uns aus allem Leide,<\/span>
\n rettet von S\u00fcnd und Tod.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0literal and quite unpoetic translation (partially my own):<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A rose has sprung up,<\/span>
\n from a tender root,<\/span>
\n As the ancients\u00a0sang to us.<\/span>
\n Its line\u00a0came from Jesse<\/span>
\n And it has brought forth a\u00a0small flower<\/span>
\n In the middle of the cold winter,<\/span>
\n In\u00a0the middle of\u00a0the night.<\/span><\/p>\n

The little rose that I mean,<\/span>
\n Of which Isaiah told,<\/span>
\n Mary alone, the pure maid,<\/span>
\n Has brought to us.<\/span>
\n By\u00a0God\u2019s eternal counsel<\/span>
\n She has borne a child<\/span>
\n In\u00a0the middle of\u00a0the night.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tiny\u00a0flower, so small,<\/span>
\n That smells so sweet to us,<\/span>
\n With its bright gleam<\/span>
\n Dispels\u00a0the darkness<\/span>
\n \u2013True man and true God\u2013<\/span>
\n Helps us from all suffering,<\/span>
\n Saves us from sin and death.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEs ist ein Ros Entsprungen\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I remember very clearly when and where this marvelous carol, which was given its classical form by the German composer Michael Praetorius in 1609 but which originated sometime before that, first hit me. \u00a0(I had probably heard the carol before, but, if I had, it hadn\u2019t registered even slightly.)\u00a0 I\u00a0was attending a Latter-day Saint sacrament meeting in Interlaken, Switzerland, shortly before Christmas 1973. \u00a0Curiously, I don\u2019t recall who sang it. \u00a0It may have been a branch or district choir.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was enraptured. \u00a0Riveted. \u00a0I had seldom heard anything so beautiful. \u00a0And it still<\/em> affects me that way.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Park City, Utah<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I think that most Latter-day Saints or other Christians who have toured in Israel, or who are planning to do so soon, or who hope to do so eventually, will enjoy this article in the current (December 2017) issue of National Geographic: \u00a0 \u201cWhat Archaeology is Telling Us about the Real Jesus: Believers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":45077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Historical Jesus and an Unearthly Beauty<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I think that most Latter-day Saints or other Christians who have toured in Israel, or who are planning to do so soon, or who hope to do so\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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