Interesting comment, re: the Damned Book

[matrixrefugee]

There's a discussion about the Damned Book on catholics and someone had this to say about it:

"Some people have brought up the point that "it's only fiction." This is one of the best counter arguments to that I have ever seen. It was taken from a comment someone made on Amy Welborn's blog.

"Imagine someone writes a fictional book in which your mother is

Comments

[cerulianphoenix]

Thanks for sharing this. I haven't read any responses that go along these lines. I'll be sure to spread the message in my own LJ.

[anonymous]

But let's not forget the real reason to be against the book:

It's really...really...really...poorly written.

~Ruby

[matrixrefugee]

Yeah, for some reason, a lot of the most noisily anti-Catholic/anti-Christian stuff seems to be really horribly written. What's up with that, I wonder? Does their anger short out their ability to write well?

[anonymous]

And let's not forget poorly-written Christian fiction, either...I don't know, somehow religion and novels never really work. They (the writers) either try to cram so much religious imagery etc into it that it's too overblown, or it's narrow-minded ("The characters that don't believe in _____ are EEEEVIIIIIL"), or just plain badly written. I stopped reading fiction a loooong time ago, lol...real-life's more interesting.

~Ruby

[anonymous]

Oh, and speaking of bad writing...I found the VERY FIRST fanfic I ever wrote with intent to let it be published...oh, Christ on a crutch, it is BAD. I thought that I'd lost it ears ago, but it was saved on a random disc. I eventually didn't submit it to ff.net or the AI_Fanfiction group because I hadn't finished all of it, but I am SO glad that I didn't.
If you want, I'll send it to you if you want a good laugh-- I know I was!

~Ruby

[madra_liath]

Seriously, I think people are getting too worked up over The DaVinci Code.

I know I haven't been to Mass since... Christmas, I think. But I still identify as Catholic, I still believe in Jesus and transubstantion. And to be honest, it's more fun to laugh at a guy who still thinks the Priory of Sion is real when it was made up by two French guys for pure devilment.

Who cares if Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene? It doesn't make any difference to his message (unless he was cheating on her with someone else ;-) ). We know nothing about the first thirty years of his life (an anecdote in Luke aside). He could've been married. He could've had kids. No-one knows. Because it's not important.

If people are believing this crap, even though it's touted as a work of fiction, well then they're very gullible and will probably lose all their money to a Nigerian bank scam someday. I'll be over here, smug in the knowledge that I was baptised into a Church founded by someone who actually *knew* Jesus. ;-P

[cerulianphoenix]

It does matter if Jesus got married and had children though. He often exhorted people to live the celibate life if they could for one. Second, who can marry God? Third, since Jesus is divine, what kind of children does He create? (Half-man, half-god? Quarter gods?) Four, what kind of father is He since He spent His entire ministry travelling and teaching rather than providing for His family? Plus He allowed Himself to die on a cross without any way for a family to provide for themselves (Remember that He left Mary, His mother, in St. John's care). Fifth, St. Paul exhorts people to live like Jesus did, celibate. Is St. Paul, who lived in the same time as Jesus wrong in his teaching and if so why didn't any of the other apostles correct him? Sixth, the teaching authority of the Church herself comes into questions since Jesus living a celibate life has been the constant tradition of the Church. "What other teachings of the Church could be incorrect?" would be commonplace. This is what caused the Protestant Reformation. What church is the

[matrixrefugee]

My take on whether or not Christ was married to Mary Magdalen is this: He knew He had come here to die for our sins. He knew that would be a traumatic thing for His mother to witness. Why would He put His wife through that kind of torment? I think there was a very deep, very loving connection between Christ and Mary Magdalen, but I think it was purely platonic. Could Christ's human nature been attracted to her? Could that part of Him have wanted to marry her? Definately. But I think His divine nature kept that in check, since He had to focus on something much higher....

[cerulianphoenix]

I think there was a very deep, very loving connection between Christ and Mary Magdalen, but I think it was purely platonic.

True, but this could be said of everyone, everywhere. Christ hung from a tree, He sacrificed His life so that we may have life. That is what the Greeks dubbed agape.

Jesus being fully God and yet fully human is definitely paradoxical. We couldn't possibly exhaust the mystery behind the Incarnation until we asked God, which is yet another reason to strive for heaven.