Saturday, April 15, 2006
The Last Temptation of a Superstar
Aside from the New Testament, I have found several works of art to be influential in my understanding of Jesus. They mostly focus on the human aspects, and not the divine. I guess being human myself, that was the best way for me to connect.
Jesus Christ Superstar: It used to be that a certain radio station would play this album in its entirety on Good Friday (radio stations used to be able to do stuff like that). This was the 'brown album' featuring Ian Gillan as Jesus, and not the movie soundtrack or a version by stage actors.
The story of the last few days of His earthly ministry, his Passion and Death, we are invited to meditate on the relationship between Jesus and Judas, with the religious Establishment as the heavies and the Apostles as a clueless chorus. There is little focus on Jesus's teachings (as in Godspell), but instead a dramatic confrontation of the varying motives of the principals.
Maybe it was just the vulnerability of my age, but I think it was also something more, that made this an important thing in my life. After all, I heard a lot of music when I was that age and not all of it stuck. The music was dramatic, the story was well-told, it was a different twist on familiar themes, and it was above all accessible.
The Passover Plot: This book was an attempt to show that a fully human Jesus could have tried to fulfill the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament by wholly material means by use of clever strategems. In essence, he fakes his death on the Cross, and only appears to rise from the dead on Easter.
What was most significant to me was that this was the first book I read that tried to read the text of the Bible in a new way. Verses are parsed for possible interpretations, outside sources are referenced, and the Miraculous is brought down to the Mundane. I think I liked the idea of trying to find out how much of the story of the Passion could be reduced to materialistic explanations.
The Last Temptation of Christ: A novel by Nikos Kazantzakis about the ministry of Jesus, also focuses strongly on the humanity of Christ, but there is ample room for Mysticism. In this the human part of Jesus's nature feels oppressed by the Divine mission. It is a burden He wants to lay down, but one He cannot escape. He is rather like Jonah in this regard.
What I enjoyed the most about this book was the way the author created a whole world for his characters to inhabit that had a life of its own and made sense for both action and spiritual progress. You could feel the heat of the desert, the beauty of the divine, the stink of humanity, the pull of temptation.
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Happy Easter everyone!
Jesus Christ Superstar: It used to be that a certain radio station would play this album in its entirety on Good Friday (radio stations used to be able to do stuff like that). This was the 'brown album' featuring Ian Gillan as Jesus, and not the movie soundtrack or a version by stage actors.
The story of the last few days of His earthly ministry, his Passion and Death, we are invited to meditate on the relationship between Jesus and Judas, with the religious Establishment as the heavies and the Apostles as a clueless chorus. There is little focus on Jesus's teachings (as in Godspell), but instead a dramatic confrontation of the varying motives of the principals.
Maybe it was just the vulnerability of my age, but I think it was also something more, that made this an important thing in my life. After all, I heard a lot of music when I was that age and not all of it stuck. The music was dramatic, the story was well-told, it was a different twist on familiar themes, and it was above all accessible.
The Passover Plot: This book was an attempt to show that a fully human Jesus could have tried to fulfill the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament by wholly material means by use of clever strategems. In essence, he fakes his death on the Cross, and only appears to rise from the dead on Easter.
What was most significant to me was that this was the first book I read that tried to read the text of the Bible in a new way. Verses are parsed for possible interpretations, outside sources are referenced, and the Miraculous is brought down to the Mundane. I think I liked the idea of trying to find out how much of the story of the Passion could be reduced to materialistic explanations.
The Last Temptation of Christ: A novel by Nikos Kazantzakis about the ministry of Jesus, also focuses strongly on the humanity of Christ, but there is ample room for Mysticism. In this the human part of Jesus's nature feels oppressed by the Divine mission. It is a burden He wants to lay down, but one He cannot escape. He is rather like Jonah in this regard.
What I enjoyed the most about this book was the way the author created a whole world for his characters to inhabit that had a life of its own and made sense for both action and spiritual progress. You could feel the heat of the desert, the beauty of the divine, the stink of humanity, the pull of temptation.
****************
Happy Easter everyone!
# posted by newbie @ 6:45 AM 
Comments:
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i was a Jesus Freak years ago, back in the early 70s, and i listened to JCS forever. but also to Creedance, the Beatles and my favorite -- John Denver. i've been listening to JCS lately, with the local theatre producing it. and John Denver, too; i miss him.
i find Tim Rice's twisting of the bible story amusing; there was no basis for it other than pure imagination. it makes good theatre but otherwise it's silly. i'm not a bible person, but there is no basis to cut him slack, except he's gone to hell forever!!
i need to read Last Temptation someday.
i find Tim Rice's twisting of the bible story amusing; there was no basis for it other than pure imagination. it makes good theatre but otherwise it's silly. i'm not a bible person, but there is no basis to cut him slack, except he's gone to hell forever!!
i need to read Last Temptation someday.
Yes, Webber and Rice did quite a number on the Gospel story for the sake of their drama. And it is silly, an entertainment. I just like it.
I also like CCR and the Beatles, and I accept that they, too, are just entertainers. They're silly, and not to be taken too seriously.
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I also like CCR and the Beatles, and I accept that they, too, are just entertainers. They're silly, and not to be taken too seriously.
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