Jim West (yes, that picture is definitely him – 'total depravity' doesn't even get close – the 'super move' is the funniest) had the nerve to publish a spurious interview with me last night. It ended with Jim absolving 'me' of sin. 'I' responded: 'OH THANK YOU! Now I can die in peace'.
Well, I really did die in peace. I went to heaven and was told Mozart was in hell because he was a Freemason. So I was sent back to proclaim unto thee the truth. Bultmann was also absent. Zwingli was kicking around somewhere avidly reading Wright's works muttering to himself: 'Of course, of course, why didn't I see that'.
But anyway, I digress.
It is not often that I've interviewed folk for Chrisendom. OK, there was the time with Richard Bauckham about his book, and then there was the one with Simon. This one with Jim West (who is now calling me a blasphemer – he didn't like me pointing out that Mozart is as overrated as, well, Bultmann) is more in the spirit of the latter.
To understand how this 'conversation' took place, you need to realise that it was an IM internet discussion.
A box popped up on my Windows desktop:
Jim: Chris, you there?
*Chris waits 5 minutes and hopes Jim will go away. Closes IM window*
Box pops up again:
Jim: Chris, I know you are there.
*Waits another few minutes. Gets on with work*
Jim: Chris?
*Chris makes a cup of tea*
*Comes back to the computer 5 minutes later*
Jim: I'm still here, and I'm going to keep on IMing you till you answer.
*Chris passes a few more minutes dreaming up potentially rude words from letters in the name 'Zwingli' – but doesn't get far. You great big hairy 'Gliz' was as good as it got*
Jim: Oh come on, Chris. I've got no friends.
*After finishing my second cuppa – about 20 minutes later – I had pity*
Chris: Hey, Jim, I just got back. You been there for long?
Jim: Ah, there you are! No, just got online myself.
Chris: Oh. Jim, I've gotta go – need to make a cup of tea. Later ...
*Chris quickly sets IM to 'invisible' again and thinks to himself what a Gliz that Jim West is.
3 comments:
I could manage eternity without Mozart - and I'm not even going to ask about Beethoven if Mozart wasn't there, although I presume Bach made it. Was Thomas Tallis flip-flopped in the right direction when his number came up? If the great Anglican composers Parry, Stanford and Vaughan Williams are there then the music will be fine, even in Mozart's absence.
Big surprise about Bultmann. I guess that just goes to show that faith alone won't cut it - you really do have to be able to will yourself back into a pre-scientific worldview. Was anyone living since the Enlightenment there? :)
I'm as stunned at McGrath's response as I am at the suggestion that Bultmann isn't to be found. Bultmann was quite pious! Know ye not that he was in worship every time the doors were open?
Yep, only prescientific by the looks of it. Or post-scientific if you repent lots.
Post a Comment