{"product_id":"2940013198876","title":"LUDICROUS ASPECTS OF CHRISTIANITY","description":"The Bishop of Manchester, in a speech delivered by him in Oldham in\u003cbr\u003eAugust, 1870, is reported to have said that \"he could defy anyone to try\u003cbr\u003eto caricature the work, the character, or the person of the Lord Jesus\u003cbr\u003eChrist.\" He no doubt felt confident in throwing out such a challenge,\u003cbr\u003eas the attempt would be considered so atrociously impious that few men\u003cbr\u003ecould be found with courage enough to incur the odium of such an act. We\u003cbr\u003econfess that we have not the temerity to wound the sensitiveness of the\u003cbr\u003edevoutly religious. What may be deemed of the nature of caricature in\u003cbr\u003ethe following remarks the reader is requested to regard as merely the\u003cbr\u003espontaneous utterance of one who is keenly alive to the ludicrous, and\u003cbr\u003ewho is not awed by the belief that the Bible is an infallible volume.\u003cbr\u003eWe find the New Testament, when read without the deceptive spectacles of\u003cbr\u003e_faith_ as amusing, as extravagant, and as contradictory in many places\u003cbr\u003eas most books.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA system of religion, to be a moral guide to men, should be perfect in\u003cbr\u003eall its parts. It should not consist of a few precepts which might\u003cbr\u003ebe followed under certain circumstances, the rest being made up of\u003cbr\u003eimpossibilities and contradictions; but should be so comprehensive as to\u003cbr\u003eembrace all orders of men under all circumstances. And a divine exemplar\u003cbr\u003eto mankind, if such a being can be imagined, should possess every human\u003cbr\u003evirtue in perfection, and be absolutely without fault. We are told daily\u003cbr\u003eand hourly that Jesus Christ possesses these transcendent qualities, and\u003cbr\u003eis worthy of the homage and admiration of the world. We ask where this\u003cbr\u003edivine image is to be found, and are referred to the four Gospels in the\u003cbr\u003eNew Testament. All that is there written was written by inspiration of\u003cbr\u003eGod, and God therefore is the painter of the lineaments of his own Son.\u003cbr\u003eWe will take it as such, and see what aspect Jesus presents when viewed\u003cbr\u003ein the light we are able to bring to bear upon his portrait. We shall\u003cbr\u003efollow a somewhat different plan to that adopted by M. Rénan. That\u003cbr\u003egreat French writer has evidently gone to his task with the intention or\u003cbr\u003eanticipation of finding an almost perfect man, and he ends by believing\u003cbr\u003ehe really sees one in Jesus. We have taken up the Gospels with the\u003cbr\u003edesire of finding what is actually there; and as it appears to us, so we\u003cbr\u003ewill present it to the reader. We know that some will view the sayings\u003cbr\u003eand actions in a different light; but that is inevitable. No two persons\u003cbr\u003eever see in the painted portrait of a friend or relative, precisely\u003cbr\u003ethe same expression; yet they may be equally honest. Now we claim to be\u003cbr\u003eregarded as truthful in the following portraiture, though Jesus appears\u003cbr\u003eto us a very different man to what he appeared to M. Renan. Some may say\u003cbr\u003ewe are flippant, but that we cannot help, though we may regret it. We\u003cbr\u003emust express ourselves in our own way, and we most be excused if we\u003cbr\u003elaugh at what seems ludicrous or absurd.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082377249008,"sku":"2940013198876","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013198876_p0.jpg?v=1763578162","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013198876","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}