Wednesday, August 19, 2015

John the Baptist and Ernest Renan

I've been benefiting from Brian LePort's recent posts on John the Baptist (one of my earliest interests in Jesus studies). Brian, who is writing his dissertation on a topic related to JB, points to an interesting quote from Ernest Renan.

http://www.brianleport.com/personal-blog/2015/8/18/john-the-yogi

Another fascinating window into the assumptions of pre-WWII European scholarship.

-anthony
at

4 comments:

  1. LarryAugust 20, 2015 at 12:39 PM

    Might JB be better understood within the context of such Yogi-isms as "it ain't over until it's over," or "it gets late early around here"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anthony Le DonneAugust 20, 2015 at 3:46 PM

      Wasn't it John the Baptizer who said "I really didn't say everything I said. Then again, I might have said 'em, but you never know...." ?

      -anthony

      Delete
    2. LarryAugust 21, 2015 at 10:27 AM

      Ooooh, that's good.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousAugust 21, 2015 at 2:16 PM

    Seeing John as a generic holy ascetic however, might be partially from the perspective of internationalism. The recognition of common humanity in all peoples. As noted not just by sentiment, but also by the social sciences. Which find similar things in all peoples. Even Indians.

    ReplyDelete