I don't know if it is just me, but Jesus sounds like a brash American in Eugene Peterson's The Message.
In Mark 8:34, he says to Peter, "Peter, get out of my way! Satan, get lost! You have no idea how God works."
Then he tells his disciples, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?"
And then Jesus "drove it home" by saying, "This isn't pie in the sky by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the kingdom of God arrive in full force."
What does "pie in the sky by and by" mean anyway?
Monday, October 31, 2005
Jesus, a modern American?
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4 comments:
I googled it and this came out:
... an early 20th-century folk song written by labor activist Joe Hill, aka Joe Hillstrom, a legendary member of the Industrial Workers of the World. The song, titled "The Preacher and the Slave," is a satiric attack on the Salvation Army, whose preachers Hill decried for lulling workers into complacency....
http://www.slate.com/id/2077026/
the lyrics of the song:
The Preacher and the Slave
by JOE HILL
Long-haired preachers come out every night,
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right,
But when asked about something to eat,
They will answer in voices so sweet:
Chorus:
You will eat bye and bye,
In that glorious land above the sky.
Work and pray, (work and pray),
Live on hay, (live on hay),
You'll get Pie in the Sky,
When you die, (that's a lie!)
And the starvation army they play,
They sing and they dance and they pray,
Till they get all your coin on the drum,
Then they tell you when you're on the bum:
CHORUS
If you fight hard for the good things in life,
They will tell you to stop all the strife,
Be a sheep for the bosses they say
Or to hell you are surely on the way!
CHORUS
Workingfolk of all countries unite;
Side by side we for freedom will fight
When the world and its wealth we have gained,
To the grafters we will sing this refrain:
Last Chorus:
You will eat, bye and bye,
When you've learned how to cook and to fry;
Chop some wood, 'twill do you good
And you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye.
(That's no lie!)
Little Red Songbook
Thanks Colin for your research. What a sad and hopeless song!
I suppose a paraphrased Bible works sometimes and doesn't work at other times.
I think the purpose of paraphrased Bibles is to put things in common language, just as the Bible itself was orginally written in common Greek rather than the "highbrow" Greek spoken by the nobles. Since The Message was written for an American audience, I doubt we're expected to understand it properly, just as they wouldn't understand a singlish Bible.
You know Canopy, you are a wise and insightful person. I always enjoy your comments here and the succinct posts on your blog.
As usual, you are right. The latest paraphrased Bible is the "SMS Bible" where they translated the Bible into SMS-speak, like "God so luvd da world.."
Pretty scary!
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