Why leave us with all this confusion and contradiction?
Saturday, 4th November 2006

Dear friends,

Reading Ian's commentary on the Resurrection this morning, the thought struck me: given the central importance this event was to play in the entire Christian story why would God not have been more careful in his "inspirations" to the various Scripture writers to get rid of all the contradictions and inconsistencies? Think about it. It's a serious question. If you, for example, were preparing a set of instructions for your children, grandchildren and the great grandchildren you'd never actually see about how to bake a cake, fix a motor car, or "live life" wouldn't you go to a heck of a lot of trouble to make sure you got all the details correct?

Ian presents for us today a fascinating analysis of the different accounts of the Resurrection in the various scriptural accounts of the story. I actually think there is a logic as to why God might have chosen to not dictate the story but presented it to us — the children — in this very incomplete and contradictory way. I'll keep my own thoughts to myself though for discussion later in the forum.

It would be interesting to read your thoughts though in the forum after you have spent time mulling on what Ian provokes us with today.

For the benefit of our weekly readers I'd like to repeat the annoucement of our competition winner:

There were many very creative names suggested — including quite a few as variations of one sort and another on the name George (I wonder why) — so much so that we had to resort to a preferential voting system to try and find some final winner. It wasn't the more creative names that eventually rose to the top but one of the most obvious. Our new character is hereby name "Farmer Jack" and half a dozen bottles of SevenHill wine and the special compilation cd of Amanda McKenna's music are on their way to the home of Val Hayes in Melbourne. Congratulations Val and thanks to everyone who entered the competion.

The Resurrection — what really happened? What do we know of the history of the resurrection event itself? What really happened? To whom did Jesus appear? What was the nature of those Christophanies? How was this experience interpreted by the recipients? These are the questions Ian explores today. [more]

The value of a smile! The home of one of the parishioners was burned down recently accidently. Cindy has been a bit gobsmacked at the way in which the couple concerned have handled the calamity in their lives. It's led her to musing on the value of a smile and how we express our inner feelings through our eyes. [more]

Best wishes for a great day wherever you happen to be ... in life, and in our world,

Brian Coyne
Editor and Publisher
Catholica Australia