"A Priest among the Zulus" by Brian Pitts now online... (Main Forum)

by Sue, Sydney, Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 18:46 (456 days ago) @ Brian Coyne

I decided to investigate this messiah thing for myself, from scratch, without any biblical commentators or theologians trying to hand me their answers. I had to find it myself like a forensic scientist. I had to be critical and objective. Every tool I needed, I would get. I didn't know where it was going to lead, but I was prepared to accept whatever the outcome. My greatest asset was my Zulu understanding of the world.

Brian, thank you for your story, especially your observations about language.

Also, what a great insight and a great attitude to bring to a spiritual search.  Your story says so much to me about the way contact with other languages, cultures and systems of religious belief can bring new insights and a re- examination of one's own beliefs.  Also, living a very basic existence, so close to the ground, and so close to a people who lived very much in the way we suppose Jesus might have lived can also change one's worldview.  How different Australia must have seemed on your return!

What did you notice most on your return - from your acquired Zulu understanding of the world?  And how did that affect your later scripture search?

Sue