Today coffee with John, which has not happened for a while. Yesterday I did 77$$ worth of bulk shopping at Safeway cum Sobeys now. I also visited Sharen on Monday at around one pm, but after she consumed my brought blue berries, she wanted to sleep. It is best to visit her after about three I have now concluded.

I am continuing with Beye’s memoir as a gay person, with sex still taking center stage. I started in ‘The Elements’ by Gray, who gives a clear explanation of principles and conventions in the introduction, more later.

Finally, I did compose the outline for my essay on reincarnation which I may title ‘Reincarnation Reconsidered‘. The outline has seven (7) sections or chapters as follows: Preamble, Dutch experience, Detour, Gestation, A Model, Results, Conclusion.

I may post this on my website and am playing with the idea of making up a kind of blog report as I progress, but I have no simple solution for such an activity at this time. It constitutes a creative challenge, which I do like to have from time to time. This one has energy or legs as journalists say about a story.

I have now finished my second reading of ‘Zealot’ by Aslan. He tries to formulate Jesus as the human preacher placed in that time. He strips away the paraphernalia that the Christian tradition has bestowed on Jesus’ life in its gospel and act’s narratives.

For example Aslan makes the case that the whole Pontius Pilate scene would not have taken place. Too unlikely for the times he says and points out that this scenes become more elaborate as the gospels date is later.

The author also notes that Mark was a resident of Rome and wrote ‘his’ gospel a few months after the temple destruction in 70AD, while Mathew wrote in Damascus and Luke in Antioch. Both wrote about twenty years after Mark, but heavily relying on him, but for different communities. Finally, John wrote after 100AD living in Ephesus. These are little facts I never came across in Reed and Crossan or other references I used for my essay ‘Jesus the Man’.

‘Zealot’ paints a picture of Jesus as an uneducated peasant with a message like there were so many others in his time. He preached a new kingdom and was crucified by the Romans on charges of sedition. Aslan also points out that many such bandits - cum revolutionaries - were executed and then hung on a cross. This to send the message ‘don’t preach revolt against the established order‘, which is what Jesus advocated - hence zealot - from is powerless position, according to the author.

My own view is that Jesus was an apostate Essene as a shepherd of the community, but that does not address Jesus as healer, which points a relationship with the Therapeutics from Alexandria, as Philo reports.

Taking zealot, shepherd and healer together, we have a composite image or symbol on which just about any personal qualities can be projected or associated informing the personal behaviour of the believer.

This is where my criteria of time, place, people and circumstance come in, which in turn explains the continued interest, value and relevance of the gospel narratives.
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