I long pondered on the concepts above. I had come up with the conclusion “Every movement needs a poet.” In your discussion Jesus was one such poet. Its one thing to issue a command to a man’s mind, it is quite another altogether to issue a command to a man’s soul.
You used examples of revolutionary America, lets look at the details of that a bit more. We had a combination of excellent leaders leading up to that war all of them experts in the field of politics, including George Washington (whom claimed he didn’t want the post of commander of the continental army but showed up to the meetings to pick one in a military uniform). As a violent civil disturbance turned successful the continental congress decided that succession was the best plan and commissioned the writing of the declaration of independence. Instead of a full committee writing the document the preamble in all of its poetic glory was written by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had filled the role of the fantastic poet and had collected all of the confused feelings and ideas of the founders into one easy to understand and powerful document. He had addressed those who opposed Britain over the issue of slavery as well as those who opposed Britain’s increasing autocratic nature. Most importantly his document created a beacon to command that generation and later generations to live up to a set of ideals as the ultimate goal for our nation. The poet commanded the people to be and now as you argued they needed someone with practical skills to make it happen. Its important to note that with such a beacon men are willing to endure no end of hardship to see it happen.
So I wouldn’t disagree that “Every Jesus needs a Paul” but I DO argue that if a great poet rises then so too will the fantastic men needed to make the poet’s vision happen. Men grow, create and learn the most when necessity demands that they do so. If there is a poet commanding men to greatness then great men is what we will have. Its important to note that for poet to be successful in this manner they must profess ideals that are “virtuous”, the more honorable and virtuous they appear the easier it is to find and create great men as well as avoid resistance.
Lets look at your example of Washington and the continental army: Washington was a gallant figure and dressed as such on purpose to command people emotionally. One of his core strategies was to create an image that his men could look up to. As such he was dutiful and never sought leave of the army so he was always there working to further the cause. He was courageous and brave, showing no personal concern at sitting on a horse in a hail of gunfire as he screamed at his men to stand strong. He was even merciful doing his utmost to see to the needs of the enemy wounded and captured. The combination of virtues and the vast quality of his moral superiority meant that great men flocked to him. The first were Nathaniel Green and Henry Knox. Yet he would soon have much needed support form men like Marquis de Lafayette, a man who served with such distinction that there are towns and cities across the United States that are named after him.
So yes, every Jesus needs a Paul. Yet interestingly possibly because every Jesus needs a Paul, for every great Jesus out there a Paul will surely be “born”
I called it “Every Paul needs a Jesus” rather than “Every Jesus needs a Paul”. My thesis is that Jesus had something in mind, and Paul (and some others; when I say “Paul” I’m being ambiguous about whether I mean Paul-the-person or Paul-the-collection-of-authors-who-wrote-the-books-ascribed-to-Paul) came along, took what Jesus had started, and built something else out of it. I don’t see Paul as faithfully continuing Jesus’ program. He might have meant to, but that wasn’t the result. Though the larger deviations from Jesus’ message, what we think of today as Christianity’s institutionalized hypocrisy (e.g., caring more about homosexuality than poverty or cruelty), came later, after Paul.
Except Paul corrupted and coopted Jesus’ message, radically transforming the Christian faith into something entirely foreign, indeed unrecognizable to Jesus’ direct disciples. I’m not sure Jesus would have wanted, much less needed that.
I long pondered on the concepts above. I had come up with the conclusion “Every movement needs a poet.” In your discussion Jesus was one such poet. Its one thing to issue a command to a man’s mind, it is quite another altogether to issue a command to a man’s soul.
You used examples of revolutionary America, lets look at the details of that a bit more. We had a combination of excellent leaders leading up to that war all of them experts in the field of politics, including George Washington (whom claimed he didn’t want the post of commander of the continental army but showed up to the meetings to pick one in a military uniform). As a violent civil disturbance turned successful the continental congress decided that succession was the best plan and commissioned the writing of the declaration of independence. Instead of a full committee writing the document the preamble in all of its poetic glory was written by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had filled the role of the fantastic poet and had collected all of the confused feelings and ideas of the founders into one easy to understand and powerful document. He had addressed those who opposed Britain over the issue of slavery as well as those who opposed Britain’s increasing autocratic nature. Most importantly his document created a beacon to command that generation and later generations to live up to a set of ideals as the ultimate goal for our nation. The poet commanded the people to be and now as you argued they needed someone with practical skills to make it happen. Its important to note that with such a beacon men are willing to endure no end of hardship to see it happen.
So I wouldn’t disagree that “Every Jesus needs a Paul” but I DO argue that if a great poet rises then so too will the fantastic men needed to make the poet’s vision happen. Men grow, create and learn the most when necessity demands that they do so. If there is a poet commanding men to greatness then great men is what we will have. Its important to note that for poet to be successful in this manner they must profess ideals that are “virtuous”, the more honorable and virtuous they appear the easier it is to find and create great men as well as avoid resistance.
Lets look at your example of Washington and the continental army: Washington was a gallant figure and dressed as such on purpose to command people emotionally. One of his core strategies was to create an image that his men could look up to. As such he was dutiful and never sought leave of the army so he was always there working to further the cause. He was courageous and brave, showing no personal concern at sitting on a horse in a hail of gunfire as he screamed at his men to stand strong. He was even merciful doing his utmost to see to the needs of the enemy wounded and captured. The combination of virtues and the vast quality of his moral superiority meant that great men flocked to him. The first were Nathaniel Green and Henry Knox. Yet he would soon have much needed support form men like Marquis de Lafayette, a man who served with such distinction that there are towns and cities across the United States that are named after him.
So yes, every Jesus needs a Paul. Yet interestingly possibly because every Jesus needs a Paul, for every great Jesus out there a Paul will surely be “born”
I called it “Every Paul needs a Jesus” rather than “Every Jesus needs a Paul”. My thesis is that Jesus had something in mind, and Paul (and some others; when I say “Paul” I’m being ambiguous about whether I mean Paul-the-person or Paul-the-collection-of-authors-who-wrote-the-books-ascribed-to-Paul) came along, took what Jesus had started, and built something else out of it. I don’t see Paul as faithfully continuing Jesus’ program. He might have meant to, but that wasn’t the result. Though the larger deviations from Jesus’ message, what we think of today as Christianity’s institutionalized hypocrisy (e.g., caring more about homosexuality than poverty or cruelty), came later, after Paul.
Except Paul corrupted and coopted Jesus’ message, radically transforming the Christian faith into something entirely foreign, indeed unrecognizable to Jesus’ direct disciples. I’m not sure Jesus would have wanted, much less needed that.