Jesus the Holy FoolRichly written, Jesus the Holy Fool combines diverse images from religious traditions, world literature, Jungian archetype, and Scripture. Weaving the best theology and spirituality, Jesus the Holy Fool is a fresh and inviting Christology. The Scriptures tell us that religious leaders thought Jesus was "possessed," and his own family thought he was "crazy." In his open table fellowship, choice of followers, radical passion, and his death and resurrection, Jesus was willing to appear as a fool for the sake of God's reign. His teachings--especially the parables, paradoxes, and the beatitudes--advocate a way of life that is grounded in Holy Foolishness. Through an archetypal examination of the fool motif as it applies to Jesus in the Gospels, Jesus the Holy Fool develops the connections between holiness and folly. Offering new insights into Christology and exploring its practical pastoral ramifications, Jesus the Holy Fool presents Holy Foolishness as a paradigm for the Christian journey and as a new model of what it means for us to be church. |
Contents
Jesus and Human Folly | 15 |
Christ as Archetype of the Self | 18 |
Plain Fool Versus Holy Fool | 27 |
The Holy Foolishness of Jesus | 33 |
Fool as Archetype | 35 |
The Trickster | 37 |
The Fool as Professional | 39 |
The Fool as Scapegoat and Sage | 45 |
To the Religious Establishment Jesus Was a Blasphemer | 134 |
To Many Jesus Was Possessed | 135 |
The Passion Narratives | 136 |
Jesus Is Mocked by the Religious Powers | 137 |
Jesus Is Mocked by the Secular Powers | 139 |
Possible Sources for the Passion Narratives | 142 |
Jesus Is Mocked by Spectators | 144 |
The Last Laugh | 147 |
The Fool as Spiritual Quester | 48 |
Biblical Precursors of the Holy Fool | 51 |
Jesus and Divine Folly The Foolishness of God in Creation and Election | 55 |
The Infancy Narratives | 67 |
The Embarrassing Baptism | 73 |
Rejection in Nazareth | 74 |
Jesus in Bad Company | 75 |
Jesus Folly and Conventional Wisdom | 77 |
Jesus and Shabbat | 79 |
Jesus and Torah | 82 |
Jesus and the Temple | 84 |
The Foolishness of Jesus Teachings | 90 |
The Consciousness of a Child | 91 |
The Sermon on the Mount | 95 |
The Parables | 104 |
The Way of Paradox | 113 |
Jesus and Prayer | 120 |
Jesus and Healing | 122 |
Name Calling | 130 |
To His Family Jesus Was Mad | 131 |
To His Opponents Jesus Was a Sinner | 133 |
The Spirit as Intoxicator | 149 |
Pentecost and Inspired Speech | 151 |
The Spirit and the Early Church | 154 |
The Effects of the Spirit | 157 |
Costly Grace | 159 |
The Folly of Baptism | 164 |
The Foolishness of the Trinity | 166 |
Christian Faith and Folly Holy Foolishness and Inculturation | 171 |
Relationship with Jesus the Holy Fool | 175 |
Fools for Christs Sake | 182 |
Holy Fools and Russian Piety | 185 |
Holy Foolishness and Christian Spirituality | 192 |
Holy Foolishness and Worship | 203 |
Holy Foolishness and Justice | 209 |
Holy Foolishness and a New Ecclesiology | 221 |
Conclusion | 237 |
Notes | 241 |
Topical Bibliography | 261 |
Index | 275 |
Common terms and phrases
absurdity allowing archetype baptism become behavior blessing C. G. Jung called child Christ Christian Spirituality Christology church clown comedy consciousness conventional wisdom Crossroad crucified death Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dionysus disciples discipleship divine Ecclesiology edited everything example experience fact feast fool's forgiveness Gospel Harmondsworth Harper & Row healing heart Holy Folly Holy Fool Holy Foolishness Holy Spirit human humiliation Ibid images inner invites involves jester Jesus the Holy Jewish Jews John John Saward Joseph Bernardin journey Jung king laugh laughter Leonardo Boff liturgy live Luke madness means mocked mockery ness offers one's Orbis Books ourselves parables Paradox passion path Penguin person prayer presence prophets Raymond Brown relationship religious response ritual sacred sake Scriptures sense Shabbat sins Sisyphus speak story suffering symbol teaching Temple Thomas à Kempis tion tradition trickster Trinity truth University Press Walter Kasper woman words York
Popular passages
Page 6 - Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave -just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.