In jesus christ' super star in the guessemane song, jesus is suffering from terrible doubt. And what the film eventually does at the high point of him building musically to that, is a montage of great christian art. It's almost like its saying, it's worth it for the art. I think howard is down playing the importance of the virgin birth and reading that imagery just on the surface. If you know your new testament history, and if you de mythologize virgin birth, it's very much about a girl who suffers abuse. Remember, nine months before jesus was born, the romansrape women in a town just
Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Moses and the Ten Commandments, the parting of the Red Sea. These are a few of the stories from the Old Testament. And then there’s the New Testament, with its account of the life of Jesus, the Good Samaritan, the raising of Lazarus and the feeding of the five thousand. Whatever our creed or background, these stories are embedded in our consciousness. They inform our everyday speech and much of our art, music and literature. But which of these books is the greater? For this archive episode, we gathered expert voices to consider the question including writer and broadcaster Anne Atkins, Booker Prize-winning novelist and journalist Howard Jacobson, Professor of Theology and Culture in the African Diaspora Robert Beckford, and Anglican priest and presenter the Rev. Richard Coles. Hosting the discussion is broadcaster, comedian and author David Baddiel.
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