by Chris Alexion, Copyright December 18, 2005, all rights reserved. 196 views
HARRISBURG, PA–Existentialist theologians last week made a groundbreaking effort to get through to the metaphorical meaning behind the text of Scripture. "For years we've known that the words and propositional statements of the Bible were only surface truth," explained Dr. Joseph Weals of the United Church of Christ. "But up until now we haven't been able to break through." Dr. Bill Wade of the PCUSA pointed out that propositions are essentially dry and lifeless. "What really matters," said Wade, "is the Encounter. We encounter the divine through the text, which acts as a pointer to lead us to the Infinite. This Encounter is true regardless of the truth value of the actual statements of Scripture."
The existentialists spent several months outside the courthouse in downtown Harrisburg working on the text, "The truth shall make you free," which is inscribed on the wall of the building. "We used dynamite, blasting powder, and lots of cold chisels," said Weals. "Breaking through wasn't too easy, since the granite is pretty thick."
The quest produced initial disappointment, as when members of the team succeeded in creating a small hole in the text, they looked through only to see a frightened janitor. This caused some confusion that the Encounter was necessarily about the passion of the custodial.
Team members hit a second obstacle when they broke through the metaphors only to find more metaphors behind the metaphors. "This turned out to be very frustrating," said Weals. "We couldn't find anything solid, since we kept having to break through the medium of conceptuality. We couldn't tell where the metaphors ended."
After blasting completely through the courthouse, the team continued on to the next block. Weals and Wade say they are currently planning to break through all the way to Scranton in hopes of finding the Encounter there.
1 • Daniel Lewis • December 19, 2005 • 9:05 AM
Chris is awesome! Can you imagine what kind of Encounter they will find eventually? They might encounter nice men in blue with badges and guns. Maybe they should ditch the Harrisburg project and move to Roswell, NM.
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