On Splitting Wood and Lifting Stones: Finding Jesus in Australia
One early Christian gospel attributes the following saying to Jesus: ‘I am the light who is above all things… Split a piece of wood—I am there. Lift the stone, and you will find me there’ (Gospel of Thomas 77). The aphorism suggests both the possibility of finding Jesus in ordinary, and therefore su...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Equinox Publ.
2022
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| In: |
Journal for the academic study of religion
Year: 2022, Volume: 35, Issue: 1, Pages: 112-120 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Jesus Christus
/ Reception
/ Australia
/ Christology
/ History 1950-1959
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality CD Christianity and Culture CH Christianity and Society KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBS Australia; Oceania NBF Christology |
| Further subjects: | B
Australian Culture
B Jesus Christ B Reception History |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | One early Christian gospel attributes the following saying to Jesus: ‘I am the light who is above all things… Split a piece of wood—I am there. Lift the stone, and you will find me there’ (Gospel of Thomas 77). The aphorism suggests both the possibility of finding Jesus in ordinary, and therefore surprising, places, and the human labour that might lead to revelation. As such, it stands as a suggestive metaphor for the scholarly industry and instincts of this issue’s articles that chart the Christ-figure in Australian imagination. Drawing on biblical reception history and the arguments and strategies of these articles, I suggest that while Christian theology traditionally affirms Christ as universal redeemer (‘the light who is above all things’), these articles are a reminder that it is only inside and under the highly particular trees and rocks of locality, land and culture that Jesus will be found. |
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| ISSN: | 2047-7058 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the academic study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/jasr.22420 |