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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!ihnp4!ihuxi!russ
From: russ@ihuxi.UUCP (Russell Spence)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Jesus vs. the big D
Message-ID: <1107@ihuxi.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Sep-84 11:50:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxi.1107
Posted: Mon Sep 24 11:50:17 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Sep-84 08:29:00 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 33

> -- Jeff Sargent
> {decvax|harpo|ihnp4|inuxc|seismo|ucbvax}!pur-ee!pucc-h:aeq
> "Jesus looked Death in the eye, and Death blinked first."

I've seen this on Jeff's sign-off line a couple of times now, and every
time I saw it, it bothered me.  To me, Jesus and Death do not belong in
the same universe.  To use both of them in one sentence is simply farcical.
(Jeff, if it was meant to be humorous then I have no problem with it, and I
would hate to alienate another netter over something as silly as a sign-off
line).  Death (with a capital D. you know the scythe wielding, black robed
skeleton)  is something of a mythical or symbolic symbol.  When your time
comes up he shows up at your door and with one stroke of his scythe, he
sends you off into oblivion.  I am not sure of the origins of this image,
but I am pretty sure it is not Christian.  I always thought that according
to the Christian tradition, that God was the arbiter of your death, and
that when you died you were judged by God.  With Death thrown in like that
it brings up all kinds of other questions.  Is Death just one of God's
angels?  If so, why isn't he mentioned in the Bible? (or am I just making
myself look stupid because I haven't seen it?).  Is he in league with
Satan?  If so, then does that mean that God doesn't have control over
the time of your death?  The passage seems to imply that Jesus is fighting
Death.  Not just our physical or spiritual death but an entity named Death
that seeks to steal our souls.  There seems to be confusion of symbols
here (possibly on my part).  Christians should be careful of this kind
of confusion (at least one person, me, was confused) because it may
alienate some people and it causes a misunderstanding of Christ's true
message.
-- 

						Russell Spence
						ihnp4!ihuxi!russ
						AT&T Technologies
						Naperville, IL