Jesus and laughter
From the Boar's Head Tavern:
Laughter Syllogism
1: Jesus was fully human
2: Laughter is a universal human behaviour (I know of no exceptions)
Therefore: Jesus laughed
Posted by Richard Campeau at 06:48 PM
Jesus: The Laughing God-Man
Jesus must have laughed while on earth! There are so many humorous things that happen in the course of a day to me that I can't think of how my Savior wouldn't have laughed. He had the joy of God fully within his heart, and I am wont to believe that joy makes one laugh. (Like when I found out it was okay to drink beer with God's OK, I laughed for about ten minutes. I am not charismatic-really :) He lived amongst twelve goofballs anyway, so he had to chuckle a lot!
Posted by Brandon Pickett at 06:39 PM
Human laughter will turn into hatred at the drop of a dime.
A child's joyous laughter is the product of an overflow of energy. It will turn into crying at the drop of a dime. I.e., it's mechanical. Charming, while it's happening, but not a standard for a developed being...
The kind of psychological tension that produces laughter; the vanity that produces laughter; the fear of man that produces laughter; these things don't exist in a man fully developed and in full command of his inner being. This doesn't mean delight or joy are non-existent in such a man.
Laughter is a very relative thing. It has different motivation. In a human being who isn't Jesus Christ, laughter, by definition, if not a forced thing, is a release of waste energy or tension. That can be healthy for a sick machine, but it's unneeded for a being that has attained unity, is contained, has balance, and is beautiful like the image of God.
Basically, Jesus didn't laugh because Jesus didn't need to laugh.
The 'laughter of the gods', or, referring to humans, 'heroic laughter' is more a philosophical state of mind and an ethic. Nietzsche was good at describing it:
He who climbs upon the highest mountains laughs at all tragedies, real or imaginary.
Not the intensity but the duration of high feelings makes high men.
That last quote gets at the difference between Jesus' (as human) level of being and the level of being of normal-average man, regarding this subject of laughter. Meditate on that second quote above. It doesn't preclude delight and joy, but just shows that an individual who is able to exist at a level of higher emotion - i.e. that higher level is his average level - is above the laughter talked about and valued and needed by men who have no experience or understanding of - and who are simply not at - that higher level. Jesus, as a man, was at that higher level and really had no need or reason to lower Himself and be 'one of the guys'...
Jesus was also in serious warrior mode in His time on Earth. He had His Father's will to do, and a serious purpose it was indeed...
For the humor of God (who created everything, including humor -- and real humor) see all of the Word of God, where divine irony is employed and other rhetorical figures that usually go over the heads of the hearty, laughing humans that claim to be more healthy, hearty, laughing beings than God Himself. God's very description of you in Scripture (dead in sin, ignorant, weak, a total prisoner of the devil, yet walking around more vain and prideful than a rooster) should be enough to send you to the floor rolling in laughter...
4 Comments:
Yes, this is another post a thousand degrees above the level of anything else being written in the Christian blogosphere but will never be acknowledged or linked, because why? because I'm of a different order. And the vanity and wet pride of the mainstream level Christians is such that you can't admit to learning anything new... That's not why you exist.
All I'm looking for, in my own self-interest, is some genuine foolish confrontation from you wet boys and girls, to generate some heat and enable me to formulate the practical level teaching to greater depth and refinement in terms of language (using solely biblical language, which is the standard I've set myself, a standard - I keep pointing out - theologians don't hold themselves to). But you don't want to expose yourselves. So be it. I can always go back to where I came from...
In other words, this subject of Jesus and laughter gets you into subject matter mainstream Christianity knows nothing about: in this case degree of level of being within human beings themselves. Also, degrees of emotional energy. Ability to use higher degrees and levels of emotional energy. These are subject matter the devil doesn't want you to know about, hence your ministers and clerics and educational gatekeepers, channeling the devil's commands and demands to a remarkable degree, not only make sure any knowledge of the practical level of the faith is kept out of the church/seminary realm, but are vigilent to instantly attack any appearance of the practical level teaching of the faith. Their students and followers mechanically follow suit, thinking they are 'doing good'.
Ah Nietsche... that wonderful Christian philosopher... I can see why you take after him.
If you're looking for a Christain philosopher read any book of the Bible.
If though you deny there is any truth to be found outside of God's Word you deny God's common grace.
A Christian doesn't shelter himself from the influences of the world, but learns to separate wheat from chaff...
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