March 26th – The New Man
I marveled at the book discussion tonight. I was worried about how others would read and understand The New Man by Maurice Nicholl. I even hesitated to suggest the book as one to read, initially because it was different from the books we have read before and I wasn't confident that people would find it beneficial to read if they were not prepared for the topics. I believe how I recommended it made an impression on the group and that was why it was chosen.
Will was the first to ask questions about the ‘language’ the ancients understood that we as readers may not. His questions brought us to the heart of the book. Nicholl writes about details in the descriptions of the parables and miracles that bring in new meaning.
Will’s opening question was “What is this ancient language the book refers to?” and later he asked “How did ancient people learn this language?” Certainly the inferred question was “Why don’t we know this language now?
I answered the best I could in our discussion. Personally I learned much of this language from the writings of Dr. Nicholl, I also have a strong interest in studying literature that I know I share with the rest of the book discussion group. And others may know pieces of it through the writing of Jung. This is a language of archetype and significance. It is hard to go into detail here about this. If you are curious, please talk to me.
Anyway, I don’t know whether the ‘common’ ancient man understood these details that the language makes significant. I do know those details ring true. I have returned to reading the Bible with these details and found that the parables and miracles have become more individually memorable and more meaningful to my spiritual journey.
Eileen was struck by this:
What has to be grasped is that Jesus had to undergo inner growth and evolution> He was not born perfect. Had this been the case he would not have suffered temptation or experienced such despair.
Again, Eileen went to another important theme in The New Man. There is a rigor to the ideas that are presented wich Janet picked up on.
Greg talked about how tempted he was to reread passages he had just read and how the writing inspired him to think about things that were not part of the text. Mary agreed and also brought to the discussion how fascinated she was that Luther wrote about the importance of necessity of persistence in prayer. This is another important theme of the book.
So I marveled at this discussion because of the insights I heard and the similar experience many of us had shared in reading this book.
We will continue our discussion with Chapters 3 and 4 in The New Man next week.
I marveled at the book discussion tonight. I was worried about how others would read and understand The New Man by Maurice Nicholl. I even hesitated to suggest the book as one to read, initially because it was different from the books we have read before and I wasn't confident that people would find it beneficial to read if they were not prepared for the topics. I believe how I recommended it made an impression on the group and that was why it was chosen.
Will was the first to ask questions about the ‘language’ the ancients understood that we as readers may not. His questions brought us to the heart of the book. Nicholl writes about details in the descriptions of the parables and miracles that bring in new meaning.
Will’s opening question was “What is this ancient language the book refers to?” and later he asked “How did ancient people learn this language?” Certainly the inferred question was “Why don’t we know this language now?
I answered the best I could in our discussion. Personally I learned much of this language from the writings of Dr. Nicholl, I also have a strong interest in studying literature that I know I share with the rest of the book discussion group. And others may know pieces of it through the writing of Jung. This is a language of archetype and significance. It is hard to go into detail here about this. If you are curious, please talk to me.
Anyway, I don’t know whether the ‘common’ ancient man understood these details that the language makes significant. I do know those details ring true. I have returned to reading the Bible with these details and found that the parables and miracles have become more individually memorable and more meaningful to my spiritual journey.
Eileen was struck by this:
What has to be grasped is that Jesus had to undergo inner growth and evolution> He was not born perfect. Had this been the case he would not have suffered temptation or experienced such despair.
Again, Eileen went to another important theme in The New Man. There is a rigor to the ideas that are presented wich Janet picked up on.
Greg talked about how tempted he was to reread passages he had just read and how the writing inspired him to think about things that were not part of the text. Mary agreed and also brought to the discussion how fascinated she was that Luther wrote about the importance of necessity of persistence in prayer. This is another important theme of the book.
So I marveled at this discussion because of the insights I heard and the similar experience many of us had shared in reading this book.
We will continue our discussion with Chapters 3 and 4 in The New Man next week.
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