Messiah (n.)
Is Paul a messiah? Not surprisingly considering the week’s title, that question, and the word “messiah”, kept cropping up during our discussion Tuesday. There is nothing wrong with this, in itself, but I feel that the word “messiah” was being used to represent a multitude of meanings, and that the discrepancies in usage clogged the discussion. I picked up on three predominant usages of “messiah.” The first was a more Christian definition, in which “messiah” symbolized a divine/God-like figure. The second was a more Mohammad-based figure. Although still religious, this type of messiah does not have the same divine overtones and is far more human. The third interpretation was much more loose, and not necessarily religious, it was merely that the “messiah” must fit the definition provided by the culture he (ever heard of a female messiah?) is messiah-ing to. I understand the reasons for these discrepancies; however, I feel that they were really interfering with the flow of our discussion. Our obsession with whether Paul was a Messiah, and our inability to agree on that one point, prevented the progression of our discussion to other points. So, my own personal answer to the question I posed at first? I don’t care. Let’s move on.
posted by lennearb @ 10:35 PM
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