The Gospels aren't bedtime stories at all

Dreamland
Originally uploaded by Scott Ableman.

An interesting morsel from Exiles:

"Which are the Christian community's most dangerous memories? Surely they are the stories of the Incarnate One. The stories in the Gospels, far from being soothing bedtime stories for baptized children, are the most dangerous element of the Christian experience. They are radical, daring, unsettling, disturbing, even frightening. Our memories of God's human manifestation will continue to perturb us, inviting us to an alternative set of values that transcends our normal allegiance to our post-Christendom society The Gospels are replete with stories that shake us out of our preference for the level-headed, reasonable memories that the church often presents to us. Jesus is not levelheaded, nor is he reasonable. Just when we imagine we have him figured out and boxed in, he wriggles free, confounding our formulas and simplistic explanations. Let's face it: the Gospels aren't bedtime stories at all. Far from sending us drifting off to a carefree sleep, they trouble us, forcing us to reassess the deals we have done with the spirit of this age."

Source: Exiles by Michael Frost, pp. 11-12.

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