Yesterday, I came across a retelling of Jesus’ encounter with the anonymous “rich young ruler”, from Mark’s gospel. If you’re not familiar with the story, it might be worth reminding yourself (Mark 10:17-23) before reading Mark of Dissonant Bible’s retelling:
As the Church was going on its way, a young man ran up to it and fell on his knees before it. “Good teacher, “he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The Church smiled down at him. “How about joining an Alpha course or Emmaus or one of our weekly study groups? Or maybe you’d like to train as a chalice-bearer or sidesman?”
Visit the the Dissonant Bible site to read more
Refilling the form of the story with alternative characters and words results in a very different point being made. It’s no longer a passage from the Bible but that doesn’t mean that God’s voice can not be heard echoing through it in some way. If it shocks us while the original version leaves us comfortably unaffected, perhaps that means it is more resonant with truth we need to hear or that we need to unblock our ears next time we hear the Bible story, listening hard enough for that too to shape our thinking?
It’s definitely far more edifying, although perhaps not quite as funny, as the Biblical Curse Generator I came across a little while ago (another gleaning from the blogsphere).