They're rare in story form in our current society. Up to the Renaissance they were commonplace and Christian themes were used in all kinds of ways from Dante to Spencer. Even now that retelling is common in other media, from The Passion of the Christ to Jesus Christ Superstar to those rather tacky evangelical comic books to puppet theatre (yes, I helped out a gospel puppet theatre get into videos a few years back).




There are many people who see themselves as guardians or as challengers of doctrine. That's their problem.

The throwaway line in the gospels about the temple curtain being torn in two isn't actually a throwaway line; it's a key theme. In the Great Temple there were a series of courtyards and worship areas, each one more holy and more excusive than the rest; a woman's court, a men's court, a priest's court and so on. The holiest of holiest, the place where God was said to dwell, was masked by a heavy curtain.

Once a year one priest was chosen by lot to enter this area and make sacrifice. John the Baptist's father was one such choice, and it was there that God told him he'd be having a son. But the point was that God was hidden away, and only a special priest who'd been ritually prepared and kitted out with all the care we reserve now for someone we're sending into a neuclear reactor could go there once a year. God was so dangerous that a top paid professional had to be carefully made ready and sent to appease him.

And then, at the moment Jesus died, the curtain got torn apart and the holy of holies was exposed to everybody. Christians believe that Jesus' death and resurrection changed the way people can relate to God, curring out the middlemen and making him available everywhere to everyone. Some clergy have been playing catchup ever since.

Anyway, if people are unhappy I can show them my 1981 Swire Prize for New Testament Theology, one of my stranger awards, or show them the letter I've got from the President of the Methodist Church Connexion authorising me to lead worship and preach; or they can just get their heads out of their backsides.