How Jesus told a good gag

[emad]

Sophie Arie in Rome
Wednesday February 16, 2005
The Guardian

It's not a book known for its comedic value, but look beyond the death, disease and destruction of the Bible, and lo, you will find a joke or two.

That is the view of theological scholars who have gathered in Italy to try to dispel the idea that ancient Christians were a po-faced lot, who struggled for a sense of humour.

In a three-day conference at Turin University, entitled Laughter and Comedy in Ancient Christianity, experts have been presenting papers on themes such as Laughter in the Old Testament and Comedy in the Bible Today.

Some have found indications that Jesus Christ had a sense of humour and references to laughter and comic moments in the scriptures.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1415402,00.html

[Squeech]

1. Republican humor

"The poor we will always have with us." Real thigh-slapper at the Rotary Club.

[Sal316]

2. ...love how they take half a verse....

...and the thing is that they take that completely out of context. It was talking about who the disciples were ministering to, not the fact that there would always be poverty.

[Misunderestimator]

3. Hilarious!! I'm gonna have to get me one of them thar bibles...

nyuck nyuck nyuck

:eyes: Humor? Oh... ha ha ha... Isaac's name means laughter in Hebrew... I am rolling on the floor with that joke... and the short guy climbing a tree, OMG, who ever THOUGHT they had such good comedy writers back then? :eyes:

[Beware the Beast Man]

4. I refuse to believe that Jesus was a sullen man.

Hypothetically, 12 guys traveling around on foot all the time have to break the ice somehow.

[On the Road]

5. This Stuff is Pathetic

There's lots of sarcasm and irony in the Bible, but that's not humor, and I don't believe the intention was to make people laugh.

There's also a lot of laughter in the Bible, but it's generally laughter of derision. Psalm 1: "The God who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." Even the name of Issac referred to Sarah's derisive laughter at being told she could have a child past menopause.

Mind you, I don't think the Bible condemns laughter. But this is a stretch.