as if Jesus had been wearing a ruff collar and hose

I can't be the only one who will be walking around with this image for a couple days, can I?

I think it's hard enough to convince a lot of kids that reading is a pleasant activity without throwing the Bible in there

Shakespeare's good and stuff, but the Bible's easier to parse, and at least as important. Then again, I'm kinda brute force about the whole thing. They don't have to think it's pleasant. They just have to do it, dammit.

Which may be why I only teach hitting people.

Pilate: My congratulations, Jesus. You latest sermon is a great success. The whole of Israel is talking about you.
Jesus: There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that it not being talked about.
(There follows fifteen seconds of restrained and sycophantic laughter)
Pilate: Very very witty... very very witty.
Judas: There's only one thing in the world worse than being witty and that is not being witty.
(Fifteen seconds more of the same)
Jesus: I wish I had said that.
Judas: You will, Jesus, you will.

Even knowing where it was going, Theo owes me a new monitor.

Children's Bible stories can be great, though! I mean, the Old Testament anyway -- people are constantly killing each other! And there is lust and murder and occasionally oil-anointing!

(My mother had a children's illustrated Bible at one point, written in modern prose, and I came away from the image of the anointing of David with some vaguely dirty ideas of what the whole thing was about.)

Do you all read the occasional series on Slate about blogging the Bible? It's hilarious, and the author will sometimes really say, "And I don't have anything to say about Books 2-4 of [Book Name], because they are boring."

Children's Bible stories can be great, though! I mean, the Old Testament anyway -- people are constantly killing each other! And there is lust and murder and occasionally oil-anointing!

Suddenly reminded of Alex's Bible fantasies while in prison in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.

When I was a kid in sunday school, we were always acting out bible stories. We did the good Samaritan all the time, who knows why. But one day, we decided to do the sacrifice of Isaac -- and our sunday school room was next to the kitchen, so someone went and got an ENORMOUS KNIFE. The adults were not thrilled, I tell you what.

Cash, how did the kids react (if they saw him)?

I was going to take the kids downtown to see him but I couldn't get us around. He made the rounds in the building (to raise some more money) and I'm pretty sure he ditched the costume as early as possible. He's got a good sense of humor but that beard looks itchy.

I think it's important that the King James Bible be taught as literature, because it's one of the crowning accomplishments of the literature of the 17th century, and its cadence and phrasing are tremendously influential. If you haven't read at least some of the King James Bible, you're handicapped in reading many authors.

I remember we had to do illustrations in Religious Studies. Nice simple way to see what we were getting. The one I remember most clearly is the temptations of Siddartha under the bo tree. Possibly because I really wanted to draw girls in not much clothes.