Chapter 10 of 10 · 4'26"
On the surface this is a grilling about faith, old gods, and whether one man was Jesus. Underneath, nobody can force a yes. "If I said no, could you ever be sure?" leaves the listeners with a choice instead of an answer, after the miracles, the name, and the sermon have all been taken apart.
❝ Monologue · 5 lines Old Testament Fear and Borrowed Words
❝ Monologue · 9 lines How the Name Jesus Got Here
A group asks about religious belief and faith in the future of the race. One reply is that species come and go. Christianity is set beside Isis, Ishtar, and India's sacred cows. Miracles are denied: no son of God, no walking on water, no raising the dead. A hilltop lesson is admitted, and no one knows the one original. Asked "Were you?", the reply withholds both yes and no.
What sounds like a theology quiz is really a fight over whether a story can stand once the miracles are refused. Two thousand years of Christianity are set beside Isis, Ishtar, and cows that "in a thousand years" will be "barbecued" with souls "in squirrels." Someone calls the New Testament a code of ethics "put into my mouth by poets and philosophers." Asked if the name Jesus was pulled out of a hat, the answer starts at John and walks through Yochanan and Yahshua into Greek and Latin. The denials come as a list: not king of the Jews, never walked on water, never raised the dead. Divine stays only "in the sense of human goodness on Earth." The demand, "Quote the sermon on the mount," dies on "No one knows the one, not even me." The close, "If I said no, could you ever be sure?", will not trade a legend for a clean yes or no.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“I revealed some truths to eat a little better.”
The grand word truths collapses into a better meal, and the spiritual claim becomes a confession.
Informal
“In a thousand years, they'll be barbecued and their souls will be in squirrels.”
Sacred cows and souls are booked for a barbecue and a squirrel, so forever suddenly looks silly.
Informal
“I never spoke of divine except in the sense of human goodness on Earth.”
He lets the word divine survive only as human goodness, so the miracle-sized meaning is gone.
Neutral
“I never claimed to be king of the Jews, I never walked on water, I never raised the dead.”
Three nevers cross off the title and the miracles one by one, like a list that strips a costume.
literary
“No one knows the one, not even me.”
The one treats a single original as something nobody holds, and he includes himself.
Neutral
“If I said no, could you ever be sure?”
He withholds yes and no, then asks if their certainty could survive the answer they want.
Neutral
The Old Testament sells fear and guilt. The New Testament is a good code of ethics, put into my mouth by poets and philosophers that are much smarter than I am. The message is never practiced. Fairy tales build churches.
Began as a schoolhouse and ended as a temple. I said I had a master that was greater than myself. I never said he was my father. I wanted to teach what I learned. I never claimed to be king of the Jews, I never walked on water, I never raised the dead. I never spoke of divine except in the sense of human goodness on Earth. No wise men came from the east to worship at a manger. I did do a little healing with some eastern medicine I'd learned. That's it.
The scene ends on "If I said no, could you ever be sure?" Right before that, someone quotes biblical Jesus, "Who do you think I am?", says he gave them a choice, and adds "I'm giving you one." A direct answer is replaced by that choice. After "Were you?" there is no yes or no; it closes on "If I said no, could you ever be sure?"
No. After "Then you didn't claim to be the son of God?", the reply is "I said I had a master that was greater than myself" and "I never said he was my father." The same account says "I never claimed to be king of the Jews, I never walked on water, I never raised the dead."
Someone says Christianity has been a worldwide belief for 2,000 years. The next lines ask how long the Egyptians worshipped Isis or the Sumerians Ishtar, then picture India's sacred cows barbecued in a thousand years, their souls in squirrels. Faiths that once looked permanent are the comparison.
It follows a flat "You weren't Jesus." The demand is "Quote the sermon on the mount." The reply asks which text, "Darby, King James, new American standard?", then says "No one knows the one, not even me," and recalls teaching on a hill that not many people stayed to hear.
The line is "The three wise men began as a myth about the birth of the Buddha." It follows the denial "No wise men came from the east to worship at a manger," plus a small admission of healing with eastern medicine. The manger story is pointed at another birth myth.
