"And do you now begin to see why Christianity has always said that the devil is a fallen angel? That is not a mere story for the children. It is a real recognition of the fact that evil is a parasite, not an original thing. The powers which enable evil to carry on are powers given it by goodness."

- C.S. Lewis
Thought This Was Worth Sharing

As some of you know, I've been converting a message series I taught called "Old School Jesus" into a book. One of the joys in this process is transferring my typical sarcastic asides in preaching into sarcastic footnotes. Here's one I just wrote I felt like sharing:

"I am halfway convinced that Oprah Winfrey herself is responsible for the hamartological bankruptcy of Middle American culture. If you don’t know what hamartological means, it’s okay. I only halfway believe this theory, so it’s not that important."

In an earlier chapter I was being cheeky and long-winded and was footnoting definitions of some terms. In the final ranty lines, I made up a German theological term, which I footnoted: "This one I just made up."

This is a fun book to write. :-)

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Comments on "Thought This Was Worth Sharing":
1. Stacy - 10/18/2007 6:03 pm CDT

I'm a huge fan of sarcastic footnotes! Thanks for sharing :)

2. De - 10/18/2007 6:22 pm CDT

I can't wait to read the advanced copy! (cough - ADVANCED COPY - cough)

3. Sherry - 10/18/2007 10:21 pm CDT

Hamartological???? You're right. My vocabulary is bankrupt in relation to that term.

4. Sherry - 10/18/2007 10:23 pm CDT

It's not in my computer dictionary either. Maybe computers are responsible for the whatever-kind-of bankruptcy you're talking about?

5. De - 10/19/2007 8:00 am CDT

[De digs down in his increasingly faulty memory . . .]

Hamartological - is it something about the study of sin?

6. Jared - 10/19/2007 8:16 am CDT

De, yes. :-)

The statement basically means I see a connection between the Oprah Phenomenon and America's misunderstanding of (and essential loss of the concept of) sin.

7. jen - 10/19/2007 3:55 pm CDT

Um, what Bill said in #2 above.

:gjensmile:

Please...

8. Brian Jones - 10/20/2007 5:17 am CDT

Looking forward to the book!

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