Last Sunday I decided to watch the first programme in the Ice Dancing competition in preference to the first programme in a new series on the history of Christianity and the next episode of Lark Rise in Candleford, knowing that both could be viewed later on the Internet. I left until this morning the programme headed Jesus was a Jew presented by Howard Jacobson of Jewish background and now a non believer who would like to do so. Howard is three years younger than me, became an academic and prize winning author as well as creator of TV programmes.
This is an important programme because Howard draws on experts from both the Catholic and Jewish clergy belief systems to establish some difficult truth for Catholics and Christians who have not studied the history of early Christianity.
There is an agreement that Jesus and the apostles were of the Jewish faith and were not baptised a Catholics as such or had the intention of establishing a new or fundamentally different religion to Judaism.
The baptism mentioned by John the Baptist was a Jewish act of renewal in which John, Jesus and the apostles took up the cause of persuading Jews to repent their sins and get back to living according to the morals and tenets of their faith. During the age of the apostles, that is when they were alive, their role was to bring news of what had happened to Jews who lived in other lands preaching whenever possible in synagogues. There was no emphasis on converting non Jews to the faith, not was there agreement about how Judaism should change. There was no hierarchy, written restatement of the Jewish faith. The evidence is that he was no endorsed by the apostles as one of them The apostles had been asked to pass on the teachings but were not told how to do it.
It was Paul of Tarsus, having never met Jesus, who following a revelation decided to preach, to write, define not just a return to Jewish spiritual values but some of the key present day tenets of what became the Catholic and Christian belief systems. It was subsequent churchmen who decided that his writings should become the core of the New Testament and declared the word of God.
The programme declared that the break between Judaism and Catholicism as a separate church hierarchy and belief system did not take place until after the Romans commenced the destruction of the Jewish second Temple as part of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70. It is said that from this the point that the split with Judaism was more political than theological as Christians concentrated on the conversion of Romans, emphasising that this was a new and non Jewish belief system. Then as happens when individuals and groups reach agreement on breaking away, relations between them and their childhood faiths become strained and then openly. It was not until 1965 that the Catholic Church declared that the Jewish people had not been responsible for the death of Jesus of Nazareth.
I had part of a roast pork joint for lunch with roast potatoes and a third of the tined carrots and peas I had commenced to use the previous day. During the afternoon I continued the Fellini Fest .
I have previously written that I regard the performance of Giulietta Masina in La Strada as one of the great acting roles of the motion pictures and eleven years later one critic reported that Federico had said Juliet of the Spirits, Giulietta degli spiriti. was a gift to his wife not just using her name in the title or creating the central character for her to play, but because of its theme of emancipation.
Masina plays a wife celebrating 15 years of marriage in this fantastical colourful extravaganza in which subconscious takes over reality as she finds out that her suspicions of her husband’s infidelity are correct. The couple live in the best residential area, close to woodland and the sea. She has nothing to do all day, with not one, but two, servants, and a gardener handyman, and to prepare herself for the return of her husband when he returns late, allegedly working hard as his business organising parties, conferences, exhibitions on an international basis. The have no children but she enjoys the regular contact with those of her sister. Mother and grand mother.
The film opens on the day of their wedding anniversary as she cannot make up her mind about which wig to wear or no wig and which outfit. When she tires of a dress it is given to servants and our first reaction is that this is an overindulged women which quickly turns to sympathy as the husband arrives late with friends and relatives wanting to join the celebrations and he dismisses the romantic cosy candle lit dinner for two she has had the servants arrange for them.. She tries not to show her disappointment but being a loving wife she puts on a good front playing the caring hostess and going along with séance about which she is clearly uncomfortable.
It is only when he calls out the name of his mistress when the couple are in bed that her suspicions are aroused and reinforced when he gets up to make a phone call in the middle of the night. At times bored, at times threatened by her world crashing Giulietta lets her subconscious into the daylight seeing her fantasies come to life, including haunting childhood experiences when she was humiliated by her father while acting in a holy school play. She confides her fears to her sister who arranges for the husband to be tracked and she is subsequently shown by film, photo and sound recording his affair with an attractive fashion house model who believes Giulietta will be abandoned for her,
Meanwhile Giulietta has become involved with the extraordinary woman living next door in a psychedelic house with psychedelic friends. Whereas Giulietta married her first love, is shy and unassuming, her neighbour surrounds herself with the unconventional, admits to lovers and his uninhibited. Given the shattering of her security it would be understandable if Giulietta reacted strongly with what is good for the goose is good for the gander, and although there are visual images which suggests she begins to test out the options available to her with a young man suitor my impression is that she remain true to her natural self. Given the impact of La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8 and a half this film is disappointing apart from the performance of Masina. It may have been just as excuse for Fellini to experiment with LDS. As to the title there is a séance and Giulietta does conjure strange individuals and sights
In struggled to remain awake in the evening deciding that the Ice dance ladies are a poor lot and that there is only one of the ten remaining contestants with any natural ability. the former X factor contestant Ray Quinn, with one of he ladies showing some promise.
There was some coverage of the people attending the concert at the Lincoln memorial which the President and his family enjoyed behind a bullet proof screen. One network had bought out the rights so the news desks on both sides of the Atlantic were only able to show his short speech which provided a major indication of what he will be saying in his inaugural address. Times will be tough folks and whatever I said I would do getting here it is gonna takes years to achieve and only then if you, the people make it happen by exerting pressure on Congress who will want to go their own way. This I believe could make the difference between President not just becoming a historical first and remaining popular while in and subsequently out of office, but manage to change politics and society for the better. His effectiveness will depend on his West Wing, his Ministerial Teams and those appointed to run the Federal agencies.
This is an important programme because Howard draws on experts from both the Catholic and Jewish clergy belief systems to establish some difficult truth for Catholics and Christians who have not studied the history of early Christianity.
There is an agreement that Jesus and the apostles were of the Jewish faith and were not baptised a Catholics as such or had the intention of establishing a new or fundamentally different religion to Judaism.
The baptism mentioned by John the Baptist was a Jewish act of renewal in which John, Jesus and the apostles took up the cause of persuading Jews to repent their sins and get back to living according to the morals and tenets of their faith. During the age of the apostles, that is when they were alive, their role was to bring news of what had happened to Jews who lived in other lands preaching whenever possible in synagogues. There was no emphasis on converting non Jews to the faith, not was there agreement about how Judaism should change. There was no hierarchy, written restatement of the Jewish faith. The evidence is that he was no endorsed by the apostles as one of them The apostles had been asked to pass on the teachings but were not told how to do it.
It was Paul of Tarsus, having never met Jesus, who following a revelation decided to preach, to write, define not just a return to Jewish spiritual values but some of the key present day tenets of what became the Catholic and Christian belief systems. It was subsequent churchmen who decided that his writings should become the core of the New Testament and declared the word of God.
The programme declared that the break between Judaism and Catholicism as a separate church hierarchy and belief system did not take place until after the Romans commenced the destruction of the Jewish second Temple as part of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70. It is said that from this the point that the split with Judaism was more political than theological as Christians concentrated on the conversion of Romans, emphasising that this was a new and non Jewish belief system. Then as happens when individuals and groups reach agreement on breaking away, relations between them and their childhood faiths become strained and then openly. It was not until 1965 that the Catholic Church declared that the Jewish people had not been responsible for the death of Jesus of Nazareth.
I had part of a roast pork joint for lunch with roast potatoes and a third of the tined carrots and peas I had commenced to use the previous day. During the afternoon I continued the Fellini Fest .
I have previously written that I regard the performance of Giulietta Masina in La Strada as one of the great acting roles of the motion pictures and eleven years later one critic reported that Federico had said Juliet of the Spirits, Giulietta degli spiriti. was a gift to his wife not just using her name in the title or creating the central character for her to play, but because of its theme of emancipation.
Masina plays a wife celebrating 15 years of marriage in this fantastical colourful extravaganza in which subconscious takes over reality as she finds out that her suspicions of her husband’s infidelity are correct. The couple live in the best residential area, close to woodland and the sea. She has nothing to do all day, with not one, but two, servants, and a gardener handyman, and to prepare herself for the return of her husband when he returns late, allegedly working hard as his business organising parties, conferences, exhibitions on an international basis. The have no children but she enjoys the regular contact with those of her sister. Mother and grand mother.
The film opens on the day of their wedding anniversary as she cannot make up her mind about which wig to wear or no wig and which outfit. When she tires of a dress it is given to servants and our first reaction is that this is an overindulged women which quickly turns to sympathy as the husband arrives late with friends and relatives wanting to join the celebrations and he dismisses the romantic cosy candle lit dinner for two she has had the servants arrange for them.. She tries not to show her disappointment but being a loving wife she puts on a good front playing the caring hostess and going along with séance about which she is clearly uncomfortable.
It is only when he calls out the name of his mistress when the couple are in bed that her suspicions are aroused and reinforced when he gets up to make a phone call in the middle of the night. At times bored, at times threatened by her world crashing Giulietta lets her subconscious into the daylight seeing her fantasies come to life, including haunting childhood experiences when she was humiliated by her father while acting in a holy school play. She confides her fears to her sister who arranges for the husband to be tracked and she is subsequently shown by film, photo and sound recording his affair with an attractive fashion house model who believes Giulietta will be abandoned for her,
Meanwhile Giulietta has become involved with the extraordinary woman living next door in a psychedelic house with psychedelic friends. Whereas Giulietta married her first love, is shy and unassuming, her neighbour surrounds herself with the unconventional, admits to lovers and his uninhibited. Given the shattering of her security it would be understandable if Giulietta reacted strongly with what is good for the goose is good for the gander, and although there are visual images which suggests she begins to test out the options available to her with a young man suitor my impression is that she remain true to her natural self. Given the impact of La Strada, La Dolce Vita and 8 and a half this film is disappointing apart from the performance of Masina. It may have been just as excuse for Fellini to experiment with LDS. As to the title there is a séance and Giulietta does conjure strange individuals and sights
In struggled to remain awake in the evening deciding that the Ice dance ladies are a poor lot and that there is only one of the ten remaining contestants with any natural ability. the former X factor contestant Ray Quinn, with one of he ladies showing some promise.
There was some coverage of the people attending the concert at the Lincoln memorial which the President and his family enjoyed behind a bullet proof screen. One network had bought out the rights so the news desks on both sides of the Atlantic were only able to show his short speech which provided a major indication of what he will be saying in his inaugural address. Times will be tough folks and whatever I said I would do getting here it is gonna takes years to achieve and only then if you, the people make it happen by exerting pressure on Congress who will want to go their own way. This I believe could make the difference between President not just becoming a historical first and remaining popular while in and subsequently out of office, but manage to change politics and society for the better. His effectiveness will depend on his West Wing, his Ministerial Teams and those appointed to run the Federal agencies.
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