Indeed, when you think of the dangers of humor, it is a very good job that the Protestant church today is not burdened with the likes of Luther, Owen, Swift, and even Spurgeon. Humor, after all, implies that the world in which sin and evil are rampant is somehow absurd and not the way it should be. Ridiculous. It also hinders us from understanding that our opponents really are dangerous and powerful in an ultimate sense and that our conflicts with them are of cosmic proportions. Nonsense. That's why fools like Luther used to laugh at their opponents, as if, in doing so, he might convince himself not to fear those who destroy the body but rather him who has the power to cast body and soul into hell. So silly. Above all, it might prevent us from taking ourselves too seriously, and stop us from realizing that, yes, it really is all about us, and that we are indeed the meaning of the universe.
Fools Rush In Where Monkeys Fear to Tread, Carl Trueman, P&R Publishing, 2012, p, 187-188.
Your excerpts have persuaded me to add this ti my reading list!
ReplyDeleteThis book will be mine. :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha!
ReplyDelete