Sherry Chandler » Frye on Absence
Frye on Absence
Why did man, or God, or whoever it was, bother to write the Bible anyway? We get the answer at the very end, in Revelations: the real Bible is a sealed book, an apocryphon, a book not to be opened (mentally) until its time has come…The Bible is largely a book of catastrophes, of the disasters caused by the determination of God to interfere in the pattern of human life. It is also a book of refuge and exile, a book of absence, and to that extent a book of comfort. Those poor bastards of Jews and Christians who insist on taking up its burden of the presence of God are denied this comfort. The worst thing we can say of God is that he knows all. The best thing we can say of him is that, on the whole, he tends to keep his knowledge to himself.
— from Northrop Fry Unbuttoned. Wit and Wisdom from the Notebooks and Diaries (Gnomon, 2004)
Possibly related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Leave a comment