Thoughts on the God-Man
I recently wrote here about The Chosen – for those who don’t already know, that’s Dallas Jenkins’ TV series about the life of Jesus. I received some nice feedback on what I wrote and was asked to appear on a couple of radio programs to talk about it.
I also heard from people who take exception to the series, although I’m not sure how many of these folks have actually seen The Chosen, since they sent tweets from others who criticized the series’ portrayals of the Virgin and her Son. This reminded me of a title I’d considered for that column: “All Too Human.” And it got me to thinking again about the hypostatic union: Jesus is fully human and fully God. Existence itself, i.e., the Trinity, and the Incarnation are the primal miracles and mysteries.
I’ve been thinking about writing a novel that would explore Christ’s early years, specifically the period just prior to the start of His public ministry. I was at dinner one night with our esteemed colleagues, Gerald Murray and George Marlin. Fr. Murray asked me what I was working on. I told him about this novel, and he sort of cocked his head, as if to say: Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Then he said: “How would you describe it?”
“As a mystery story: What did He know and when did He know it?”
I’ve decided to put the novel aside for a time; likely forever.
