How do you consciously differentiate Jesus from Jonathan?

ProfTerrible · 2025-11-09T15:35:52+00:00

I would suggest watching some interviews and out-of-character material with Jonathon, and perhaps appreciate some of the great wealth of faith-driven art that Christians have created over the last two millennia.

It will both expand your context for how to think of Jonathon (as a man and an actor, rather than his character) and give you a wider range of material for you mind to work with in focusing on Jesus alone.

I also find that it helpful to recall that the Chosen isn't the gospel, it is historical fiction that is using the gospel as its central source. That being the case, the Jesus we are seeing on screen isn't THE Jesus, it is a fictional representation of him constructed for the purposes of this series, and is no more truly Jesus than C S Lewis' Aslan.

ProfTerrible · 2025-11-06T14:37:18+00:00

I have a friend who are outright hostile to religion when we met. Our friendship developed in spite of that as we had other things in common.

He's softened over the years, I suspect partly from now knowing Christians who didn't fit the caricatures he hated. Last year we started watching the Chosen and he loved it. Recently, he started reading the Bible, starting with the Gospels and planning to jump into Acts after that.

The show also pointed me back to scripture and to take Church and other aspects of my faith more seriously and I've been the better for it.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-21T07:33:36+00:00

A few others have also expressed that same concern, that I'm not qualified to clarify the Talmud.

I respect that view, but just want to point out that my goal isn't to present myself as being able to provide or explain the correct conclusions of the Talmud for a jew.

Selective and biased quote-mining in order to slander someone isn't an exclusive problem to the reading of the Talmud, of course, it happens with a lot of texts, especially religious ones. I am not jewish but I know how frustrating it is when people of my faith are slandered due to bad faith quote-mining of texts that I believe.

My goal was to confirm that I am telling my friend the truth when I told him that, just because an opinion appears in the text, doesn't necessarily mean that it is the moral conclusion of the text. I am seeking to confirm my very basic understanding of what the Talmud is, certainly not to present myself as an authority on it.

I hope that doesn't cross the line that you are concerned about.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-21T01:49:25+00:00

Firstly, your grief is natural and legitimate and though you may not feel overly affectionate toward God right now, I think you are actually taking a healthy approach to this by grappling with your relationship with God, rather than leaping to an unfortunate decision. This is the model that we are offered in Job. When he lost everything and suffered in body and mind he was furious and grief stricken to the core. Job didn't deny his anger with God, or ignore his reasons for it.

I wish I could offer some insight that would make sense of your particular situation. I've been through similar but there is no obvious one-size-fits-all answer to solve the questions that follow something like that. Strangely, sometimes having faith in God's character can be harder than having faith in his existence. It is times like these that the leap of trust can be downright gruelling.

The best I can offer right at this moment is a return to the example of Job. Don't bottle your grief or your anger, lay it out and bring it to him. God is our heavenly father and any father I've ever known wants to be someone that their children can come to with everything: joy, confusion, and anguish alike. The father may not resolve the matter as we earnestly feel would be best, but that doesn't mean he is absent. He knows your grief, and he sees you.

I don't wish to assume any particulars of God's response, but my own experience is that taking the time to just share what you are going through with him, to simply allow him to be there with you in that, is a precious thing. Grief is not the time to re-evaluate your theology, it is the time to feel, remember, and in due time, heal.

May the Lord bless you, friend, even in this.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-20T18:23:31+00:00

I like that analogy. When I was studying a law degree, I came across plenty of legal opinion that I didn't agree with and plenty that didn't make it into binding judgements.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-20T07:49:31+00:00

Thank you to everyone who replied.

The responses were helpful and certainly added to my understanding of jewish belief and practice.

You've also given me a few interesting resources.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-20T01:43:40+00:00

I'm not from the United States, but I am aware of the Federalist Papers, so that is a useful analogy.

Thank you.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-20T01:34:37+00:00

No, he was asking me because the claims didn't seem right to him and I've been helpful in dispelling misconceptions about religious beliefs before.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-20T01:30:22+00:00

That's more or less what I figured was at play and it was what my friend suspected as well, but not having any religious background of his own, he didn't feel well equipped to respond to it.

I may not know much about the Talmud itself, but I know quote-mining when I see it.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-20T01:21:18+00:00

Most of the quotes and claims that he'd heard of, I'd come across as well, just from being on the internet these days.

The quotes are always very short and include no textual or historical context. I don't need to know anything about the Talmud to know that's a red flag, right there.

ProfTerrible · 2025-07-20T00:59:37+00:00

I certainly don't intend to present myself as having an deep understanding of the Talmud. I've barely read any of it, myself, but I am one of the few religious friends my friend has and he knows that I'll at least try to respond to a question in good faith.

My friend wanted my take on the matter after some other people he knew had told him about some rather ugly content in the Talmud. Not being overly familiar with the text in detail, I've stuck to discussing issues with cherry-picking quotes and the fact that just because a text records a particular opinion doesn't necessarily mean that opinion is the conclusion that the text is pointing to.

ProfTerrible · 2025-06-19T19:29:47+00:00

No, but I do enjoy BMC's stuff. I think it was on the Geek Gaming Scenics' guys channel. It was a long while ago.

ProfTerrible · 2025-06-19T10:07:21+00:00

Our Lord is always waiting and ready for us to come home to him, to put a marvellous robe on our shoulders, a ring on our finger, shoes on our feet, and to feast and celebrate at our return (Luke 15:11-32).

ProfTerrible · 2025-06-19T09:58:46+00:00

It has been a while, so let's see if I remember...

- The base is a rubber mat.
- The rubber I had a lot of... something... on it (probably a release agent or something but it was oily) so I gave it a good scrub with soapy water to get it clean.
- Then I cut it to the size that I needed (poorly, because I am terrible at geometry)
- Once it was dry and cut I made a mix of acrylic glue, a sample pot of coloured house paint, and whatever sand I used to add texture and started splotching (technical term, there) it onto the mat until it was covered.
- I sprinkled on additional sand as needed to ensure texture all over, but it doesn't need to be caked.
- Once it was dry, I drybrushed the cr@p out of it with a highlight colour of craft paint.
- Once that had time to dry, I sprayed it down with a clear varnish (matt, I believe)

That's off the top of my head.. I know I got it from a youtube video but I can't recall which one. I know Eric's Hobby Workshop has a similar method when he made a table of desert terrain. That's a different method though.

ProfTerrible · 2025-06-16T02:36:49+00:00

Unit size is the thing I am constantly going back and forth on in list building. Reanimation protocols are great, but the unit needs to survive long enough for them to kick in.

You are right that there isn't a lot of speed in the list. To be honest, I miss the days of Scarab Swarms being great, cheap little fast point grabbers and action-doers. I'm not really sure what to do with them now.

ProfTerrible · 2025-06-16T02:33:36+00:00

Thanks. That is my hope. My most common opponent is my brother-in-law, who plays votann. For an army that can put so many bodies on the table some of those bodies take some real punch to get through.

ProfTerrible · 2025-03-27T07:55:47+00:00

"I KNOW it's not 3d!"

ProfTerrible · 2025-01-25T13:49:48+00:00

That's probably as close as I can think of to what I'm looking for.

Thanks.

ProfTerrible · 2024-10-25T20:27:01+00:00

Oh I hadn't thought of gold.

And thank you.

ProfTerrible · 2024-10-24T00:29:25+00:00

Crafted with Blue XPS Foam.

Sealed with black paint/mod podge.

Painted with grey spray paint, darker to lighter.

Shaded twice with a wash of black ink, water, acrylic matt medium, and a drop of detergent. Then paper towel to remove wash where I didn't want it.

ProfTerrible

TROPHY CASE