Mulder: So, Scully, I've been doing some research on Ezekiel. Just as you suggested.
Scully: Mulder, for a person who likes to think of himself as a loose canon, you are astonishingly predictable. Of course you've been doing some research on Ezekiel. Let me guess: you think that the throne-chariot which Ezekiel saw was actually a UFO.
Mulder: You have to admit, Scully, that the appearance of the throne-chariot as described by Ezekiel is highly suggestive of alien spacecraft.
Scully: All I have to admit, Mulder, is that Erich von Daniken has a lot to answer for.
Mulder: What else could it be, Scully, other than a spacecraft?
Scully: It could be exactly what Ezekiel says it is: a vision of the Glory of God leaving the precincts of the Temple and heading off toward Babylon, where the Ezekiel and the rest of the exiles from Jerusalem are living. God is God and requires a sufficiently awe-inspiring battle chariot in which to travel.
Mulder: So I suppose you incline to the view that Ezekiel's vision is actually the result of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Scully: The entire book of Ezekiel seems to me to be quite clearly the product of P.T.S.D. The man experienced a months-long siege of Jerusalem and then a forced thousand-mile march as a prisoner to the city of Babylon, where he and his fellow exiles had to adjust to God knows what. Nightmares, bizarre behavior, becoming aggressive, violent, or inappropriately sexual: all these are part of this text. It's a first-person account of wartime trauma in the ancient world.
Mulder: Scully, are you suggesting that the Old Testament might be something more than psalms, children's stories, and predictions about Jesus?
Scully: I'm suggesting, Mulder, that the subject of the book of Ezekiel is in fact 'alien abduction'; just not the kind of aliens or the type of abductions that you're always so interested in.
Mulder: Scully, you wound me. You know I'm interested in things other than alien abductions. I'm also interested in alien invasions.
Scully: I apologize, Mulder. I know you also have a healthy interest in sunflower seeds, Native American culture, civil rights, and porn.
Mulder: And baseball, Scully. Don't forget baseball. It's America's pastime.
Scully: But you know, Mulder, now that I think of it, there is a sterling example of 'alien invasion' in the Old Testament. And it includes conspiracy and the persecution of the innocent; it's right in your wheelhouse. You'll find it in the writings of the post-exilic prophets and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
Another goodie, Char! Thanks for the great overview of Ezekiel's chariot-vision through my two favorite characters. I like your attention to the dual uses of alien and invasion. I think it's easy to gloss over just how traumatizing such an alien invasion cum alien abduction would have been. All of the triggers of Ezekiel's PTSD are spot-on (I really got a kick out of Bandstra spending time actually mentioning the various interpretations that have been given to that account). Somehow, reading these stories as prophecy divorces me from the real context that Ezekiel was a man, pulled from his home and priestly office after a dreadful and deadly siege, and forced to march hundreds and hundreds of miles to a distant land, with foreign tongues and customs. That trauma would have informed his worldview and prophecy should come as no surprise. Thanks for the really great insight!
ReplyDeleteYES! I love it!
ReplyDeleteI too love the double-meaning. I was able to engage with the discussion and pondering of the abduction and invasion through a less threatening lens. So often we face tension when we discuss these questions. I'd love to see an X-Files episode about this. I think they should begin with your script. I've always thought these two were secretly high-educated biblical scholars who front as extra-terrestrial investigators.
Maybe we could learn more from the text if we considered more alternative characters from which we might view the stories. Perhaps Gandalf and Bilbo would be interesting discussion partners. What about Kirk and Spock? Maybe Holmes and Watson? This could be the beginning of a breakthrough in biblical entertainment.
Char, very interesting post, as per usual. I like that you bring a different perspective each week to the course. It is always entertaining to see what you come up with. I appreciated the insight you brought about Ezekiel having PTSD (very possible). Great post!
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ReplyDeleteReally entertaining and informative, as usual! I like how you’re looking behind the text to the person who spoke the prophecies. Indeed, the book of Lamentations gives us a picture of just how bad it was in Jerusalem during the exile (granted, Ezekiel was taken during the first exile). And we can look to some of the Psalms to glimpse the feelings of some of the exiled Jews in Babylonia.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s really important to acknowledge that the biblical authors and the characters in the Bible narrative were humans with hopes and fears just like you and me. And that doubtless influenced their prophecy, agenda, and message.
Looking forward to this week’s post!
I liked the way you narrated the dialogue between Mulder and Scully, referring to what the book of Ezekiel is about. It is entertaining and sort of a short fiction story. You have intertwined things in the book (Ezekiel’s days) with things in reality (modern days). It sounds unbelievable that through the two fictional characters (Mulder and Scully) in conversation, you compared the flying throne-chariot in Ezekiel’s vision to a UFO, that you ascribed the subject of the book of Ezekiel to alien’s abduction, and that you called Ezekiel's vision the result of post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.). It is very interesting to relate what you read in the book of the ancient world to what you read in the news of the modern world. I found it very stress-free and relaxing in reading your amusingly decoded version of the book of Ezekiel. Thank you for your post.
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