Two interesting reports caught my eye tonight: one that Jesus played cricket and the other that William Shakespeare was a Catholic.
Neither comes as a shock. There have long been rumors that Bill was a Mick, but author Joseph Pearce has apparently found new evidence.
Jesus would have been a great opening batsman and handy spin bowler. Unlike Bradman, who just fell short, he would have certainly achieved the 100 average.
Apparently the Bible can be translated as follows: “He (Jesus) would take the boys to the seashore and, carrying the playing ball and the club, he would go over the waves of the sea as though he was playing on a frozen surface, hitting the playing ball. And watching him, the boys would scream and say: ‘Watch the child Jesus, what he does over the waves of the sea!’ Many would gather there and, watching him, would be amazed.”
One of the Gnostic gospels is said to include: “Jesus carried all before him as the Egyptians inflicted plague and pestilence. He carried his palm leaf to the gates of Jordan while men were dismissed from his presence.”
Modern scholars interpret this to mean that Jesus scored an unbeaten century after opening the batting while the rest of his team succumbed to hostile fast bowling.
The evidence appears overwhelming.
As for Shakespeare being a Catholic it’s probably true and not really a shock.
Those were turbulent times in England and there is plenty of superficial evidence to support the argument.
That’s if you believe Shakespeare really wrote the plays.
These articles might be of interest:
Parts of the Bible were hard enough to understand already … and now Cricket has been tossed into the mix?
What if they play Cricket in Heaven? And we all have to attend the games? That would be Hell-like to me (and not just Cricket — I don’t want to sit through baseball or football games either).
Delmer, I was just catching up on your blog when you made this comment.
You may not appreciate this, but in Australia we say rugby is the game they play in heaven.