From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Sun Jun 20 1999 - 10:25:18 EDT
I don't know that I actually HAVE offended anyone by what may have seemed
to be a flippant and tasteless pun (some would argue that ALL puns are
tasteless, of course) in my last remark in response to the query indicated
in the subject-header above, but if I did so, I want to apologize to those
who took offense. I confess what must be obvious, that I felt the
association drawn between the Greek word KURIA and the geographical proper
name Korea was rather far-fetched and I wanted to say so in a casual and
low-keyed fashion. I think I may have miscalculated badly and thoughtlessly
disturbed some list-members. At the risk of intensifying any offense, let
me endeavor to say that I certainly did not intend to disparage or cast
doubt upon belief in God's omniscience, but I was giving expression to a
theological conviction of my own, that God's sense of humor must dwarf our
meager human sense of humor,that if we occasionally are provoked to a
belly-laugh by discernment of the grotesque incongruence of human behavior,
what must unlimited discernment of it evoke in response? I may add here
that my own reading of the Genesis account of the naming of Isaac (Gen
17:15 - 18:15 is that the very name of the patriarch Isaac is a reminder
that God always has the last laugh.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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