Friday 26 March 2010

The Other Bad Thief

Yesterday was, in the Catholic church, the celebration of Dismas, the "Good" thief.  Last mentioned in the Bible having his legs broken to hasten his death, although we have it on good authority that he was shortly to enjoy  much better times.  His feast day is 25 March - because saints are commemorated on the day of their deaths - their "birthdays" - and in Dismas's case his "birthday" was Good Friday.   And traditionally the date of Good Friday was 25 March, which is also the feast of the Annunciation.  So old Dismas gets a bit overlooked most years, and nobody that I'm aware of names churches after him.  Though I don't suppose he cares.

But the real point about this is just to say:

He wasn't the "Good" thief.
He wasn't the "Good" thief.
He wasn't the "Good" thief.
He was the justified one.

Just had to get that off my chest.

5 comments :

  1. Thanks for that.

    I occasionally comment flippantly that he wasn't a good thief cos if he had been he wouldn't have been caught!

    I also like the three crosses scene in the chapel at the Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas done by the Christian Police Association where even the 'bad' thief has one handcuff open leaving open the possibility that both were justified/saved/redeemed/whatever word you prefer.

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  2. He wasn't a "thief" either: is there no one in the Beaker community who has learned to read a little Greek and a bit of ancient history? The Romans didn't bother to crucify ordinary thiefs; this is something you to do rebellious slaves (Spartacus) or to dangerous 'social bandits' (Hobsbawm's term), especially in the conquered territories. Ok, Hobsbawm's term is a bit ambiguous - feel free to mock, Archdruid. Anyway, Luke calls them κακουργοι, 'bad guys' (ok, evil doers, if you like) to make sure the Romans don't get hacked off with him: nice and vague. But Mark and Matthew still have the real thing: λησται, 'robbers / bandits', the sort of term the contemporary historian and traitor Josephus, earning his keep in Rome, uses to refer to, well, social bandits: peasants forced into banditry because of of crippling debts, taxation, etc. For the ruling class, of course, they were just "robbers".

    Now where did I put that copy of "Anarchist Daily"? I had it here somewhere...

    P.S.: google word verification just forced to me write a word that looked a lot like 'cretin'. Now that's not a nice thing to call an Archdruid.

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  3. Holger thanks - So I can conclude that if they were "dangerous bandits" they were probably wobbers and wapscallions as well?

    We did know a little ancient Common Greek but he got fed up with Marston referring to him as "Hoi - Stavros" so he went to join an Orthodox community in Moggerhanger. I think it was the poor grammar that did it. Hnaef did tell him it should be "Ho - Stavros".

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  4. Poor Dismas does get overlooked, but I know of one hermit who has taken the much-forgotten saint's name: Bro. Dismas Mary in The Gambia
    http://brotherdismas.blogspot.com

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  5. Fr Sean - thank you for your comments. I'm glad Dismas isn't completely ignored.

    Holger - before I forget - I can only say, I blame the teachers...

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