The ancient Greek legend of Prometheus describes the great Titan 'stealing fire' from the gods and bestowing it on mankind, only to be punished by Zeus for his presumptuous theft. To bring heaven to earth was terrible hubris indeed, for it gave mankind power which belonged only to the gods.
The Acts 2 description of the Day of Pentecost shows the flat and arid horizons of such mythology, and the superiority of Christ to the gods - of Egypt and Greece! Far from stealing the fire from on high, Christ bestows the fire of the Holy Spirit on his disciples as he has also received the Gift of the Spirit. Into the fissure in time created by Christ's Ascension, spanning history until he comes again, arrives One who is the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, the sign of the new creation begun, of the joining of heaven and earth in new creation. Tongues of fire on the heads of each of the Spirit-filled Disciples mark them both as the Lamb's own who will be spared the wrathful fire baptism soon to be poured out on Jerusalem, and as the empowered witnesses/martyrs who will do 'greater works' as they go into the world with the Gospel.
Prometheus is punished by Zeus for sending the fire to man. Christ is exalted and awarded the joy of sending the fire of the Spirit upon man. The spreading flame of the Gospel has this at least in common with the Prometheus myth: the fire of God on the earth is the undoing of the gods in the heavenlies.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
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