Thoughts on Atheism and Apologetics

[robvalue]

Back in the days of proper Who, when Jon Pertwee became incumbent, the Brigadier was suspicious of the man who claimed to be the regenerated form of the one with whom he'd worked previously, to the point where he called him an impostor. Later when confronted with all three of the Doctor's incarnations ("I didn't know when I was well off!"), he thought initially that some experiment had changed him back to his earlier form, but soon adapted to the situation. Later still whe good old Tom Baker took over, the Brig saw the regeneration process firsthand. By now he was seasoned enough in strange happenings surrounding his scientific advisor that he took it almost in his stride ("Well, here we go again!"). So much so that many years later, when confronted with what he thought was a Doctor in a regeneratve crisis, he considered himself a bit of an expert, to the chagrin of the Doctor's latest companions.

The point I'm getting to is that the Brig as a character developed, in much the same way that a real person would in such circumstances. The disciples in the JC story, on the other hand, have a reset switch that kicks in to set them back to their factory defaults after every single miraculous event. By the end, they shouldn't have been surprised by anything the godman said or did.

It's a very good point. It reminds me of watching that guy Dynamo. His tricks are simply stunning. Some are obviously some sort of rig job and it's hard to understand, but some are sleight of hand that beggar belief. The problem is, after you've seen him do a few of them, you get used to it. Impressive though the tricks are, you expect it of him. You don't get the same level of absolute shock all over again.

The biggest surprise must have been seeing him lay down and be killed while having all that supposed power. Erm, Jesus that is.