“He is unlike any man you have ever seen . . .”
If you’ve ever watched the original Planet of the Apes, you no doubt remember the scene in which the Tribunal of the National Academy questions Charlton Heston (Taylor, aka “Bright Eyes”). None of Taylor’s explanations make any sense to the tribunal, of course. If fact, the disturbing testimony causes them to assume the position.
Later we discover that the Minister of Science and Chief Defender of the Faith, Dr. Zaius, knows a great deal more than he at first let on. From the 1967 shooting script:
TAYLOR
I told the truth at that 'hearing' of yours.
ZAIUS
You lied. Where is your tribe?
TAYLOR
My tribe, as you call it, lives on another
planet in a distant solar system.
ZAIUS
Then how is it we speak the same language?
(suddenly intense)
Even in your lies, some truth slips
through! That mythical community you're
supposed to come from -- 'Fort Wayne'?
TAYLOR
What about it?
ZAIUS
A fort! Unconsciously, you chose a name
that was belligerent.
“Even in your lies, some truth slips through!”
I often think of those two scenes — Taylor’s hearing and its aftermath — when I’m reading up on the historical Jesus. Very few modern critical scholars believe that Mark is telling the truth about the splitting of the firmament and the booming voice from heaven at the baptism. Yet, “even in [Mark’s] lies, some truth slips through.”
Consider R Joseph Hoffmann’s assertion in his latest post.
Continue reading “Historical Reconstruction or a “Mad House”?”