Joshua
A Parable for Today
By Joseph F. Girzone
- How does Joshua prove the difficulty in living a true Christian life in the present?
At first, I would like to point out that it is quite obvious that Joshua is in fact the 20th century version of Jesus Christ. It is most obvious from early on, when he first introduces himself as a carpenter. Next, he heals that little girl, and then walks through town with that large log on his shoulder, which I guess could be symbolic of the cross Jesus carried. Then there was the man who came to help Joshua, but could not for it was too heavy. That seems awfully symbolic of Simon trying to help Jesus carry the cross.
Then, later in the novel, the miracles began to pile up. Joshua healed a blind girl and enabled her to see, as Jesus did.
Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Ch...
St. Peter's Basilica at Early Morning
Joshua TreeJoshua also revived the dead boy, Michael, after he had taken a deadly fall down a flight of stairs on the ship Joshua was on. Not only that, but Joshua also de-paralyzed the Cardinal after he had a stroke during Joshua's "trial" in Vatican City in Rome, Italy. I must say, the symbolisms were clear and strong.
Getting down to business, it was quite clear that the simplicity of Joshua's lifestyle, and not the complexity of others', was the factor that confused many in the small town of Auburn. We as people of modern times consider simplicity to be much better than bigger, and more complex, problems, lifestyles, etc., but in this case, it ends up hurting Joshua. Because Joshua does not have a nice fancy house, expensive cars and furniture, a television, or electricity for that matter...because Joshua does not posses all of these modern...