# Ye forget the Lord's punishment!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-forget-the-lords-punishment/219150>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 15, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-forget-the-lords-punishment/219150 "2003-12-15T17:21:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-forget-the-lords-punishment/219150/1 "2003-12-15T17:21:51Z")

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[Great is the Lord’s punisment.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_244.html)

“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s”  
had the Aramaic crowd groaning in the aisles.

The E and J authors must of collaborated on the act for  
“I AM WHAT I AM” in answer to Moses’ question.

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-forget-the-lords-punishment/219150/2 "2003-12-16T01:34:22Z")

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Actually, Jesus frequently uses humor. The parable of the Unjust Steward (Dorothy L. Sayers paraphrases the ending as, “And the master said, ‘Man, you’re a thorough scoundrel. But I _do_ admire your thoroughness.’”) Or the parable of the Unjust Judge, the tale of a poor widow who keeps noodging a corrupt judge until he finally agrees to hear her case, just to make her shut up, which Jesus concludes by saying that, if a corrupt judge will eventually listen if you try hard enough, God will eventually listen to prayers, too. (I suppose if He were telling the story today, He’d finish that with a “Duh!”)

It’s also important to note that humor does change from age to age. Ever read _Joe Miller’s Joke Book,_, the best-selling humor book of the 18th century? It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion – but people thought it was great then.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2003, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ye-forget-the-lords-punishment/219150/3 "2003-12-16T12:29:59Z")

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You might also do a quick search for threads in this forum, search on “humor” and “bible”, and you’ll see earlier comments:

[Humor in the bible?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2972)