At the University of Chicago Divinity School
each year they have
what is called "Baptist Day". It is a day when all the
Baptists in
the area are invited to the school because they want the Baptist
dollars to keep coming in. On this day each one is to bring a
lunch
to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area. Every "Baptist
Day" the
school would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the
theological education center. One year they invited Dr. Paul
Tillich. Dr. Tillich spoke for two and one-half hours proving
that
the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after
scholar
and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such
thing
as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the
church
was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a
relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from
the
dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any
questions.
After about 30 seconds, an old, dark skinned preacher with a head
of
short-cropped, woolly white hair stood up in the back of the
auditorium. "Docta Tillich, I got one question", he
said as all eyes
turned toward him. He reached into his sack lunch and pulled out
an
apple and began eating it. "Docta Tillich" ... CRUNCH,
MUNCH, "My
question is a simple question", ...CRUNCH,
MUNCH..."Now, I ain't
never read them books you read"... CRUNCH, MUNCH..."and
I can't
recite the Scriptures in the original Greek" ...CRUNCH,
MUNCH..."
I don't know nothin' about Niebuhr and Heidegger".... CRUNCH,
MUNCH...
He finished the apple. "All I wanna know is: This apple I
just
ate------was it bitter or sweet?" Dr. Tillich paused for a
moment
and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: "I cannot
possibly
answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple". The
white-
haired preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled
paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly,
"Neither have
you tasted my Jesus." The 1,000 plus in attendance could not
contain
them. The auditorium erupted with applause and cheers. Dr.
Tillich
thanked his audience and promptly left the platform. "O
taste and
see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in
Him".
Psalm 34:8