“I hope it is possible to say this with all reverence, but Jesus was a tough customer . . . the image that many have of the Lord’s personality and strength of character comes more from man-made traditions and saccharine portrait painters than it does from the Bible. One easily envisions a genteel limp-wrist standing outside the door of someone’s heart, gently tapping, because of course the doorknob is only on the inside. The only thing missing from this vision is the ribbon in his hair. I have sometimes thought that a far better picture of Jesus knocking at the door of my heart would be a commanding hand from offstage, two rows of angels with a battering ram, and a worried-looking troll peeking out over the wall of a castle. Otto Scott put it well when he said that God of the Bible is no buttercup.”
The Cultural Mind, pp. 163-164
