Far Fetchedness

I had a conversation about the merits of Nestorianism today. Not a topic that comes up much in daily discourse. I tried to tell the guy that Nestorius was a heretic and why so. I'm afraid that I couldn't have done such a good job. The conversation came to an end with the guy saying words to the effect that the idea of God becoming man and dying to save individuals is somewhat 'far-fetched'.

My first reaction was to agree. On the surface it does seem a little incredible. but then i got thinking and wondered if we have become so disconnected from the biblical stories that our only reaction is to doubt. to be sure our world, which teaches us to analyse and imitate, can't reduce the incarnation - or anything about jesus really - into a package. at least not one that still remains jesus. endlessly beguiling he remains. like a bar of soap, he give us the slip most of the time.

But i can't imagine Paul saying that Jesus was 'far-fetched'. He seems to have lived and breathed the world of Israel that it is obvious that Jesus would have to come and die for us and be raised on the third day. Still that was after a good 15 years thinking in the desert, so maybe we are let off with a bit of 'far-fetchedness' for a while.