Theology: Good Grief, Charlie Schulz!

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Behind the daily wit of Peanuts, concludes Short, lies an essentially Christian view of reality. Its characters, of course, act out a comedy. But that is precisely what Christianity is, a divine comedy defined by Soren Kierkegaard as "the most humorous point of view in the history of the world." Such fundamental doctrines as the Resurrection, the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit, have always been an offense to cold reason-"a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles," as St. Paul put it. In fact, says Short, one literally has to become like a child to believe such things. "But again, this is precisely why Christ said, 'Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.' "