Many Christians feel committed by faith to the belief that the Bible has all the answers that matter, but pick and choose among those answers, ignoring whatever makes them feel uncomfortable. Although most profess to want a church that operates "by the book" they dispute endlessly over what their book means and disregard the clear implications of its text whenever it suits them.
The text of the gospels in a very real sense a trap for the unwary and uninformed. According to Christian apologists, Jesus' life was the most important life ever lived, and yet amazingly none of the surviving documents appear to contain the direct personal account of anyone who actually saw it. Two points must clearly be understood before a person can undertake an intelligent reading of the New Testament: The gospels are religious propaganda and missionary literature.
Apocalyptic Prophet
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites! ,,,,," , Fill up the measure of your fathers, You! Snakes! Offspring of Vipers! How are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna?
As extreme as these words the reader can scarcely appreciate the offense. The Gehenna is the valley of Hinnom mentioned in Jeremiah which was a steep, narrow ravine outside the wouthern wall of the city which the city's sewage drained and rubbish was thrown. Gehenna was a combination of cesspool and garbage dump. Mathew even has Jesus include new converts to Judaism called them "Sons of Gehenna".
Jesus came preaching and proclaiming the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God. About John the Baptist the gospels have this to say about this message:
"So he said to the crowd that were coming out to be baptized by him `Brood of vipers! Who showed you how to flee from the coming wrath' , `The ax is already laid at the root of the tree!" (Luke 3:7-9) John's message of rapidly impending judgment that no one can escape. The separation of the righteous from the unrighteous is imminent: the ax is already laid at the root of the tree.
According to Mark, Jesus carrer began even as John's was about to end, and it is important to note- Jesus adopted John's apocalyptic message:
"But after John had been arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God, and saying 'The time allotted has run out and the kingdom of God has almost arrived! Repent and believe in the good news"(Mark 1:11-15)
Like John the Baptist, Jesus proclaimed a message of impending judgment and called for repentance. The kingdom of God was coming quickly. But just how quickly? That the kingdom is coming soon very soon- is made abundantly clear by Mark:
"He said to them "Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will by no means taste death until they see the kingdom of God already arrived in power" (Mark 9:1)
"Truly I tell you, by no means will this generation disappear until all these things happen" (Mark 13:30)
The Jewish High Priest asked Jesus: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? Jesus said: I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:60-62)
According to Jesus, the High Priest himself will witness the coming of the heavenly Son of Man. Jesus own generation, "this generation" will not disappear before all these things happen- nor will most of his followers die before personally seeing the kingdom of God arrive in power:
",,,,,I tell you, by no means will you finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives" (Mathew 10:23)
",,,,,Truly I tell you, under no circumstances will this generation disappear until all these things happen" (Mark 13:30)
Apocalypse seized the imagination of Jesus as it has seized the imagination of many Christians before and even now. Indeed, what could possibly motivate men to action more than the idea that the world is about to end???
Desperate times, it has been said, call for desperate measures. Not even stopping to say goodbye to those left behind. A man on his roof must not linger to gather his possessions and a man in the field must not stop even to pick up his cloak. The urgency of times abrogates even the most filial responsibilities:
"Another of his disciples said to him: Lord, first permit me to go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him: Follow me and let the dead bury their dead" (Mathew 8:21-22) And of course, not to forget "How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers" (Mathew 24:19)
Jesus speaks against his own generation this generation- that will not pass away until all Jesus' words are fulfilled upon it. Jesus triumphant return ran so high that those with property sold off what they had. Paul writing to the newly converted, advised slaves to remain slaves, and virgins and the unmarried to remain in their present state. Married men were to behave as if they had no wife, which probably meant that married couples acted as if celibate, for "the time allotted has become short".
So pervasive was the sense of impending doom that the early Christians resorted to the most extreme behavior. Origen, a church father of the 2nd century went so far as to castrate himself and Justin Mrtyr, another church father, praised a young Alexandrian convert who petitioned the Roman governor to give a surgeon permission to castrate him
The Apocalypse Postponed:
Convinced that Jesus had risen and would soon return, the believers waited expectantly.
Generations of people come and go, and as one year passed into the other, the people of Jesus generation began to die. THERE WAS NO APOCALYPSE, no host of angels, no Judgment Day for the wicked, no glorious return of the Son of Man and the kingdom of heaven to replace the kingdoms of this world.
The first generation of Christians died awaiting Jesus return. What? The Christians wondered? What hope could Paul hold out for them? From 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2:19, 3:13, 4:13-17, 5:1-11, 23-24) Paul escapes the dilemma of the delayed return by making the resurrection of dead believers a part of the coming of the Lord. The dead will be raised and swept up to meet those still alive in the clouds. Gone are the houses, relatives and fields to be replaced a hundredfold in the age to come. The coming of the Lord has already shifted from a glorious promise made to a generation still living to words of comfort and edification to a generation already dying.
The letter to the Thessalonians reveals the intensely apocalyptic orientation of the early church "we the living who are left remaining until the coming of the Lord" shifted their attention onto the exalted Jesus who might at any moment arrive in glory to collect his saints.
As time passed, doubts increased about the Second Coming. Hope began to wane, the attention of the church shifted backward, to the Word existed with God from deep time before the beginning of the world. Then the church began in earnest to ransack the texts of the Old Testament in search of "prophecy" that Jesus might fulfill.
The language of the message has changed to "lest we forget, a day to the Lord is like a thousand years" (2 Peter 3:3-15)
Jesus who foretells the "end of the world" that never happens, a Son of Man whose kingdom never arrives, is an embarrassment, or worse, a complete failure. The church found itself stuck with a terrible problem: its theology had been built on the coming of the glorified Lord. What was the church to do? Why not simply declare Jesus to be a god and have gone with it? But as the church ever moved closer to its deified Lord, it pushed his Second Coming even further away.
The generation jesus promised would by no means disappear before the glorious return of the Son of Man, died awaiting his return and so has every generation since. Despite the fact that every apocalyptic prediction made to date by Jesus and his followers has proven false, the Salesmen of the Apocalypse continue to flourish. Like thei Hollywood counterparts, evangelical celebs have made fortune selling the end of the world.
The real tragedy of Christianity resides in its apocalyptic predisposition to see the world inherently evil, to excgange the fantasy of the apocalypse for the equally delusional New Jerusalem, to decalre that the citizinship of its members is in heaven, in a city built by God. The Christians confess "that they are strangers and temporary residents on the earth. If a religion decalares its adherents to be mere planetary tourists, can anyone be surprised when they behave accordingly.
Christianity is a LIE.
Max
The text of the gospels in a very real sense a trap for the unwary and uninformed. According to Christian apologists, Jesus' life was the most important life ever lived, and yet amazingly none of the surviving documents appear to contain the direct personal account of anyone who actually saw it. Two points must clearly be understood before a person can undertake an intelligent reading of the New Testament: The gospels are religious propaganda and missionary literature.
Apocalyptic Prophet
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites! ,,,,," , Fill up the measure of your fathers, You! Snakes! Offspring of Vipers! How are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna?
As extreme as these words the reader can scarcely appreciate the offense. The Gehenna is the valley of Hinnom mentioned in Jeremiah which was a steep, narrow ravine outside the wouthern wall of the city which the city's sewage drained and rubbish was thrown. Gehenna was a combination of cesspool and garbage dump. Mathew even has Jesus include new converts to Judaism called them "Sons of Gehenna".
Jesus came preaching and proclaiming the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God. About John the Baptist the gospels have this to say about this message:
"So he said to the crowd that were coming out to be baptized by him `Brood of vipers! Who showed you how to flee from the coming wrath' , `The ax is already laid at the root of the tree!" (Luke 3:7-9) John's message of rapidly impending judgment that no one can escape. The separation of the righteous from the unrighteous is imminent: the ax is already laid at the root of the tree.
According to Mark, Jesus carrer began even as John's was about to end, and it is important to note- Jesus adopted John's apocalyptic message:
"But after John had been arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God, and saying 'The time allotted has run out and the kingdom of God has almost arrived! Repent and believe in the good news"(Mark 1:11-15)
Like John the Baptist, Jesus proclaimed a message of impending judgment and called for repentance. The kingdom of God was coming quickly. But just how quickly? That the kingdom is coming soon very soon- is made abundantly clear by Mark:
"He said to them "Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will by no means taste death until they see the kingdom of God already arrived in power" (Mark 9:1)
"Truly I tell you, by no means will this generation disappear until all these things happen" (Mark 13:30)
The Jewish High Priest asked Jesus: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? Jesus said: I am. And you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:60-62)
According to Jesus, the High Priest himself will witness the coming of the heavenly Son of Man. Jesus own generation, "this generation" will not disappear before all these things happen- nor will most of his followers die before personally seeing the kingdom of God arrive in power:
",,,,,I tell you, by no means will you finish going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives" (Mathew 10:23)
",,,,,Truly I tell you, under no circumstances will this generation disappear until all these things happen" (Mark 13:30)
Apocalypse seized the imagination of Jesus as it has seized the imagination of many Christians before and even now. Indeed, what could possibly motivate men to action more than the idea that the world is about to end???
Desperate times, it has been said, call for desperate measures. Not even stopping to say goodbye to those left behind. A man on his roof must not linger to gather his possessions and a man in the field must not stop even to pick up his cloak. The urgency of times abrogates even the most filial responsibilities:
"Another of his disciples said to him: Lord, first permit me to go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him: Follow me and let the dead bury their dead" (Mathew 8:21-22) And of course, not to forget "How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers" (Mathew 24:19)
Jesus speaks against his own generation this generation- that will not pass away until all Jesus' words are fulfilled upon it. Jesus triumphant return ran so high that those with property sold off what they had. Paul writing to the newly converted, advised slaves to remain slaves, and virgins and the unmarried to remain in their present state. Married men were to behave as if they had no wife, which probably meant that married couples acted as if celibate, for "the time allotted has become short".
So pervasive was the sense of impending doom that the early Christians resorted to the most extreme behavior. Origen, a church father of the 2nd century went so far as to castrate himself and Justin Mrtyr, another church father, praised a young Alexandrian convert who petitioned the Roman governor to give a surgeon permission to castrate him
The Apocalypse Postponed:
Convinced that Jesus had risen and would soon return, the believers waited expectantly.
Generations of people come and go, and as one year passed into the other, the people of Jesus generation began to die. THERE WAS NO APOCALYPSE, no host of angels, no Judgment Day for the wicked, no glorious return of the Son of Man and the kingdom of heaven to replace the kingdoms of this world.
The first generation of Christians died awaiting Jesus return. What? The Christians wondered? What hope could Paul hold out for them? From 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2:19, 3:13, 4:13-17, 5:1-11, 23-24) Paul escapes the dilemma of the delayed return by making the resurrection of dead believers a part of the coming of the Lord. The dead will be raised and swept up to meet those still alive in the clouds. Gone are the houses, relatives and fields to be replaced a hundredfold in the age to come. The coming of the Lord has already shifted from a glorious promise made to a generation still living to words of comfort and edification to a generation already dying.
The letter to the Thessalonians reveals the intensely apocalyptic orientation of the early church "we the living who are left remaining until the coming of the Lord" shifted their attention onto the exalted Jesus who might at any moment arrive in glory to collect his saints.
As time passed, doubts increased about the Second Coming. Hope began to wane, the attention of the church shifted backward, to the Word existed with God from deep time before the beginning of the world. Then the church began in earnest to ransack the texts of the Old Testament in search of "prophecy" that Jesus might fulfill.
The language of the message has changed to "lest we forget, a day to the Lord is like a thousand years" (2 Peter 3:3-15)
Jesus who foretells the "end of the world" that never happens, a Son of Man whose kingdom never arrives, is an embarrassment, or worse, a complete failure. The church found itself stuck with a terrible problem: its theology had been built on the coming of the glorified Lord. What was the church to do? Why not simply declare Jesus to be a god and have gone with it? But as the church ever moved closer to its deified Lord, it pushed his Second Coming even further away.
The generation jesus promised would by no means disappear before the glorious return of the Son of Man, died awaiting his return and so has every generation since. Despite the fact that every apocalyptic prediction made to date by Jesus and his followers has proven false, the Salesmen of the Apocalypse continue to flourish. Like thei Hollywood counterparts, evangelical celebs have made fortune selling the end of the world.
The real tragedy of Christianity resides in its apocalyptic predisposition to see the world inherently evil, to excgange the fantasy of the apocalypse for the equally delusional New Jerusalem, to decalre that the citizinship of its members is in heaven, in a city built by God. The Christians confess "that they are strangers and temporary residents on the earth. If a religion decalares its adherents to be mere planetary tourists, can anyone be surprised when they behave accordingly.
Christianity is a LIE.
Max
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