Galatians chapter 3 Part 3

*We have reached the last part of verse 19 where the author says the law was put into effect through angels by a mediator (Moses?). Frankly, I don't understand verse 20, but my study bible claims it means the law was a contract between god and the Israelites, but god's promise to Abraham was one sided and needed no mediator. According to Paul, this does not make the law opposed to the promise because the law that was given was not capable of imparting life or righteousness.

*Next, Paul says scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin. Pause. When the New Testament writers talk about "scripture" they are referring to what we know as the books of the Old Testament, probably those included the Septuagint.  The Bible as we know it today did not exist. The Septuagint also had more books than our modern Protestant Old Testament. I am not familiar with those books deemed unsuitable for the modern protestant versions. They may very well have a passage that states the whole world is a prisoner of sin. My Bible does not. However, there are numerous passages in Isaiah and Psalms that refer, in poetry and metaphor, to prisoners and captives being freed by god and/or his special servant. After reviewing many of them, it seems clear that the writer  of Galatians most likely derived his Jesus theology from these kinds of passages.

*I'm going to do some armchair psychology here and say that I suspect Paul felt himself to be a prisoner of sin, because of his own attempts to follow the law of Moses to the nth degree, and finding himself incapable of doing so. Maybe he visited the temple and saw the floors running with the blood of the never ending sacrifices. The priest's garments would have been spattered with blood and gore. So much death. And some of it was because of him. Being an intelligent guy, he eventually figured out there was no way anyone could win at that game. (Just like Tic Tac Toe and Thermo-nuclear War) Also being psychologically incapable of declaring the law to be a farce, he had to come up with some reason god had imposed the law upon the Israelites. He also had to discover god's plan for the future, because god surely wouldn't leave people in that sorry state of being prisoners to the law forever. Couldn't god come up with a way to "fulfill" that bloody law of sacrifice for sin, once and for all? Paul must have seriously obsessed over this dilemma before he had his visionary revelation of Jesus.
Could his supposed vision have been influence by passages like Psalm 42 which talks about making god's servant "a covenant for the people and a light for the gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to free the captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."

*Paul says,"Before this faith came, we (Jews) were held prisoners by the law, locked up untl the faith should be revealed." To whom was it revealed? Paul! Trust him. The law was put in charge to lead them to christ that they might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come (back), they are no longer under the supervision of the law. It can't be wrong, he had a personal revelation.

Edited. 

Galatians chapter 3 part 2

*After the last post, I began to think: If Gentiles were not under the law of Moses, and they were not required to be, then the law's curse never applied to them. Since Jesus became cursed to remove the curse from the law. why did Gentiles even need him? In Galatians chapter 3:14, Paul basically says Christ redeemed the Jews so that the blessing of the spirit that was given to Abraham, because of his faith, could also be given to the Gentiles, if they have faith in that christ. The writer of Galatians seems to be saying Christianity is a movement by god to open up membersip in his fan club and make it all inclusive. However, to be a member, you need to understand that the Jews (descendants of Abraham) had exclusive membership first, through God's promise to Abraham, then through the laws of Moses.  The Jew's terms of membership through the law have been voided by this Jesus guy. The new membership rules require an understanding that the old membership rules are defunct, and a belief that  Jesus made them defunct. Faith in him is the new requirement for anyone who wants to recieve "the promise of the spirit." Whatever that is.

*Another question that constantly arises in my mind is: What was the exact historical moment when this belief in Jesus as the redeemer of the curse of the law was required in order to be part of Yahweh's entourage? That's pretty hard to pin down. What happens to all those billions of people, before and after that historic moment who were completely clueless about Yahweh and/or his requirements?

* Moving on to verse 15 and following: Here Paul does some verbal gymnastics to explain how this faith in Jesus requirement works. Contracts are binding, human ones and god ones. El/Yahweh made a contract with Abraham. The contract contained promises to Abraham and his "seed." In spite of linguistic conventions and common usage that denotes "seed" as a collective singular meaning all descendants, Paul says, "Look, seed is singular, not plural. Therefore it is actually talking about a single descendant. That single descendant was one person, christ." Hooray for logic! Thanks, Paul, for clearing that up. We (literally) would not have known that, if not for you.

*Next, Paul says, "430 years after Abraham, Yahweh made another contract, the law. The previous contract and its promise was still valid though. The inheritance (?) didn't depend on the law contract, but on the one that came before it, the Abrahamic contract. " What on earth was the purpose of the law then? "I'm glad you asked," says Paul. "Let me 'splain. The law was added because of transgressions (If there was no law, what was being transgressed?) until the Seed (capitalized now) to whom the promise had referred (says you) had come."

To be continued.

Most of the dialog in quotes here is my paraphrasing.

Galatians chapter 3 part 1

After a few detours, we are back in Galatians at chapter 3:

*Here Paul is berating the Galatians. He says they recieved the "spirit" by believing about the crucifiction of Jesus as it was portrayed when they heard it, probably from Paul, who never encountered the living Jesus, except through visions. They recieved the spirit and witnessed miracles not because they observed the law, but because they believed. Here, and in most of christianity, belief is the supreme virtue, even above any moral acts.

*Abraham is given as the epitome of righteousness obtained through belief, and anyone who believes is a metaphorical child of Abraham. Paul says everyone who relies on observing the law is under a curse because it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (Deut 26:27, Jer. 11:3) Well, Paul, technically that means you and your gentile friends are cursed. To counter that, Paul also quotes Habbakuk 2:4 which  according to Paul says "the righteous will live by faith." Looking back at that verse in Habbakuk, I find a footnote that says this passage could also say "the righteous will live by Faithfulness." Faith and Faithfulness are two different things. The first cognitive the second active, comparable to the difference between belief and ongoing obedience. One word that could send Paul's argument down the drain. Abraham didn't have to worry about the curse under the law because it didn't exist yet.

*Next Paul says Christ redeemed us from the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, "cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." (Deut. 21:23) Well it seems to me that being crucified is not the same as being hung. I guess it doesn't matter because it's still on a piece of wood. What about all the other innocent people who were hung or crucified, were they cursed for our sake? How does that work? We are cursed by not following the law properly,  then we are not cursed because Jesus was cursed for us, then we are cursed for trying to follow the law anyway? I think Paul is trying to say that Jesus's crucifixion nullified the law and its curse, essentially rolling back  to before there was a law, when Faith was the supreme virtue. But then he wants to claim that curse still holds if you don't believe in Jesus crucified.

*Abraham, if he existed, didn't believe in Jesus, he believed in El/Yahweh. Can a person just believe in that and be free from the curse of the law? It seems that Paul says you have to actually believe there was a redeemer of the curse for the nullification of the curse to work. It's like your mind flicks an invisible curse switch. Otherwise, you're toast.

Jesus and gentiles part 5

Now we look at the book of John

*This is interesting. After a quick skim through the book, I found NO references to Jesus interacting with or talking about Gentiles. There is the incident with the Samaritan woman at the well, only found in John. But I haven't been counting Samaritans as Gentiles, even in the other gospel accounts, because they have a unique relationship with the Jews and worship the same god. John does talk about "the world" a lot, but he seems to be referring to his immediate surroundings and the Jewish community,  not the entire world.

Another interesting thing I found this dialog in John 9:48-49: "The Jews answered him,"Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" "I am not posessed by a demon," said Jesus....   Jesus denies being possessed by a demon but he never denies being a Samaritan! Of course, in the story of the woman at the well, Jesus is clearly a Jew. However, wouldn't that be a fascinating twist if the actual historical Jesus (presuming he existed) turned out to have been a Samaritan. Perhaps that was an early accusation that Jews made about the Jesus sect.

Also, at the end of John, there is no comission to the apostles to go out and spread the gospel to all nations. There is only the instruction of Peter to "feed my sheep." Who were his sheep?

*There you have it. The sum of Jesus's interactions with, and words about, gentiles. I may have missed one or two small things. Even so, it doesn't seem to add up to much, a couple of exorcisms, a healing, and an exhortation to the disciples to preach to all nations. The two exorcisms were couched in the insulting terms of pigs and dogs. Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain the story of the mad man and the pigs. Luke doesn't have the story of the gentile woman with the demon possessed daughter. Mark doesn't have the story of the centurian. Luke's explanation for the healing of the centurian's servant was that the Centurian had built a synogogue for the Jews, so he deserved it.

Jeusus and gentiles part 4

We continue to look at the book of Matthew.

*In chapter 15 of Matthew, we read a repetition of the story found in Mark of the non-jewish woman who had a daughter possessed by a demon/evil spirit. In Mark the woman was a Greek. In Matthew she was a Canaanite. In Matthew, Jesus significantly tells the woman,"I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." He did not say that in Mark. Also, in Mark, Jesus admires the woman's reply to his implication that non Jews are dogs. In Matthew, he admires her faith.

*At the very end of Matthew, we read another version of the "great commission." There
Jesus tells the remaining eleven disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit." This passage seems to clearly indicate that the disciple should have been out teaching gentiles after Jesus's ascension. However, we saw in Galatians and Acts that both Peter and Paul had to explain their ministries to the Gentiles and approval was sought from the jerusalem council of Jewish christians. Why weren't all the disciples out teaching and baptising "all nations?" There are traditions that this happened, such as Thomas in India, but there is no evidence.

Now let's take a look at Luke.

*In chapter 7, we have repetition of Jesus healing the centurian's servant, also found in Matthew 8. Here we are told people pleaded with Jesus that the centurian deserved the consideration of Jesus because "he loves our nation and has built our synogogue." In Matthew, the Centurian speaks directly to Jesus. In Luke, they communicate through friends.

*In Luke 8, we have a repetition of the story of the demon possessed man and the pigs, also found in  Mark and Matthew. This version is more like Mark's.

*I didn't notice anything else until Luke 24, where, instead of the great commission, Jesus tells the disciples, "This is what is written: The christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations (presumably including Gentiles), beginning at Jerusalem." First of all there is no OT scripture that actually says this. It is cobbled together from various passages in Psalms and Isaiah, which most likely were not originally intended to refer to Jesus. My study bible gives these references: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Psalm 16:8-11, Isaiah 49. There are references to suffering and  passages that coincide with the NT descriptions of Jesus's death. We are told "All the families of the nations will bow down before him" (him being Yahweh). We are told Israel will be made a light to the gentiles. We are told a suffering servant will bear the sins/iniquities of many. But... We are not told all these things clearly in one place. We are definitely not told that a particular person called the christ will rise on the third day and people will preach in his name. That is something the (unknown) author of Luke made up.

So, I did some more looking into the "third day" claim. I found Hosea 6:2 that says, "After two days  he will revive us, on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence." The study bible does not claim this has any relationship to Jesus rising on the third day, good for them. There are numerous references to things happening on third days, a number of days that is very popular in the OT. But none of them seem to suggest the resurrection of a christ in any way. So why have Jesus raised on the third day? Well, the story of Yahweh appearing on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 may be the inspiration. After a period of three days, god appears with thunder and lightening and a loud trumpet blast. It doesn't really fit, but that's all I have.

Jesus and gentiles part 3

Today, I will skim through the book of Matthew, looking for Jesus's interactions with, or statements about, gentiles.

*The first thing I notice is the visit of the magi to the infant/child Jesus in chapter 2. They surely weren't Jews, so why did they recieve a debatable astronomical revelation of the birth of "The king of the Jews?" My study bible says it is because Matthew (actually an unknown person who wrote the book of Matthew) wants to show that people of all nations acknowledged Jesus as king of the Jews and worshipped him as lord.  How can they say that these magi represented "all nations" when all that is said about them is "they came from the east?" This story is not found in any other part of the bible.

*At the end of chapter 4, we are told that large crowds of people followed Jesus around as he performed miraculous healings, including people from the decapolis and across the Jordan, which were gentile regions. In spite of this, there are no contemporary records of Jesus or his activities.

*In Chapter 8, a Roman centurian asks for help because his servant is ill. Jesus offers to go heal him but the centurian says he is not worthy to have Jesus in his home and requests that the servant be healed long distance. Then we have a significant statement from Jesus, who is astonished at the centurian's faith. (One wonders why he is astonished if he is god in the flesh and has read people's thoughts in other passages.) Jesus says,"I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." The servant was healed.

*At the end of chapter 8, we have a repetition of the story of the demon possessed man and the pigs, found in the book of Mark. However, here there are two mad men, not one.The people still asked him to leave.

*In chapter 10, Jesus gives his twelve  disciples authority to heal, then sends them out with this admonition, "Do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." Later in the passage Jesus prophesies to them,"On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the gentiles." There is no contemporary extrabiblical record of this happening to the twelve. This passage is very similar, word for word in parts, to Luke chapter 10. However, in Luke, Jesus sends out seventy-two others, two by two. This also occurs in Mark 6, where the twelve disciples are sent out two by two. Neither the Mark nor Luke accounts have Jesus telling the disciple not to go to the gentiles.

It is interesting to note that, according to my study bible,  some manuscripts record Jesus sending out seventy people not seventy two. That actually makes more sense when we remember that 70 is one of the special significant Jewish numbers. In fact the greek translation of Hebrew scriptures in Jesus's day was the Septuagint, which means seventy.

To be continued.

Edited to correct an error.

Jesus and Gentiles part 2

Let's look at Jesus's actions and words regarding Gentiles in Mark:

*Mark 5 has Jesus crossing the lake (the sea of galilee)  to a region east of the Jordon called the Gerasenes, part of a larger area called the decapolis. This region was Greco-Roman in culture, not Jewish. There Jesus casts a legion of demons out of a mad man into a herd of 2 thousand pigs. The pigs go crazy and run  into the lake, killing themselves, and probably destroying at least one person's livelihood. But remember, pigs were "unclean" to the Jews. The people of that region are disturbed by this and beg that Jesus leave the area. As he is getting into the boat to head back, the man who is no longer possessed begs to go back with him. Jesus says no and encourages him to spread the word about what "the lord" did for him. He supposedly did so, and all the people who heard it were amazed. Of course there is no extrabiblical corroboration. Also the region mentioned is not even next to the Sea of Galilee.

*Jesus's next recorded encounter with a gentile in the book of Mark is in chapter 7. There,  a Greek Syro-Phoenician woman begs him to drive a demon out of her daughter. Jesus replies with, "it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." The implication here is that the Jews are the children of god and non Jews are the metaphorical equivalent of dogs. Well, that's not a very loving statement, is it? The woman appears to take this in stride and says, "even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Jesus appreciates her logic and heals her child.

*After skimming through the rest of Mark, the only other possible reference to gentiles I can find is at the end of the 16th chapter. There Jesus is said to have given " the great commission," telling the apostles to "go out into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation," presumably gentiles as well as Jews. The problem with this passage is that it may not have been in the original version of the book of Mark.

What's Up.

Hi, I haven't posted in a while. My brain has been occupied with other more important things. Imagine that, things more important than the Bible! I don't think I've read a single page of the Bible since my last post. I didn't miss it. I'm still attending church with my family and trying to figure out how to get out without causing a fuss. I try to find the least offensive class to attend and sit in the back playing Sudoku. I had to get up and leave one class last week because I felt sick to my stomach hearing people I knew trying to justify the genocide in the book of Joshua. How many ways can you say it's not okay to perform mass slaughter, at any time, for any reason, before people get it? The next class was talking about how "slavery in the bible is different from the slavery we had in America." Aaaack! I just can't. There are some church days that I slip out and sit in our car doing crossword puzzles till the rest of my family comes out.

I'm going to try to get back into posting once or twice a week, because I know there is still plenty to say, but the break has been good for me. See ya.