Ignatius's letter to the Ephesians, part three.

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I dealt with an episode of grief and I also accidentally deleted everything I had written for this post. Not fun.

Now we are at chapter 15 of Ignatius's letter to the Ephesians, which is summed up in the first sentence. "It is better to be silent and be a christian than to talk and not be one." In other words, practice what you preach. Chapter 16 says that anyone who corrupts the faithful with "wicked doctrine" will be bound for everlasting fire. Chapter 17 says the doctrine of "the prince of the world" has a bad odor.

Chapter 18 appears to have been influenced by 1 Corinthians, referring to the cross as a stumbling block to those who don't believe, but eternal life to those who do. It also has another doctrinal type statement. "For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water." Notice that Jesus is called god and so is god. Two gods? Somehow the holy ghost planted the seed of David in Mary. Inconceivable. ;) 

Chapter 19 claims that three mysteries were hidden from the prince of the world. 1. Mary's virginity. 2. Her offspring. 3. Jesus's death. Presuming the prince of the world was Satan. How did they keep those things hidden? Angels supposedly announced his birth in one gospel. In another, Herod killed a bunch of babies to try to kill Jesus. Not only that, Satan supposedly tempted Jesus in person. Plus, jesus supposedly jad a public trial and crucifixion. Ignatius goes on to say these three mysteries were wrought in silence. That seems to mean they happened without anyone knowing about them. 

So, if all this happened in silence, how was Jesus "manifested?" According to Ignatius, by a super bright star that shone brighter than all the others. It sounds like a super nova or maybe a comet or some other celestial explosion? The problem is there is no extrabiblical record of such an event around the time Jesus was supposed to have been conceived. (This one doesn't count because it is not an eye witness.) We definitely would have heard about it by now.  According to Ignatius, that is when god manifested in human form for the "renewal of eternal life." This leads me to think that Ignatius believed that there was a period of time when there was no eternal life expected. This would be a logical inference from reading the Old Testament. 


This manifestation of Jesus is also supposed to have destroyed every kind of magic and the bonds of wickedness, removed ignorance, and abolished the old kingdom. I don't see that that actually happened. It was supposedly a new beginning because god "meditated the abolition of death." He was seriously thinking about it. Ignatius is sounding like a bit of a whackadoodle to me.

More next time.

1 Thessalonians part three

We are at chapter two verse 17. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, had to leave the Thessalonians. They wanted to go back very badly but Satan stopped them. Hmm. How do they know it was Satan and not humans? They are truly sad about that because the Thessalonians are the glorious crown they will wear in the presence of Jesus, when he comes. They make Paul and company look good. Too bad Jesus never came.

Paul got impatient (What, he didn't trust god's timing?) and sent Timothy back to Thessaloniki without him. Timothy was to bolster their faith, so they wouldn't be unsettled by the persecution they were going through. It was inevitable that they would be treated that way, as they had been told the first time Paul visited them. We are not told exactly what these persecutions entailed, physical, economic, or social harm, or a combination. Paul knew beforehand that it would happen, probably because he had seen the same results of his teaching elsewhere. He was worried that the Thessalonians would lose faith in what he taught them. Then his efforts would have been in vain. Their trials were blamed on "the tempter" tempting them.

Timothy returned back to Paul with a good report. The Thessalonians still like Paul and would like to see him again. Whew! They haven't given up their faith. Praise the lord! Paul and company are going to keep earnestly praying for the Thessalonians. One day they will get back and "supply what is lacking" in the Thessalonians' faith. What does that mean? What are they lacking? Paul is hoping god clears the way for another visit. In the meantime, he wants god to make their love increase and strengthen their hearts, so they will be ready when Jesus comes. Too bad he never came.

We are now at chapter four. Paul says he instructed the Thessalonians on how to live to please god, and they are doing it. But they've got to do it more. After all their instructions came by the authority of the lord Jesus. That's how we can know that their instructions were crap. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, never met Jesus, except in visions. Their authority is purely on their say so. The Thessalonians fell for it, hook line, and sinker. They get to tell the Thessalonians what god's will is and how are the Thessalonians to disagree? They never had any personal revelation of Jesus.

What did Paul say was god's will? Avoiding sexual immorality, controlling their bodies and not indulging in passionate lust "like the heathen who do not know god." The Thessalonian should not wrong his brother or take advantage of his brother, regarding this matter. Is Paul talking of same sex relations? It's hard to tell. It's obviously about some kind of sexual purity standards. Those who don't follow the standards have been warned that the lord will punish them.

Paul says he doesn't need to preach to the Thessalonians about brotherly love, because god seems to have already taught them how to love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. The brothers are clearly other christ believers. If god could teach them brotherly love without Paul's help, couldn't he have taught them other things as well. Why does god need Paul to spread his message?

Next, Paul tells the Thessalonians to "lead a quiet life, mind your own business, and work with your hands." That way they will earn the respect of outsiders and not be dependant on anyone. Wait. They are not to preach the gospel to their neighbors? It just occurred to me, most of the New Testament letters don't even encourage the readers to spread the gospel. The readers are just passive and obedient recipients of the message, a message that needs reinforcing and policing by Paul and his cohorts.

Till next time.

1 John part three

We are at 1 John 2:23. The reader has been told that only the people who acknowledge the son (Jesus) have the father (god). If the reader keeps remembering what he has heard from the beginning (whatever that was), he will remain in the son and the father. Plus, he will have eternal life.

 The author says he is writing about people who will try to lead the readers astray, aka anti-christs. The readers received an anointing from Jesus (what the heck is that?), so they don't need anyone to teach them. The anointing teaches them to remain in Jesus, and it is not a fake. (Then why does the author need to write this letter?) They are to continue in Jesus so they won't be ashamed when he comes back.( Just when is that? ) If they know that he is righteous, they know "that everyone who does what is right has been born of him." What about the christ deniers who do right? Or is denying christ one of the things on the naughty list? Does one bad mark cancel out all the good?

We are now in chapter three. The author is in raptures over the love of god the father. Aren't they so lucky to be his children! They don't know what their eternal form will be like, but they know it will be like god's. Yippee! When god shows up, they will get to see him. Everyone who wants to do this purifies himself, just like god is pure. Sure, set an impossible standard for mere mortals.

Here we go: "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." How does he define sin? Lawlessness. What law is he talking about? The law of Moses? This person doesn't write like a Jewish believer in the law. He says that Jesus appeared to take away their sins. Anyone who lives in him doesn't keep on sinning. In fact, anyone "who continues to sin has neither seen him or known him." But what about back in chapter one, when we were told that everyone sins and if we just confess, Jesus will forgive.

We now have this circular argument: When you sin, you break the law. When you break the law you are lawless. When you are lawless, you are a sinner.  Here comes another: When you do what is right, you are righteous. Jesus is righteous (therefore Jesus must be right.) Here is another argument: When you sin, you are of the devil. The devil is a sinner. Sinners are children of the devil, not the children of god. The children of god do not sin.

Why doesn't the child of god sin? "Because god's  seed remains in him.....he has been born of god." What is god's seed? Well, "seed" usually refers to physical children. In the ancient view, a male human "plants his seed" in the female human, like a sower sows seed in the ground. The female is either barren or fertile ground. At that time there was no knowledge of the female contribution of an egg to be fertilized. Of course the author is using this as a metaphor. God's seed here is Jesus. When Jesus is in a person that person becomes born of god. It's a bit squicky to think about and doesn't actually work as a metaphor either. The person being implanted with the seed is also the person being born. A bit confusing, don't you think?

The passage ends with "Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of god, nor is anyone who does not love his brother." This compounds the confusion in my mind. Who is responsible for the "seed of god" here? It doesn't seem like god is taking responsibility for how well his seed produces offspring. Instead, he is saying that anyone who isn't like him, must not be his child, but someone else's, namely the devil's. He doesn't even allow for the possibility that his seed could be bad and produce birth defects.

Till next time.

Mark part six

We are back to the book of Mark, just after the appointing of the twelve apostles, chapter three, verse 20.

Jesus is in a house trying to eat and a huge crowd develops. His family hears about it and thinks he's gone crazy. Teachers of the law say he's possessed by Beelzebub. He's able to drive out demons because he's in league with the prince of demons. Jesus basically says that's silly. Why would Satan oppose himself? A kingdom or house divided against itself cannot stand. (Interesting that Beelzebub, the prince of demons, and Satan are used synonymously in this passage.)

Next Jesus says no one can enter a strong man's house and take his possessions without tying him up. Presumably this is referring to Jesus being able to remove people from demon possession. This must mean Jesus has some how overpowered Satan. Then Jesus pointedly says "I tell you the truth, all the sin and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whosoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will never be forgiven; he us guilty of an eternal sin. Jesus said this because they were saying he has an evil spirit." So, Jesus obviously equated their words about him with blasphemy against the holy spirit.

 Because of this passage, blasphemy against the holy spirit/ Jesus/ God has come to be known in Christianity as the "unforgivable sin." Let me tell you, this fact has caused a of load trouble for people all around the world in the form of blasphemy laws. It also causes intense psychological angst for the person who thinks that just thinking forbidden words in ones head will bring a conviction of blasphemy/eternal sin from god. Do you know how hard it is not to think something once you've been told it is forbidden to think it?

Moving on to verse 31, Jesus's mother and brothers are outside the house and they send someone in to get him. He replies, "who are my mother and my brothers?" He answers his own question by saying, "Whoever does god's will is my brother and sister and mother." This seems to establish that Jesus had a family and that his mother had other children, but they are not named, not even Mary. Remember there was no holy spirit conception or virgin birth narrative at the beginning of Mark. So far, Jesus appears to be fully human. His holy spirit vision upon baptism wasn't witnessed by anyone else in Mark either. Is it no wonder some people thought he was crazy?

Next, Jesus is teaching by the lake and has to get in a boat because there are such large crowds. He apparently taught them parables from the boat. One of the parables was about a farmer who sowed seed. The seed fell upon different types of soil, producing different results, some good, some poor. When the disciples got Jesus alone they asked him to explain the parables. Jesus told the disciples that he would tell them the secret meanings of the parables, but he would not tell those "on the outside,"  so that "they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven."

Wait. What?!! Do you realize that Jesus is saying he is deliberately keeping people from being forgiven? Well, if Jesus is god in the flesh, it's not the first time. That passage was quoting from Isaiah 6:9-10, where god says that to Isaiah. If the Jews hearing/reading this statement of Jesus's were familiar with the passage in Isaiah, they would know it goes on to say the peoples' non-understanding will continue "until the cities lie ruined....until the lord has sent everyone far away." Is this a foreshadowing of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the diaspora? If the author of Mark wrote later than 70 CE, he already knew what was coming.

More to come.

Heaven part twelve

Here we are again, back in heaven. As we go to Revelation chapter 15, we see there is a temple in heaven called the "tabernacle of testimony." Seven shining angels come out of the temple with seven plagues. Those four strange creatures with all the eyes and wings, that were said to be near the throne of god, give the angels seven bowls filled with god's wrath. The temple was filled with smoke  from the glory of god and no one can enter. The angels release the plagues in the next few chapters.

In chapter 19, there is a white horse in heaven whose rider is "the word of god," obviously a reference to the christ. The armies of heaven are following him. An angel stands in the sun and yells to all the birds to come feast on the flesh of all people. There is a great battle which the christ wins, of course. The birds feast, Satan is thrown into the abyss, and the christ reigns for 1,000 years. After the thousand years, Satan is released, there is another battle, and Satan's army is defeated by fire from heaven. Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, the judgement of the dead happens, then chapter 21 introduces us to the author's vision of the new heaven and new earth.

The old heaven and old earth are gone and there is no longer any sea. The holy city, a new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven from god, like a bride dressed for her husband. . The personage  sitting on the throne (Yahweh?)  says, "I am making everything new....It is done. I am the alpha and the omega...." (I thought the alpha and omega was supposed to refer to Jesus?)Everyone who overcomes will inherit the spring of the water of life, and he will be their god, and they will be his son. (No women?)

The new Jerusalem coming down from heaven is said to be shining with the glory of god. That's funny, in chapter 15, the glory of god was smoke. The holy city gleamed like a precious jewel or crystal.. "It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel....The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the lamb." Do you see why some Christians today are obsessed with Israel and Jerusalem?

The holy city was 12,000 stadia (1,400 miles) long, wide, and HIGH! The wall was 144 (12x12) cubits thick. "The wall was made of jasper and the city of pure gold...The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every precious stone"  in twelve layers. The twelve gates were made of twelve single pearls. The streets were of pure gold. There is no temple, god and the lamb are its temple. There is no sun or moon, god and the lamb are the light. The gates will never shut because it will never be night. Nothing impure will ever enter it, only those whose names are written in the lamb's book of life.

The river of the water of life will flow from the the throne of god and the lamb (they sit on the same throne? ) down the middle of the great street. "On each side of the river stood the tree of life." What? Does the tree straddle the river? Or are there two trees of life? The tree is bearing twelve crops of fruit, one crop each month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations. There will be no more curse. The throne of god and the lamb will be in the city and his servants will see him and his name will be on their foreheads, and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation ends with a warning that anyone who takes words away from this book of prophecy will have his share in the tree of life and the holy city taken away from him.

Well, well, well. That was interesting. Did you see all the times the magic numbers seven and twelve were used? Do you think this description of the new Jerusalem was meant to be taken literally? If it is metaphorical or symbolic, what exactly does it represent?Did you notice that the saved don't go up to heaven? They go to live in the holy city, which comes down to the new earth. God and Jesus come down to earth with the holy city. Everything glows with an eternal light. No sun, no moon. Who is left in heaven? All the multitudes of angels?

Heaven part eleven

Are you getting tired of heaven? We aren't done yet but it should go faster because I don't think there is much left that is not redundant. One thing I have noticed is that heaven is thoroughly populated with angels. Angels are not discussed much in the churches of Christ, the faith tradition I came from.
Galations 1:8 says that if an angel from heaven, or anyone else, teaches you a gospel other than the one you learned from Paul, he will be eternally condemned!

Ephesians 3:15 says that god's whole family on earth and in heaven derives its name from him. Ephesians 6:9 says god is everyone's master in heaven. Philippians 3:20 says that a Christ believer's citizenship is in heaven, not on earth. Colossians 1:5 says that hope is stored up in heaven for believers. 1Thessalonians tells us believers are waiting for god's son from heaven.

In Hebrews chapter 9, we are introduce to the idea that some earthly things are copies of heavenly things. The copies of the heavenly things were purified with blood sacrifices in an earthly sanctuary, which is a copy of the true heavenly one, by earthly priests. Christ entered the true sanctuary as the heavenly high priest to appear once and for all before god and offer himself as a sacrifice instead of an animal. Basically, everything on earth is supposed to be a kind of analogy, symbol, or shadow of the "real" things, which are in heaven. Believing this could lead to mental problems, in my opinion.

In 1 Peter 1:4, the reader is told an inheritance waits for him in heaven. In 3:22, Jesus is at god's right hand in heaven, with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

At last we move on to Revelation. We should learn some good stuff about heaven there. Maybe? In Rev. 3:12 a new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven. Chapter 4 has a description of heaven, with a throne, a person on the throne who looked like he was made of jewels, with a jeweled rainbow encircling him. There were also 24 other thrones with 24 elders, dressed in white with crowns on their heads. Lightening and thunder came from the main throne. Seven lamps were burning in front of the throne, these were the seven spirits of god. Whoa! God has seven spirits? That's interesting. Not something you hear every day. There was also a sea of glass in front of the throne. "Around the throne were four living creatures" all covered with eyes. (Heaven is getting crowded) They looked like an ox, a lion, a man, and an eagle. They each had six wings and the never stopped praising the god who lives forever. Whenever the god was praised the 24 elders fall before the guy on the throne and lay their crowns in front  of him. Monotonous.

The description of what goes on in heaven continues on through chapter 5, where we see a scroll, angels, and a lamb with seven horns and seven eyes.(The seven eyes are also the seven spirits, just like the lamps.) There is more praising, worshipping, and falling down. In chapter six the lamb does stuff with the seals on the scroll from chapter six. It releases four horsemen, War, famine, Death, and Hades. Under an altar were some dead martyrs who complained they wanted to be avenged. They were given white robes and told to wait a bit. In chapter seven, more stuff happens with angels and people wearing white robes. In chapter 8, there was silence in heaven for half an hour. Then we get more angels, trumpets, thunder, lightening, fire, destruction of earth from heaven. Things go on in this vein until chapter 12 when a woman appears in heaven, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and 12 stars on her head. A dragon also appears in heaven. He wants to eat the child the woman is about to have. The child was snatched up to god and his throne. Then there was a war in heaven between the angels and the dragon! It turns out the dragon was Satan! He is thrown to earth. As we go on, there are more angels, the lamb, more voices and signs from heaven, more symbolism, chapter after chapter. One thing is clear. We don't learn much, if anything about what heaven will be like for the multitudes of believers after all the battles are over. Yet.

More to come.

Heaven part three

We have been scanning the scriptures for information about heaven. I used Strong's concordance to find all the instances the word heaven is used. A lot of what I have found is redundant, so, I skim through looking for the unique passages that have bits about heaven that we haven't covered yet. We left off in Psalms.

 Proverbs 30:4 asks, "Who has gone up to heaven, who has come down?" This was written at a time when it was inconceivable to be able to leave the earth. It was also unknown that we live in solar system that inhabits a galaxy that is just one of billions of galaxies in a universe of which we have found no boundary.  Airplanes have flown up into the atmosphere and found no gods. The astronauts went up above the atmosphere and found no gods. Space probes have gone out into the solar system and found no gods. Space telescopes have plumbed the depths of the universe and found no gods.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 says,"...god is in heaven and you are on earth." Song of Songs does not mention heaven. In Isaiah 13, Yahweh is mustering an army that comes "from faraway lands, from the ends of the heavens...to destroy the whole country." On that day "the stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light."

In Isaiah 14:12, the king of Babylon is told, "How you have fallen from heaven, o morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of god; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will make myself like the most high." It is interesting to note that this passage has been associated with Satan in a round about way. The morning star mentioned is actually the planet Venus. In Latin, and hence in the Latin translation of the Old Testament, it was rendered as "lucifer", a lower case noun, not a proper name. In context, that is obviously not a reference a reference to Satan. It is also important to note that in many cultures kings were considered divine, gods in the flesh. More about this later.

In Isaiah 34, we read a rant against the nations. Yahweh is angry with them all and will take out his wrath on them. Verse 4 says, "All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine...his sword has drunk its fill in the heavens." Isaiah 37:16 says that Yahweh is enthroned between cherubim. Isaiah 63:15 tells Yahweh to look down from his lofty throne in heaven. In Isaiah 66:1, Yahweh says, "Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool."

In Jeremiah 7:18, Jeremiah speaks at the temple gate and says Yahweh is upset because the Israelites make cakes of bread for the "queen of heaven" and pour out drink offerings to other gods. In 8:2, Yahweh says the bones of Jerusalem's dead will be "removed from their  graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshipped." In 23:24, no one can hide from god because he fills heaven and earth. In chapter 44, Jeremiah received word from god about Jews living in various parts of Egypt. They are doomed for worshipping other gods, including the aforementioned Queen of Heaven. The people said it had been done for many generations by their forefathers, kings, and officials back in Jerusalem. They did not intend to stop.

It is clear from these passages that the Jews were not monotheists. Along with Yahweh worship, they also worshipped a female goddess and "the starry hosts" or "the hosts of heaven" which were heavenly bodies thought to be deities. This is called astrolatry. They believed the heavens or heaven to be filled with heavenly beings.

High priest Joshua, part 3

We left off in Zechariah chapter 2. This chapter does not mention the high priest Joshua, but I am doing a summary of Zechariah so we can see where Joshua fits in the book. Last time I mentioned I wanted to explore something about this particular chapter. I was confused at the way the angel's speech to Zechariah was worded in the NIV. It seemed as if there were two "Lords" speaking, the plain lord and the lord almighty. Plus, an angel was speaking on behalf of the lord, as though he was the lord. It was confusing and I needed to get it straight in my head. I'm still confused. In verses 8-13, all the words "lord"  are from the word yahweh, but yahweh appears to be talking about himself in the third and first person at the same time. It is a grammatical horror. I decided to compare the Christian version of Zechariah 2 with the Jewish version. They are quite different in grammatical structure, but I am no more enlightened than I was before. So, we will move on to chapter three.

Zechariah is telling what else happened in his vision. The angel who was speaking to him showed him Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the lord. The angel of the lord in these kinds of situations usually appears to physically represent the lord and speak for him, almost as if he is the lord, but he is not. It can get confusing. This angel of the lord was thought to be the archangel Michael, as seen in Jude. Satan is standing at Joshua's right side to accuse him. This is not the Christian version of Satan, but the Jewish version. He is kind of like a prosecuting attorney, trying to prove the defendant guilty. The lord (actually the angel) said to Satan, "the lord rebuke you, Satan," then the angel requested that Joshua's filthy clothes, representing sin, be taken away, and rich garments be put on him. Zechariah told the angel to put a clean turban on Joshua's head, and it was done.

Next, the angel of the lord commissioned Joshua to govern the temple, if Joshua would walk in Yahweh's ways. Then he would be given a place among the angels. He told Joshua that he and his associates were symbolic of things to come. Yahweh was going to bring his servant, the Branch. This refers to prophecies in Ezekiel 17 and Isaiah 4, about Yahweh restoring Jerusalem,and maybe the monarchy, with a descendant of the old monarchy. My study bible calls it a messianic prophecy, but I think the author is just referring to the restoration of Jerusalem. The chapter goes on to predict an ideal future for the land. It should be noted that this was probably written before the Greeks and Romans came to conquer the holy land. There was no need for a savior. Things were going to be fixed. The Jews were migrating back to their homeland and rebuilding their city as well as their relationship with Yahweh. Later jews looking for a savior may have tried to find hope of a messiah in this passage, but I doubt that was the original purpose. Funny that the prophet Zechariah did not foresee the future conquests.

In chapter 4, the angel of the lord wakes Zechariah up, only to find himself in another symbolic vision with lamp stands, lights, olive trees, etc. this is supposed to represent the word of the lord about Zerubbabel laying the foundation of the temple and completing it. The two olives trees represent two who are anointed to serve  the lord of all the earth. It could be the new king and the new high priest. My study bible says it could be another messianic vision of a future combination priest-king. However, these are two separate and distinct olive trees.

In chapter 5, Zechariah does a double take and sees a flying scroll. It is a curse against all thieves and liars. Then the angel draws his attention to a basket. It was a measuring basket, inside the basket was a woman. She represented wickedness. (Ugh, it would be a woman.) the basket has a lead cover which was pushed down over the top. It was lifted up by two other women with wings who carried it away to Babylon.

We will continue on next time.

Jude, part 3

Verse 7 of Jude says that Sodom and Gomorrah, with their sexual immorality and  perversion, are examples of "those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire." This is another old Testament reference. Notice that lack of hospitality is not the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah in this passage.

Verse 8  says that "In the same way these dreamers (the condemned people this letter is about) pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. This could apply to Jews who have given up following the law of Moses. (See 2 Peter 2:10)

Verse 9 Talks about the archangel Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses. Even Michael, himself a celestial being,  did not have the nerve to slander another celestial being. (See 2 Peter 2:10-11) Instead, he said, "The lord rebuke you!" This story is supposed to have come from a document called the Testament of Moses or the Ascension of Moses. However, it bears a remarkable similarity to the first verses of Zechariah 3, where a high priest Joshua (same name as Jesus ) is standing before the angel of the lord (Michael?) and Satan. There Satan is rebuked with the words  "The lord rebuke you." Some Wikipedia writer suggests that the word 'Moses' has replaced the word 'Joshua' deliberately, to avoid confusion. You're darn right it would be confusing if Jude said that the devil and Michael argued over the body of Joshua (Jesus). Then this verse would clearly be associated with the high priest Joshua of Zechariah 3, and it might be doubted that the author was referring to the first century Jesus. I can see how that would be a problem for those promoting the first century Jesus guy.

Verse 10 says the godless men don't know what they are talking about, and what they do know does them no good.

Verse 11 says the godless men have taken the way of Cain (murder?), Balaam (greed), and Korah (rebelling against leadership). 2 Peter 2:15 also mentions Balaam.

Verses 12 -13 says the godless men are blemishes at (the jew's? or the christian's ?) love feast. (Echoed in 2 Peter 2:13) They are shepherds who feed only themselves, clouds without rain (see 2Peter 2:17), autumn trees without fruit and uprooted, wild waves, wandering stars with blackest darkness reserved for them (see 2 Peter 2:17 again. Notice how 2 Peter draws many phrases and themes from Jude.)

Verses 14-16 is said to quote directly from the the book of Enoch, "See the lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (That's four times ungodly.) My study bible says that "the book of Enoch was not canonical does not mean it contained no truth." Can't that be said of any book, fiction and non-fiction? It goes on to say "Nor does Jude's quotation of the book mean he considered it inspired." Then what does it mean?

The book of Enoch was not written by Enoch. The author of the book of Enoch did not even live at the same time Enoch was supposed to have lived. It is fiction.Enoch is most likely a fictional person. How can it be talking about a prophecy that never happened, from a person who may never have lived, and it still be true? My study bible says "Jude uses the quotation to refer to Christ's second coming and to his judgment of the wicked." So? How does that make it true? How is a fictional quote from a fictional man support for anything? It reminds me of "quotes" from famous people found all over the internet today. It seems clear to me that the author of Jude did not consider it fictional at all. He was ignorant of the history of the book of Enoch. We have an advantage over him.

More to come. Because of pressing family matters, The next post will probably be at the end of next week.

Hell part 7

As I promised, we will have a closer look at the first paragraphs of Revelation chapter 20. The unknown John is having a vision and in it he sees an angel come down out of heaven. So heaven must be up. Up where? The angel is holding a key to "the abyss" and a chain. He binds up Satan, who is also called the dragon, that ancient serpent, and the devil. Then Satan is thrown into the abyss and it is locked and sealed over him, to keep him from causing mischief, for one thousand years. The abyss here is not hell, gehenna, hades, or the lake of fire. It is a separate place, possibly in hades. In other scriptures, the abyss appears a kind of holding cell for the most despicable of the dead. So, apparently, the earth will enjoy a millenium without old scratch. After that, he will be set free for a short time.

Next, John sees thrones of judges. Then he sees the souls of those beheaded because of their faithfulness to Jesus. They come to life and get to reign with christ for one thousand years. Two questions: Is this the same thousand years that the devil is locked up? And, do they get their heads back? John says this is the first resurrection. All those who get to be in the first resurrection, do not need to worry about the second death. They will be priests of God and Christ and reign with him for a thousand years. Is this reign in heaven or on earth?

What happens at the end of the thousand years? According to verse five, the rest of the dead are resurrected. That must be the second resurrection. According to verse seven, Satan is released from his prison. He gathers an army and marches against the camp of god's people, the city he loves, maybe Jerusalem? Wait a minute. By the time of the writing of this book, Jerusalem has been destroyed by the Romans. Is this fictional alternative history? In this story, fire comes down from heaven and devours the army of Satan. Then the devil gets thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet have already been thrown. Since we haven't read the previous chapters of Revelation together yet, I have no comment on these other beings. Obviously they are not Satan. However, verse ten ends by saying that in that lake of burning sulfur, they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. As if forever is not enough. This appears to be the same lake of fire that is called the second death later in this  chapter and the next. You know, where the unbelievers like me will be thrown, along with the murderers, idolaters and liars.

There you have it. We see that the ideas about Hell that modern Christianity has popularized don't exactly match up with what the bible says. We have examined gehenna, hades, and the lake of fire. Which one is actually hell? Does hell even exist in the bible? Or is it a conglomeration of all the various uncomfortable and scary metaphorical words about death, the grave, and the "second death" for those who dare to cross God in some way. Where is the reality behind all the talk? I can't find it. Can you?

Ephesians 6 wrap up

After reading Ephesians, I have noticed that, as I mentioned before, it contains very little information that is concrete. It mentions "spiritual" blessings but not material ones. It talks of faith in Jesus, but gives us little to no information about Jesus, his life, and his teachings. It talks of how the gentiles and the jews are no longer separated, but are now fellow citizens of god's household, sharing in the promise of christ.  This was supposedly once a great mystery that has now been revealed through Paul. It is also a direct contradiction of Paul's statements concerning the Jews in the letter to the Galatians, chapter 4.

Saints are mentioned and are presumably referring to believers. Unity of all believers is stressed in a kind of creedal statement."There is one body, and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one lord, one god and father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Another famous passage is found in 6:10-18, referring to the "armor of god." This invisible armor is to be used to fight against an invisible enemy.

There is mention of the devil/Satan, but not hell or specifics about any punishments for disobedience. There are vague references to heaven as the place where Jesus and god live, but no specifics. Forces of evil are also said to reside in the heavenly realms. (6:12) I don't remember any mention of angels.
A day of evil is coming (6:13), but again no specifics. There is no mention of any old testament characters, places,  or events, not even Moses or Abraham, just the phrase "men in other generations." (3:5) The law with its commandments and regulations is said to have been abolished. (2:15)

The submission/obedience of women to husbands and slaves to masters is actively promoted and encouraged.

There are two old testament passages supposedly quoted, but when we look back at the Old Testa,ent, the passages read differently and mean something else in their particular context. The first is Eph. 4:8- "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." This is different in Psalm 68:18, which reads-"When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train and you recieved gifts from men." The second is found in Eph. 5:14- "Wake up o sleeper, rise from the dead, and christ will shine on you." The closest scripture to that is found in Isaiah 60:1-"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the lord rises upon you." These are obviously not the same, but no other passage is either. Theses passages don't appear to actually have anything to do with Jesus.

There is also no mention of any other New Testament characters, places, and events, except Jesus's death and resurrection. One exception is the mention of Tychicus at the closing of the letter. Tychicus is mentioned in almost exactly similar wording at the closing of Colossians. His name is also found in Titus 3:12 and Acts 20:4.

All in all, this is an extraordinarily ambiguous and generic letter. It could have been written to anyone at any time in the first century church. It is assumed to be written near the end of Paul's life when he was supposedly in prison. This is assumed from the passages where the author calls himself an "ambassador in chains" (6:20) and a "prisoner for the lord" (4:1), a "prisoner for Jesus christ" (3:1). However, these could all be metaphors, because they do not come right out and say he is actually imprisoned.

Ephesians chapter 6, part 3

Starting in verse 10, this section is subtitled "the armor of god " in my bible. It is the beginning of the end of the chapter and the letter. The christians addressed in this letter are told to be strong in the lord and in his mighty power. But what is his mighty power? So far it seems to be only abstract ideas. There are no concrete acts that this god does, that I can recall being mentioned in this letter. Instead, all the real action is to be done by the readers/hearers. Everything else is couched in metaphors and the language of "spiritual" philosophy. We have been told about grace, redemption, salvation, etc.. All words that have ambiguous meanings and purpose. What good is this god in the present tense, here on earth, besides making sure his commands are followed correctly? To what earthly end?

This armor that the readers are to put on is another metaphor and it is supposed to be for protection against the schemes of the devil. Is he also a metaphor? The passage tells us he is not flesh and blood, but he has something to do with rulers, authorities, and powers in this dark world, and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. He is a Sith Lord? Now that humans have actually explored the heavens with spacecraft and telescopes, it is quite obvious there are no spiritual forces of evil messing around up there. Where are these heavenly realms any way?

This armor of god is for fighting a spiritual battle on an evil day that is supposedly coming. When? Is the battle just as imaginary as the armor? The armor consists of 1. The belt of truth. 2. The breastplate of righteousness. 3. Shoes of readiness 4. A shield of faith. (To extinguish the devil's flaming darts) 5. The helmet of salvation 6. The sword of the spirit, aka the word of god. Add all kinds of prayers and requests. What practical good is any of that? The armor sounds a bit like it belongs on Wonder Woman. At least you can see hers. The christian's armor is invisible and just about as powerful as any other invisible armor.

Lastly, Paul asks the readers to pray for him that he can continue to propagate this drivel fearlessly. Why does he need prayers? Isn't he wearing his armor? I am impressed with how much a waste Paul's life was, earnestly suffering and toiling for nothing, not to mention teaching others to do the same.

*Today many christians interpret the fiery darts to be the persecution and opposition of nonbelievers, which they see in the most innocuous places. The sword of the spirit is interpreted to be the bible, even though the bible did not exist in its present form then, and the only New Testament writings that existed were possibly a few of Paul's letters. Even the author of Ephesians has not been bold enough to call his own writings the word of god.

Ephesians chapter 1, part 4, and chapter 2

*As we have seen, Paul should have been very familiar with the church in Ephesus and in Asia Minor. He was there for at least two years, according to Acts. Yet, verse fifteen of Ephesians chapter one sounds as though Paul's knowledge of the recipients of this letter is from hearsay. We will be on the lookout for any internal evidence that this letter was written to people with whom Paul had previous associations.

*The rest of the chapter is exhortations, Paul's "prayers" for the recipients of the letter, and a bit of christological mumbo jumbo. Stuff about God's power displayed in raising christ from the dead, putting him in dominion over all other authorities and titles, not only in the present, but the future as well. Paul covers all the bases, preemptively discounting any other messiahs or spiritual and earthly authority figures that may arise. Jesus is it. He's the big boss and the church is his henchman, um body.

*Moving on to chapter 2. Now Paul says that the readers were once dead in their sins and transgressions, because they followed the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Say what? What is the kingdom of the air? This phrase is not found anywhere else in the Bible, but you can believe there is plenty of speculation by people who act like they know what they are talking about. This being is also called the spirit who is at work in those who are disobedient. (Disobedient to whom?) Therefore, the claim made by commentators is this must be referring to Satan. A quick scan of the rest of Ephesians shows that Paul does refer to the devil in chapter six, but Satan is not named.

*Paul goes on to say that "we" were by nature objects of wrath. Speak for yourself dear Paul. God, being so wonderful, and rich in mercy and love, has saved us. God raised the readers up and seated them with christ in the heavenly realms. This is obviously metaphorical. I haven't seen any christians rise up to heavenly realms, yet. This is so that in the coming age (which hasn't come yet) "God can show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in christ jesus." what does this mean in practical earthly terms? Not much. It basically boils down to some people believing a dead dude was resurrected by a god, so that one nebulous day in the nebulous future, that invisible god won't get angry at them for being the sorry creatures they were born to be. Then they will someday get to sit with the dead dude in the sky. What fun.

*How do the readers get this priveledge? Not because they deserve it or earned it by doing anything, but because god gave it to them. It was a present called "grace." Don't know what grace is? That's okay, neither does anyone else, even though they like to think they do. Sometimes it is defined as unmerited favor, but that is not very concrete either. This wonderful gift has a catch-- faith. You gotta believe that god and jesus actually exist or you are out of luck. Oh yeah, even though you can't earn this gift by doing anything, you totally got stuff to do. God has some chores he needs done and he prepared them just for those who have faith. Aren't they blessed?

Edited

Job chapter 2

After reading chater 2:

*On another day the Angels came again, to present themselves to Yahweh. Let's stop here for a minute. This week I discovered that the hebrew words  we see translated as "angels" in this book literally mean sons or children of God (Elohim). The Hebrew word "bene," from this passage, is translated in other places as sons or children. Not spiritual children...physical offspring. These so called Angels, literally translated, are the children of the gods. Not only that, Satan the adversary, is one of them.

*Yahweh again asks the adversary where he has been. He again says he was roaming back and forth through the earth. (The bible excels at repetition.) Yahweh again brings the perfection of Job to the adversary's attention, asking him to notice how Job maintained his integrity in spite of the adversary inciting Yahweh to ruin him without reason. Then the adversary ups the ante. He implies that men are so self centered they will endure any loss as long as they are not bodily afflicted. He dares Yahweh to really hurt Job physically, and see if Job refrains from cursing him then.

*Strangely enough, Yahweh takes the dare. He gives the adversary permission to do anything but kill Job. Doesn't christianity say God is omnicient? Wouldn't Yahweh already know what torture Job will be going through and how he will handle it? Is this an ethical bet? Also, how could a loving God sit by and  allow so much pain and suffering? Is it fair to Job? Well, so far, the bible hasn't actually said that Yahweh is completely omnicient, full of loving kindness, ethical or fair. I think I would be very angry if I believed that some  God was piling hurts on me to see if I would cave in.

*So, the adversary leaves Yahweh and gives Job sores, possibly boils,  all over his body. Job meekly sits among the ashes and scrapes the sores with a piece of broken pottery. Meanwhile, his wife says, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God (Elohim) and die!" The study bible and the online interlinear text both say that the word "curse"here in English  is actually the word "bless" in Hebrew (barek). From what I can tell, the book of Job is the only place this word was translated as "curse" in English. It was apparently an euphemism to say "bless God." In the same way, a southern american may facetiously say "bless your heart" and mean the opposite. I imagine the wife of Job, and the authors of Job, were superstitious enough to think that if they personally said or wrote the literal words "curse God," they might be found guilty of blasphemy themselves. It is interesting that the modern English writers have no such Qualms.

*Notice that the worst thing that could happen to Job in this story is physical death. There is no mention of an afterlife, or eternal punishment. So, really, if he felt like he was practically dead already, what more harm could a little cursing do? But apparently Job had enough life left in him  to rebuke his wife and call her a fool, which is an insult. Then he says, "Shall we except good from God (Elohim) and not trouble?" Here again, the translators have been somewhat dishonest. The Hebrew word translated "trouble" is hara, which literally means "evil." Yes, Job said we need to accept evil from the gods. It is made clear from examining this story that that is where evil comes from... If you believe in gods.

*Last, we are introduced to Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, Zophar the Naamathite. They met together to go comfort Job. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him and began to weep. They tore their clothes and sprinkled dust on their heads, a sign of grief. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights without saying a word. Those were some hardy people.

Job chapter 1, part 2

*Now that the stage is set, we are told that the Angels, including Satan, came to present themselves before Yahweh. This is the first time we have encountered Satan. The English text uses a capital letter S to show that Satan is one of the Angels' names. However, literally translated, it would be a common noun, not a proper noun...ha-satan, " the accuser" or "the adversary." He is the accuser and adversary of mankind, not the adversary of Yahweh. It is a job description, not a name. Basically, he was like a prosecuting attorney for the state. Satan does not become a proper name, or a devil, until later in history. Notice, he comes into Yahweh's presence, speaks to him, and bargains with him. Is this what a "fallen" Angel does? Yahweh allows that? If Satan is evil, how can he be in Yahweh's presence? When was Satan supposed to have been cast out of heaven anyway? Speaking of heaven, where does this supernatural conference take place? Heaven is not mentioned.

*Believe it or not, we have met a satanic adversary before. In Numbers 22:22, the Angel of Yahweh that appears to  Balaam is le-satan, an adversary. Now, however, Yahweh asks the adversary of this story where he has been. He says he's been roaming back and forth through the earth. Then Yahweh asks the adversary if he has noticed how perfect Job is, and how he fears God and shuns evil. A quick reminder here: "God" in the English text is usually translated from the Canaanite/Hebrew word Elohim, which is a collective singular and could refer to a group or council of gods. "Lord" is translated from Yahweh, the specific Israelite God. Why does Yahweh say Job fears Elohim and not himself? If Elohim is another name for Yahweh, why does he speak of himself in the third person?

*Also, after a quick skim through the book of Job, I noticed that Yahweh, or lord, is only referred to in the beginning prose chapters and a few chapters at the end. The bulk of the poetic portion of the book uses the term Elohim, translated God. This is one reason why some biblical scholars think there were multiple authors and contributions to the text of the bible. They often compare and contrast the portions of text that emphasize either Yahweh or Elohim. The Elohim portions are assumed to be written at an earlier date, before the monotheistic worship of Yahweh. The Yahweh portions of this book could have been added at a later time, possibly by Israelite priests. We will visit this possibility again.

*Moving on. The adversary tells Yahweh that of course Job fears God (Elohim), because Yahweh has "put a hedge around him" and everything that belongs to him. (Have you ever heard a Christian pray for a "hedge of protection?") Yahweh has personally blessed everything Job has done. But, says the adversary, if Yahweh was to eliminate Job's wealth, surely Job would curse Yahweh to his face. Then Yahweh caves in and tells the adversary he can do anything he wants to Job's possessions, but he can't touch Job. Then the adversary left Yahweh's presence.

Introduction to Job

First, we will read the Wikipedia article about Job. Notice that Job is a work of poetry. That tells us that the author (unknown) deliberately crafted this story in a particular way. Poetic language is often highly metaphorical. This is not written as an historical account, but as an object lesson in the sovereignty of Yahweh. The date of the original writing is unknown, but believed to be around the 6th century BCE. The setting and time period of the story appear to be uncertain. Authorship has been traditionally ascribed to Moses, which is impossible. Here we will meet Satan for the first time.

Genesis wrap up

What have we learned from the book of Genesis?

*We don't know who wrote this book or exactly when. Historians place its origin long after Moses would have lived. Nowhere does the book of Genesis claim it is God's word, or is inspired by God. Nor does it claim to be the words of Moses. The Hebrew language  in which Genesis is written comes from approximately the 6th  century B.C.E., about a thousand years after the last events recorded in the book. There are few place name anachronisms.

*We are not told anything about an afterlife, Hell, Satan, or demons. Everybody died and stayed dead, except Enoch.

*The God of Genesis is very powerful but not  omnicient or omnipresent. He is able to do human activities like walking, talking, seeing, smelling, wrestling, and eating. He comes down to earth from some unknown place in the sky where he lives with some unknown others and angels. He likes dead animals, and the smell of roasting meat. He doesn't like grain sacrifices, tall towers, or clueless Pharoah's and kings. He doesn't seem to mind deceit, slavery, or the mistreatment of women. He needs to be reminded of his promises. His powers seem to be limited to being able to manipulate people and nature. He can be overpowered by a man. (Jacob) After God wrestles with Jacob, he no longer appears in physical form as a man. For the rest of the book, he is only seen in visions.

*Nothing derogatory is said about other gods. There are no prohibitions against worshiping other gods. Yahweh ( the lord) is said to be "Abraham's God, " not the only God.

*Angels look and act like regular people. They have a few powers. Sometimes they speak for God. We aren't told why he can't speak for himself.

*Circumcision is an everlasting covenant with all of Abraham's descendants who want to be part of the family and in on the promise of owning the land of Canaan. I underlined everlasting because about 2,000 years in the future a person named Paul will claim it is no longer necessary, and that it was actually just a metaphor. There is no indication in Genesis that circumcision is a metaphor for a spiritual state. It is an act of obedience, pure and simple.

*Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are all enriched, with God's support, at the expense of others, by deceit.

*We are given the supposed names of dozens of rulers of petty Canaanite kingdoms, who lack any proof of their existence.  We are not given any of the names of the at least three Pharoah's of Egypt mentioned in Genesis. This is in spite of the fact that Hebrew writing would not have existed in the time frame of Genesis and that Egypt is a rich source of recorded ancient history.

*The first few chapters are obviously mythological, containing completely unrealistic and magical creation events.

*There are no concrete extra biblical evidences for any of the main characters in the stories contained in Genesis. Many of the place names and people groups are also unknown to history, with a few notable exceptions. The events themselves are also impossible to verify. In fact, it is very reasonable to accept Genesis as an etiological story, written as folk lore for a people (Israelites) trying to forge an identity and explain how their world came to be the way it was at the time of the story's writing. Other people groups had their own explanations of the world and humanity. Today, we know that the history of humanity didn't really revolve around the Middle East. It just happened to have very effective propaganda.

Genesis chapter 3, part 1

After a plain reading of chapter 3:

*Need I say it? Snakes don't talk.

* Notice that nowhere in this chapter is the snake associated with Satan. In fact, Satan is not mentioned anywhere in Genesis, in any way. Ancient legends say that the serpent was the first wife  of Adam named Lilith. She was supposedly deposed because she refused to submit to Adam in proper womanly fashion. Then she decided to exact revenge.  These stories persisted into the Middle Ages, check it out for yourself.

* The snake did not tell an outright lie. Adam and Eve didn't die, right away. A plain reading of its punishment is clearly talking of how snakes and people actually treat each other. This was not turned into a prophecy of Jesus until Christianity came on the scene.

* One wonders how a spiritual being (God) talks without vocal chords, not to mention walks without feet or legs, and hears without ears. He also apparently does not posses the ability to see people who are hiding.

*Woman's pain in childbearing is the result of an evolutionary shift in human physiology to an upright stance. These shifts in the positions of the spine, hips, and legs, made child birth more difficult. Plus human brains and skulls are larger than thier primate ancestor's, taking more effort to push a baby through the birth canal.

*Adam's curse of working the ground  was actually a boon for humanity. The development of agriculture improved health and longevity, gave people more leisure than hunting and gathering did, and contributed to population growth and the development of civilizations.

*Verse 16 is the real curse, the introduction of patriarchy as God ordained and sanctioned.

* Notice that there is no mention of any kind of afterlife, a heaven or hell. In fact, they are conspicuously absent in the book of Genesis.

*So, Adam and Eve were banished from the garden,  and  cherubim plus a flaming sword were placed on the east side to keep anyone from getting back in. Cherubim are Sphinx like creatures. They have animal-like bodies and wings. Usually they come in pairs, one placed on either side of what they are guarding. No live ones have been spotted, yet, but multiple examples have been found carved in stone. We've searched the world over and still haven't found the garden of Eden. Maybe it's been transported to another dimension.