August 21, 2010, 7:56 am by dc-agape.

Mark 15:1-20

These last two chapters of the Gospel of Mark are crucial to the Christian faith.  Yet from a gay Atheist’s reading of the Bible two major “flaws” are quite apparent.  One is the story of Jesus being by himself in front of the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilot, possibly Herod Antipas, and the soldiers prior to being lead to the crucifixion.  Who exactly recorded this information?  The second “flaw” is the relationship between accounts and Jesus fulfilling the prophecy here:

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

In the Gospel of Mark he said two things to his “oppressors” but in the Gospel of John Jesus became extremely long winded.

The biggest question that requires an answer is who recorded these events?  Did Jesus, after returning to his disciples tell them all about?  Then why would there be such a huge variation in the story?  True the synoptic Gospels are all second hand info…which would make the events in the Sanhedrin third hand information.  The Gospel of John would be more accurate, but it would still be second hand recollection written between 20 and 50 years after the event.  Everyone knows that second hand information that is at least 20 years old is suspect.  If the story was third hand or 50 years old, wouldn’t that make the entire section before the Sanhedrin useless information.  Since this is the crux of the faith, how safe is it to use this information to base the future of your soul?  Or do Christians just ignore these questionable passages?  If you don’t think about it, it’s ok?  On the other hand, if you believe that one of the Sanhedrin joined the Church after these events and confessed all the deeds, many other people would be required as well…one of the soldiers who mocked him, a servant to Pilot or Herod, etc.  This is even more unreliable than the other hypothesis, due to the number of people required.  And these are hypotheses…it is not recorded in the Bible who was responsible for this information being passed to the authors of the four Gospels.

Now the other flaw is actually more serious.  Jesus claimed, and the Traditions of Men, continue to claim that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy from Isaiah 53 in this chapter.  Yet he was not silent.  In the Gospel of John (John 18:19-39) he preached to the Sanhedrin and to Pontius Pilot.  As a result, if you take Isaiah 53 to be a prophecy about Jesus, then this prophecy was not fulfilled.  I have pointed out in other posts that Jesus made the prophecies fit the situation.  I have, also, pointed out where he took verses so out of context and claimed them to be prophecy about himself.  Here I am pointing out that he did not fulfill prophecy at all.  The core of Christian faith is that Jesus fulfilled prophecy, yet a close read of the Bible and it is apparent that much of this is not true.  How do Christians adjust their faith to include these blunders in the inerrant Word of God?

Posted in Traditions of Men, Word of God, Inerrancy - My Ass, Gospel of Mark, Readings | Print | No Comments »

August 14, 2010, 10:11 am by dc-agape.

Mark 14:32-72

This section starts in Gethsemane and moves to a late night meeting of the entire Sanhedrin.  At first, in Gethsemane, Jesus has second thoughts about the plans that YHWH and he created.  Then, just as required, for those plans to be enacted, Judas carries out his duty.  Once they are in the Sanhedrin Jesus is almost off the hook, until he blasphemies in front of the high priest.  At the end of the chapter Peter does exactly what Jesus prophesied.  Within this section of the Gospel of Mark three people carry out what is predestined to happen to them.  In both Jesus’ and Peter’s case it is against their own will, with Judas he deeply regrets it afterwards.  But none of them can change what YHWH has forced upon them.

In Gethsemane, three times Jesus goes and begs YHWH to take this predestination away from him.  Each one seems to be an about an hour long.  Since the Lord’s Supper was not started until after night fall, by the time these prayers were done it had to have been after midnight.  Yet Jesus, knowing the weakness of humans, still rebuked his disciples each time.  They certainly did not know what Jesus knew, and were not distressed like Jesus about the future.  They had just eaten a late dinner and the food made them sleepy.  Here we see an example of how human Jesus truly was, his concern is only about himself and he has no compassion for his disciples. 

During this third rebuke, Judas arrives with a large number of men to arrest Jesus.  Obviously, Jesus had made sure that Judas knew where to find him.  And obviously, Jesus stayed there until Judas arrived.  Whether this was predestination or an actual plan between Jesus and Judas is not clear.  But being at Gethsemane early in the morning hours, instead of in the town of Bethany (where they stayed during the trip to Jerusalem) certainly made the arrest easier and did not require a large number of people knowing about it.

During the arrest, Peter actually attacks one of the servants (not the high priest himself – bad choice).  We know that it is Peter from a different Gospel (John 18:10).  In other stories of this event, Jesus rebukes Peter against the act.  What is the oddest part of this story is that Peter is not arrested for harming the servant of the high priest.  Wouldn’t the high priest take that act as a personal affront?  Instead, Peter is allowed to remain near Jesus once they get to the meeting of the Sanhedrin. 

There are some odd correlations between the OT prophecies and what is written in the NT as acts that Jesus performed to carry out those prophecies.  In the Book of Isaiah chapter 53, Jesus does exactly what is required (Isaiah 53:7), but other references to the OT are not so clear.  In fact, they seem to be taken way out of context.  During Jesus’ rebuke of his disciples for falling asleep the NIV claims that this is a reference to:

Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

This has nothing to do with what Jesus complains to his disciples about:

Mark 14:38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

In the Psalms verse it is obviously a prayer to have a willing spirit.  In Mark, Jesus assumes that his disciple have a willing spirit.  So the two verses are not related and revering to the Psalms verse at this point is meaningless.  The other verse that seems to be taken out of context, by our editors, is the reference to Zechariah 13:7.  It is taken out of context because when Jesus is arrested everyone deserted him and in Zech something similar happens.  But take a closer look:

Zech 13:7-8 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, again the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty.  “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.  In the whole land,” declares the Lord, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it.

Zechariah has nothing to do with Jesus crucifixion.  YHWH did not strike down 2/3 of the whole land after Jesus was arrested and killed.  Obviously, this combination of verses is a Tradition of Man that is incorrect.  Why do we persist in allowing such misinterpretations to continue?  Why is it ok for some people to take verses out of context (including Jesus)?  Taking the Word of God out of context is changing the Word and we know what will happen to people who do this:

Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.  Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

In the Sanhedrin, Jesus is quite and no one can bring true witness against him.  I wonder when this part was transferred from Jesus to the disciples.  Jesus does not see his disciples again until after he is crucified.  But Jesus does himself in at the end.  In front of all the religious leaders Jesus says this about himself:

Mark 14:62 “I am,” said Jesus, “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

It was unanimously decide that Jesus should be put to death.  But by

Lev 24:16 Say to the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death.  The entire assembly must stone him.  Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.

Again the Word of God is taken out of context.  Blaspheme in this context is cursing YHWH’s name…not claiming to be the Son of Man.

The chapter ends with Peter denying Jesus, just as Jesus predicted.  Peter had no freewill.  The first two denials seem trivial; one is to a servant girl and the second time was to the exact same servant girl.  The third denial is serious.  In front of a large number of people, Peter calls down curses on himself to lie to the crowds that he is not related to Jesus.  As soon as this occurred the rooster crows and Peter is filled with remorse. 

This story read without the god bias, leaves a gay Atheist wondering how Christians read this Book and not recognize the falsehoods that are blatantly apparent.  The OT is taken out of reference, punishment for crimes are strangely absent (Peter’s physical attack), stories that cannot be related to the author (Jesus before the Sanhedrin) and the proof that none of these characters had freewill.  It would seem that anyone reading these verses would see the truth…that these are stories that have been modified, if not completely made up.

Posted in Word of God, Traditions of Men, Inerrancy - My Ass, Gospel of Mark, Freewill, Readings | Print | 2 Comments »

August 7, 2010, 9:56 am by dc-agape.

Mark 14:1-31

Three stories occur in this section of the Gospel of Mark.  First, Mary the sister of Lazarus, anointed Jesus.  The story of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary are only told in the Gospel of John.  Second, is the “Lord’s Supper”.  This is where Jesus predicts his betrayal and death.  Third, the freewill of Peter is compromised.  Jesus knows not just that Peter will deny him, but he knows that it will be three times before morning.

The story of the anointing of Jesus is actually damaging to the notion that the Word of God is inerrant.  This, if you add all the Gospels together, is the second time that Jesus is anointed by a woman with expensive perfume.  Unfortunately, the Gospel of Mark only has one story and the Gospel of Luke has the other story.  In the Gospel of Mark it is Mary the sister of Lazarus (the man Jesus “Wakes up” in other Gospels, but not in Lazarus does not appear in Mark).  In the Gospel of Luke (Luke 7:36-39), it is a sinful woman.  The “god bias” explains this as the different writers remembering different things that happened in the three years of Jesus’ ministry.  But oddly, Mary of Magdalene is attributed to this act, making her the sinful woman!  This is by far due to the Traditions of Men.  Yet we do not know the sinful woman’s name (only in the Gospel of Luke), we know that it is Lazarus’ sister in one story (Gospel of Mark), and we only know Mary of Magdalene as one of Jesus’ followers.  The stories of the anointing do have very similar plots.  They all have expensive perfumes, it is carried out by a woman, and the disciples complain about the lost of an expensive bottle that could be used to help the poor.  But there are dissimilarities as well; in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke it is on Jesus’ head and in The Gospels of Luke and John it is on Jesus’ feet.  The timing of the event is also not consistent.  When comparing the four different accounts, of what must have been the exact same event, it is obvious to a gay Atheist (without the god bias) that the Word of God is not completely reliable.  With this in mind the question becomes what parts are reliable and which parts must be changes due to the Traditions of Man.  These types of mistakes by an inerrant YHWH only reinforce an Atheists determination that YHWH does not exist or is so powerless that his worship is not required.

We also read about Judas Iscariot for the first time in this chapter of Luke.  It is odd that John Mark only refers to Judas when it comes to betraying Jesus, especially since Jesus shortly explains that this must happen.  I will repeat this again, the freewill of Judas is compromised.  Jesus might have been using Isaiah chapter 53 when he describes the betrayal, but reading that chapter betrayal is not one of the events that will take place.  It is much more likely (without the god bias) that Jesus and Judas conspired together to ensure that “the prophecies” would be fulfilled.

The Beginning of the Lord’s Supper is quite interesting as well.  Even thought the population of Jerusalem has doubled for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus just happens to have a room.  And it just so happens that when two of his disciples enter the city they met the man who Jesus told them to find.  All the food was ready, the room was ready, and all this planning occurred between Jesus’ arrival in Bethany and the Supper.  We know that Judas was responsible for the money (John 13:29)…so wouldn’t have to be Judas who paid the man for the room?  You don’t believe that the citizen of Jerusalem didn’t make a killing off of Celebrations like this do you?  And would Jesus trust the man he knew would betray him with the money?  There was obviously a deeper relationship between Judas and Jesus than the Traditions of Man would allow you to think. 

During the Supper, Jesus even directly points out which one will betray him. 

Mark 14:20 “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me.

Yet none of the other disciples seem to recognize the significance.  In John 13:26, Jesus is even more specific.  If you knew who was going to betray your Teacher (Savior) would you not do something about it?  Instead, the disciples ignore what Jesus says and continue eating. 

The last part of this section is also about freewill.  Jesus predicts that all his disciples will “fall away” before morning.  Jesus knows that he will be arrested that night.  Either this is foreknowledge of the future, negating all freewill, or he planned the events with Judas.  Those are the only two options that explain what is about to happen.  He is so specific in Peter’s denial that he says:

Mark 14:30 I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “today – yes, tonight – before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.”

The fear that the disciples would feel after Jesus’ arrest would explain this behavior, but knowing that Peter would repeat this denial three times in less than 12 hours…is proof that we do not have freewill.  If the Christian god exists, we do not have freewill!  We are just enacting what has already been recorded!  Because of this, YHWH is not a loving god, he has already decided who will be saved and who will be punished for the acts that he himself has forced upon us. 

Posted in Traditions of Men, Inerrancy - My Ass, Gospel of Mark, Freewill, Readings | Print | 1 Comment »

July 17, 2010, 7:48 am by dc-agape.

Mark 11

Jesus enters Jerusalem with two interesting occurrences.  First, he takes a colt from one of the villagers.  He does not ask for it, nor does he pay for it.  The colt is only “graciously” given, most likely because the owner does not know that it has been stolen.  When questioned about the taking the colt:

Mark 11:3 If anyone asks you, “Why are you doing this?” tell him, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.”

Not only is he taking others possession but he is using authority “The Lord” is similar to the US’s eminent domain.  That is why I used apostrophes around graciously, the use of the title “The Lord” required the villagers to “give” up possession of the colt.  Second, another case of mangling the Word of God occurs.

Mark 11:9-10 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!  Hosanna in the highest!

The study notes claim that this come directly from the Book of Psalms.  Let’s see what it says there:

Psalms 118:25-26 O Lord save us; O Lord grant us success.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  From the house of the Lord we bless you.

I have underlined the only sentence that is similar.  Unfortunately, Psalms 118 is not about Jesus.  It is about David and blessing the men or man who has been victorious in battle against the enemy.  So we again have the Traditions of Man changing the Word of God.

This story of the “Triumphal Entry” has great meaning to a gay Atheist.  First we see Jesus use his author to get what he wants (just like corrupt politicians today).  Second, we see Traditions of Men making connections between the Old Testament and Jesus out of misreading of the OT.  Third, we see that the Word of God has been changed to add significance to something that is nothing more than hero worship.  The most important thing to remember is that the Jewish people of the time believed that the Messiah was going to physically overthrow the Roman invaders.

The next story we see a very human Jesus (even though that last story was pretty human as well).  First, he curses a fig tree because it was not the season for figs.  Why would anyone curse a tree for not bearing fruit out of season?  Even the most naive farmer knows that his crops will only grow during the correct season.  But we get to see an even more human-like response from Jesus when he enters the Temple.  I personal like the story, but here is where we see the perfect, loving Jesus in a complete rage.  I had pointed out other verses where Jesus was very human (Mark 8:17, Mark 8:33, Mark 9:19, for example).  But here Jesus throws tables and chairs, forces people out of the temple, and denies access to the temple as well.  These are not the acts of a loving savior, he is brutally angry.  Personally, I think this is great!  Forcing the money grubbers out of the Temple is wonderful; will anyone do this in the Christian Churches?  Is it not the exact same thing today with people hocking their CD’s, their prayer cloths, and even their inspirational books inside the churches? 

As they enter Jerusalem in the morning the disciples notice that the fig tree (that had no figs because of the season) was dead.  Jesus had killed an innocent plant because of his own human needs and anger.  Very loving indeed!  Jesus quickly changes the subject.

This new subject is about prayer.  Many people wonder why prayers are not answered…well here is the reason.  You have to believe that the prayer is already answered!  Jesus uses the example of throwing a mountain into the ocean (can you imagine the tsunami?).  But he adds an additional requirement…forgive everyone who has ever harmed you.  So that’s why so few prayers are answered!  Today no one has that type of faith and that type of forgiveness.

The final part of this chapter deals with the religious leaders of the time demand to know what authority Jesus has to teach.  A pretty important question, today we ask it of many religious leaders, or at least should (scientology, anyone?).  Jesus replies to the question with a question, he has done this before (Mark 10:2-3), and isn’t it just rude?  Worse, the question Jesus asked was a trick question….there was not correct answer that the religious leaders could use!  So Jesus tells them:

Mark 11:33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”  Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

By far this is the most unloving answer I have ever heard in my life.  They admit they do not know the correct answer…and Jesus will not teach them.  It’s kinda like the joke, “How do you keep someone in suspense?”

Posted in Traditions of Men, Gospel of Mark, Readings | Print | 5 Comments »

May 8, 2010, 9:51 am by dc-agape.

Mark 7:1-23

This section of Mark is has three great examples of what the Word of God is really about.  First, there is Jesus using part of Isaiah to convey a message.  Unfortunately, it is not the full meaning of the verses he used.  He has again taken verses out of context…exactly what TrueChristians™ claim other people do.  Second, he brings up “traditions taught by man”.  This includes nullifying one commandment to fulfill another.  I’ll offer a few examples of this in today’s christians.  Lastly, this is where Jesus lays out the “unclean” actions and thoughts of humankind.  These apply to everyone equally, and notice that the “big” sin of homosexuality is not represented by itself.  Do, on the other hand, notice which actions and thoughts make you unclean (sinful).

I love how Jesus uses the OT to get a point across, but reading the entire section that the quote comes from is very informative.  Try this out, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 but look at the verse right before this:

Isaiah 29:11-12 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll.  And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.”  Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” he will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

Even though Jesus uses this Isaiah 29:13 to claim that these the Pharisee are hypocrites, it is YHWH that has ensured that they cannot read what is written.  Here again is an example of YHWH removing freewill from his creation.  Basically, no one could understand the threats that YHWH made because YHWH made sure that no one could read the treats that he made.  What a loving creator YHWH is!

But I must admit that Jesus was right.  The teachers of the law are hypocrites, then and today.  They nullify one commandment to enforce traditions of men!  What are the two greatest commandments that Jesus teaches?  Is it not:

Luke 10:27 He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind,” and, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

How many christian, today, obey only one or neither of these two commandments?  If Jesus taught them as being the most important why are christians not following his teachings?  It is because they have allowed traditions of men to get in the way of following these two commandments.  You just have to look at Rev Phelps (from Nicolle Bell at crooksandliars.com) and his daughter (from Monika Bartyzel  at Cinematical.com) to see how the traditions of men nullify the Word of God.  But what about this example: Pink Angels.  But here is one about vandalizing Atheist property (thanks to Hemant at FriendlyAtheist.com).  reading some of the comments defending this act of vandalism is the icing on the cake!

One tradition of man in Jesus’ time that still is in effect today, but by a different group of people is that of food restriction.  Jesus clearly states that all food is ok:

Mark 7:15 Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean’.

John Mark clarifies this here:

Mark 7:19 For it doesn’t go into his heart by into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declares all foods ‘clean’).”

So here we have traditions of man overriding the teachings of Jesus (directed at the Catholic church to be specific) with lent being an extra special case of breaking the teachings of Jesus.

My favorite part of this section is the list that Jesus makes of what makes a person unclean:

Luke 7:20-23 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean’.  For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly.  All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.

Jesus makes it clear that all of these thoughts and actions make a man unclean (sinful).  Do notice that sexual immorality and adultery are separated.  This means that both are equally ‘unclean’.  So why does the TrueChristian™ attack homosexuals but brush adultery under the carpet?  Especially when it is adultery that is within their congregation!  Homosexuals usually avoid the Bible thumping churches because of that other hypocrisy that occurs at church: forgetting the second most important commandment that Jesus endorsed, “love your neighbor as yourself”. 

To say the least, from a gay Atheist interpretation of this part of the chapter, YHWH has some cleaning up to do!  His “body” the church is in a holy wreck and needs to be swept clean of the hypocrisy before any attempt to convert Atheist can be envisioned.  Looking from the outside in, it is quite clear that neither YHWH, Jesus, nor the Holy Spirit are present in most of the churches in the US. 

Posted in Traditions of Men, Gospel of Mark, Freewill, Becoming an atheist, Readings | Print | 1 Comment »

April 4, 2010, 2:10 pm by dc-agape.

It is another Christian Holiday here in the US of A.  I have posted previously about Xtains stealing holidays from other cultures due to cultural pressure.  Easter is no different.  Xtians claim that Easter represents the death and resurrection of their savior, yet three things make that questionable to the non-believer.  These three points are: Easter falls on the Jewish Passover, the date of Easter is calculated on the lunar year, and an interesting mathematical quandary. 

If Jesus was born on a single day in the winter – Dec 25^th – of (most likely) 4 BCE, how is it that his death is randomly chosen each year to land on the lunar date of the Jewish Passover?  As with Xmas, Easter was an attempt to convert Jewish citizen to the new religion.  People could hide their celebration behind a Jewish custom.  People could continue to look outwardly like the Jewish people, yet celebrate an Xtian holiday.  People would not miss their old customs of family and communities while being Xtians.  In other words, Xtians did not have to give anything up to fit into society!  Great Xtian traditions start early…fit into the world, don’t give it up.  Don’t make waves…it might get you killed.  To say the least, imitating other religions holidays is cowardly!  It is hypocritical; Christianity is about giving up the earthy desires and no longer belonging to the world.  Hiding the true meaning of you calibrations behind other religions holidays is contrary to the teachings of Jesus.

Using the lunar calendar is perfectly acceptable, except in the fact that both Islam and Judaism both use it as well.  Why follow the old religion (Judaism) if the birth of Jesus was not celebrated based on the lunar calendar? Since we no longer use the Jewish calendar that indicates that the Sabbath is on Saturday, why use the old religions calendar for an important holiday such as Easter?  It seems odd that a new religion, based on ignoring the desires of the world, would choice to hide the most important date in their religion behind another religion’s holiday. 

But here is the best part of Easter:  The mathematical quandary!  You see Good Friday is the day Jesus died on the cross, yet Easter Sunday is the day that he was supposedly resurrected.  Simple enough, right?  Not even close!  What is missing from this mathematical equation is that Jesus was dead for 3 days.  One must remember that the recorded time of Jesus’ death is at the end of Friday.  The recorded resurrection of Jesus is Sunday morning.  This adds up to only 36 hour!  Unless days were 12 hours 2000 years ago this does not equal 3 days.  For 1685 years Xtians have had to do some fantastic mathematical leaps to double the number of days from 1.5 to 3.  That’s right for Jesus to have been dead for 3 days; he would have to have risen from the dead on Tuesday morning (or at least Monday night)! 

Posted in Resurrection, Contradictions, Traditions of Men, Inerrancy - My Ass, Becoming an atheist | Print | 2 Comments »

October 25, 2009, 1:20 pm by dc-agape.

I have a new post up at my back-up blog entitled “The End is Near!!!“

Posted in Dead Sea Scroll, Traditions of Men, Readings | Print | 31 Comments »

October 14, 2009, 9:59 am by dc-agape.

John Chapter 21

This post will be the final post from the Gospel of John.  John does not write about the ascension of Jesus.  I will say more about this in the next paragraph.  He also writes a prophecy of Jesus that took place in his own lifetime…and just happens to have taken place before he wrote this Gospel.  That will be one of the major topics of this post.  The third most interesting thing that occurs in this Gospel is the number and locations of Jesus’ appearances after his crucifixion.  John, the only Apostle to be an eyewitness to everything that happened to Jesus, only records three visits. 

John ends his Gospel having left out the ascension of Jesus.  As far as John is concerned, this event, if it happened, was not import enough to record.  The other possibility is a John was not present at the ascension.  But it seems difficult to believe, since our only sources come from two men: John Mark (a follower of Peter while in Rome) and Luke (a follower of Paul).  In both these reports the ascension of Jesus is recorded as having happened in the presence of all the believers.  So what is John not include this very important Christian concept?  Why is it not important?  Of all the miracles, attributed to Jesus, is not the ascension of Jesus by far the most important?  It almost seems as if, the apostles themselves, either did not experience witnessing this, or but nothing about it!  It is only the followers of the original disciples that record this event.  Even the Gospel of Matthew does not record the event.  Relying on secondhand (or third hand) records seems very dangerous to the non-believer.  Stories always get manipulated, distorted, or exaggerated with extended retelling.  This seems to be the same case.

In the Gospel of John the prophecy and the death of Peter is record.  Unless, the death of Peter is a later addition, the date of writing this gospel can be insured to have occurred after Peter’s death in 67 AD.  As a result, recording a prophecy after the prophecy has occurred weakens the power of the prophecy.  Adding that this book was recorded some 35 to 40 years after the prophecy, the memory of the specific words Jesus used should be taken into account.  To make matters worse, our records of how and when Peter died are sketchy at best.  The truly are Traditions of Men and not sanctified holy script.

John ends his gospel with an interesting twist:

John 21:25 Jesus did many of the things as well.  If every one  of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

This most certainly is an exaggeration.  Recording the events of a ministry that lasted less than four years would not create that many books.  But we are told:

John 21:24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down.  We know that his testimony is true.

This is a very odd addition to a personally written document.  Basically he is saying, since I wrote these down they must be true.  To  the non-believer, this is arrogant, this does not prove the trustworthiness of the document, and adds nothing to validate the testimony given in this Gospel.

To the non-believer these issues are not solved by faith.  They only add more confusion, lack of unity in the Gospels, and create more questions that cannot be answered.  If these Gospels were inspired by an all-powerful Holy Spirit it would seem that these problems would not have occurred.  If these Gospels were inspired by the loving YHWH, who wants everyone to believe, these problems would not occur.  Instead, we have different stories (not different perspectives), Tall Tales, differing accounts, disorganized chronology, and difficulty tracing Jesus’ actual route used in his ministries.  I do hope that I get the chance to make a full scale map showing an organized chronological description of Jesus’ ministries.  Unfortunately, it will be very difficult since only the Gospel of John describes the additional trips to Jerusalem.

This is my last post from the New Testament for the time being.  My next posts will be from the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I have still not decided which order I will present the scrolls that I want to focus on.  But They Will Include: the Book of Secrets, Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association, Charter for Israel in the Last Days, the Book of Jubilees, Work with the citation of Jubilees, the Secret of the Way Things Are, and the Temple Scroll.  This may seem like a large number of documents to cover before I start back into the Nag Hammadi Library.  But no actuality, many of these scrolls are either very short or very fragmented.  The total number of pages covered in the seven scrolls is actually only 105 pages.  Many of the pages are introduction to the scrolls.  Since the meaning of the scrolls are not as complex as the gospels, and that print type is much larger than in the New Testament, the pages should not take that long.  In actuality, only the Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association, the Book of Jubilees, Secret of the Way Things Are, and the Temple Scroll have any length to them at all. 

Posted in Contradictions, Gospel of John, Dead Sea Scroll, Traditions of Men, Tall Tales, Readings | Print | 1 Comment »