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 31, 2010, 8:27 am by dc-agape.

Mark 13

This is the famous chapter that many people use to claim that the end is near.  To their misfortune that has not occurred in the last few centuries.  A proper reading of the entire chapter will leave you with 3 distinct possibilities.  First, Jesus was talking about the Day of Pentecost.  The entire chapter is devoted to preparing his disciples for this Day.  Second, if Jesus is describing his return…then two things contradict this interpretation.  One, he uses the phrase “this generation will certainly not pass away”.  Well the generation that he spoke to certainly did pass away.  Two, these end times do not agree with the Book of Revelation. Rev 19:11-21 speaks of the return of Jesus on a white horse which is nothing like Jesus’ depiction in Mark 13:26-27.  The last possibility is that John Mark (or later scribes) muddled this story from different messages that Peter told in Rome.  Parts of this story are about the end of Jerusalem, others could be about the end times. 

What were the signs to look for?

1)      False Prophets:  Jesus uses this at the beginning (Mark 13:6) and in the middle (Mark 13:21-22).  I don’t know how many false prophets occurred in the 1^st century AD, but we certainly have ours now (rev Hagee – Jewish Journal).

2)      Rumors of war:  Mark 13:7-8 – Well there have certainly been plenty of wars!

3)      Earthquakes: Mark 13:8 – Well that doesn’t give us any new info either.

4)      Plagues: Mark 13:8 – Nothing new there either.

5)      Persecution: Mark 13:9-13 – well it certainly happened in the 1^st few centuries.  But today is rather rare and family members are not the ones turning in their blood relatives.  One site here does describe the “persecution” today – Kjos Ministries. 

6)      Destruction of Jerusalem: Mark 13:14-15.  Well that certainly happened in 70AD (Eyewitness to History).  It certainly has not occurred again.  If fact, it has been fortified and protected by the greatest powers on the planet.  Both the United States and the Muslim religion protect the city of Jerusalem.

7)      Days of distress: Mark 13:15-20.  Here is a good one:

a.      Mark 13:19 because those days will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now – and never equaled again.

b.      So the Days of Distress will be worse than the flood!  And nothing like that will ever happen again…meaning that it is not the end of the world (or the heavenly kingdom – which requires the destruction of the old earth – Rev 21:1).

8 )      Jesus will return: Mark 13:26-27.  These verses are very different from Rev 20.  In the Gospel of Mark Jesus says that he will gather the elect from earth and heaven.  In opposition to this The Book of Revelation chapter 20 only talks about rising the elect dead without any coming from heaven.

9)      This generation will not pass away: Mark 13:30.  Either the end times occurred in the first century AD or we have to wait until #1, #6, and #7 occur.  Even accounting for the partial destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD #1 and #7 will be tough ones.

Since we don’t need to worry about this happening anytime soon and won’t know when it is going to happen (Mark 13:32-33), there is one thing that we should be worried about.  The term elect is used in this chapter, which should make everyone perk up their ears and listen.

Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive.  But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

We are back to freewill.  YHWH will choose the elect.  We do not choose to be the elect; we don’t have the freewill to be saved.  But this elect will be immune to false teachings:

Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect – if that were possible.

Jesus is not just banking on the elect not being gullible…he knows that they cannot be fooled.  How many today are fooled by false teachings and false prophets?  38,000 denominations of Christianity exist as of this day; can all of them be right?  How many of them do miracles  (Polycarp)?  How many of them say here is Christ (gotquestions.org)?  How many of them prophecy the end times are near (Fundamental Preaching)?

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

July 10, 2010, 7:33 am by dc-agape.

Mark 10:24-52

In Mark this is the beginning of Jesus’ first and only trip to Jerusalem.  I do want to emphasize Jesus’ response to the rich man, I feel I cut it short two days ago in (To Be a “disciple of Jesus”).  Here is also where Jesus repeats his plan to be killed.  Is includes another story of how arrogant the disciples are and ends with a blind man receiving faith healing.

I don’t think I can stress enough what it required to be “saved”.  The watered down crap of Christianity is just that crap.  Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus tell his followers to “pray him into their hearts”.  In contrast he says this:

Mark 10:29-30 “I tell you the truth”, Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields – and with them, persecution) and in the age to come, eternal life.

Read that “I tell you the truth” again…think on it.  This is a promise that you will receive from YHWH these things only if you leave your home, your family, and your job!  Notice that Jesus separates home from family and home from fields.  He is telling his disciples to leave their families, their homes, and their properties, and their income.  Why do I not see any “Christians” do that today?  And no, missionaries don’t count…they return home and they get paid for their services (payment for spreading the word will be an upcoming Biblical Topic). 

At the beginning of the only trip to Jerusalem in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus again warns his disciples about his plans to be killed.  But he promises to rise after three days.  Sometime after that but before reaching Jericho, two of the disciples get a little too big for their britches.  From Perea to Jericho (Wikipedia map) is one of Jesus’ shortest trips, since Perea is an area and not a distinct place.  This trip could have been as short as crossing the Jordan river.  During this trip is when James and John get a little too arrogant.  After all the times that Jesus tells his disciples that the first will be the last, that the first must serve everyone else…still these two request to be given the highest place of honor in heaven.  He repeats this one more time for them:

Mark 10:43 Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave to all.

This is the root of Christianity; Jesus attempts to convey this message over and over again.  Today “christians” have so watered down this passage that servant and slave mean to be paid speakers and teachers.  Sorry, but that is not Jesus’ concept.  The first part that verse “Not so with you” describes the difference between power hungry authority and what the disciples should be like.  Neither of these concepts are even visible in the Church today.  Why has the Traditions of Man nullified the Word of Jesus?

Finally, the chapter ends with the story of Bartimaeus.  In Jericho a blind man attempts to get Jesus’ attention.  Many people attempted to stop him from getting Jesus’ attention, but this only made him try harder.  Jesus does hear him and calls him over.  Bartimaeus asks for Jesus to heal him, because Jesus asks what the man wants…Jesus does not know that a blind man wants to see.  Odd, the son of Man is not perceptive enough to know what the man wants.  But immediately Bartimaeus can see.  Here we have another faith healing…all it took for Jesus to heal this man was the faith that Bartimaeus had.  Compare that to the blind man in Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-26).  Why in Jericho, where Jesus has not been yet, can Jesus heal by a word, yet in the city of Bethsaida, where Jesus travels to and from often, does it take two tries to heal the man?  In fact, there is another difference between the two stories: in Bethsaida he does it in secret while in Jericho he does it in front of a huge crowd.  He is obviously attempting to attract attention at this point.  Why would he be afraid to attract attention earlier (as most Christians assume), he had YHWH protecting him…things will work exactly the way YHWH wants them to.  Unless, Jesus is not 100% certain that this is what YHWH wants.  It in fact, looks more like a normal man making plans and hoping that YHWH will be with him, instead of the Son of God coming to do exactly what YHWH wants.  Remember, YHWH has complete control of any person’s actions that he so desires (freewill).

Posted in kingdom of God, Gospel of Mark, Disciples, Freewill, Readings | Print | 1 Comment »

May 22, 2010, 6:09 am by dc-agape.

Mark 8:1-21

Jesus left Sidon, in present day Lebanon (geology.com), and he traveled 65 miles (walking, map from BibleHistory.com) to the opposite side of Lake Gennesaret.  In fact, it is somewhere very near the place he drove the herd of pigs into the lake.  We know this because he healed the deaf man in Decapolis.   Since he was close enough to the Sea of Galilee to get in a boat (Mark 8:9-10), he was close to Hippos (Atlas Tours) both times.  And Hippos would have been the closest city to where the pigs were drowned.  Including how racist Jesus was and how he scared the people of Gadara (Hippos) why would an additional 4,000 gentile men (10,000 people counting women and children) come and listen to him.  In Decapolis, there were fewer Jews than the western side of the Sea of Galilee.

Not only did these people come to listen to him, but they stayed for 3 days:

Mark 8:2 I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.

This is another tall tale from the Word of God.  It is not possible for this story to be anything but a Tall Tale because the people involved were afraid of him, did not believe the Jewish faith, were a completely new group of people (remember he had traveled over 130 miles on foot since the feeding of 5,000 men), and these people could not have left their homes and work for the travel time plus the 3 days.  More, this story is only repeated in two Gospels which in both are followed by the same repeated story of the Pharisee yeast. Yes, the wording is different and yes, it is in another location…but it is still a Tall Tale.

To add to this tale, the disciples pick up bread after feeding the 4,000 men:

Mark 8:8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Yet by the time they got to Dalmanutha they had “forgotten the bread”:

Mark 8:14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat.

Where exactly did the seven basketful of bread go?  It was not that long of a trip from Hippos to Dalmanutha (about 10 miles by boat, see map #5 here – Christian Classics Ethereal Library).

Jesus then warns his disciples of the Pharisees and Herod.  But the disciple did not understand.  So what does a loving savior do, he insults them:

Mark 8:17-18 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?  And don’t you remember?

Of course their hearts are hardened…YHWH has not given them the knowledge of Jesus’ divinity yet!  And we know that mankind does not have freewill.  I understand that when you are an all-knowing savior it must get difficult when your followers are slow, but that was really rude of Jesus.  He knew that YHWH had not opened his disciple’s hearts; I guess his human-side took over for a minute!

Posted in Gospel of Mark, Tall Tales, Freewill, Readings | Print | 2 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 »

March 20, 2010, 2:59 pm by dc-agape.

Mark Chapter 4:1-34

The parables that Jesus uses in these verses are his attempt to describe the Kingdom of God.  He uses four parables in this attempt to explain the Kingdom.  When read with the “god bias” these verses sound so good.  How it is our fault to not believe, how YHWH tries to grow a garden from our souls.  But there is an underlying message that you can only see if you suspend the “god bias”.

It is starts in verse 3 and continues to verse 8.  It is a little long so check it out here.  This is the greatly honored “Parable of the Sower”.  Jesus uses it to describe four types of people: those who do not accept, those who burn out, those that are overwhelmed by the world, and those that are saved.  But there is one verse that needs to be look at much closer than Jesus did:

Mark 4:4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

What farmer would scatter their seed randomly?  Only a fool would take the risk of losing seed to the birds, to rocky soil, and to a thorn patch.  But this is exactly how YHWH spreads his “Kingdom”.  He allows some to be taken by Satan.  He allows some to burn out.  He allows some to be overtaken by the world.  And it is worse than that…he foolishly spreads the seed in a way that we do not have a choice.  We do not choose to be the seed on the path…that is where he places us.  So this parable is one more example of predestination.

Another verse in this parable that requires more examination is:

Mark 4:11-12 He told them, “This secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.  But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “’they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding: otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

Even Jesus butchers the bible.  The actual translation is:

Isaiah 6:9-10 He said, “go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

The prophet Isaiah was told to turn the people’s eyes, ears, and hearts so they would be callous and not be saved.  YHWH commanded this prophet to insure that the Israelites would not be healed!  And Jesus twists this verse to make it seem like we have a chose.  When you combine these two verses, correctly translated to English, you see three possibilities.  One, is that YHWH does make people’s hearts calloused.  Or, another, is that Jesus did not even know the verses of the Torah correctly.  The final possibility is that Jesus purposely twisting the verse he knew to some purpose.  These last two possibilities leave you wondering about Jesus’ divinity.  The first possibility leaves you wondering about a “loving” YHWH.

The parable of “the lamp on a stand” has some interesting ideas as well.  It truly applies to “the Truth”. 

Mark 4:22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.

Isn’t this just the way it should be.  In a social species we can’t keep lies, the higher the lie the more likely it will destroy our society.  Religion and governmental lies are the worst.  And just as Jesus says we must uncover all the hidden and concealed information.

He also gives good advice here:

Mark 4:24-25 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued, “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you – and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”

This clearly translates into two ideas: “Don’t trust everything you hear, no matter who tells you it” and “Use it or lose it”!  Both of these ideas need to be used by us every day.  But the TrueChristians™ needs to think about this even more.  They trust what they hear without using logic and trust without using discriminating what is true and what is fantasy.

The other two parables are similar in vain.  Part of it is the random scattering of the saved in with the rest of us.  Another is how once he has chosen a person they will grow to be a tall tree.  John Mark finishes by telling how Jesus would not tell the people the meaning of the parables, but would let the disciples in on the hidden secret.  This just happens to be direct violation of Mark 4:22 (see above).

So what we see here is how the kingdom of God is filled with people that YHWH chooses. That Jesus knows some profound concepts of living in society.  And finally, that Jesus himself does not follow his own teachings!  Jesus kept secrets from the masses, right after telling the masses that the hidden was meant to be disclosed and the concealed brought out in the open!

Posted in kingdom of God, Gospel of Mark, Freewill, Readings | Print | No Comments »

February 6, 2010, 11:31 am by dc-agape.

Before I can start reading the NT I must cover one more topic.  Previously, I covered the “silent years”.  I must bring up the Synoptic Problem before I can begin reading the four gospels.  The Problem boils down to: the independence of the Gospels and the order the Gospels were written.

In the Zondervan NIV 9 theories are presented on this Synoptic Problem.  Many of these theories are variations on the same theme.  One common source (verbal, lost verses, lost Gospel, or Matthew, Mark, or Luke being the original) are all similar concepts.  One theory, which can be thrown out, is that all three books are completely independent.  This is hogwash…between Matthew and Mark there is a 91% correlation, and between Luke and Mark there is a 53% correlation.  Since only one of these authors that might have been an eyewitness, Matthew, it is impossible to have 3 independent accounts of the same events with these correlation numbers. 

It seems odd that the best theory accepted today does not include Matthew as the source (if he was the Apostle Levi!  He was the only one there, yet Biblical scholars do not believe that the Book of Matthew was the original source.  In fact, it is clear that the author of the Book of Matthew was not the Apostle Matthew (Levi).  So we have 3 Gospels of Jesus that were not written by his Apostles.  This concept leaves a feeling of corruption in the mouth of a gay Atheist. 

The earliest possible date of “publication” was at least 20 years after the death of Jesus.  If you are more than 25 years old, think back 20 years…could you write about the events of that period in your life with accuracy?  Now think about someone else writing about that same time period with you as the center piece…what do you think about the possibility of accuracy now?  When we push the dates of writing out further from the actual events, toward 40 years, repeat the thought process I introduced previously.  How does the accuracy of the writings look to you now?

I will use the most accepted theory of the Biblical scholars.  This one includes Mark and another document (called the Quelle) as the original source of the 3 Synoptic Gospels.  As a result, most of Matthew and Mark will be identical translations.  I should probably start with the book of Mark as a result.

Posted in Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Matthew, Biblical topics | Print | 1 Comment »