Sunday Sermonette: An abrupt ending

Sorry for the light posting, basically I just think that Dump and his minions are so utterly idiotic and clownish that it isn't worth responding. I mean  they are just absurd, blithering idiots.

 

Anyway, turning now to the entirely sober, sane and reasonable Gospel of Matthew, the last chapter describes the resurrection. The account is quite brief and ends abruptly -- the accounts of JC's doings post mortem and ultimate ascension into heaven are absent here, we get them from the other gospels. The account here of the priests bribing the guards to say that his disciples had come and stolen his body is evidently intended to account for the fact that the guards did actually say that. Anyway, you can judge this for yourself.

 

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

¹¹ While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, ¹³ telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

Wednesday Bible Study: They can't get their story straight

Chapter 27 describes the death of Jesus, but it differs in many particulars from accounts in the other Gospels. The largest differences are with John, but there are also some differences with Mark and Luke. I'll lay these out specifically when we get to them. For now, I'll just reiterate that it makes no sense for Judas to regret his actions because in fact he did exactly what Jesus wanted him to do. 

 

For the believers amongst us, I will say that many of the particulars -- Barabbas, the two thieves -- seem gratuitous, which suggests there may be some actual events behind this tale. However, the lack of any other historical record would argue against that. The sole exception is a history written by the Jewish turncoat -- he became a Roman courtier -- Flavius Josephus. This was written in about AD 93, so of course it could have drawn on the same sources as Matthew, in fact it almost certainly did, and could not have been based on direct knowledge. Josephus is often unreliable in other matters as well, so that may not constitute any real independent evidence. But you can judge for yourself.

 

27 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰ and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”^[a]

Jesus Before Pilate

¹¹ Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“You have said so,” Jesus replied.

¹² When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. ¹³ Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” ¹⁴ But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

¹⁵ Now it was the governor’s custom at the festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. ¹⁶ At that time they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Jesus^[b] Barabbas. ¹⁷ So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” ¹⁸ For he knew it was out of self-interest that they had handed Jesus over to him.

¹⁹ While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”

²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

²¹ “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

²² “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

²³ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

²⁵ All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”

²⁶ Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. ²⁸ They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. ³⁰ They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. ³¹ After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

³² As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. ³³ They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ³⁴ There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. ³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷ Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

³⁸ Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,^[c] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[d]

⁴⁷ When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and^[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,^[f] and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁷ As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Footnotes

1. Matthew 27:10 See Zech. 11:12,13; Jer. 19:1-13; 32:6-9.
2. Matthew 27:16 Many manuscripts do not have Jesus; also in verse 17.
3. Matthew 27:46 Some manuscripts Eloi, Eloi
4. Matthew 27:46 Psalm 22:1
5. Matthew 27:53 Or tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they
6. Matthew 27:56 Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph

 

Welcome to the nuthouse

 I do have to say that parts of the corporate media are doing notably less sanewashing lately. For example, here's the NYT on the absolutely nutso General Assembly speech. (I'd give you a gift link but it doesn't seem to be working.): 

Trump Attacks U.N. and Lectures Nations in Address to General Assembly

President Trump’s speech, filled with grievances and false claims, comes as the United States has withdrawn funding and support for U.N. programs. 

However, although the corporate media brought in experts to fact check the utterly bonkers news conference on autism yesterday, they failed to do justice to the manifest dementia and insanity of the star speaker. Paul Campos offers a thread from Acyn with some of the highlights. 

What we have here is a guy who was never very bright to begin with, who doesn't read, was always ill informed and much too narcissistic to doubt himself, who is now very clearly at a state of dementia bordering on severe. He can barely put together a sentence, cannot produce a coherent train of thought, has no self awareness, is emotionally unregulated and delusional. However, the mental fitness of presidential candidates and incumbents, which had been the most important issue facing the nation during the 2024 election, instantly ceased to be an issue of the slightest concern on July 21, 2024.

Please explain that to me.

Sunday Sermonette: Hopeless confusion

Matthew 26 is one of the most important chapters to Christians. The story is well known to churchgoers, and elements of it are central to both theology and practice. However, it contains many contradictions with the other gospels, it has a fundamental logical flaw, and a fundamental moral contradiction with what immediately precedes it in Chapter 25. The contradictions with the other gospels are actually too numerous for me to go over entirely here, but I'll give a few highlights.

 

First, the fundamental logical flaw. Jesus wants to be crucified, the whole point of his existence is to get himself crucified. Ergo, in turning Jesus over to the high priests, Judas is doing exactly what Jesus needs and wants him to do. He isn't betraying Jesus, he is serving him exactly as he should in order to bring about the result that God and Jesus want. And since Judas presumably believes that Jesus is who and what he says he is -- after all, why else would he hang himself? -- why would he do this for thirty pieces of silver? The whole thing makes no sense.

 

The moral contradiction begins with verse 6. Just a few paragraphs before we have the whole bit about how if you don't succor the poor you'll go to hell. It turns out he didn't actually mean that after all, because it's more important to pour expensive oil on his head than it is to sell it and give the money to charity. Presumably that accounts for the priceless treasures in the Vatican. 

 

Anyway, there are similar stories about Jesus getting anointed in the other gospels, but they differ in various details. We see this a lot in both the gospels and the Tanakh, with varying oral traditions apparently making their way into the canon at varying points. Here and in Mark, it happens two days before the Passover. In Luke, it happens long before the Passover, and in John, six days before. Here and in Mark, it happens at a leper's house in Bethany; in Luke, at a Pharisee's house; and in John at Lazarus's house. There are other differences that I won't bother with but you get the idea. Mark may have copied from Matthew but the other stories are different.

 

In the synoptic gospels, Judas identifies Jesus to the mob, but in John, Jesus identifies himself. In Matthew, Luke and John, Peter denies Jesus three times before the cock crows, but in Mark Peter only denies him once. As I said, I could go on with these contradictions, but who really cares?

 

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ “But not during the festival,” they said, “or there may be a riot among the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, ⁷ a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸ When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹ The poor you will always have with you,^[a] but you will not always have me. ¹² When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

¹⁴ Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.

The Last Supper

¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

¹⁸ He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’” ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover.

²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. ²¹ And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²² They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”

²³ Jesus replied, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²⁵ Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me, Rabbi?”

Jesus answered, “You have said so.”

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the^[b] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

³⁰ When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial

³¹ Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’^[c]

³² But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

³³ Peter replied, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.”

³⁴ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”

³⁵ But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same.

Gethsemane

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. ³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹ Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

⁴³ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. ⁴⁴ So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴⁶ Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Jesus Arrested

⁴⁷ While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. ⁴⁸ Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” ⁴⁹ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him.

⁵⁰ Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”^[d]

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. ⁵¹ With that, one of Jesus’ companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.

⁵² “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴ But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”

⁵⁵ In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. ⁵⁶ But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

⁵⁷ Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled. ⁵⁸ But Peter followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.

⁵⁹ The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. ⁶⁰ But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Finally two came forward ⁶¹ and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

⁶² Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” ⁶³ But Jesus remained silent.

The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”

⁶⁴ “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”^[e]

⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. ⁶⁶ What do you think?”

“He is worthy of death,” they answered.

⁶⁷ Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him ⁶⁸ and said, “Prophesy to us, Messiah. Who hit you?”

Peter Disowns Jesus

⁶⁹ Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

⁷¹ Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

⁷³ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

⁷⁴ Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Footnotes

1. Matthew 26:11 See Deut. 15:11.
2. Matthew 26:28 Some manuscripts the new
3. Matthew 26:31 Zech. 13:7
4. Matthew 26:50 Or “Why have you come, friend?”
5. Matthew 26:64 See Psalm 110:1; Daniel 7:13.

 

The African Plains Ape in Wonderland

With some recent reading and reflecting, I'm getting clarity about issues I probably should have understood by the time I was 21. So, 50 years too late. Human cognition evolved under circumstances radically different from the ones we live in now, and people just aren't naturally equipped to function in this world.

 

Most of us do learn to get by in our immediate environments, although many not so well. There is a lot of unhappiness, conflict, bad judgment, damaging impulsive behavior, and just plain failure in a lot of people's lives, which I suspect was much less prevalent in the paleolithic, although obviously people tended to die much younger than we do of predation or disease. 

 

Note, however, that our longer life span was only won in the past 120 years or so. It took 10,000 years from the neolithic revolution before people gained even a minimally correct understanding of how their own bodies work and why they fail. That knowledge, and other areas of scientific understanding, is only gained through many years of hard study, which also entail learning methods of inquiry and evaluation that just don't come naturally to people. I've had the benefit of that -- literally 22 years in school and decades of continuing study after that. I have had a hard time understanding how radically different my mental world is from most people's because of that.

 

The scientific mode of understanding the universe really originated in the 17th Century. The ancient Greeks made some early stabs at it but they didn't get very far and it didn't take. For me, Galileo gets the most credit. The title of his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems really has two meanings. Most literally, the "systems" are the solar system with the sun at the center, and the Ptolemaic system with the earth at the center. But they are also different ways of knowing. Galileo defends his solar system with empirical observation; his opponent defends his system through appeal to authority, and unchallengeable assumptions embedded in religion. 

 

Many people today either reject scientific findings, or just find them incomprehensible and irrelevant, so don't even think about them. Children believe what adults tell them, because they can see immediately that adults know more than they do. So when adults tell them about Jesus or Mohamed or Moses or whatever, they believe it and once people have a belief system, they build into it every new observation and experience, and everything they newly hear. A highly developed belief system is very hard to shake. Confirmation bias means that people dismiss or don't even notice contrary evidence; motivated reasoning means they will use a veritable armanentarium of logical fallacies to defend their prior beliefs. 

 

It doesn't help that the universe science has discovered is just plain weird and not at all comforting. Who wants to live in a universe that's 14 1/2 billion years old, in which we are absolutely nothing? And why would anyone give a shit about quarks and leptons and quantum entanglement? And now you're telling me that everything that makes my world livable, my central heating and air conditioning and automobile, is making it hotter and stormier and will eventually destroy civilization as we know it? Forget that, it's got to be bullshit. I have further thoughts about this but I'll leave it there for now. 

Wednesday Bible Study: Investment advice?

Matthew 25 consists of two rather bizarre parables, and one lesson in morality which in some respects is probably the best thing in the Bible, although it does have an unpleasant edge.

 

On the other hand, the parable of the ten virgins is probably the weirdest thing in the Bible, or at least in the NT. Some dude is going to marry ten virgins all at once. Five of them had oil for their lamps, which are apparently for some reason necessary in order to meet the dude. The ones who didn't had to go and buy some, which means they weren't there when the guy finally showed up, so he just married five of them. Whatever. 

 

The next parable is almost as weird. A guy gives his money in trust to three servants. Two of them invest it and end up making a big profit, and one of them just stores it safely. The last guy just stores the money safely, and so "For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’" In the first place, that seems to be the exact opposite of the usual meek shall inherit the earth stuff. Furthermore, what if the investments had actually lost money, which of course can happen? Wouldn't the servant who kept the money safe be the winner? Even if you do invest in the stock market, you are advised to keep some in the money market, after all.

 

Finally, we get the passage about reaching out to help the poor and the persecuted. That's very nice, it seems to contradict what came immediately before, and then there's the part about eternal torture for the people who aren't nice. Of course Christian conservatives ignore the whole thing, it's contrary to their own beliefs and behavior. But as I have always said, the Bible is totally incoherent so you have to pick and choose the parts you want to pay attention to. 

 

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,^[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Footnotes

1. Matthew 25:15 Greek five talents … two talents … one talent; also throughout this parable; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wage.

 

Foobaw

I'm talking about real foobaw, Merkin foobaw, where men are men and ligaments are nervous and brains turn to oatmeal, not that sissy English game where they run around a field forever kicking a ball back and forth and nothing ever happens. Most years, once foobaw season is in full swing, I post something about it, so here goes.

 

The Patriots managed to get by the Dolphins in one of the weirdest games ever. The team is named for rebels against mad King George, but of course from the point of view of the king and his ministers the people were not patriots but traitors. They could rename the team the traitors and it would be economical because they could reuse most of the letters, but it probably wouldn't sit well with the fans. 

 

The Patriots coach is Mike Vrabel, who played for the team during its glory years and was on three Superbowl winning teams. For some reason it is seldom mentioned, but he was a rarity in the NFL, a two-way player. He mostly played linebacker but the famously grumpy coach put him the offensive backfield on short yardage plays, and he caught ten touchdown passes with the team, include two in the Superbowl.* 

I don't know if this experience is helpful to Vrabel as a coach, but he has a lot of work to do in the next six days. He needs to explain to his defensive players that their job is not just to bump into the guy in possession of the inflated leather oblate spheroid, but rather to grab a hold of him and cause his knee, elbow or buttocks to contact the ground. He also needs to explain to his offensive players that they are not allowed to initiate play until the fat guy in the middle passes the ball between his legs. Finally, he needs to explain to his kicker that he can apply for a job at MacDonald's. If the players can grasp these concepts, the team may do better in the future. We'll see. But I'm not counting on much.

 

*Grumpy also had slot receiver Troy Brown play nickel back in the 2004 season, and he had three interceptions. Grumpy also had quarterback Doug Flutie drop kick an extra point in 2006, the first and last successful drop kick since 1941, and he had Brown play quarterback in a preseason game.

 

Sunday Sermonette: False prophet

 In Matthew 24, Jesus delivers an elaborate prophecy about the coming apocalypse. There's only one problem: he speaks of these things happening to his disciples, and tells them how they should react when they happen. In verse 34, he makes it absolutely explicit: "Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵ He also says, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come," but in Chapter 10, he said "When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." In any case, this is another false prophecy because the gospel has been preached in all nations, for many centuries, but the end has not come. So there.

24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

¹⁵ “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’^[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^[b]

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.^{[d] 31} And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it^[e] is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[f] but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Footnotes

1. Matthew 24:15 Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
2. Matthew 24:29 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
3. Matthew 24:30 Or the tribes of the land
4. Matthew 24:30 See Daniel 7:13-14.
5. Matthew 24:33 Or he
6. Matthew 24:36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son.

 

I don't know why I keep telling you . . .

. . . that Robert Kennedy Jr. is completely full of shit, but it does bear repeating. He has promised that this month -- yes, September 2025 -- he has going to announce that he has confirmed "the cause of autism." We can all guess what that will turn out to be, based on his past pronouncements and the cast of fellow lunatics he has hired to make the determination.

 

Allison Parshall in Scientific American provides a good, concise review of what we do and don't know about autism and its causes, and no, there isn't just one. In fact, she saves the most important information for last but I'll give it to you up front. There is no such thing as autism. The word is a label for people who have certain traits in common but who vary enormously in the degree to which they manifest these traits, and whether they have other traits that are sometimes associated with the label. They may indisputably have disabilities that impair their performance in school, social relationships, and employability. Some have profound disabilities and cannot perform basic activities of daily living, others have mild disabilities that they can overcome, and others don't consider themselves to be disabled at all but just unusual.

 

It happens to be true of many of the diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, aka DSM, the Bible of psychiatric/psychological diagnosis, that they probably do not in fact represent a single condition with the same etiology, i.e. causation. Once we know the etiology, the condition leaves the realm of psychiatry and enters the realm of neurology. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression -- these probably aren't actually single diseases at all, with a single identifiable cause. The same goes for autism.

 

In order to study autism, it is necessary to classify people as having it or not having it, whether we like it or not. When researchers do that, they find it runs in families -- there is clearly a genetic component. But it's only about 50% "heritable," and there isn't any single gene that determines it, but many interacting genes. Furthermore, not everyone who has the same genetic pattern develops autism. Genes put people at higher risk, but there are environmental factors that interact with the genetic endowment to produce the condition. One environmental factor that has been definitively ruled out is vaccination.  Large scale studies of hundreds of thousands of children, in the U.S. and Denmark, have proved that there is no association at all between vaccination and autism. We know that.

 

Until RFK came along and started eliminating their funding, many investigators were trying to learn more about the causes of the multiple conditions called autism. There are some known associations, although it's hard to sort out causes from confounders. For example, there is an association with taking acetaminophen during pregnancy, but it may be that mothers who have fevers and aches are more likely to take it, so it's not the pills themselves that are the problem. And obviously we can't experiment on people to find out. There are potential strategies for sorting all this out better, but it's going to take time and adequate funding for legitimate scientists, of which the people Kennedy has charged with the problem are not examples. 

 

There are so many outrages right now it's impossible to keep track of them, but this is so egregious and so morally depraved, as well as idiotic, that I just can't leave it alone. Making RFK the secretary of health and human services was a disgraceful, shameful, evil act, senator.  

For the record . . .

 Charlie Kirk was a profoundly evil, malevolent, disgusting person. Sure, murdering him was still a crime and it was in fact extremely harmful because it turned him into a martyr -- to what, exactly, I can't say, but that was the effect. The media environment is wired for the right, so we aren't allowed to say what Kirk really was. Pundits, teachers and politicians who have done so have been censored or lost their jobs. 

 

I don't celebrate murder, obviously, but I don't have to mourn either. 

Wednesday Bible Study: Anachronism

Jesus's feud with the Pharisees obviously means nothing whatever to people today. This is like an argument between the Big Enders and the Small Enders of Lilliput and Blefescu, whose interpretation of scripture differed over which end of an egg to break. It goes on for a long time here, and we can take it to mean that you shouldn't be a hypocrite but it is not at all clear how the Pharisees are hypocritical. 

 

I'll just include that once again, Jesus prophecies the apocalypse during the lifetime of the current generation. This occurs repeatedly in the Gospels, but Christians simply ignore this ultimate embarrassment. 

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries^[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. ¹¹ The greatest among you will be your servant. ¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees

¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. ^[14] [b]

¹⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. ²² And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

²³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. ²⁴ You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

³³ “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ³⁴ Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. ³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. ³⁸ Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’^[c]”

Footnotes

1. Matthew 23:5 That is, boxes containing Scripture verses, worn on forehead and arm
2. Matthew 23:14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
3. Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26