John 20:28, “My Lord and My God”

Thursday, June 30, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 3 comments

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

//Several passages in John’s Gospel we know are not original, but were added sometime later. John’s Gospel, though a personal favorite, may be the book in the Bible that has changed most since its original composition. This naturally invites a bit of skepticism about any passage which doesn’t seem to fit the theology or pattern of the rest of the book.

Here is an example. Near the end of the Gospel, the risen Jesus magically appears to his followers in a locked room, where he bestows peace upon them.  But the scene seems to happen twice, in the same house, with the same message of peace, as if two versions of the appearance story are presented side-by-side.

In the second story, Thomas becomes a guinea pig, his unbelief providing opportunity for a dramatic proof of the resurrection. Then [Jesus] said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” We all know Thomas’ response: He pronounces Jesus his “Lord and God.”

This “touching” opportunity contradicts the words of Jesus to Mary just a few verses earlier. So does Jesus’ pronouncement, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed” contradict Johannine theology, where “seeing” is never meant literally. According to John, one “sees” Jesus by being born again. But if this second story is a later redaction, what prompted its inclusion? Is it merely there to reinforce the doctrine of a corporeal resurrection body? Or is there something more to the passage?

Possibly, a clue to the story’s addition may be seen in the competition between Christianity and the cult of Caesar worship. Domitian had recently declared himself divine, and began to demand the title “Lord and God.” The Christian response, then, may have been to emphasize Jesus in that role.

Book review: Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by Elizabeth Clare Prophet

★★★★

I bought this book just so that I would have a bound translation of the Book of Enoch, and wound up reading … well, most of it. The translation provided here is by Richard Laurence, LL. D. But there’s much more in Prophet’s book than this translation.

Genesis chapter six tells how the sons of God (the Watchers) procreated with the daughters of men to create a race of giants known as the Nephilim. The Book of Enoch, much of which was written as early as the 3rd century BC, expands upon the story of the Watchers, and was well-read in the century of Christ. It seems to have been revered as scripture, quoted directly in the Bible. Rabbis and Christian Church fathers in later centuries, however, denounced the book and banned it.

Prophet takes about eighty pages of her book to detail the “hidden references” in the Bible to the Watchers and the Book of Enoch, and this section alone is worth the price of the book. When researching for my book about Revelation, I became convinced that there was simply no way to understand what John was writing about without reading Enoch; it contained the source of many of the beliefs espoused by Revelation.

So, let’s talk about the origin of evil. Did rebel angels take on human bodies to fulfill their lust for the “daughters of men?” Did these fallen angels teach men to build weapons of war? Prophet takes Enoch quite seriously, and delves into other ancient literature as well as she details what we should know about embodied angels. In a chapter titled Spiritual Solutions, she teaches us to chart our “divine self.” You get the idea; I’m afraid this isn’t really my thing, so my rating of four stars is based upon the translation and research, not the evangelizing.

2 Kings 9:30, The evils of makeup

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 3 comments

Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window.

//In this story, Jehu rebels against Israel’s king Jorum and goes on a murdering rampage, protesting the “many whoredoms and sorceries” of Jorum’s mother, Jezebel. Jehu nails King Jorum with an arrow and chucks his corpse aside. Then he charges after Judah’s king Ahaziah, and murders him, too. Finally, he marches to Jezebel’s palace.

It becomes a Rapunzel theme with a twist. The damsel (Jezebel) slathers on the makeup, gets her hair all ready, and peeks out the window. She asks if her handsome prince has come in peace. But Jehu instead hollers up at the window, asking if anyone else is up there. “Two or three eunuchs” peek out, and the prince doesn’t take time to climb up her hair for a rescue; he tells the eunuchs to just toss her out the window.

Unfortunately, the story ends badly. She “spatters” on the ground and is trampled under horses. Then, she’s eaten by dogs.

Don’t feed badly, it’s apparently what she deserves. Jezebel was the first biblical character to wear makeup, and the act is implicitly linked to her “whoredom.” To this day, some Christian denominations continue to associate makeup with the harlotry of Jezebel.

Book review: Revelation, The New Cambridge Bible Commentary

Monday, June 27, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by Ben Witherington III

★★★★★

I promised a review of my favorite Witherington book today; you should have guessed it would be about Revelation. Whether you’re a scholar of Revelation, a believer in future fulfillment, or just curious about early Christian eschatology (the study of the end times), this book is a gem. It’s a New Cambridge Bible Commentary, which is a well-respected series. I think a quote from the back cover expresses my opinion blandly but accurately:

“Without sacrificing scholarly perspective or academic rigor, it is written to be accessible for pastors, scholars, teachers, seminarians, and interested laypeople.”

As research for a book I completed a few months ago, I collected a stack of books about Revelation that would rival most any library. This one was probably the most fun to read. Witherington writes respectfully and from a Christian viewpoint but still dives deeply into the historical roots of Revelation. He jumps often into sidebars which he titles “Bridging the horizons” and “A closer look.” (He alternates between the two sidebar titles, and it took me most of the book to recognize this; what’s up with that, Ben?) Anyway, these sidebars alone are worth the price of the book. Here are a few topics from them:

God and Christ as the Alpha and Omega

The mythological background of Revelation 12

666, Nero, and the ancient art of Gematria

Fallen angels in early Judaism and Christianity

Heavenly Jerusalem or Sky City?

What a Bible geek I am! I get giddy just paging back through the book to write this review. I’m gonna read it again.

Matthew 22:44, God the Son? Part IV of IV

Sunday, June 26, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 1 comment

“The LORD said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

Book review: Papias and the Mysterious Menorah

Saturday, June 25, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by Ben Witherington III & Ann Witherington

★★★★

Witherington is one of my favorite authors. He’s very well steeped in the history and Christianity of the first and second centuries, and an excellent source for learning. But I never knew he wrote fiction until my own publicity agent mentioned it to me! Bob Todd Publicity represents Witherington as well, so he sent a sample my way for review. It’s the third of a series about a lovable archaeologist named Art West. Indiana Jones with half the testosterone and twice the education.

In this book, Art investigates the discovery of the house of Papias, who forms an important link between the church fathers of the second century and the original apostles and writers of the first century. Art helps uncover a find that would make any Christian archaeologist salivate: evidence by Papias’ own hand that the gospels of Matthew and Mark were not written anonymously, but truly penned by their traditionally named authors: Matthew, a tax collector, and Mark, the sidekick of Peter.

Sorry, folks, it’s fiction; Papias’ home hasn’t been discovered, nor has proof of traditional Gospel authorship. But much of the book is factual, built upon current archaeological finds.

I don’t think Witherington’s fiction is quite as good as his nonfiction. This one will appeal primarily to fellow archaeologists and wannabees. I never did get used to the stilted language, and my editor would tell Witherington to swap his passive for active verbs. But I loved the subject matter, and I definitely enjoyed learning about first- and early second-century Christianity from a different angle.

In a couple days, I’ll review a nonfiction Witherington book which I found absolutely fascinating.

Matthew 1:21-23, God the Son? Part III of IV

Friday, June 24, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

Continuing  the theme of the last two posts, we’re discussing the title God the Son (which was never used in the Bible), and whether or not Matthew shared John’s vision that Jesus was God incarnate. Some readers point to today’s verse as evidence of Jesus being God, but it really proves little. “God with us” doesn’t mean “I am God”…if it did, no other person on earth would be named Emmanuel. More likely, Matthew imagined Emmanuel to mean something along the lines of, “I am bringing the Kingdom of God to you.” Matthew, in fact, explains precisely how he relates the name Emmanuel to the name Jesus in today’s verse:  “for he shall save his people from their sins.” And in Matthew’s version, this is done without God, who forsook Jesus on the cross. Bluntly put: to Matthew, Emmanuel could be pretty much anybody except God.

Sometimes the loudest argument is one from silence. If Matthew wanted to convey that Jesus is God, he could have said so simply, as John did. But Matthew never once refers to Jesus as God. Not once, despite ample opportunities throughout the Gospel to do so. As I said, Matthew dearly loves to quote the prophets. If he wanted to portray Jesus as God, here is a very powerful verse, a missed opportunity, from Matthew’s favorite prophet, Isaiah:

Book review: The Search for the Twelve Apostles

Thursday, June 23, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by William Steuart McBirnie, P.H.D.

★★★★

Whatever happened to the men who learned at the feet of Jesus?

I picked this book up to provide a little insight into the legends and remembered personalities of Jesus’ entourage, for my upcoming book about John’s Gospel. It turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.

Written by a believer, but properly skeptical about the legends that sprang up, the book goes through each of the Twelve and then wraps up with a discussion of five other notable apostles: John Mark, Barnabas, Luke, Lazarus, and Paul. As tradition dictates, Nathanial in the Gospel of John is assumed to be Bartholomew in the other three Gospels.

For each figure, McBirnie relates a bit of what the New Testament says, what later Gospels and church fathers report, and what traditions are known. He discusses where they later preached, what they were recognized for, how they died, where they were buried. Where legends disagree (and there are many contradictory traditions) McBirnie reports on them all. He personally visited several countries learning local traditions, so much of the research is original.

Interesting and easy to read, I recommend this book for anyone who is curious about the legends of Jesus’ closest followers.

Matthew 19:17, God the Son? Part II of IV

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

Book review: John

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by R. Alan Culpepper

★★★★

Three hundred seventy six small-print pages about the life and legends of St. John the Apostle. Culpepper is one of the foremost authorities on Johannine writings, and I’m a Culpepper fan, but this was overkill.

My current project is a story about the making of John’s Gospel, and naturally, John the Apostle is a primary character. For this, Culpepper’s book proved to be an exhausting resource. Oops, I meant exhaustive. Must have been a Freudian slip.

I had to give the book a strong rating for its research; there is simply nothing like it out there. You’ll learn stories about John in the Bible, a discussion of his possible identity as the Beloved Disciple of the Fourth Gospel, the evidence of Johannine thinking in the epistles of John, how the Gospel of John gained acceptance in the church (walking first through Gnostic strands of Christianity), various other extra-canonical Christian writings portraying John as a hero, legends about John written by more than twenty church fathers, how he became an icon in art and literature, all leading to current-day opinions by Bible scholars. Whew.

Buy it as a reference book.