Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature. " for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13.
I am so enthralled with these secular Bible studies and so happy to be tackling the New Testament. I just can’t understand how anyone could study the texts this closely and still come away believing it all. Cognitive dissonance is CRAZY. Thank you for the great work as always!
If I went to a grave where the body is supposed to be, and I saw that it was empty, it would never occur to me that the dead person came back to life and walked away. I would be like "who took the body?"
Jesus, “Who do you think I am?” Response, “The Messiah.” Jesus, “Don’t tell anyone.” Remind you of someone? Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey! Good plot lines are used over and over! It is all manmade, not worth dying or killing for but look at all the lives lost for this crap over the millennia!! How tragic - what a waste. 😥
Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature. " for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13. You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword". It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy". "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13 An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children. CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary
John 13:18 verse: 'i am not referring to all of you I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the "scripture," he who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.....' (meaning Psalm's 41:9 verse he was saying was a scripture about Judas Iscariot betraying him.) When that wasn't any scripture about Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus but only a Psalm that king David wrote about himself
So interesting to consider how the story developed and changed. My dad died a few years ago and during the last two weeks he was in the hospital, I only left his side to sleep for a few hours. All of my siblings were there regularly, taking shifts. The stories they tell now of those two weeks, and even some of the stories of my father’s life are so clearly shaped by their coping mechanisms but more significantly by their spiritual beliefs, spiritual goals, and desire to highlight their part in his life. The stories continue to evolve with a couple of siblings regularly getting messages and special help from my dead father. I was there, I know those are distortions, but what is told now by some is definitely a re-writing of events, a filling in of interpretation to meet their desires and beliefs. There is even a sibling who is tweaking the family tree to alter my dad’s ancestry, inserting their own preferences. Good one, Brandon! I’ll be re-watching it several times. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Another good example of how stories change and are remembered differently is the 1965 Dylan going electric controversy. Nobody can quite say what happened that day, and there were hundreds of witnesses and film!
In Spring 2022, I decided to sign up for a course for the Fall 2022 semester that analyzed the Gospel of Mark because I was going through an awful patch of life and was hoping to strengthen my faith and become a better Christian. However, by the time the end of September 2022, I ended up deconverting from Christianity because of all of the contradictions between Matthew and Luke, and really the problems with the Bible and Christianity in general. I’m still going through a rough patch now, but because I’m actually getting help through therapy, and not hearing “God has a plan for you” all the time, I feel like I can get out of it. Thanks Brandon for an amazing episode!
After what I call the “Life Implosion of 2016” I was in an emotional holding pattern despite leaning hard into spiritual practice until I stopped believing in 2020. So much of what you say here resonates with me. Best wishes for your improved mental health! 🎉
People take the effort to produce this around 90 gospels of only four made it into the story collection because they had totally different views. You take such a time and costly thing as writing only on you when you consider the other texts inferior or outright false. So we have a way for the Iesous and who can create him in his image. Authors made it up again and again and again.
The zombies were a total deal breaker for me, The idea that such a thing could have happened and not been documented everywhere and everyhow was preposterous. And don't Tell me paper was too expensive back then.
46:42 "Is God's power dependent off of our faith?"... This whole idea was used in the churches I attended as a rebuke as to why God wouldn't answer certain prayer or heal people, etc. The claim that I have "sin" in my life that's hidden and that's why God can't/won't act on behalf of your wife, child, Grandma, whatever. Somehow God can't or won't heal my wife (who has her own relationship with God) because of what I'm doing, as head of my household.. that's abusive and completely illogical. I see it as a cop-out excuse for unanswered prayer and lack of activity of a God who supposedly "so loved the world".
My dad LOVED to scare me with the unpardonable sin. When I was a budding young Christian, he would intentionally cause me to doubt my salvation every chance he got.
Can I just say I watch your videos over and over, I found your channel when I was going through a crisis concerning my faith when I was having doubts about where I was going when I died and I don't want to sound cheesy or anything but you were truly a light in the darkness.
Growing up as a child believing you could go to a place called hell was very traumatizing for me. I have deconstructed from all religion and feel more at peace than ever.
Hell is real. So is Jesus. If you live your life perfectly, then you don’t need Jesus. You’re not just material or atoms. You have a purpose and you matter. Life don’t come from non life. Jesus have you life, the least you can do is look at where the evidence points. This man here sits and lies about the gospel with a straight face 😂😂. Mark is very clear on who Jesus is in the gospel if you read it without presupposed bias.
I’m going to have to listen again because I succumbed to the temptation to start reading the comments section. Oh well, the algorithm will approve! I very much enjoy your content, especially the thought and care you put into subjects around which people will get emotional and flustered. Cheers!
This is by far the most thorough study of any of the gospels that I have ever heard. The rest of them following Mark All fuel like retcons. Quite frankly, the whole Bible is nothing but canon welding.
Great job! Love this level of detail - while there's always more to be said (especially for the gospels) and there are many resources which do just that and focus on individual aspects, you manage to give a great overview without ever being superficial or boring.
Thank you for that, because the line seems to be so hard for me to find, ha. So glad to hear its working out. You nailed my exact concerns in covering a gospel in under an hour.
@@MindShift-Brandon I imagine it wasn't an easy call to make about how to set it up, and I guess there will be people who can find it overwhelming (and let's not even mention the "you're missing the context!!!" squad 😂). But even if I can only speak for myself, I think the overall feedback shows what you're doing is both unique and working well 👍 Looking forward to Luke!
For all of you who haven’t read the gospel of Judas, I urge you to do so. Even though it’s not canonical scripture, it gives quite a enlightening insight into a different Jesus from the one we all know
its wild because when i hear all this its just like hearing about every other cult ive ever learned about and if they did take the normal doomsday cult path of progressive abuse and isolation under threat of the end of days then it really would make sense if judas was just a whistle blower who got defamed by the cult because of the whole, ya know, getting their leader killed thing edit-if any of it is historically true I should add
I was really looking forward to this one! Out of all of the books in the Bible, this is the one that fascinated me the most as I was deconstructing my Christian upbringing. Learning about the scholarship behind the gospels, dating, authorship, and literary technique, particularly framing Mark as the beginning of a growing legend, helped me see that the historical evolution in my religion was as malleable and natural as everyone else's. I grew up thinking every religion was a culture's best guess at the world around them shaped by their local history, but the leadership above me just happened to have the best evidence and scholarship to increase the likelihood of Christianity above others. Unknowingly "turning off" what I first thought was a religious experience in the middle of feeling it made me wonder, "Is there any real merit to Christianity beyond this fleeting feeling?" The NT was where I started my deep dive. When I could finally access scholarship and published journals on the whole, apostasy was my only option by the end of the week.
Laughed out loud on your remarks on 8:33 😂 Such a good series. Your commentary on these really make sense on the goals from the writers of Matthew and Luke vs Mark. Really solid, straight forward explanations, excellent work!
If the disciples meeting the resurrected Jesus narrative were true, or even a part of the original story, you'd think it would be in the oldest manuscripts of the first gospel. But, it's not.
I am an atheistic/agnostic, but it is possible that the original "Mark" DID contain further narrative and that further narrative got separated and lost. Then, later, someone made up and inserted an addition. The end part of "Mark" as it exists in the earliest manuscripts does seem to end abruptly, indicating there may have been more in the original.
@@18471902 No it isn't Marc made up a story unknown to most or all. He explains the reader over and over and over why they never heard about this story. For this he uses the elements from Homer (one of the books one learns to formulate and emulate in learning greek writing).
So, Peter's greatest failure is his denial of Jesus, but Jesus' denial of his mother and brothers in Matthew 12:48-50 is all fine? Hardly seems fair. The earliest Gospel is a fascinating text, and, as you pointed out, not necessarily a slouch on narrative and literary techniques either. My personal favourite aspect is the little bit of irony in Mark's original ending - for most of this Gospel, the Messianic secret his been maintained, Jesus saying 'don't tell anyone!' at every opportunity. And then, finally, the plan has been fulfilled, the resurrection is a success, and the truth is to be unveiled. The man at the tomb instructs the women to tell the disciples...and then, because they're afraid, they don't say anything to anyone. D'oh! But I have to wonder - given the lack of resurrection appearances in Mark's original ending, at what point in the story's development did they become definitively corporeal, rather than what could easily be interpreted as just visions? In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul includes himself at the conclusion of the list of people Jesus appeared to, and makes no distinction in these appearances, despite the tradition surrounding him being very different to the post-resurrection appearances described in later Gospels. And, given how much the proto-Orthodox Christians had to deal with docetic claims...well, you can come to your own conclusion about that. I have to say, when I was a Christian, the pig-killing did definitely bother me. It seemed so needlessly destructive and cruel - but the other story of Jesus that sticks in mind as being problematic when I was believer was the remark he made that accompanies his anointing in all Gospels except Luke. Why should the expensive perfume be used on him rather than sold and the proceeds given to the poor? Well, according to Jesus, it's because you'll always have the poor, but not him, so there. If anyone needed a model for self-righteous televangelists justifying their constant indulgences, you've got it here in Jesus. Mark 4:10-12 is indeed bizarre - I can't think of any context, either from the historical Jesus or from someone trying to weave a narrative about him, where something like this would make any sense. But you're right that (you didn't quite use these words) believers are conditioned to see Jesus in a certain way. It's so pervasive that Bart Ehrman has recounted occasions where he's asked his students to read that passage and then say why Jesus spoke in parables - their usual reply is something like, 'so people can understand and digest Jesus' message.' They may have to read it through several times before the more awkward truth sinks in. With passages like this, the proto-Orthodox crew shouldn't have been surprised when gnosticism became very popular. "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 1.) Just one more thing regarding Jesus' anger at the temple - I agree there's a place for righteous anger, but at the very least, a portrayal of the perfect model of righteousness (especially with what Jesus said about anger elsewhere) would be able to limit the physical reactions one would think. Notice, that whereas Luke simply 'drives out' the merchants, Matthew and Mark both include the overturning of tables and seats, which is still somehow calmer than John's version where Jesus fashions himself a whip. (!)
I can forgive and rationalize much. Even the idea that an in-group should speak in code...Jesus was a Zealot, he was a revolutionary..but the bit "so those others don't get forgiven" is unthinkable for the persona we are asked to accept. The rest of Mark portrays a Jesus who is secretive and domineering and ambitious and hypocritical. This vision is more a charismatic and manipulative cult leader. It is..disappointing to me, personally. It makes me wonder where the beautiful ideas came from, and if they were the typical love bombing empowerment that cult leaders do to ensnare people.
Haven't had a chance to watch this one yet, but I loved the Matthew video. I think your style speaks to a lot of us who were raised in evangelical or fundamentalist churches, because it's similar to the way they approach bible study. It's not some distant, feel good approach, but actually getting into the bible. I could see this style of content being more persuasive to the people I grew up around, and it's very interesting to me, as I return to the bible. This time studying it from a critical, historical perspective, rather than God's inspired words.
I've been watching the 'Tovia Singer' UA-cam channel where Rabbi Tovia Singer covers a lot of the same subjects you present from a Hebrew point of view. Apparently a lot of the claims of the New Testament come nowhere near matching their purported links to the old Testament, and he shows where the writers of the Gospels and Paul were comfortable just making stuff up when it suited their purposes. Of course, Rabbi Singer is a certainly a theist, but he's a very educated expert on the Old Testament.😊❤❤
I never thought about the problem of there being an unforgivable sin that Jesus’ sacrifice was incapable of covering before. Unique insights like this are one of the reasons I love your channel so much.
Dictionary says - speaking or committing an act against God. Disobedience to the word of God. Bible says - 1. Trespassing against God, Ezek 20:27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. 2. To speak against, 42 Luke 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 3. Not obeying the word of God, Titus 2:5 obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." When you disobey the word of God, you are blaspheming it. If you remain in this state throughout your life, you will not be pardoned in the judgment at the end of your life nor the eternal judgment at the end of time.
@@Knowledge_Shall_Be_IncreasedThat’s one interpretation I suppose, although it kind of sounds like you’re equating any sin (disobeying god) to the unforgivable sin?
@jonsebastian4672 your exactly right. If a person continues to willfully sin, they are blaspheming the Holy Ghost, and they will not be forgiven at the final judgment. There are many judgments. One after each death and one final. You and I are here in this life because we did not overcome the world in our previous life, or lives. The Bible teaches that if we do overcome, we will remain resting in our grave until He returns. Not many teach this, but the Bible backs it up..
@@Knowledge_Shall_Be_Increased “Not many teach this” yeah I figured, that’s the case for most pet theories like this. Regardless of what it’s actually supposed to mean, which no one has any basis for determining definitively, the fact that an unforgivable sin exists at all suggests that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t powerful enough to do what it was supposed to do, which is the point of my initial post.
@jonsebastian4672 I think you have misunderstood what Jesus is truly about. Jesus didn't die to save you. He died so you could save yourself. You are completely free to believe whatever you wish. One way or another, you are going to reap the benefits of your choice.
Excellent work, Brandon! Wow, 40 years as a devoted fundamentalist Christian and I never heard anyone preach of that verse in Mark 4. I obviously read it when I read the bible cover-to-cover, but I bet the brainwashing was such that my mind probably blocked out verses like that by default.
REJECTION of the BIBLE, the CREATOR, and JESUS CHRIST Atheists CLAIM that the BIBLE is just a worthless book of lies, myths, fictions, fantasies, and fairy tales and Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions BELIEVE the Unbiblical teachings and doctrines of their Pastors and Leaders about "hellfire", "afterlife", "Trinity", "Armageddon", "immortality of the souls", "rapture", and "reincarnation". JESUS CHRIST'S AUTHORITY and TEACHINGS BRING HONOR and ETERNAL LIFE and EXISTENCE on EARTH Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE that all persons on earth who accept Jesus Christ as the One given by the Creator all authority in heaven and on earth as written in Matthew 28: 18 and obey his instructions and teachings too about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead" as written in Luke 4: 43 and John 11: 25, 26 will definitely bring themselves honor and the loving, kind, and merciful Creator's favor and reward of ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and death as written in Revelation 21: 3, 4. Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE that the teaching of Jesus Christ about the "RESURRECTION of the DEAD" is the Creator's guarantee that loving, kind, considerate, and respectful persons on earth who died recently and thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Naomi, Ruth, King David, Jesus Christ's Followers and disciples, and many others will all be RESURRECTED back to life in the right and proper time so they can happily, abundantly, and peacefully live and exist on earth forever as submissive and obedient subjects of the "KINGDOM of GOD" and fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, goodness, compassions, generosities, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity under the loving and kind rulership, guidance, and protection of Jesus Christ as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler of the heavens and the earth as written in Revelation 11: 15.
Don't forget those supposedly trading in the temple were doing exactly as they were told to do in Torah: selling offerings for the forgiveness of their sins to be presented in the temple to the priests....lol
@@suicune2001 I feel sorry for the snake. He was slithering around, living his snaky life...gets snatched up....next thing you know he's in a room with crazy screaming humans, being grabbed and poked. What was he supposed to do? If I were that snake, I would have bitten the guy too.
Brandon, I have a bit of trivia you might find interesting. I was reading the commentary in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, and it connected the random young man in a loin cloth to the young man in the tomb wearing all white. It seems to be a literary device comparing the church/disciples at their lowest and most exposed to the moment they are redeemed by the tomb being empty. It's such a cool point, and yet Bible literalists will fail to consider it because, of course, everything must be seen as literal eye witness accounts (even though Mark wasn't an eye witness!). Heaven forbid we allow ourselves to read this as literature.
The empty tomb, missing bones and other very story elements used to illustrate that a person has been "called to the gods", resurected, become a god. We have even trivia literature in which a man thinks his lover became a goddess as the tomb was empty. (The sit com in the story is that pirates were raiding the tomb and found the dead one alive and took her with them.)
Thank you Brandon. For a non scholar you did an excellent job breaking down the hospital of Mark. That as well as your vom comparison to the other 3 canonizing gospels was par excellente. Keep up the good work!!!
"We have longer passages on how to put up tents!" Exactly. And for the act of crucifixion itself we have only one phrase in each of the four gospels, basically "and then they crucified him" as if it was way too shameful to describe what they did to Jesus when they did crucify him. Hence, the impossible nailing to a two-beam cross from Christian tradition. We actually have descriptions of the act of crucifixion or at least clues in the ancient Greek and Latin sources, such as Cicero's recounting of Gaius Verres' judicial murder of one Publius Gavius and Seneca's concise and to the point description of it in his Moral Epistles 101.10-14. And Jesus being caught after midnight in a public garden near an olive oil works with a nearly naked teenage boy, what was that all about? Matthew and Luke avoid mentioning it altogether and Secret Mark was written to provide a non-salacious explanation for it.
Thank you for being one of a kind channel! I dont know any channel that goes through every book of the bible including the New Testament so thank you for all the work you do! Its helped me greatly in my deconstruction journey 🎉🎉
Brandon, may i suggest a very important topic for a video? The people that Jesus resurrected and their fate afterwards. Some denominations say the die again. Some say they went to heaven sometime later. Were they resurrected or just revived? I have been talking to different catholic priests and even they don't agree with each other.
The Sun (God) symbolically dies and is born again at the winter solstice. This is necessary to go to Heaven (spring equinox - autumn equinox) aka the six "days" in Genesis one.
Love all these videos. When you finish the new testament series, would you consider doing the gnostic gospels too? Gospel of Thomas, etc. So thankful for you, Brandon! ❤
38:00 Jesus was quoting. Isaiah, in which Isaiah said: "unless they see. And be seen and repent and be forgiven." Isaiah 6:9. If they knew who Jesus was, they wouldn't have crucified him. And thus his reason for coming to earth would have been irrelevant.
The suffering and death of our Savior (the Sun) upon the cross (the autumnal equinox/Egypt) is but a repetition of the same old story in different language. He, too, descended after his crucifixion into the lower regions - into Hell, or winter; but revived in due time, and rode into the Holy City - Jerusalem (summer solstice), upon " an ass and a colt, the foal of an ass," astride the two, of course, working the most astounding miracles as he went; the boys and girls following after and crying out - Hosanna! while Bacchus, tickled by the drollery of his situation, and maybe a little fuddled with wine, for it is said that " wine cheereth the heart of both God and man,'' joyfully shouted : " Verily, if these should hold their peace I tell you the very stones would cry out."
@@harveywabbit9541 Are you really making sun-son comparisons? You realize the Bible was written in english, right? So your comparisons wouldn't make sense in a language like greek or aramaic.😅.
@@theflaggedyoutuberii4311 Isaiah 6 ..This chapter is unique and without parallel. It has never been commented upon in a way calculated to bring out its true sense and import; no one being capable or honest enough to do thus except the non-beneficiary. I proceed to unfold its mysteries. "In the year that king Uzziah (the summer Sun) died, Isaiah (the Savior, born at the winter solstice) saw the Lord (Adoni, the winter Sun, or Pluto,) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up (Sun at winter solstice), and his train (the summer constellations which were drawn after him) filled the temple (the opposite or summer hemisphere). Hence, the time, as it appears from the text, was mid- winter, and as the summer solstice is exactly opposite that of winter, the prophet (the Sun) saw in his dream = winter, the seraphim (from saraph - to burn, hence seraphim = the six summer, or burning months) standing above, or over it (Adoni's or Pluto's throne = winter solstice). It was the black boar (winter) that slays Adonis as the summer sun and forces him into the underworld (winter). Adonis is one of the many names of the Christian savior SUN. The Jews honor this sun with the name Adoni or Ad O Ni.
@26:35 - Well, less that the birth narrative and genealogies were "left out" and more that they hadn't yet been "added in" (or come up with, even potentially). I know you probably meant that, but just as a further clarification for any looking.
So glad to hear this! It's been a while since I read the Bible but this on guy keeps going on about how Jesus and the disciples didn't know he was meant to die, and I kept thinking that was wrong but didn't know where it specified that. Thanks!
Israel is two words of Isra (phallus) and el (god). Jesus, as the winter sun, is also the suffering servant. During summer, the sun is the giving servant who blesses us with the growth and harvest of the crops. Spring = Faith, Summer = Hope, and Winter = Charity.
@@harveywabbit9541 I was trying to find out where you got that Israeli translation from? Isra meaning The meaning of Isra is multifaceted and can be interpreted in various ways. Here are some possible meanings: Journey of the Night: In Islamic tradition, Isra refers to the Night Journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, where he was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to the “Farthest Mosque” (Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem) during the night. Nighttime Journey: Isra can also be interpreted as a journey or travel that takes place at night, symbolizing a spiritual or metaphorical journey. Travel or Journey: In a broader sense, Isra can be seen as a term for any kind of travel or journey, whether physical or metaphorical. Arabic Name: Isra is also an Arabic name given to both boys and girls, meaning “journey of the night”. It is a name that refers to the idea of traveling or moving through the night, and is often associated with the idea of spiritual growth and self-discovery.
In a few ways the Bible describes followers of Jesus and their capabilities it does appear there are no Christians and never have been. For no one in the history of Christianity has done anything even resembling "greater works" than the Messiah character. Just like no one has created a way to deliver more presents in one night than the fabulous Santa Claus character.
Showing my age 😎 I always thought the song, ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar’ from the rock opera posed interesting tensions: there’s a line where Judas sings, ‘’why’d you pick this time to come; Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication’ and ‘who are you? who do you think you are?’ We have unprecedented communication capabilities - the ability to transmit information in nanoseconds, worldwide, to pretty much the entire Earth. Why have God appear to a limited, even obscure group, with fragments of documents translated hundreds of ways, subject to thousands of interpretations? Believers will counter that the message of Jesus spread throughout the ancient world, demonstrating its Divine import - they count on the power of majority, not the strength of the ideas - and they conveniently forget that these beliefs were often delivered at the point of a sword or a gun
When I point out the misogyny in the Bible, Christians say God couldn't have been misogynistic because he let women be the first to see Jesus! And that's supposed to be some amazing statement, but it doesn't come remotely close to making up for the rest of the mistreatment of women in the book. If that's the best they have to show they are pro women, it's super weak.
@@dasbus9834 This makes no sense. In John this happened already before the body was buried and it was only custom to put their scenting stuff to keep the body from sticking for the funeral procession. As it is a greek texts by greek authors the only reason one goes to a grave after a burial is libation a custom very common in the greek world. Not to mention that the empty tomb was a greek authors troupe for "called to the god", resurrected, becoming a god. This is fiction which uses common story elements from Homer, Vergil, Euripides and greek philsophy.
found you today. Great points, very interesting to pick apart the new testament (bc the majority of atheist channels i follow talk about the ot) but above all i loved your presentation, your composure!
@@MindShift-Brandon Hey 👋🏻 Brandon just got done watching Mark: A very different Jesus. I love the part where you mentioned in Matthew about the ‘Saints’ that got up out of their graves and and just walked around the earth [Willy-Nilly]( I almost can see a Chris Rock comedy bit on this )🤣 I think Mark would have mentioned the dead rising. I would have thought it would be one of the most important parts. I don’t know why Matthew didn’t throw in a talking donkey with the Zombies, just for a plot twist 🤪
That jesus quote mark 9 42-43, the millstone thing, that suggests redemption is not possible. the idea being that if a person causes a child to sin that child is lost forever.
Linen = Earth. The naked guy (like Noah/Earth) symbolizes the winter season of nakedness. I was naked and you clothed me (with the crops of summer). Come springtime, Earth is clothed with verdure (Japheth's blanket). The coat of many colors is representative of Earth after the first major frost.
When you were covering Matthew last time, it brought to mind for me Pier Paolo Pasolini's film "Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo" (The Gospel According to Matthew), and how Jesus was depicted as inflammatory and aloof around his disciples, though very generous with his miracles. This week, Mark reminds me of Nikos Kazantzaki's novel (and Martin Scorsese's film), "The Last Temptation of Christ. Like Mark, this book and movie adaptation covered the action packed mission of Jesus as he goes among the lepers and the possessed. He calls himself the axe that cuts down the rotten tree. And when he finally arrives at the temple (after turning tables) and is on the cusp of leading a revolt, he chooses the path of the cross instead. The only major differences between Mark and the adaptations are Jesus being wracked with torment and doubt over his nature and mission at the beginning; his perceived longing for Mary Magdalene - who for some reason was a prostitute and conflated with the adulteress in John's Gospel; and his "last temptation," which was to live a life as a normal man. Aside from those three differences, I believe it's Mark all the way. I'm looking forward to Luke and John. And I know you're a very busy man, but I'd LOVE more "Dissecting the Divine" videos! Finally, I can't resist saying this. "Oh, hi, Mark!" I'm a fan of "The Room." Sue me. 😄
7:38 - I think it's also plausible that the historical Jesus really did want his Messianic image to be kept quiet, because he knew it would get him in trouble with the Romans. It was only at the last minute, when he was about to engage in righteous violence for the apocalypse, that someone decided it was best to turn him in rather than let him continue and get all the Jews in trouble.
The Jews were waiting for the apocalypse. One theory is that Judas name "Iscariot" is a reference to the daggermen of the Zealots. If you believed Jesus was the King who would throw Rome out of Israel, why not expose him? Jesus would just destroy all his persecutors with his god powers and prophetically determined victory. Especially if you were impatient with do nothing preaching rather than revolutionizing.
Thank you Brandon. I think this is the first episode I had to watch in smaller steps. You point out so many problematic things... I already left faith 1.5 years ago, actively deconstructing. So I heard a lot arguments against God and the bible. But in this episode, I realized, that my subconsciousness still somehow tried to keep Jesus in my mind as an entirely good person. I think, after this video, I dont see him this way anymore. (If he existed) he might have had some good characteristics, but more and more I see (and understand more deeply) that he was just agreeing with his father in most parts I find problematic. Thank you for speaking so openly... your videos help me soo much. Best wishes!
Jesus mentioned in the book of John 13:18 verse about Psalms 41:9 verse saying that it was a scripture about Judas Iscariot but it wasn't not if King David was talking about himself and not about Judas Iscariot on in the future
It’s fascinating to me how much of church tradition seems to be strategically anti-mythicist. Attributing authorship to Mark, a supposed companion of Peter, buries the fact that there is good reason to believe that the author of Mark had access to and was writing based off of the letters of Paul. Mark has Jesus parroting things that Paul wrote, and not just things Paul claimed to get “from the lord”, but also his own personal interpretations and opinions. This is interesting to me because Paul never met Jesus (at least while he was alive) and all his ideas of Jesus came from “revelation”, probably meaning dreams and epiphanies he had while reading Jewish scripture. Paul doesn’t really talk about the earthly ministry of Jesus at all. How did his authority win out against someone like Peter who supposedly knew an alive Jesus personally? Why does the first gospel written take so much from Paul and not Peter? Why did church tradition try to cover this up by naming the gospel after Mark? There are other instances of Paul’s authority winning over Peter and the other apostles who were actually supposed to have met a living Jesus, such as rules about gentiles becoming Christians. It’s all very perplexing to me, and makes me lean toward the mythicist position even though it’s fringe. I think that the way Christianity has developed in reality is more likely on the hypothesis that there was no actual living person who the religion was based on.
I love the mythicism debate. It gives me a great opportunity to explore my epistemology, because I don’t have a bias either way. Normally I would accept the scholarly consensus, but what I’ve read has caused enough doubt to leave me fully agnostic to the claim of a historical jesus. What I don’t understand is why the atheist historicist side seems to strawman the minimal mythicist position into a hard claim that there’s no historical jesus, when they are perfectly satisfied to call themselves atheists despite it being a “soft” or agnostic position.
@@riseofdarkleela I think the mythicist position is a bit daunting for many atheists because it’s almost literally a conspiracy theory. Minimal mythicism posits that the religion started without an actual living guy to base it off of (not too controversial), but then has to explain why so much church tradition over 2000 years and also scholarly consensus insists that a real guy did exist. It’s only explainable by an actual conspiracy in the church to steer the narrative that way and maybe even a conspiracy within academics related to Bible scholarship. Because of this, subscribing to a mythicist position or even an agnostic position regarding historicity can be seen to almost “dilute” the validity of an atheist’s position, as outwardly it may seem to others that their objection to Christianity and maybe religion in general is based on some crackpot conspiracy theory. What many atheists and Christians don’t grasp is that mythicism is rarely the basis for atheism. After all, the theory posits that the religion actually started knowing that there was no Jesus on earth that any human being interacted with, so clearly a religious believer can reconcile a mythical Jesus just as well as they can reconcile a mythical Adam. Basically, I think the main reason for the unpopularity of mythicism is still just stigma around even considering it. But mythicism of the Jewish patriarchs went through a similar trial, so maybe this will change one day.
About your point on just how few verses there actually are on the crucifixion, Genesis 36:31-43 is a long winded list of the kings and chiefs of Edom. It never comes up again in the Bible and has no theological relevance. It's a dead end bloodline for a neighboring kingdom that was allegedly descended from Essau, but it's a total dead end. You could cut that from the Bible and nothing would change. Yet when it comes to the most important information that could save you from eternal punishment, we get vague outlines and scant details. Did you know there's a sin that God can't forgive? If you commit this sin, then you're guaranteed to go to Hell. No appeal. No repentance. No second chances. No "if"s, "and"s, or "but"s. What is it? It's blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32). Sounds like a big deal. I'll bet you'd like to know a little more about what exactly constitutes that and how to make sure you avoid doing it even by accident right? Too bad. All the word count in the Bible was used up documenting the important stuff like how many donkeys were brought back from the Babylonian captivity (6,720), and how many slaves were in the whole assembly that returned (7,337).
JESUS CHRIST'S AUTHORITY and TEACHINGS BRING HONOR and ETERNAL LIFE and EXISTENCE on EARTH Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE that all persons on earth who accept Jesus Christ as the One given by the Creator all authority in heaven and on earth as written in Matthew 28: 18 and obey his instructions and teachings too about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead" as written in Luke 4: 43 and John 11: 25, 26 will definitely bring themselves honor and the loving, kind, and merciful Creator's favor and reward of ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and death as written in Revelation 21: 3, 4. Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE that the teaching of Jesus Christ about the "RESURRECTION of the DEAD" is the Creator's guarantee that loving, kind, considerate, and respectful persons on earth who died recently and thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Naomi, Ruth, King David, Jesus Christ's Followers and disciples, and many others will all be RESURRECTED back to life in the right and proper time so they can happily, abundantly, and peacefully live and exist on earth forever as submissive and obedient subjects of the "KINGDOM of GOD" and fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, goodness, compassions, generosities, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity under the loving and kind rulership, guidance, and protection of Jesus Christ as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler of the heavens and the earth as written in Revelation 11: 15.
Edom/Adam refers to the red earth and the season of winter. With the trinity of winter,-spring,-summer this would be sixty days on each side of the winter solstice. Esau, who loved red lentils is an example. The writers tell us that the winter solstice is in the sign of the goat. Edom is simply winter and the Edomites are those who dwell in the winter hemisphere. Note the blood (dam) in the word Adam (red earth).
@@harveywabbit9541 REJECTION of the BIBLE, the CREATOR, and JESUS CHRIST Atheists CLAIM that the BIBLE is not the "Word of God" and source of Truths but just a worthless book of lies, myths, fictions, fantasies, and fairy tales and Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions BELIEVE the Unbiblical teachings and doctrines of their Pastors and Leaders about "hellfire", "afterlife", "Trinity", "Armageddon", "immortality of the souls", "rapture", and "reincarnation". JESUS CHRIST'S AUTHORITY and TEACHINGS BRING HONOR and ETERNAL LIFE and EXISTENCE on EARTH Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE that all persons on earth who accept Jesus Christ as the One given by the Creator all authority in heaven and on earth as written in Matthew 28: 18 and obey his instructions and teachings too about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead" as written in Luke 4: 43 and John 11: 25, 26 will definitely bring themselves honor and the loving, kind, and merciful Creator's favor and reward of ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and death as written in Revelation 21: 3, 4. Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE that the teaching of Jesus Christ about the "RESURRECTION of the DEAD" is the Creator's guarantee that loving, kind, considerate, and respectful persons on earth who died recently and thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Naomi, Ruth, King David, Jesus Christ's Followers and disciples, and many others will all be RESURRECTED back to life in the right and proper time so they can happily, abundantly, and peacefully live and exist on earth forever as submissive and obedient subjects of the "KINGDOM of GOD" and fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, goodness, compassions, generosities, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity under the loving and kind rulership, guidance, and protection of Jesus Christ as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler of the heavens and the earth as written in Revelation 11: 15.
" who do you think i am" waits for response isn't that just probing for info and leaning in to their belief? 😅 like a cops asking " do you know why i stopped you?" ... trying to get a spontaneous confession.
My problem with Jesus at the temple is that you have this person, who's supposed to be the only one free of sin, the only one who is perfect and thus, perfectly righteous, and yet he couldn't think of a better way to deal with the situation than anger? I don't know, it just makes it kinda hard to think of Jesus as "perfect love" if he's so willing to use anger in order to achieve his goals, but it also kinda reflects on the god of the old testament, who always dealt with it's problem and the things he didn't like with so much anger, and killing. It might not be "controversial", but it is telling.
I've seen it argued that the naked man at the arrest is the young man at the empty tomb though I'm not sure the purpose of him in the narrative other then maybe redemption.
The men in white explain to people who do not know typical troupes of greek literature. The empty tomb is beside missing bones and other tropes the story element that tells us "the god elevated her", resurrection, becoming a god. Mark tries to write easy greek to reach a wider audience.
I wish I could find it but I could swear I heard the 2,000 pig thing was actually an allegory to a massacre that happened. The victims were being referred to as pigs.
Hogs are very tasty, especially when roasted whole. The Savior Sun/Servant, is born in Bethlehem (house of bread/Virgo) of Nazareth (zodiac), i.e., at the winter solstice, goes forth into the summer hemisphere to preach the gospel (God's spell, or, the seven summer months) of glad tidings (the summer crop), and returns thither again. This is his invariable round, though varied in the account to avoid monotony. Sometimes he is found at Capernaum, Chorazin, or Bethsaida, where he enters the synagogue on the Sabbath (winter), and preaches to the people. Thence he passes to his adopted country (summer), where he converses with the doctors in the temple. At another time he boards a ship (Noah's Ark, or the Whale of Jonah), and passes over to “his own city,” or, “to the land of Gennesaret” = the land of the Lyre, or of the seven summer months. No matter where, he is always present in heaven (summer), or in hell (winter). In summer he blesses and feeds the people; in winter he takes charge of the halt, the lame, the palsied, the blind, etc. These he protects during the inclemency of the season, and restores them in the spring, when he stands by the sea-side, down which the hogs, having got the devils in them, ran violently into the sea and were choked! The Hog (black boar) symbols winter and with the death of Miss Piggy, winter ends and it's off with planting the seeds of rye (the same seed that Onan spilled). The Ox (Taurus) will pull the seeder plow. Just like in the tale of Inanna and Dumuzi. Inanna became Venus and Dumuzi became Adonis.
As a child, I always wondered why there would be that many pigs in a Jewish nation given kosher laws. I suppose that the stationed Roman soldiers there might want a taste of home, but it still seems odd. Almost as if it's to show that consumption of pork is still prohibited under the teachings of Jesus despite Paul's protestations.
@@Charlotte_Martel Having taken a ship (Noah's) at Capernaum, with his disciples, Jesus passed over the lake (the rainy season), and arrived at the country of the Gadarenes (a patronym of Gad, God or Aries = March. As he was about to land, a naked man (the dreary and desolate Earth) met him. This poor man was possessed by a legion, or collection of Devils, who compelled him to go naked and dwell in the tombs (winter months). He had often (every winter) been caught by them and bound in chains and fetters (frost). But he had just broken his fetters, and was dwelling in the wilderness, the devils still keeping possession of him. The man wanted to get rid of them but they held on. When the Savior sided with the man, the naughty devils besought him not to order them into the deep. So, Jesus, commiserating the poor devils, told them to get into a herd of swine close by. No sooner, however, had they got possession of the unlucky grunters, than they raised the devil with them, and they all ran violently down a steep bank into the lake, and were choked. The hog was an emblem of winter. It is too late in the day to deny this. On some very ancient Greek coins a lion is seen killing a boar, i.e., summer succeeds winter. The Syrian Adonis was killed by a boar, and his death and resurrection were once celebrated the same as in the case of our Savior. See Pieta by Michelangelo, which depicts Venus holding Adonis.
@@Charlotte_Martel Maybe its code. If rebellious Zealots secretly massacred pigs meant to feed Romans, a story where Jesus excused this by saying "Oh they had demons in them" might have been a reference the enlightened would understand, but would not expose the rebels to the Romans.
Why did these stories only come to light decades later? Because they weren't needed as much until after the destruction of Jerusalem. Then they backdated their messiah to meet their "predicted" timeline from "prophecy." It doesn't seem very mysterious to me if the history is put into chronological order (Cephas' visions - Paul's visions - destruction of Jerusalem - Mark - Matthew - Luke- Acts - John). They didn't need a "Q" document, either. Every single one of them proved themselves capable of sheer invention. What they didn't agree with, they left out or changed. What they needed that wasn't there, they added. Their main other sources were "scripture," which was not limited to the current OT canon, and whatever pagan memes they wanted to own (e.g., water into wine, virgin birth, passion play, dying & rising god, baptism, the Lord's supper).
It seems very strange that the same person who talked about his yoke being easy and his burden light would then turn around and lay an even greater burden on the married. I will bet that there are very few Protestant pastors who would refuse to marry a couple where one or both were divorced, regardless of reason. Even though, as you pointed out, they are very scrupulous about following other scriptures when it suits them. It is this prohibition against remarriage after divorce that I think has caused the greatest loss of membership in the Catholic Church. Let's face it, very few people really relish the fact of spending the rest of their life alone. Yet that is what Jesus and the Catholic Church demands of people whose marriages have failed! There is only one exception to that rule, called the "Pauline Privilege", which says if a couple is married and one of them is not baptized (meaning baptized "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit") and the unbaptized person wishes to leave, then the baptized partner is free to remarry with the Church's blessing. This, as you can imagine, is really, really rare. The most common workaround is to seek an annulment which basically says the marriage never really happened or was not a valid marriage (this is a civil concept as well). I won't go into all the grounds for annulment, but the most pertinent ones are this: if a Catholic wishes to marry a divorced Protestant, the Protestant must seek a Catholic annulment of their Protestant marriage. Marriage between two Protestants by a Protestant minister is considered a valid marriage by the Catholic Church (as long as neither have been previously divorced). If a Catholic marries a non-Catholic in a non-Catholic ceremony, whether religious or civil, that marriage is NOT considered valid by the Catholic Church. This is different from the "Pauline Privilege" in that the Catholic partner is bound by the laws of the Catholic Church that says that the only valid form of marriage for a Catholic is to be married by a priest. A Catholic who gets married by any other means is considered to be living in mortal sin (fornication) and not eligible to receive communion. A Catholic who marries someone who has been divorced or is themselves divorced and subsequently remarries is also considered to be living in mortal sin (adultery) and cannot receive communion unless they and their partner agree to stop having sexual relations and live as brother or sister. Getting an annulment requires going through a tribunal that will go over your marriage with a fine-toothed comb, and they are not always granted. So what that means in the light of the fact that Christians get divorced at the same rate as their secular counterparts is that there are an awful lot of people who are automatically removed from the marriage pool right from the start, and the older one gets, the worse this situation gets. It really puts the single Catholic in a hard position because you only have one chance to get it right; if your marriage fails and you can't get it annulled you are in for a life of celibacy--unless you leave the Church. It also puts the single Catholic in a hard position because if they can't find a partner right away who has never been married, they themselves may never get married--again, unless they leave the Church. How the Catholic Church will resolve this problem, I have no idea. But by binding themselves to this interpretation of Jesus' teaching they have created a situation that perhaps causes as much or even more misery than what is caused by divorce.
Its an issue for reconcilation for the Eastern Orthodox as well. Orthodox priests get to marry before taking orders if they wish, which limits their advancement. From a Catholic point of view, they might be defrocked, I guess.
Maybe naked dude was *literally a cheeky allusion to the nakedness of being without service to christ and his own service, I doubt it but maybe it's a progenitor of the seed which became "Armour" of faith/grace
You truly are right about those 3 ingredients Brandon all other things are supplemental or don’t matter as most star bucks Christian’s focus on the ideas rather than the mythology. The mythology can be anything look at Scientology as long as the core hits the human core. Damn
2 down, 25 to go!
Love to get your take on Britt Hartley's new atheist book "No Nonsense Spirituality". I saw her on Mormon Stories.
@@jenna2431 Will look into her.
Do a vid ab Samson! And the book of Daniel if u haven’t already!
He's done every book in the Old Testament. He briefly mentions Samson in Judges. @user-s0m30n3
Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature.
" for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13.
I am so enthralled with these secular Bible studies and so happy to be tackling the New Testament. I just can’t understand how anyone could study the texts this closely and still come away believing it all. Cognitive dissonance is CRAZY. Thank you for the great work as always!
It is indeed, and thank you!
If I went to a grave where the body is supposed to be, and I saw that it was empty, it would never occur to me that the dead person came back to life and walked away. I would be like "who took the body?"
Which is probably the very reason why the gospel of Matthew tries to address this directly, and has guards added to the story.
@@dasbus9834
The dead (people in winter) rise from the grave (winter) and go into town. This is simply the passover from winter to spring.
@@harveywabbit9541 No. It's a literal claim to a literal resurrection. Whatever "scholar" told you that, stop listening.
I'd be wondering if I'd even gone to the right place first
Exactly. The original ending was simply just the grave being empty. The resurrection story was made up and added 200 years later.
Jesus, “Who do you think I am?” Response, “The Messiah.” Jesus, “Don’t tell anyone.” Remind you of someone? Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey! Good plot lines are used over and over! It is all manmade, not worth dying or killing for but look at all the lives lost for this crap over the millennia!! How tragic - what a waste. 😥
Love that! good catch, Beegee
I am not so much fan of Greek Mythology. But you could quote to me the part in Homer's Odyssey that resembles that Biblical passage?
And like Odysseus, right after Jesus openly declared himself the Messiah, everything went to sh^t for him.
Well said, straight to the point 👍
Thnx u dear, i agree 100% 🤝
"We have longer passages on how to put up tents" - I know right?!?!?! So much ridiculousness.
weird priorities in these books!
Incompetence is your God, having waited on the Jew' Messiah for 2000 years, indoctrinated by Roman literature.
" for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13.
You ignore the fact, not all of us can pretend prophesy & God exist. That is why Jesus Christ says, "Think not I come with peace, but sword".
It is amusing to hear the profound arrogance of someone knowing of God, as if He were known outside of fiction. The believer & the literate are separated by the vocabulary of fiction: Blasphemy, God, faith, prayer, prophet, scripture etc. Matthew 17:20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” I like asking believers how they can possibly think their faith is respectable, given Jesus said faith is worthless, since you can't expect obedience when ordering mountains to move? Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy".
"Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall". What is The Catholic faith? Organized crime, indoctrinating children with a fantasyland vocabulary? When men are free of religious notions they write, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy." "My sheep hear My voice" is the mindset of slavery. Once free of it, there are no suggestions we all travel better by having one foot in a stranger's fantasyland or Garden of Eden. A mind free of religious text is not tortured by pretending Divinity made Mormons so Christians would know how Jews feel, having pasted their books on to them both. Those looking for the sign of a resurrection, are a vile, "Wicked Generation" seeking signs, led by "wolves in sheep's clothing". "The only sign is that of Jonah"; a believer murdered by other believers. Chained to the slavery of faith, they write: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
One must be insanely arrogant to suggest knowing something of a God. It is by boldness, Moses became the world's worst navigator, by having one foot in some fantasyland. There is a fine line between fishing & standing on the shore, looking like an idiot. Fail to get the Jews to buy it for 2000 years & they should know who their Messiah is. Jesus is a fake, to immortalize the war against the Jews. Jesus Christ is crucified for all time in literature & the subjects of Rome are illiterate. Freud wrote, "The antidote to Christianity is literacy" & the joke is in the scriptures. "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Galatians 3:13
An improvement on your God & faith; would outlaw indoctrination & abuse of the vocabulary of fiction on children.
CREATING CHRIST - Official Documentary
John 13:18 verse: 'i am not referring to all of you I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the "scripture," he who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.....' (meaning Psalm's 41:9 verse he was saying was a scripture about Judas Iscariot betraying him.) When that wasn't any scripture about Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus but only a Psalm that king David wrote about himself
The writer of the book of John took the verse of Psalm's 41:9 and wrote it into John 13
So those Psalm's Psalm 69:25 and Psalms 41:9 weren't future prophecies that king David wrote about the messiah being betrayed by Judas Iscariot
So interesting to consider how the story developed and changed. My dad died a few years ago and during the last two weeks he was in the hospital, I only left his side to sleep for a few hours. All of my siblings were there regularly, taking shifts. The stories they tell now of those two weeks, and even some of the stories of my father’s life are so clearly shaped by their coping mechanisms but more significantly by their spiritual beliefs, spiritual goals, and desire to highlight their part in his life. The stories continue to evolve with a couple of siblings regularly getting messages and special help from my dead father.
I was there, I know those are distortions, but what is told now by some is definitely a re-writing of events, a filling in of interpretation to meet their desires and beliefs. There is even a sibling who is tweaking the family tree to alter my dad’s ancestry, inserting their own preferences. Good one, Brandon! I’ll be re-watching it several times. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Another good example of how stories change and are remembered differently is the 1965 Dylan going electric controversy. Nobody can quite say what happened that day, and there were hundreds of witnesses and film!
Brandon, You are incredibly eloquent and concise!🏆
Thank you for ALL you do to help us that are questioning, deconverting and deconstructing! 💜🎉
Appreciate the compliment and it is my pleasure to be of any help at all!
Brandon is in a comfort zone where he gets dopamine hits by bashing God. He merely has a chip on his shoulder. No eloquence, nothing to be admired.
In Spring 2022, I decided to sign up for a course for the Fall 2022 semester that analyzed the Gospel of Mark because I was going through an awful patch of life and was hoping to strengthen my faith and become a better Christian.
However, by the time the end of September 2022, I ended up deconverting from Christianity because of all of the contradictions between Matthew and Luke, and really the problems with the Bible and Christianity in general.
I’m still going through a rough patch now, but because I’m actually getting help through therapy, and not hearing “God has a plan for you” all the time, I feel like I can get out of it.
Thanks Brandon for an amazing episode!
best to you!
After what I call the “Life Implosion of 2016” I was in an emotional holding pattern despite leaning hard into spiritual practice until I stopped believing in 2020. So much of what you say here resonates with me. Best wishes for your improved mental health! 🎉
Therapy for the win! Wishing you well!
People take the effort to produce this around 90 gospels of only four made it into the story collection because they had totally different views. You take such a time and costly thing as writing only on you when you consider the other texts inferior or outright false. So we have a way for the Iesous and who can create him in his image. Authors made it up again and again and again.
The zombies were a total deal breaker for me, The idea that such a thing could have happened and not been documented everywhere and everyhow was preposterous. And don't Tell me paper was too expensive back then.
46:42 "Is God's power dependent off of our faith?"...
This whole idea was used in the churches I attended as a rebuke as to why God wouldn't answer certain prayer or heal people, etc. The claim that I have "sin" in my life that's hidden and that's why God can't/won't act on behalf of your wife, child, Grandma, whatever. Somehow God can't or won't heal my wife (who has her own relationship with God) because of what I'm doing, as head of my household.. that's abusive and completely illogical. I see it as a cop-out excuse for unanswered prayer and lack of activity of a God who supposedly "so loved the world".
It kills the omnipotent/omni-benevolent vibe that they want us to swallow.
same here. i consider it abuse
I asked myself that question, and, all I got out of it was "Not really".
At last, the gospel according to me!
lol!
I like your work.😂
😂😂😂
You might have been named after a lie, but at least you weren't named after two forgeries. :-(
My dad LOVED to scare me with the unpardonable sin. When I was a budding young Christian, he would intentionally cause me to doubt my salvation every chance he got.
Thats so sick and terrible. I still owe you a message!
@@MindShift-Brandon Wow, I did not see this from you until now. Look forward to hearing from you!
I just started the video, but the statement "Mark is quick" made me laugh because the video is almost an hour long!
lol, hey to be fair its 10 minutes shorter than my Matthew Video.
Mark was quick to jump over the candlestick. He didn't want his balls to get scorched.
...and?
Love waking up to a new video
Appreciate you being here for it!
Can I just say I watch your videos over and over, I found your channel when I was going through a crisis concerning my faith when I was having doubts about where I was going when I died and I don't want to sound cheesy or anything but you were truly a light in the darkness.
I am thrilled to hear it. Its the whole goal of the channel. Thanks for saying something!
I rewatch them too! There's a lot to unpack and Brandon lays it out quickly and concisely, so circling back is always good..
Growing up as a child believing you could go to a place called hell was very traumatizing for me. I have deconstructed from all religion and feel more at peace than ever.
Hell is real. So is Jesus. If you live your life perfectly, then you don’t need Jesus. You’re not just material or atoms. You have a purpose and you matter. Life don’t come from non life. Jesus have you life, the least you can do is look at where the evidence points. This man here sits and lies about the gospel with a straight face 😂😂. Mark is very clear on who Jesus is in the gospel if you read it without presupposed bias.
This channel, especially the Bible breakdowns, have been INSTRUMENTAL in my waking up from the JW cult.
Thank you for this series🙏🏾
happy SBS day! let’s go
Thursdays are my new favorite day of the week, sbs daaaaay🎉🎉🎉🎉
Wow, as a kid, i wasnt told about the different versions of stories. Your video definitely sheds a lot of light on stuff. Thanks!
Glad to help!
I’m going to have to listen again because I succumbed to the temptation to start reading the comments section. Oh well, the algorithm will approve! I very much enjoy your content, especially the thought and care you put into subjects around which people will get emotional and flustered. Cheers!
This is by far the most thorough study of any of the gospels that I have ever heard. The rest of them following Mark All fuel like retcons. Quite frankly, the whole Bible is nothing but canon welding.
Thanks so much!
Again, truly I say to you, this is one of my favorite UA-cam series/playlist. Thanks for the hard work Brandon!
Lol! Love that
Knocking it out of the park! Absolutely loved this and gave me a lot to think about.
Great job! Love this level of detail - while there's always more to be said (especially for the gospels) and there are many resources which do just that and focus on individual aspects, you manage to give a great overview without ever being superficial or boring.
Thank you for that, because the line seems to be so hard for me to find, ha. So glad to hear its working out. You nailed my exact concerns in covering a gospel in under an hour.
@@MindShift-Brandon I imagine it wasn't an easy call to make about how to set it up, and I guess there will be people who can find it overwhelming (and let's not even mention the "you're missing the context!!!" squad 😂). But even if I can only speak for myself, I think the overall feedback shows what you're doing is both unique and working well 👍
Looking forward to Luke!
Thanks for the journey thus far and to come!!
You bet! Thank you so much for the support!
For all of you who haven’t read the gospel of Judas, I urge you to do so. Even though it’s not canonical scripture, it gives quite a enlightening insight into a different Jesus from the one we all know
Yeah, I enjoyed the read. I prefer that version over the one we got. It's my head canon. Lol
its wild because when i hear all this its just like hearing about every other cult ive ever learned about and if they did take the normal doomsday cult path of progressive abuse and isolation under threat of the end of days then it really would make sense if judas was just a whistle blower who got defamed by the cult because of the whole, ya know, getting their leader killed thing
edit-if any of it is historically true I should add
@@suicune2001Absolutely living for the idea of a biblical head canon rn
I was really looking forward to this one! Out of all of the books in the Bible, this is the one that fascinated me the most as I was deconstructing my Christian upbringing. Learning about the scholarship behind the gospels, dating, authorship, and literary technique, particularly framing Mark as the beginning of a growing legend, helped me see that the historical evolution in my religion was as malleable and natural as everyone else's.
I grew up thinking every religion was a culture's best guess at the world around them shaped by their local history, but the leadership above me just happened to have the best evidence and scholarship to increase the likelihood of Christianity above others. Unknowingly "turning off" what I first thought was a religious experience in the middle of feeling it made me wonder, "Is there any real merit to Christianity beyond this fleeting feeling?" The NT was where I started my deep dive. When I could finally access scholarship and published journals on the whole, apostasy was my only option by the end of the week.
I like how the AI thinks Jesus is Jim Caviezel.
Loving this. You've got a 'gift'!
Thanks for the recommendation against snake handling! Good stuff, thank you!
Another masterpiece! I'm writing stuff down non stop
Laughed out loud on your remarks on 8:33 😂 Such a good series. Your commentary on these really make sense on the goals from the writers of Matthew and Luke vs Mark. Really solid, straight forward explanations, excellent work!
Dammit! I can't finish this on my 30 minute lunch break.... 😢 (A good problem to have! Thank you, Brandon!)
You can always try 2x playback speed.
I wouldn't recommend it though 🙃
@@dasbus9834 hahaha that would be crazy :-)
Ha! Love it
@@dasbus9834 1.5 is a good compromise. Fast enough to spend it up but slow enough to comprehend and digest.
We appreciate you Brandon! These are valuable perspectives from a former Christian.
Someday, he will overcome the scars of religion.
Thanks so much!
If the disciples meeting the resurrected Jesus narrative were true, or even a part of the original story, you'd think it would be in the oldest manuscripts of the first gospel. But, it's not.
I am an atheistic/agnostic, but it is possible that the original "Mark" DID contain further narrative and that further narrative got separated and lost. Then, later, someone made up and inserted an addition. The end part of "Mark" as it exists in the earliest manuscripts does seem to end abruptly, indicating there may have been more in the original.
@@18471902 No it isn't Marc made up a story unknown to most or all. He explains the reader over and over and over why they never heard about this story. For this he uses the elements from Homer (one of the books one learns to formulate and emulate in learning greek writing).
Just watched this for the second time in 2 days (things can take me a while) and want to thank you.
So, Peter's greatest failure is his denial of Jesus, but Jesus' denial of his mother and brothers in Matthew 12:48-50 is all fine? Hardly seems fair.
The earliest Gospel is a fascinating text, and, as you pointed out, not necessarily a slouch on narrative and literary techniques either. My personal favourite aspect is the little bit of irony in Mark's original ending - for most of this Gospel, the Messianic secret his been maintained, Jesus saying 'don't tell anyone!' at every opportunity. And then, finally, the plan has been fulfilled, the resurrection is a success, and the truth is to be unveiled. The man at the tomb instructs the women to tell the disciples...and then, because they're afraid, they don't say anything to anyone. D'oh!
But I have to wonder - given the lack of resurrection appearances in Mark's original ending, at what point in the story's development did they become definitively corporeal, rather than what could easily be interpreted as just visions? In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul includes himself at the conclusion of the list of people Jesus appeared to, and makes no distinction in these appearances, despite the tradition surrounding him being very different to the post-resurrection appearances described in later Gospels. And, given how much the proto-Orthodox Christians had to deal with docetic claims...well, you can come to your own conclusion about that.
I have to say, when I was a Christian, the pig-killing did definitely bother me. It seemed so needlessly destructive and cruel - but the other story of Jesus that sticks in mind as being problematic when I was believer was the remark he made that accompanies his anointing in all Gospels except Luke. Why should the expensive perfume be used on him rather than sold and the proceeds given to the poor? Well, according to Jesus, it's because you'll always have the poor, but not him, so there. If anyone needed a model for self-righteous televangelists justifying their constant indulgences, you've got it here in Jesus.
Mark 4:10-12 is indeed bizarre - I can't think of any context, either from the historical Jesus or from someone trying to weave a narrative about him, where something like this would make any sense. But you're right that (you didn't quite use these words) believers are conditioned to see Jesus in a certain way. It's so pervasive that Bart Ehrman has recounted occasions where he's asked his students to read that passage and then say why Jesus spoke in parables - their usual reply is something like, 'so people can understand and digest Jesus' message.' They may have to read it through several times before the more awkward truth sinks in. With passages like this, the proto-Orthodox crew shouldn't have been surprised when gnosticism became very popular. "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death." (Gospel of Thomas, saying 1.)
Just one more thing regarding Jesus' anger at the temple - I agree there's a place for righteous anger, but at the very least, a portrayal of the perfect model of righteousness (especially with what Jesus said about anger elsewhere) would be able to limit the physical reactions one would think. Notice, that whereas Luke simply 'drives out' the merchants, Matthew and Mark both include the overturning of tables and seats, which is still somehow calmer than John's version where Jesus fashions himself a whip. (!)
I can forgive and rationalize much. Even the idea that an in-group should speak in code...Jesus was a Zealot, he was a revolutionary..but the bit "so those others don't get forgiven" is unthinkable for the persona we are asked to accept.
The rest of Mark portrays a Jesus who is secretive and domineering and ambitious and hypocritical. This vision is more a charismatic and manipulative cult leader. It is..disappointing to me, personally.
It makes me wonder where the beautiful ideas came from, and if they were the typical love bombing empowerment that cult leaders do to ensnare people.
This is so good I have to listen again! I always see things I didn't previously in your breakdowns. 👍🏼😎
Thats all I can hope for. Thank you!
Haven't had a chance to watch this one yet, but I loved the Matthew video. I think your style speaks to a lot of us who were raised in evangelical or fundamentalist churches, because it's similar to the way they approach bible study. It's not some distant, feel good approach, but actually getting into the bible. I could see this style of content being more persuasive to the people I grew up around, and it's very interesting to me, as I return to the bible. This time studying it from a critical, historical perspective, rather than God's inspired words.
Appreciate you being here and the feedback!
I've been watching the 'Tovia Singer' UA-cam channel where Rabbi Tovia Singer covers a lot of the same subjects you present from a Hebrew point of view. Apparently a lot of the claims of the New Testament come nowhere near matching their purported links to the old Testament, and he shows where the writers of the Gospels and Paul were comfortable just making stuff up when it suited their purposes. Of course, Rabbi Singer is a certainly a theist, but he's a very educated expert on the Old Testament.😊❤❤
A brilliant explanation to show how convoluted all of these stories when closely examined really are
Have you ever thought of including the paralels noted between Greek literature such as Homer and the stories in the gospels?
Goggle....Zeus and Hermes visit Philemon and Baucis...Then compare this to Lot and his Wife at Sodom.
A whole video on it coming!
I never thought about the problem of there being an unforgivable sin that Jesus’ sacrifice was incapable of covering before. Unique insights like this are one of the reasons I love your channel so much.
Dictionary says - speaking or committing an act against God. Disobedience to the word of God.
Bible says - 1. Trespassing against God, Ezek 20:27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
2. To speak against, 42 Luke 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
3. Not obeying the word of God, Titus 2:5 obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." When you disobey the word of God, you are blaspheming it.
If you remain in this state throughout your life, you will not be pardoned in the judgment at the end of your life nor the eternal judgment at the end of time.
@@Knowledge_Shall_Be_IncreasedThat’s one interpretation I suppose, although it kind of sounds like you’re equating any sin (disobeying god) to the unforgivable sin?
@jonsebastian4672 your exactly right. If a person continues to willfully sin, they are blaspheming the Holy Ghost, and they will not be forgiven at the final judgment. There are many judgments. One after each death and one final. You and I are here in this life because we did not overcome the world in our previous life, or lives. The Bible teaches that if we do overcome, we will remain resting in our grave until He returns. Not many teach this, but the Bible backs it up..
@@Knowledge_Shall_Be_Increased “Not many teach this” yeah I figured, that’s the case for most pet theories like this. Regardless of what it’s actually supposed to mean, which no one has any basis for determining definitively, the fact that an unforgivable sin exists at all suggests that Jesus’ sacrifice wasn’t powerful enough to do what it was supposed to do, which is the point of my initial post.
@jonsebastian4672 I think you have misunderstood what Jesus is truly about. Jesus didn't die to save you. He died so you could save yourself. You are completely free to believe whatever you wish. One way or another, you are going to reap the benefits of your choice.
Very educational. I learn so much from your videos. Thanks for sharing your experience and your insight into the world of the Bible.
So glad to help!
This should be very interesting and informative. Thanks Brandon
Hope so!
Excellent presentation as usual! Thanks!
Excellent work, Brandon! Wow, 40 years as a devoted fundamentalist Christian and I never heard anyone preach of that verse in Mark 4. I obviously read it when I read the bible cover-to-cover, but I bet the brainwashing was such that my mind probably blocked out verses like that by default.
REJECTION of the BIBLE, the CREATOR, and JESUS CHRIST
Atheists
CLAIM
that the BIBLE is just a worthless book of lies, myths, fictions, fantasies, and fairy tales
and
Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions
BELIEVE
the Unbiblical teachings and doctrines of their Pastors and Leaders about "hellfire", "afterlife", "Trinity", "Armageddon", "immortality of the souls", "rapture", and "reincarnation".
JESUS CHRIST'S AUTHORITY and TEACHINGS BRING HONOR and ETERNAL LIFE and EXISTENCE on EARTH
Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world
DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE
that
all persons on earth who accept Jesus Christ as the One given by the Creator all authority in heaven and on earth
as written in Matthew 28: 18
and obey his instructions and teachings too about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead"
as written in Luke 4: 43 and John 11: 25, 26
will
definitely bring themselves honor and the loving, kind, and merciful Creator's favor and reward of ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and death as written in Revelation 21: 3, 4.
Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world
DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE
that
the teaching of Jesus Christ about the "RESURRECTION of the DEAD"
is
the Creator's guarantee that loving, kind, considerate, and respectful persons on earth who died recently and thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Naomi, Ruth, King David, Jesus Christ's Followers and disciples, and many others
will
all be RESURRECTED back to life in the right and proper time so they can happily, abundantly, and peacefully live and exist on earth forever as submissive and obedient subjects of the "KINGDOM of GOD"
and fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, goodness, compassions, generosities, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity
under the loving and kind rulership, guidance, and protection of Jesus Christ as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler of the heavens and the earth as written in Revelation 11: 15.
Exactly! And thank you!
The fig tree has a parallel in the Odyssey with the grove that bears fruit year round.
The Egyptian Hathor was the lady of the fig tree.
I just love the secular Bible study series. Fantastic job and thank you.
Thanks, Jeff!
Don't forget those supposedly trading in the temple were doing exactly as they were told to do in Torah: selling offerings for the forgiveness of their sins to be presented in the temple to the priests....lol
Thank you mind shift for sharing this picture and information with us ❤
Another excellent episode.
Great work Brandon. :)
Thank you. 🙏
......"tragic, but hilarious". LOL You slay me.
lol!
When he said it happened in the south, I was not surprised. Lol
@@suicune2001 I feel sorry for the snake. He was slithering around, living his snaky life...gets snatched up....next thing you know he's in a room with crazy screaming humans, being grabbed and poked. What was he supposed to do? If I were that snake, I would have bitten the guy too.
Brandon, I have a bit of trivia you might find interesting. I was reading the commentary in the New Oxford Annotated Bible, and it connected the random young man in a loin cloth to the young man in the tomb wearing all white. It seems to be a literary device comparing the church/disciples at their lowest and most exposed to the moment they are redeemed by the tomb being empty. It's such a cool point, and yet Bible literalists will fail to consider it because, of course, everything must be seen as literal eye witness accounts (even though Mark wasn't an eye witness!). Heaven forbid we allow ourselves to read this as literature.
Fascinating!
The empty tomb, missing bones and other very story elements used to illustrate that a person has been "called to the gods", resurected, become a god. We have even trivia literature in which a man thinks his lover became a goddess as the tomb was empty. (The sit com in the story is that pirates were raiding the tomb and found the dead one alive and took her with them.)
Thank you Brandon. For a non scholar you did an excellent job breaking down the hospital of Mark. That as well as your vom comparison to the other 3 canonizing gospels was par excellente. Keep up the good work!!!
Appreciate that!
Hey, love your work. This video volume was relatively low, FYI. thanks.!
Great job! You knocked this one out of the park
Thank you!
"We have longer passages on how to put up tents!"
Exactly. And for the act of crucifixion itself we have only one phrase in each of the four gospels, basically "and then they crucified him" as if it was way too shameful to describe what they did to Jesus when they did crucify him. Hence, the impossible nailing to a two-beam cross from Christian tradition.
We actually have descriptions of the act of crucifixion or at least clues in the ancient Greek and Latin sources, such as Cicero's recounting of Gaius Verres' judicial murder of one Publius Gavius and Seneca's concise and to the point description of it in his Moral Epistles 101.10-14.
And Jesus being caught after midnight in a public garden near an olive oil works with a nearly naked teenage boy, what was that all about? Matthew and Luke avoid mentioning it altogether and Secret Mark was written to provide a non-salacious explanation for it.
Thank you for being one of a kind channel! I dont know any channel that goes through every book of the bible including the New Testament so thank you for all the work you do! Its helped me greatly in my deconstruction journey 🎉🎉
So glad to itch that scratch!
What are you deconstructing? Paradise?
@@ralphricart3177deconstructing lies 🤗
@@iaminevitable_ What lies? Name one.
@@ralphricart3177 the bible 🤷🏻♀️
You are an absolute genius. You should have 10 million+ followers.
Love it! ✌🏽
Well done Sir Brandon!
Brandon, may i suggest a very important topic for a video? The people that Jesus resurrected and their fate afterwards. Some denominations say the die again. Some say they went to heaven sometime later. Were they resurrected or just revived? I have been talking to different catholic priests and even they don't agree with each other.
Its a good topic for sure, thank you!
The Sun (God) symbolically dies and is born again at the winter solstice. This is necessary to go to Heaven (spring equinox - autumn equinox) aka the six "days" in Genesis one.
U keep putting out good videos
Glad to hear it. Thanks!
Love all these videos. When you finish the new testament series, would you consider doing the gnostic gospels too? Gospel of Thomas, etc. So thankful for you, Brandon! ❤
Thank you very much, and yes! planning on it.
@@MindShift-Brandon Yahoo! I'm so excited! You are helping so many people! 😁
Yes please please please... the Nag Hammadi collection next!!!!
38:00 Jesus was quoting. Isaiah, in which Isaiah said: "unless they see. And be seen and repent and be forgiven." Isaiah 6:9.
If they knew who Jesus was, they wouldn't have crucified him. And thus his reason for coming to earth would have been irrelevant.
The suffering and death of our Savior (the Sun) upon the cross (the autumnal equinox/Egypt) is but a repetition of the same old story in different language. He, too, descended after his crucifixion into the lower regions - into Hell, or winter; but revived in due time, and rode into the Holy City - Jerusalem (summer solstice), upon " an ass and a colt, the foal of an ass," astride the two, of course, working the most astounding miracles as he went; the boys and girls following after and crying out - Hosanna! while Bacchus, tickled by the drollery of his situation, and maybe a little fuddled with wine, for it is said that " wine cheereth the heart of both God and man,'' joyfully shouted : " Verily, if these should hold their peace I tell you the very stones would cry out."
@@harveywabbit9541 Are you really making sun-son comparisons? You realize the Bible was written in english, right? So your comparisons wouldn't make sense in a language like greek or aramaic.😅.
@@theflaggedyoutuberii4311
Isaiah 6
..This chapter is unique and without parallel. It has never been commented upon in a way calculated to bring out its true sense and import; no one being capable or honest enough to do thus except the non-beneficiary. I proceed to unfold its mysteries.
"In the year that king Uzziah (the summer Sun) died, Isaiah (the Savior, born at the winter solstice) saw the Lord (Adoni, the winter Sun, or Pluto,) sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up (Sun at winter solstice), and his train (the summer constellations which were drawn after him) filled the temple (the opposite or summer hemisphere). Hence, the time, as it appears from the text, was mid- winter, and as the summer solstice is exactly opposite that of winter, the prophet (the Sun) saw in his dream = winter, the seraphim (from saraph - to burn, hence seraphim = the six summer, or burning months) standing above, or over it (Adoni's or Pluto's throne = winter solstice).
It was the black boar (winter) that slays Adonis as the summer sun and forces him into the underworld (winter).
Adonis is one of the many names of the Christian savior SUN. The Jews honor this sun with the name Adoni or Ad O Ni.
I think Harvey might be a bot? They reply to almost every comment with something that never quite addresses what that person actually said…
Thank you Brandon, so pleased we’re on the NT now ❤️
@26:35 - Well, less that the birth narrative and genealogies were "left out" and more that they hadn't yet been "added in" (or come up with, even potentially). I know you probably meant that, but just as a further clarification for any looking.
So glad to hear this! It's been a while since I read the Bible but this on guy keeps going on about how Jesus and the disciples didn't know he was meant to die, and I kept thinking that was wrong but didn't know where it specified that. Thanks!
Really interesting show . Thanks for explaining all that .
Despite what so many claim, the "suffering servant" doesn't refer to Jesus.. it refers to Israel.
Anything else is nothing but retcon.
Indeed!
Retcon by whom?
Israel is two words of Isra (phallus) and el (god).
Jesus, as the winter sun, is also the suffering servant. During summer, the sun is the giving servant who blesses us with the growth and harvest of the crops. Spring = Faith, Summer = Hope, and Winter = Charity.
@@harveywabbit9541 I was trying to find out where you got that Israeli translation from?
Isra meaning
The meaning of Isra is multifaceted and can be interpreted in various ways. Here are some possible meanings:
Journey of the Night: In Islamic tradition, Isra refers to the Night Journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, where he was transported from the Great Mosque of Mecca to the “Farthest Mosque” (Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem) during the night.
Nighttime Journey: Isra can also be interpreted as a journey or travel that takes place at night, symbolizing a spiritual or metaphorical journey.
Travel or Journey: In a broader sense, Isra can be seen as a term for any kind of travel or journey, whether physical or metaphorical.
Arabic Name: Isra is also an Arabic name given to both boys and girls, meaning “journey of the night”. It is a name that refers to the idea of traveling or moving through the night, and is often associated with the idea of spiritual growth and self-discovery.
@@harveywabbit9541maybe you were watching Austin Powers?
In a few ways the Bible describes followers of Jesus and their capabilities it does appear there are no Christians and never have been.
For no one in the history of Christianity has done anything even resembling "greater works" than the Messiah character.
Just like no one has created a way to deliver more presents in one night than the fabulous
Santa Claus character.
Showing my age 😎
I always thought the song, ‘Jesus Christ, Superstar’ from the rock opera posed interesting tensions: there’s a line where Judas sings, ‘’why’d you pick this time to come; Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication’ and ‘who are you? who do you think you are?’
We have unprecedented communication capabilities - the ability to transmit information in nanoseconds, worldwide, to pretty much the entire Earth. Why have God appear to a limited, even obscure group, with fragments of documents translated hundreds of ways, subject to thousands of interpretations?
Believers will counter that the message of Jesus spread throughout the ancient world, demonstrating its Divine import - they count on the power of majority, not the strength of the ideas - and they conveniently forget that these beliefs were often delivered at the point of a sword or a gun
1000%!
I think this why Biblical scholars love this play.
I'm not Christian but I've always loved that musical. ❤️
When I point out the misogyny in the Bible, Christians say God couldn't have been misogynistic because he let women be the first to see Jesus! And that's supposed to be some amazing statement, but it doesn't come remotely close to making up for the rest of the mistreatment of women in the book. If that's the best they have to show they are pro women, it's super weak.
Don't forget they were supposedly there for embalming the body. A pretty unpleasant task so it was reserved for women.
@@dasbus9834 Very true
Genesis 3, he condemned women for all eternity to be the slaves of men. Of course he's a misogynist.
@@dasbus9834 This makes no sense. In John this happened already before the body was buried and it was only custom to put their scenting stuff to keep the body from sticking for the funeral procession. As it is a greek texts by greek authors the only reason one goes to a grave after a burial is libation a custom very common in the greek world. Not to mention that the empty tomb was a greek authors troupe for "called to the god", resurrected, becoming a god. This is fiction which uses common story elements from Homer, Vergil, Euripides and greek philsophy.
Thanks! I love secular Bible study. 👍
found you today.
Great points, very interesting to pick apart the new testament (bc the majority of atheist channels i follow talk about the ot) but above all i loved your presentation, your composure!
Such kind feedback. Thank you very much and appreciate you being here now!
This is great. Keep up the good work 👍
Thank you!
Bart Ehrman’s favorite gospel. I can’t wait to watch this one, Brandon. 👍🏼
oh cool, i didn't know that. Mine too. PS, i owe you an email! have not forgotten. just need life to calm down a minute.
@@MindShift-Brandon Hey 👋🏻 Brandon just got done watching Mark: A very different Jesus.
I love the part where you mentioned in Matthew about the ‘Saints’ that got up out of their graves and and just walked around the earth [Willy-Nilly]( I almost can see a Chris Rock comedy bit on this )🤣
I think Mark would have mentioned the dead rising. I would have thought it would be one of the most important parts. I don’t know why Matthew didn’t throw in a talking donkey with the Zombies, just for a plot twist 🤪
That jesus quote mark 9 42-43, the millstone thing, that suggests redemption is not possible. the idea being that if a person causes a child to sin that child is lost forever.
Bravo. Thank you.
Thanks!
I was told that the random naked guy was a secret cameo by the author of Mark lol
Linen = Earth. The naked guy (like Noah/Earth) symbolizes the winter season of nakedness. I was naked and you clothed me (with the crops of summer). Come springtime, Earth is clothed with verdure (Japheth's blanket). The coat of many colors is representative of Earth after the first major frost.
@@harveywabbit9541 that's one way to put it!
@@jaynajuly2140
We can thank Josephus for this one.
Lol!
When you were covering Matthew last time, it brought to mind for me Pier Paolo Pasolini's film "Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo" (The Gospel According to Matthew), and how Jesus was depicted as inflammatory and aloof around his disciples, though very generous with his miracles. This week, Mark reminds me of Nikos Kazantzaki's novel (and Martin Scorsese's film), "The Last Temptation of Christ. Like Mark, this book and movie adaptation covered the action packed mission of Jesus as he goes among the lepers and the possessed. He calls himself the axe that cuts down the rotten tree. And when he finally arrives at the temple (after turning tables) and is on the cusp of leading a revolt, he chooses the path of the cross instead. The only major differences between Mark and the adaptations are Jesus being wracked with torment and doubt over his nature and mission at the beginning; his perceived longing for Mary Magdalene - who for some reason was a prostitute and conflated with the adulteress in John's Gospel; and his "last temptation," which was to live a life as a normal man. Aside from those three differences, I believe it's Mark all the way. I'm looking forward to Luke and John. And I know you're a very busy man, but I'd LOVE more "Dissecting the Divine" videos!
Finally, I can't resist saying this. "Oh, hi, Mark!" I'm a fan of "The Room." Sue me. 😄
Can you pleaseeee do an analysis on Samson please it’s one of my favorite Bible stories I think it’s so interesting
Samson is a shoddy copy of Hercules.
Mark 16:9-20 was added hundreds years after original Gospel, the Gospel of Mark ends in 16:8.
7:38 - I think it's also plausible that the historical Jesus really did want his Messianic image to be kept quiet, because he knew it would get him in trouble with the Romans. It was only at the last minute, when he was about to engage in righteous violence for the apocalypse, that someone decided it was best to turn him in rather than let him continue and get all the Jews in trouble.
The Jews were waiting for the apocalypse. One theory is that Judas name "Iscariot" is a reference to the daggermen of the Zealots. If you believed Jesus was the King who would throw Rome out of Israel, why not expose him? Jesus would just destroy all his persecutors with his god powers and prophetically determined victory. Especially if you were impatient with do nothing preaching rather than revolutionizing.
If you can, sir, after the series, perhaps analyse some of the apocryphal books of the Bible as they may have some impact on the Christian culture.
absolutely!
Thank you Brandon. I think this is the first episode I had to watch in smaller steps.
You point out so many problematic things... I already left faith 1.5 years ago, actively deconstructing. So I heard a lot arguments against God and the bible. But in this episode, I realized, that my subconsciousness still somehow tried to keep Jesus in my mind as an entirely good person. I think, after this video, I dont see him this way anymore. (If he existed) he might have had some good characteristics, but more and more I see (and understand more deeply) that he was just agreeing with his father in most parts I find problematic.
Thank you for speaking so openly... your videos help me soo much.
Best wishes!
Appreciate you sharing your thoughts here! The image we had of jesus as Christians is indeed the hardest to let go.
Hey Church, if you ever get a do-over, maybe hire some editors
lol!
Jesus mentioned in the book of John 13:18 verse about Psalms 41:9 verse saying that it was a scripture about Judas Iscariot but it wasn't not if King David was talking about himself and not about Judas Iscariot on in the future
King David never was, he is made to symbol the summer sun.
No notes, loved it, this is just an algorithm boosting comment!
It’s fascinating to me how much of church tradition seems to be strategically anti-mythicist. Attributing authorship to Mark, a supposed companion of Peter, buries the fact that there is good reason to believe that the author of Mark had access to and was writing based off of the letters of Paul. Mark has Jesus parroting things that Paul wrote, and not just things Paul claimed to get “from the lord”, but also his own personal interpretations and opinions.
This is interesting to me because Paul never met Jesus (at least while he was alive) and all his ideas of Jesus came from “revelation”, probably meaning dreams and epiphanies he had while reading Jewish scripture. Paul doesn’t really talk about the earthly ministry of Jesus at all. How did his authority win out against someone like Peter who supposedly knew an alive Jesus personally? Why does the first gospel written take so much from Paul and not Peter? Why did church tradition try to cover this up by naming the gospel after Mark?
There are other instances of Paul’s authority winning over Peter and the other apostles who were actually supposed to have met a living Jesus, such as rules about gentiles becoming Christians. It’s all very perplexing to me, and makes me lean toward the mythicist position even though it’s fringe. I think that the way Christianity has developed in reality is more likely on the hypothesis that there was no actual living person who the religion was based on.
I love the mythicism debate. It gives me a great opportunity to explore my epistemology, because I don’t have a bias either way. Normally I would accept the scholarly consensus, but what I’ve read has caused enough doubt to leave me fully agnostic to the claim of a historical jesus. What I don’t understand is why the atheist historicist side seems to strawman the minimal mythicist position into a hard claim that there’s no historical jesus, when they are perfectly satisfied to call themselves atheists despite it being a “soft” or agnostic position.
@@riseofdarkleela I think the mythicist position is a bit daunting for many atheists because it’s almost literally a conspiracy theory. Minimal mythicism posits that the religion started without an actual living guy to base it off of (not too controversial), but then has to explain why so much church tradition over 2000 years and also scholarly consensus insists that a real guy did exist. It’s only explainable by an actual conspiracy in the church to steer the narrative that way and maybe even a conspiracy within academics related to Bible scholarship.
Because of this, subscribing to a mythicist position or even an agnostic position regarding historicity can be seen to almost “dilute” the validity of an atheist’s position, as outwardly it may seem to others that their objection to Christianity and maybe religion in general is based on some crackpot conspiracy theory. What many atheists and Christians don’t grasp is that mythicism is rarely the basis for atheism. After all, the theory posits that the religion actually started knowing that there was no Jesus on earth that any human being interacted with, so clearly a religious believer can reconcile a mythical Jesus just as well as they can reconcile a mythical Adam.
Basically, I think the main reason for the unpopularity of mythicism is still just stigma around even considering it. But mythicism of the Jewish patriarchs went through a similar trial, so maybe this will change one day.
About your point on just how few verses there actually are on the crucifixion, Genesis 36:31-43 is a long winded list of the kings and chiefs of Edom. It never comes up again in the Bible and has no theological relevance. It's a dead end bloodline for a neighboring kingdom that was allegedly descended from Essau, but it's a total dead end. You could cut that from the Bible and nothing would change. Yet when it comes to the most important information that could save you from eternal punishment, we get vague outlines and scant details. Did you know there's a sin that God can't forgive? If you commit this sin, then you're guaranteed to go to Hell. No appeal. No repentance. No second chances. No "if"s, "and"s, or "but"s. What is it? It's blasphemy of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32). Sounds like a big deal. I'll bet you'd like to know a little more about what exactly constitutes that and how to make sure you avoid doing it even by accident right? Too bad. All the word count in the Bible was used up documenting the important stuff like how many donkeys were brought back from the Babylonian captivity (6,720), and how many slaves were in the whole assembly that returned (7,337).
JESUS CHRIST'S AUTHORITY and TEACHINGS BRING HONOR and ETERNAL LIFE and EXISTENCE on EARTH
Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world
DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE
that
all persons on earth who accept Jesus Christ as the One given by the Creator all authority in heaven and on earth
as written in Matthew 28: 18
and obey his instructions and teachings too about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead"
as written in Luke 4: 43 and John 11: 25, 26
will
definitely bring themselves honor and the loving, kind, and merciful Creator's favor and reward of ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and death as written in Revelation 21: 3, 4.
Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world
DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE
that
the teaching of Jesus Christ about the "RESURRECTION of the DEAD"
is
the Creator's guarantee that loving, kind, considerate, and respectful persons on earth who died recently and thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Naomi, Ruth, King David, Jesus Christ's Followers and disciples, and many others
will
all be RESURRECTED back to life in the right and proper time so they can happily, abundantly, and peacefully live and exist on earth forever as submissive and obedient subjects of the "KINGDOM of GOD"
and fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, goodness, compassions, generosities, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity
under the loving and kind rulership, guidance, and protection of Jesus Christ as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler of the heavens and the earth as written in Revelation 11: 15.
Edom/Adam refers to the red earth and the season of winter. With the trinity of winter,-spring,-summer this would be sixty days on each side of the winter solstice. Esau, who loved red lentils is an example. The writers tell us that the winter solstice is in the sign of the goat. Edom is simply winter and the Edomites are those who dwell in the winter hemisphere. Note the blood (dam) in the word Adam (red earth).
@@harveywabbit9541 REJECTION of the BIBLE, the CREATOR, and JESUS CHRIST
Atheists
CLAIM
that the BIBLE is not the "Word of God" and source of Truths but just a worthless book of lies, myths, fictions, fantasies, and fairy tales
and
Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions
BELIEVE
the Unbiblical teachings and doctrines of their Pastors and Leaders about "hellfire", "afterlife", "Trinity", "Armageddon", "immortality of the souls", "rapture", and "reincarnation".
JESUS CHRIST'S AUTHORITY and TEACHINGS BRING HONOR and ETERNAL LIFE and EXISTENCE on EARTH
Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world
DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE
that
all persons on earth who accept Jesus Christ as the One given by the Creator all authority in heaven and on earth
as written in Matthew 28: 18
and obey his instructions and teachings too about the "Kingdom of God" and "Resurrection of the Dead"
as written in Luke 4: 43 and John 11: 25, 26
will
definitely bring themselves honor and the loving, kind, and merciful Creator's favor and reward of ETERNAL LIFE and existence on earth without sufferings, pains, griefs, sickness, and death as written in Revelation 21: 3, 4.
Atheists, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and fanatics of all kinds of Religions in the world
DON'T ACCEPT and BELIEVE
that
the teaching of Jesus Christ about the "RESURRECTION of the DEAD"
is
the Creator's guarantee that loving, kind, considerate, and respectful persons on earth who died recently and thousands of years ago like Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Naomi, Ruth, King David, Jesus Christ's Followers and disciples, and many others
will
all be RESURRECTED back to life in the right and proper time so they can happily, abundantly, and peacefully live and exist on earth forever as submissive and obedient subjects of the "KINGDOM of GOD"
and fully enjoy the eternal love, kindness, goodness, compassions, generosities, favors, and blessings of the Creator and his Christ for eternity
under the loving and kind rulership, guidance, and protection of Jesus Christ as the Creator's Chosen King and Ruler of the heavens and the earth as written in Revelation 11: 15.
Great examples!
@@MindShift-Brandon thanks. :-)
" who do you think i am" waits for response
isn't that just probing for info and leaning in to their belief? 😅
like a cops asking " do you know why i stopped you?" ... trying to get a spontaneous confession.
My problem with Jesus at the temple is that you have this person, who's supposed to be the only one free of sin, the only one who is perfect and thus, perfectly righteous, and yet he couldn't think of a better way to deal with the situation than anger? I don't know, it just makes it kinda hard to think of Jesus as "perfect love" if he's so willing to use anger in order to achieve his goals, but it also kinda reflects on the god of the old testament, who always dealt with it's problem and the things he didn't like with so much anger, and killing. It might not be "controversial", but it is telling.
The "perfect person" was also a jerk to Gentile women and called them dogs. Tells you what kind of people the Church Fathers were.
I've seen it argued that the naked man at the arrest is the young man at the empty tomb though I'm not sure the purpose of him in the narrative other then maybe redemption.
The men in white explain to people who do not know typical troupes of greek literature. The empty tomb is beside missing bones and other tropes the story element that tells us "the god elevated her", resurrection, becoming a god. Mark tries to write easy greek to reach a wider audience.
I wish I could find it but I could swear I heard the 2,000 pig thing was actually an allegory to a massacre that happened. The victims were being referred to as pigs.
Hogs are very tasty, especially when roasted whole.
The Savior Sun/Servant, is born in Bethlehem (house of bread/Virgo) of Nazareth (zodiac), i.e., at the winter solstice, goes forth into the summer hemisphere to preach the gospel (God's spell, or, the seven summer months) of glad tidings (the summer crop), and returns thither again. This is his invariable round, though varied in the account to avoid monotony. Sometimes he is found at Capernaum, Chorazin, or Bethsaida, where he enters the synagogue on the Sabbath (winter), and preaches to the people. Thence he passes to his adopted country (summer), where he converses with the doctors in the temple. At another time he boards a ship (Noah's Ark, or the Whale of Jonah), and passes over to “his own city,” or, “to the land of Gennesaret” = the land of the Lyre, or of the seven summer months. No matter where, he is always present in heaven (summer), or in hell (winter). In summer he blesses and feeds the people; in winter he takes charge of the halt, the lame, the palsied, the blind, etc. These he protects during the inclemency of the season, and restores them in the spring, when he stands by the sea-side, down which the hogs, having got the devils in them, ran violently into the sea and were choked! The Hog (black boar) symbols winter and with the death of Miss Piggy, winter ends and it's off with planting the seeds of rye (the same seed that Onan spilled). The Ox (Taurus) will pull the seeder plow. Just like in the tale of Inanna and Dumuzi. Inanna became Venus and Dumuzi became Adonis.
As a child, I always wondered why there would be that many pigs in a Jewish nation given kosher laws. I suppose that the stationed Roman soldiers there might want a taste of home, but it still seems odd. Almost as if it's to show that consumption of pork is still prohibited under the teachings of Jesus despite Paul's protestations.
@@Charlotte_Martel
Having taken a ship (Noah's) at Capernaum, with his disciples, Jesus passed over the lake (the rainy season), and arrived at the country of the Gadarenes (a patronym of Gad, God or Aries = March. As he was about to land, a naked man (the dreary and desolate Earth) met him. This poor man was possessed by a legion, or collection of Devils, who compelled him to go naked and dwell in the tombs (winter months). He had often (every winter) been caught by them and bound in chains and fetters (frost). But he had just broken his fetters, and was dwelling in the wilderness, the devils still keeping possession of him. The man wanted to get rid of them but they held on. When the Savior sided with the man, the naughty devils besought him not to order them into the deep. So, Jesus, commiserating the poor devils, told them to get into a herd of swine close by. No sooner, however, had they got possession of the unlucky grunters, than they raised the devil with them, and they all ran violently down a steep bank into the lake, and were choked.
The hog was an emblem of winter. It is too late in the day to deny this. On some very ancient Greek coins a lion is seen killing a boar, i.e., summer succeeds winter. The Syrian Adonis was killed by a boar, and his death and resurrection were once celebrated the same as in the case of our Savior.
See Pieta by Michelangelo, which depicts Venus holding Adonis.
@@Charlotte_Martel Maybe its code. If rebellious Zealots secretly massacred pigs meant to feed Romans, a story where Jesus excused this by saying "Oh they had demons in them" might have been a reference the enlightened would understand, but would not expose the rebels to the Romans.
I liked your coverage of Matthew so looking forward to this one.
Glad to hear it, thanks!
Why did these stories only come to light decades later? Because they weren't needed as much until after the destruction of Jerusalem. Then they backdated their messiah to meet their "predicted" timeline from "prophecy." It doesn't seem very mysterious to me if the history is put into chronological order (Cephas' visions - Paul's visions - destruction of Jerusalem - Mark - Matthew - Luke- Acts - John). They didn't need a "Q" document, either. Every single one of them proved themselves capable of sheer invention. What they didn't agree with, they left out or changed. What they needed that wasn't there, they added. Their main other sources were "scripture," which was not limited to the current OT canon, and whatever pagan memes they wanted to own (e.g., water into wine, virgin birth, passion play, dying & rising god, baptism, the Lord's supper).
It seems very strange that the same person who talked about his yoke being easy and his burden light would then turn around and lay an even greater burden on the married. I will bet that there are very few Protestant pastors who would refuse to marry a couple where one or both were divorced, regardless of reason. Even though, as you pointed out, they are very scrupulous about following other scriptures when it suits them.
It is this prohibition against remarriage after divorce that I think has caused the greatest loss of membership in the Catholic Church. Let's face it, very few people really relish the fact of spending the rest of their life alone. Yet that is what Jesus and the Catholic Church demands of people whose marriages have failed! There is only one exception to that rule, called the "Pauline Privilege", which says if a couple is married and one of them is not baptized (meaning baptized "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit") and the unbaptized person wishes to leave, then the baptized partner is free to remarry with the Church's blessing. This, as you can imagine, is really, really rare. The most common workaround is to seek an annulment which basically says the marriage never really happened or was not a valid marriage (this is a civil concept as well). I won't go into all the grounds for annulment, but the most pertinent ones are this: if a Catholic wishes to marry a divorced Protestant, the Protestant must seek a Catholic annulment of their Protestant marriage. Marriage between two Protestants by a Protestant minister is considered a valid marriage by the Catholic Church (as long as neither have been previously divorced). If a Catholic marries a non-Catholic in a non-Catholic ceremony, whether religious or civil, that marriage is NOT considered valid by the Catholic Church. This is different from the "Pauline Privilege" in that the Catholic partner is bound by the laws of the Catholic Church that says that the only valid form of marriage for a Catholic is to be married by a priest. A Catholic who gets married by any other means is considered to be living in mortal sin (fornication) and not eligible to receive communion. A Catholic who marries someone who has been divorced or is themselves divorced and subsequently remarries is also considered to be living in mortal sin (adultery) and cannot receive communion unless they and their partner agree to stop having sexual relations and live as brother or sister. Getting an annulment requires going through a tribunal that will go over your marriage with a fine-toothed comb, and they are not always granted.
So what that means in the light of the fact that Christians get divorced at the same rate as their secular counterparts is that there are an awful lot of people who are automatically removed from the marriage pool right from the start, and the older one gets, the worse this situation gets. It really puts the single Catholic in a hard position because you only have one chance to get it right; if your marriage fails and you can't get it annulled you are in for a life of celibacy--unless you leave the Church. It also puts the single Catholic in a hard position because if they can't find a partner right away who has never been married, they themselves may never get married--again, unless they leave the Church. How the Catholic Church will resolve this problem, I have no idea. But by binding themselves to this interpretation of Jesus' teaching they have created a situation that perhaps causes as much or even more misery than what is caused by divorce.
Its an issue for reconcilation for the Eastern Orthodox as well. Orthodox priests get to marry before taking orders if they wish, which limits their advancement. From a Catholic point of view, they might be defrocked, I guess.
Maybe naked dude was *literally a cheeky allusion to the nakedness of being without service to christ and his own service, I doubt it but maybe it's a progenitor of the seed which became "Armour" of faith/grace
You truly are right about those 3 ingredients Brandon all other things are supplemental or don’t matter as most star bucks Christian’s focus on the ideas rather than the mythology. The mythology can be anything look at Scientology as long as the core hits the human core. Damn
The bible is a mixture of fraud, fraud, and more fraud.