NONSENSE FROM THE BIBLE Read online

  No doubt they all believed that somehow God - whom he called his Father - would rescue him from the cross and Jesus would then be hailed as the King of Kings and the true messiah!

  Even Jesus was surprised and disappointed that God had not performed as he had believed as he uttered those words on the cross: My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?

  Why else would he utter those words?

  Some of the disciples went into hiding as they feared being identified as those who followed and believed in Jesus. Before the crucifixion the disciple Peter was asked if he was with Jesus, but he denied that he knew him. He was afraid to be seen as a disciple.

  Following the crucifixion was a time of high drama. The disciples had lost hope and would be afraid, but looking for something to happen. The fact that they didn’t believe the reports that Jesus had risen is further evidence that they were not expecting him to rise from the dead. No doubt they wanted to see Jesus again but it seemed to them to be an unlikely possibility.

  When, where and to whom did Jesus appear? We have already listed those appearances in this chapter.

  Those who allegedly saw Jesus after he was missing from the tomb were: Mary Magdalene and Mary mother of James. They also held him by his feet but in version 4 he tells them - don’t touch me as I have not yet ascended to my Father; Two of the disciples, (not named) as they walked to Emmaus. Jesus joined them.

  Two disciples (Version 2)

  And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and been seen of her, believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

  If we apply REASON to the entire discourse on the crucifixion and resurrection story of the man called Jesus, I would offer this as a plausible explanation of the Bible story: First of all I call it simply a ‘story’ - one of thousands which have been passed from generation to generation. This passing on of stories process would include even up to the present and so would include (even from centuries ago) publications as well as ‘word of mouth.’ Virtually all that is written about Jesus is hearsay and /or fiction, and unsubstantiated historically.

  This is a story from the time that the Roman Empire included most of the countries of the Mediterranean and the Middle East as we know it today. People of every nation and race believed in some form of religion, including the Romans and the Greeks, who worshipped many gods. The nation of Israel believed in one god - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Apart from those various and fairly stable religions, there were always new prophets or gurus or magicians with new ideas.

  The New Testament Jesus was not unique as he had very similar credentials to many others who had lived before his time, including a virgin birth, miracles, execution and resurrection. There was, for example, a type of ‘Jesus’ in Egyptian mythology named Horus several thousand years before the alleged birth of Jesus Christ. The story includes a star in the east heralding his birth to a virgin mother. There was no detail of the life of Horus after his birth until he was thirty years old. He was baptized in the river Eridanus in Jordan by Anup the baptizer who was later executed by decapitation. Horus was said to be a fisher of men and had twelve loyal followers. It is claimed that he walked on water, cast out demons and healed the sick. It was said that he and God were one. Horus was also known as the light of the world, the Lamb, the Lion, the afflicted one and as the source of life eternal and that he showed the way, the truth and the life. He delivered a sermon on a mount. He was crucified between two thieves, buried in a tomb and resurrected. He was transfigured on a mountain. He descended into hell and preached to the souls in prison there before he arose from the dead.

  As you can see, the story of the life and ministry of Jesus is remarkably parallel to the story of Horus who preceded him by several thousand years. The story of the mythical Horus would still have been known among the people of Egypt at the time of Jesus. According to Matthew’s Gospel the infant Jesus lived in Egypt for many years during his early childhood. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

  Matthew 2:13-15

  And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

  There are many others with similar credentials: Osiris, Krishna, Bacchus, Orpheus, Adonis, Attis, Hercules, Mithras, Thor son of Odin, Tammuz of Syria, Beddru of Japan and Deva Tat of Siam to name but a few.

  Gerald Massey (1828-1907) An Egyptologist who studied and lectured for many years on his research of ancient religions concluded that:

  Christianity was neither original nor unique, but that the roots of much of the Judeo/Christian tradition lay in the prevailing Kamite (ancient Egyptian) culture of the region. We are faced with the inescapable realisation that if Jesus had been able to read the documents of old Egypt, he would have been amazed to find his own biography already substantially written some four or five thousand years previously.

  Gerald Massey traced 180 examples of close similarity between Horus and the life and story of Jesus.

  The question now is: can we accept the story of the birth, life and death of Jesus as a factual account of a real person who lived at that time or was it only a myth about one of many who claimed to be the Messiah or the Son of God? There is virtually no evidence, apart from the Bible, whereby we can say for certain that this man ‘Jesus’ existed or that he was who he said he was. The fact that the Christian religion has grown to be the largest single religion in the world from those stories does not mean we can assume the story is completely or even partly based on truth. A good story which is entirely a myth, legend, fable or invented has the ability to be believed over a period of many centuries. In Greek and Roman mythology there are myriad mythical heroes and creatures and gods which were believed by many to have existed and were worshipped accordingly during many centuries.

  As I have already suggested, the Biblical accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are seriously flawed by alternative, sometimes contradictory, information or by the obviously invented, amazing and bizarre accounts concerning the happenings at the time.

  Historically, there is a great lack of evidence and the Biblical accounts were all written some 30 to 60 years after those events had allegedly taken place. There are no known credible records of the crucifixion or resurrection of Jesus. The best known Jewish historian of this time was Flavius Josephus*14 (37CE to 100CE) who briefly mentioned Jesus twice - the following passage concerns the crucifixion and resurrection:

  From: Testimonium Flavianum (written 93CE)

  About this time came Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it is appropriate to call him a man. For he was a performer of paradoxical feats, a teacher of people who accept the unusual with pleasure, and he won over many of the Jews and also many Greeks. He was the Christ. When Pilate, upon the accusation of the first men amongst us, condemned him to be crucified, those who had formerly loved him did not cease to follow him, for he appeared to them on the third day, living again, as the divine prophets foretold, along with a myriad of other marvellous things concerning him. And the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, has not disappeared to this day.

  Many historians dispute that this passage was, in fact, written by Josephus; rather that it was a later interpolation by an unknown scribe - with a cause to serve, however, Louis Feldman*15, a scholar specifically of the works of Josephus, studied 87 articles published during the period of 1937–1980 and reported that:

  The overwhelming majority of which question its authenticity in whole or in part.

  Alice Whealey*16 - is an independent historian specializing in the intellectual history of Europe. In 2003 she published Jo
sephus on Jesus, The Testimonium Flavianum Controversy from Late Antiquity to Modern Times, critically analysing the Testimonium Flavianum - the disputed passage from Josephus that mentions Jesus Christ. She concluded concerning the historiography, it seems that most modern scholars consider that Josephus really did write something here about Jesus, but that the text that has reached us is corrupt.*

  Finally then, we are left with the the fact that only ‘evidence’ concerning the birth, life, death and claimed resurrection of Jesus is to be found in the Bible. We can therefore deduce that this is all another example of Bible nonsense.

  *Corrupt - in this sense meaning: containing errors: unusable because of the presence of errors that have been introduced: containing copying errors: containing undesirable changes in meaning or errors made in copying: a corrupt transcription of the manuscript. Contaminated or tainted by something else.

  FAMILY VALUES AND THE BIBLE

  BIBLE NONSENSE NUMBER 3

  Christians are quick to tell us that the Bible provides a code for life and a guide on moral issues and so called family values. Some go even further and say that without the guidance of the Bible, society would be in danger of disintegrating in a universal moral decline, but does the Bible actually justify this belief?

  They, almost without doubt, will immediately quote the Ten Commandments and other scriptures which provide instructions for order in the family.

  Here are the Ten Commandments:

  From: Exodus 20:1-19

  1. Worship No other Gods or have other religious beliefs

  2. Make no image of God

  3. No swearing using the name of God

  4. No work on the Sabbath

  (strictly speaking this is Saturday)*

  5. Honour/respect your parents

  6. Do nor kill another human being

  7. Do not commit adultery/no sex outside of marriage

  8. Do not steal

  9. Do not tell lies about your neighbour/anyone

  10. Do not envy/long to possess another’s property, wife, servants or animals

  The first four are all self protection for a self admitted ‘jealous God’ and come with threats for disobedience. In an educated, law-abiding and responsible society the remaining six would generally be acceptable as a list of good human behaviour. In fact they are good family values practised by the majority of people on the planet whether or not they have any belief in any god or religion.

  *Therefore millions of Christians routinely break this commandment!

  GOD’S ORDER FOR FAMILY LIFE

  In the New Testament there are instructions for family life which are regularly taught in many churches.

  GOD SAYS WOMEN ARE INFERIOR TO MEN!

  From the beginning God gave man authority over the woman. According to the Bible this all began in the Garden of Eden as God had instructed Adam and Eve not to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which was in the centre of the garden and told them that if they did eat from the tree they would surely die! Then the devil, in the form of a talking serpent, tempted Eve and told her that she would not die if she ate the fruit - so she did eat it! When Adam joined her she gave him fruit from the tree and he ate it too. God soon appeared on the scene and asked Adam why he had eaten fruit from the tree. He immediately blamed Eve!

  Genesis 3:12-17

  And the man said, the woman thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

  To accept any of the above as a credible explanation about the actions of first human beings on earth we would also have to believe that a snake could talk!

  Then Eve blamed the serpent:

  And the Lord God said unto the woman what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said. The serpent beguiled me and I did eat.

  God then began to hand out retribution to all concerned:

  And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

  And to Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

  The suppression of women continues in many places throughout the Bible - Here are a few examples which are a direct result of the Garden of Eden experience and judgement and condemnation by God:

  Timothy 2:11-14

  Let the womem learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression

  1 Corinthians 14:34-35

  Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in church.

  Whilst I certainly do not accept the above in any way as good family values for today, currently most evangelical or fundamentalist Christians do not obey these rules for women of ‘keeping silent’ or ‘not teaching.’ There are many Christian women who have large ministries who teach and preach the Bible on television or are pastors of their own churches. Generally, only very ‘closed’ Christian cults adhere almost entirely to these scriptures and definitely treat their women as second class citizens.

  Most of these same evangelical and fundamentalist Christians do, however, believe and accept that wives should be in submission to their own husbands, as Paul had taught in in his letters to the churches concerning family values and order in the home.

  1 Corinthians 11:3

  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

  Ephesians.5:22-25

  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.

  Colossians.3:18-21

  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

  Ephesians 6:1-4

  Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And, ye fathers provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

  These then are God’s instructions for family life according to Paul

  1. The husband is the head of the home under Christ.

  2. The wife is to submit* to her husband in everything.

  3. The husband is to love the wife in the same way that Christ loves the church.

  4. The children are to obey and honour their parents.

  5. Fathers are not to provoke/annoy their children and make them angry but must bring them up according to God’s laws.

  6. Servants/slaves are to be obedient to their masters in fear and trembling!

  Here we should remember that this teaching was for a very different society and people with a very different culture livin
g some 2,000 years ago! These are not instructions for present-day living. We should therefore accept that most of the Bible teaching is irrelevant for life today.

  There is merit in establishing order in the home and it is accepted that a man’s duty is to protect his wife and children. Children are expected to obey their parents whilst they remain living within the family home at least until they reach adulthood. In Bible times and for many centuries following, women were not educated and all decisions were made by the husband. This is clearly no longer generally the situation, yet some religious groups, Christian and others, diligently live by these ancient rules and demand that their members, especially the women, obey these instructions.

  The following verses deal with morals and emotions and are good advice for all time:

  Colossians.3:5

  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, (lust) and covetousness, which is idolatry.

  *To Submit: to yield to somebody or to somebody’s authority, control, or demands.

  Colossians.3:8-9

  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;