Showing posts with label Gospel According to Matthew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gospel According to Matthew. Show all posts

6.06.2011

Jesus the descendant of Adam???

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1
...and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah. Matthew 1:16-17

He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Amos,
the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai
... Luke 3: 23-25 (60 more, then) ... the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. Luke 3:38
     It's fascinating how both the Matthew writer(s) and the Luke writer(s) go through such pains to tie Jesus directly back to David, Abraham, and in Luke's case, Adam; perhaps the most plainly fictitious character of human history. Of course, this was done in an attempt to square very old Jewish prophecy regarding a coming messiah. But the most interesting effect these passages have had on modern society is the massive effort put forth by biblical literalists to date the earth/universe at 6,000-10,000 years, instead of the well established actual dates of 4.5 billion and 13.75 billion, respectively. And let's not forget that holy book verses like these are the impetus for billions of people to fight, ignore, reject, and mock perhaps one of the most firmly established scientific theories on hand--Evolution by Natural Selection.
     Also, let's not ignore the fact that both lineages end at Jesus' very mortal adoptive father, Joseph, thus giving Jesus no real direct ties to any of theses biblical characters. Some creative apologists like to lump Mary into the lines, but a simple glances at the verses quells that nonsense.
     One other minor problem shines a light on the fact that these two lineages differ quite a bit. The dance that apologists engage in regarding this minor problem is always entertaining to watch.

5.23.2011

Any last words, Jesus?

And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). Mark 15:34 
About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli,t lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"). Luke 23:46
Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. Matthew 27:44
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30


     The fact that from the four Gospels writers, we've been given three separate collections of Jesus' last words, poses very little problem for believing Christians that are actually aware of this somewhat glaring discrepancy. Most commonly one might hear an explanation of the dilemma as, "Would you expect the writers' accounts to match? It would be like four independent descriptions of a car crash. Naturally, there would be discrepancies." That's all well and good, however, being that thousands of direct quotations from Bible characters, as well as narrators, are used to promote, defend, or enact certain dogmatic ideals, it seems relevant whether the statements or quotations being utilized were actually spoken or not. 
     For Jesus' last words, there are five options. 1) Mark and Luke were accurate. 2) Matthew was accurate. 3) John was accurate. 4) None of them are accurate. Jesus spoke some other words. 5) The story was invented.
     For Christians, this begs the questions as to what of the Bible is real and what of the Bible is invented, what of the Bible has been passed down and interpreted correctly and what has not, and perhaps most importantly, whether the "truthfulness" of the Bible in whole or in part even matters to an particular individual. Since such matters tend to be complicated, it's no wonder that so many Christians accept IT ALL to be true without regard for book's accuracy or viability. 
     In short: Is it true? Is it not true? Do you care?
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...