Category: The Bible as Literature

Self-appointed apologists are quick to explain that God may allow “bad things” to happen, but he in no way causes them. So the apologist assesses God’s will from a human point of view and then decides that it is wrong, concluding that God obviously could not have meant what he said and did in the…

Everybody loves to quote Scripture—I’m not sure why—because no matter the text, the minute you open your mouth to pronounce what it says, it condemns you. Sometimes in obvious ways, but more often in subtle ways that betray the depth of your ignorance—like the chief priests in Matthew’s gospel. My advice, skip the Bible memes…

There is no such thing as an oral tradition. By its very definition, “the rule” of the Gospel is written down. It’s called a rule because God issued and inscribed a ruling, shared publicly as an objective reference and standard for all to follow. The Gospel of Matthew itself demonstrates the importance of this mechanism…

We like to pretend that giving people a choice is essential. Mostly, we use the American ideology of choice to extract profit, to distract from what’s really going on, or worst of all, to avoid personal accountability. How often have we passively watched another person suffer because they did not ask for help? In Scripture,…

When we hear the teaching of Matthew, “judge not that you may not be judged,” it’s easy to overlook the obvious: when you teach the words of Elohim, you personally are not the judge, but you personally, definitely function as divine judge. In Matthew, Jesus judges no one before the time but teaches everyone the…

“A mob,” James Baldwin wrote, “is not autonomous: it executes the real will of the people who rule the state. The slaughter in Birmingham, Alabama, for example, was not merely the action of a mob.” (Baldwin, Dark Days) The crowds in Matthew choose their champion because Pilate demands victory. Pilate, in turn, wants what the…

The rise of Scripture against the classical and Hellenistic world pit the voice of the Shepherd—spoken in his idiosyncratic language—against the language of human institution: be dominated by civilization, its gods, its rulers, and their institutions, or follow me and obey my voice in the wilderness. Obey the staff of the Lord, your Elohim, and…

For the one who answers only to the will of God, written in Scripture, the words people speak and the judgments they make are immaterial. More than that, in Matthew, the one who hears the commandment with a pure heart carries it out like a Roman soldier, willing to say—or not say—or do whatever it…

“Thus says the Lord my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!’ They got me at a magnificent discount! (Zechariah 11:13) It must have been Giving Tuesday, or was…

In Matthew 14, Jesus commands his disciples to feed the people with the bread of his Father’s instruction, the five loaves of life-giving bread, representing the fives books of Moses. Sharing that bread is the “chief” and only duty of Peter—the “chief” of the apostles—and it is the “chief” responsibility of the “chief” priests and…