Book review: How Jesus Became Christian

By Barrie Wilson, Ph.D. 

★★★★★

This is a long overdue review of a great new book. Wilson highlights the tension of Christianity’s founding movement, and asks the question: Was Jesus a Jew or a Christian? Paul’s brand of Christianity, especially, Wilson finds anti-Semitic, in stark contrast to the Gospel of Matthew and its reliance upon Torah. Paul, Wilson theorizes, hijacked Jesus for himself, turning Christianity into a Gentile religion.

Wilson’s portrayal of conflicting religions—the “Jesus movement” of the Jews, and the “Christ movement” of Paul—makes for fascinating reading. Paul experienced a mystical vision of the Christ, and everything he teaches flows from that deep, spiritual, ongoing connection between Christ and Paul. What used to be so simple became a complex theology, Paul’s message that all could be saved in Christ resounding throughout the Roman world.

Wilson discusses the book of Acts and its “revisionist history,” entwining Paul’s world with the Jesus movement as if they are one and the same, and concludes that there is simply no corroborating evidence for the Acts version. Instead, Paul’s letters betray an entirely different atmosphere. The Book of Acts invented history, and the version of Christianity we know today is better labeled “Paulinity.” The Jesus movement slowly faded away. In effect, the Jesus Cover-Up Thesis contends that early Christianity effectively killed off the historical Jesus. In the epilogue, Wilson encourages recovering the human Jesus and rediscovering his Jewish roots.

A thought-provoking and well-written book, definitely worth reading.

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2 Samuel 24:1, David numbers the army

Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah."

//So, David did as God asked. He sent his army commanders through the twelve tribes of Israel to enroll and number all the fighting men. They counted eight hundred thousand fighting men in Israel, five hundred thousand in Judah.

David, however, becomes “conscious-stricken.” Inexplicably, David realizes he has sinned. God is angry, and kills seventy thousand men with a plague because of David’s mistake. But didn’t David do exactly what God asked?

This whole confusing episode is straightened out when the story is rewritten hundreds of years later in the book of Chronicles. There, in 1 Chronicles 21:1, we learn God never told David to number the people. Satan did.

And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

Book review: Four Views on the Book of Revelation

by Stanley N. Gundry and C. Marvin Pate

★★★★

This book presents the book of Revelation from four different perspectives. After about a 30-page overview, four different authors present their insights.

Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr. covers the Preterist view. There are variations of Preterism, but the general idea is that the Bible’s eschatological promises have been fulfilled. Revelation’s bloody war scenes occurred in the first century. Gentry is an established Revelation scholar who writes clearly, but this is not his most lucid writing.

Sam Hamstra Jr. writes about an Idealist view. I would call it a “spiritual” view. Such interpreters find Revelation to be a message of “assurance, hope and victory” in its relevance to today’s struggles.

C. Marvin Pate, who serves also as the book’s general editor, discusses a “progressive dispensationalist” view. The arrival of Jesus 2,000 years ago is the dawning of a the “age to come,” but it is not yet complete; it awaits the Parousia for its consummation.

Finally, Robert L. Thomas lays out the classical Dispensationalist view, the common futuristic interpretation. While there are still many divisions in this category, Thomas strives to present  a “typical” belief.

In my opinion, Steve Gregg’s book Revelation, Four Views--A Parallel Commentary on the same topic is more comprehensive and objective, and also more readable. But it’s also much longer; today’s book should be considered a compact, argumentative introduction by comparison.

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Song of Solomon 6:8-9, The One and Only

Even among sixty queens and eighty concubines and countless young women, I would still choose my dove, my perfect one.

//Five chapters of sappy love language we’ve endured before we get to this verse in chapter six of the Song of Solomon. Is this really Solomon speaking? Somebody has definitely caught his eye:

Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead. Your teeth are as white as sheep, recently shorn and freshly washed. Your smile is flawless, each tooth matched with its twin. Your lips are like scarlet ribbon; your mouth is inviting. Your cheeks are like rosy pomegranates behind your veil. Your neck is as beautiful as the tower of David, jeweled with the shields of a thousand heroes. Your breasts are like two fawns, twin fawns of a gazelle grazing among the lilies …

… and then a bit later, today’s verse about all his other queens and concubines, which yanks us from our reverie with a cold, hard fact. This “perfect one” is one of a long string. Solomon has already run through 140 women, and he’s got another 859 to go after her. With lines like these, we shouldn’t be surprised.

Book review: Points of Apostasy: Conservatives vs. The Bible

by Richard Musick 

Today’s book forms a compromise for me. I am not political, and I want nothing to do with politics on my blog, yet curiosity about a book led me to agree to do a review. I said I’d introduce the book and its content without a rating, fearing any rating might be misconstrued as approval or disapproval of the book’s political stance. So, here goes.

“If a belief, principle, or action is in accordance with the Bible, it is right. If it is not in accordance with, or is contrary to, the Bible, it is wrong.” Do you agree?

“When I decide what position I wish to take on an issue, I decide based upon Biblical guidance. That is also how I decide how to vote on any given issue.” Do you approve?

Musick highlights the George W. Bush administration to drive home his points. He delves into Bush’s record and accomplishments, concluding that while Bush promoted himself as a Christian leader, he acquiesced to non-Christian values. Musick sites example after example, and calls Bush’s form of Christianity “apostasy.” Question: Is the Bible a clear, straight, and consistent plumb line by which to measure leaders and the appropriateness of their decisions? Are religious labels, whether used in condemnation or approval, appropriate terms for political judgment?

Now, after you’ve had a moment to form an opinion about the above questions, you might be surprised at the Christian values Musick wishes our government would uphold (taken from the chapter headings):

Don’t deceive

Don’t kill

Don’t ignore the sufferings of strangers

Obey the golden rule

Don’t corrupt the justice system

Beware of strong executives

Don’t surround yourself with yes men

Don’t treat the wealthy better than the poor

Don’t have hidden agendas

Care for the poor

Don’t do things secretly

Don’t try to set up people who disagree with you

Don’t try to enforce double standards

Don’t be a character assassin

Don’t excuse wrong acts by your friends

Treat strangers well

Ezekiel 4:9, Ezekiel's bread

Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.

//Here's a healthy treat that you can enjoy even if bed-ridden. In one of Ezekiel's more questionable stunts, he lay on his left side, bound with ropes, for 390 days, bearing the sin of Israel. One day for each year of their sin. During all these days, he ate only this bread, so it must be nourishing.

You can try this bread yourself, if you wish. Food for Life sells "Ezekiel 4:9" bread in yuppie markets everywhere.

Do, however, be very careful about which bread you order. You don't want to accidentally get the "Ezekiel 4:13" recipe. After 390 days, Ezekiel was instructed to roll over on his right side, and there eat bread for 40 days, representing the 40 years that Judah sinned. This bread was baked with human excrement. Ezekiel protested, and was granted to right to cook with cow manure instead, but I still think the first recipe is preferable.

Book review: The Hour I First Believed

by Wally Lamb 

★★★

Spoiler alert…

If there’s one word to describe this book, it’s “joyless.” After seven hundred pages of painful reminiscing about tragic deaths, troubled teens, Columbine, and depression, the main character reaches a solemn conclusion about life and it’s one hope. Life’s redeeming quality is an enduring hope for a better future.

Caelum, Wally’s first-person character, struggles to understand. “God: big G, little g? Buddha? Allah? The Holy Trinity? Is god the DNA we bring forth? The genes that mutate on the cliff’s edge of chaos? Beats me.” Caelum slides not-so-gently into old age by book’s end, nearly everything taken from him, and finally reaches acceptance.

Leave this book to the psychologists; it’s a downer. I wouldn’t review it except that it did resonate with me in one way. For some, the only imaginable “better future” is heaven. Some say that my brand of Christianity and its focus on our earthly life serves only to rob others of faith. Heaven is a dream held out to all who find themselves buried under life’s hopelessness. Do we truly need our dreams of heaven, and if so, am I performing a disservice by promoting the humanitarian side of Christianity over the supernatural? Am I stealing the joy of the next life from believers in the same way Wally steals our joy in this life?

I confess, it sometimes troubles me.

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Genesis 5:27, How did Methuselah die?

Altogether, Methuselah lived 969 years, and then he died.

//Methuselah's claim to fame is that he lived longer than anybody else in the history of the world. But how did he die? The Bible doesn't say for sure. Let's trace his life, and see if we can figure the mystery out.

When Methuselah is 187, he has a son named Lamech. (Genesis 5:25)

When Lamech is 182, he has a son named Noah. (Genesis 5:28) Methuselah is now 369.

Noah's the guy who built the ark. When Noah was 600, the flood waters began. (Genesis 7:6) Methuselah is now 969, the age of his death.

Genesis 7:7, And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Poor Methuselah. He wasn't on the ark. I bet he could have made it to age 1,000.

(Tradition holds, by the way, that Methuselah died seven days before the flood, and that God delayed the flood for seven days of mourning in his honor.)

Book review: Encountering John

by Andreas J. Kostenberger 

★★★★★

The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective. That’s the subtitle, that’s what attracted me to the book, and that’s why it gets a five-star review. Because it delivers exactly what it promises, without turning into monstrous tome.

This is a classroom text, complete with tables, charts, pictures, study words, fascinating sidebars, keywords, and some very helpful appendix topics. I’m thinking that perhaps the best way to convey the flavor of this book is to list some of the sidebar headings:

The Double Amen in John’s Gospel

Irony in John’s Gospel

The Significance of Jewish Festivals in John’s Gospel

Did Jesus Come to Bring Judgment or Not?

The Chronology of the Passion Narrative in John and the Synoptics

The Eternal Subordination of the Son

The So-called Johannine Pentecost

The writing is interesting and inspiring, and the topic of John’s Gospel is well covered from several angles. I have a couple shelves of books about Johannine writings, and if I were to pick one as a stand-alone introduction, this would be it. The most highly recommended overall learning tool about John’s Gospel in my library.

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Revelation 6:7-8, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Part V of V

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

//This is the concluding post for our discussion of the four horsemen, and how they relate to the time of John of Patmos. If this historical-critical treatment of Revelation intrigues you, be sure to pick up my book at http://www.thewayithappened.com

The fourth rider brings the expected climax after the famine and bloodshed of prior horsemen: Death. The color of this horse, rendered "pale" in the New International Version, actually denotes a pallid yellowish-green, the color of putrifaction. Again I'll quote first-century historian Josephus about the Jerusalem war of 70 A.D.: "So all hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews, together with their liberty of going out of the city. Then did the famine widen its progress, and devoured the people by whole houses and families; the upper rooms were full of women and children that were dying by famine; and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged." He goes on to describe the stench of the dead bodies and the thick putrefaction occurring around them. Josephus' estimate of the number of Jews dying from this war is 1.2 million.

Only by grasping the utter horror of the time can we appreciate the context of Revelation. Written in a period before the tension escalated between Jews and Christians, Revelation is a poem of hope offered to the survivors of Judea, encouraging them to remain true to God and promising better times ahead.

Book review: Other Prayers of Jesus

by John Henson 

★★★★

John Henson has a way of writing that makes you want to meet him. He's opinionated but not overbearing. Humble yet interesting. I think it's just the way John is, amusing and serious at the same time. Either that, or he has a great editor.

In twelve chapters, Other Prayers of Jesus rolls conversationally through the settings and words of Jesus as he "talks to God." Do not imagine that this book will give you instructions for how to pray, like a checkbox you can work your way through to get God's attention. John is not much for long prayers, certainly not long public prayers. He just describes what Jesus felt and said—sometimes aloud, sometimes in quiet contemplation—in the presence of his daddy.

The insinuation, of course, is that we would do well to live in the presence of God as casually as Jesus. There are a number of interesting anecdotes and thoughtful opinions sprinkled throughout, but I'd say the flavor of the book is really more inspirational than exegetical or instructional. Part of the charm is the Bible translation. Henson quotes scripture using his own favored "Good as New" translation, which is very down-to-earth, if a bit assuming. (See Good as New: A Radical Retelling of the Scriptures by Henson.) Personally, I like it! You'll pick up on its idiosyncrasies as you go. Rocky: Peter. Bart: Bartholomew. John the Dipper: you can guess that one.

A good book for moderates, both conservative and liberal.

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Revelation 6:5-6, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Part IV of V

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

//Continuing our discussion of the four horsemen and how they relate to the events of the first century, we come now to the color black. As expressed by Jeremiah, the black horse brings famine. The famine during the Jerusalem war grew so devastating that at one point, a woman named Mary boiled and ate her own son.

The words this horseman speaks are fascinating. Read them again, and compare them to what first-century Jewish historian Josephus reports of the Jerusalem war: "Many there were indeed who sold what they had for one quart; it was of wheat, if they were of the richer sort, but of barley, if they were poorer."

Revelation later bemoans how the merchants profited from this wheat, olive oil and wine. This unnamed voice that says "do not damage the oil and the wine" for some reason makes a deep impression on Revelation's author. No surprise: When General Titus captured the Temple in the war of 70 A.D., he gave explicit orders not to destroy the oil and wine in the Temple so they could be retained and sold to the rich.

Book review: The Gospel of Mark as Reaction and Allegory

by R. G. Price

★★★★

This book provides an excellent collection of Markan midrash, going verse-by-verse through Mark and explaining its sources. Mark pulls his stories of Jesus from Isaiah and the prophets, and Price makes an excellent case for Mark also borrowing from the writings of Paul. Price also points out the influence of the war of 70 CE upon Mark's Gospel, a topic I discuss in my book about Revelation, but not to the depth of this book. It is my opinion that this “war to end all wars” is too often understated in Gospel analysis, and Price’s analysis should contribute to scholarship on the topic.

The book's stated purpose is to show that the Gospel of Mark was written as an allegorical study in reaction to the destruction of Judea in 70 CE, the intention of which was to portray Judean Jews as having brought that destruction upon themselves. In this, Price proves his point very well, though it may be optimistic to conclude, as he does, that this is the primary intention of the Gospel. A secondary purpose of Price’s book is to show that there is no flesh-and-blood “Jesus” beneath Mark’s midrash. Of this, I came away a bit unconvinced. Although Price does highlight the dependency of Mark upon earlier Christian (Pauline) writings, he does not take the second step of proving that Paul, himself, was never writing about a flesh-and-blood Jesus. However, I confess I read Price's books out of order. I suspect his treatment of Mark builds upon a foundation laid in Jesus: A Very Jewish Myth, which I haven't yet read. So, while there are a number of other reasonable conclusions I could draw about Jesus’ historicity from Mark’s Gospel alone, that topic will wait until I’ve read more of what Price has to say.

But whatever the reason for Mark's parallels to other scripture, those parallels do unquestionably exist, and scholars are right to wonder why. This book’s conclusion details a very interesting scenario about how the Synoptic Gospels were derived. Hint: No “Q” gospel. Price touches lightly upon the possible derivation of John’s Gospel as well, but on this topic, he and I are at odds: I think he neglects evidence of Johannine familiarity with Judea, instead portraying the Fourth Gospel as the creation of an anti-Jewish Gentile, and I think he overlooks evidence of John’s dependence upon Pauline theology. But John’s Gospel is ancillary to what Price does do very well, and that’s to lay out plausible origins of Synoptic thinking.

If I have one complaint, it's that the scriptural references could be condensed. Often, I found myself reading long passages in Old Testament references where it seemed that a single verse or two would be sufficient. In retrospect, I realize Price wants us familiar with the settings of these stories, so that we’ll recognize Mark’s many allusions to passages that deal with the destruction of Jerusalem. So, I’m warning you of this up front; if I had understood his purpose, I would have paid more attention to the lengthy references.

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Revelation 6:3-4, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Part III of V

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

//We continue our historical-critical discussion of the Revelation's four horsemen with this, the second of four. This horseman, like the other three, relates to the events of the Jerusalem war in 70 A.D.

There is little to say about this horseman except the obvious: red denotes bloodshed. Its rider steals peace from the earth, which refers to the breaking of the Pax Romana, the "age of peace." Augustus ushered in this time of peace over 80 years earlier, though Origen would later claim that Christ initiated this period with his birth.

But now, war dramatically shatters the peace in Judea. Jewish historian Josephus writes, "[T]he daytime was spent in shedding of blood, and the night in fear." He estimates nearly 1.2 million Jews perished in the Jerusalem war, most in the final bloodbath that concluded with the destruction of the Temple. Roman historian Tacitus would say only half that many died, which sounds a bit more reasonable, but Josephus' number shouldn't be entirely discounted, because the final siege began at the feast of the Passover, when great multitudes of Jews came to worship--for six hundred years, the Passover lamb had always been slain in Jerusalem. By the end of the war, around the Temple mount, according to Josephus, "the ground did nowhere appear visible, for the dead bodies that lay on it."

Book review: Tomorrow's God

by Neale Donald Walsch 

★★★

Not my favorite from Walsch. Walsch is the author of the Conversations With God series, and this book reads similarly.

We need a new God.

  I know

No. I'm serious. We need a new God. The old God isn't working anymore.

  The old one never worked.

Some people think it did.

  They were not looking at the world around them.

...and so it begins, as God talks his way through our misconceptions about him in part one, and how a new vision of God will help us create a newer, better world in part two. A world where bickering over methods of worship is behind us, where harmony becomes mankind's purpose, and humanity can work together in love. From the back cover: In Tomorrow's God, Walsch offers compelling reasons why adopting this new belief system is in the best interests of humankind--now.

God turns out to be a bit long-winded. A hundred pages was enough for me, after which I grew thirsty for more than a spiritual guide. As wonderful as this book's teachings are—and, honestly, to be fair, they are—it wore me down to be constantly talking to a being of Walsch's imagination. More facts I could sink my teeth into, less God-talk, and I could happily develop my own "belief system" instead of “adopting” Walsh’s. (Does anybody really just select a belief system like a box of cereal at the supermarket?)

I'll try reading the book again in a few years and will probably develop an altogether different opinion.

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Revelation 6:2, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Part II of V

I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

//We're discussing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and their probable original meaning as they relate to the time of John of Patmos. This verse introduces the first of the four, riding a white horse.

This horseman speaks of a warrior, "bent on conquest." Because of the color of the horse, many interpreters imagine the horseman to be Jesus himself. Jesus arrives later in Revelation riding a white steed. But Jesus just doesn't jibe with the atmosphere of the other three horsemen. These horsemen appear like four faces of evil.

In this light, many have wondered if the white horseman intentionally mimics Christ. Could he be the Antichrist? No, that doesn't quite fit either. You may be surprised to learn that Revelation never once mentions an antichrist; only a "Beast of the Sea," which later became associated with the Antichrist, or the Son of Perdition. But the white horseman seems in no way related to the Beast.

Who, then? In light of Revelation's description of the war of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., one name stands out above all others. Vespasian, the Roman general who stormed through Galilee and Judea terrorizing villages as he approached Jerusalem. The Jewish historian Josephus proclaimed Vespasian the Messiah, so John of Patmos seats him on a white horse, mimicking Christ, the true Messiah. Vespasian also imitated Christ as a healer: healing a blind man with spittle, a lame man, and man with a withered hand. These events would have occurred around the year 69 or 70, about the time Mark penned his Gospel describing how Jesus performed exactly the same miracles.

John tells how this horseman was given a crown, and how he rode out as a conqueror. David Aune, author of three scholarly tomes on Revelation, suggests that a more accurate interpretation of today's verse may be "the conquering one left to conquer even more." As history buffs already know, Vespasian did just that. Bolstered by Josephus' vision of him as Messiah, Vespasian broke off the attack on Jerusalem (handing it over to his son, Titus) and returned to Rome, to claim by force an even greater place. He was crowned king over the entire Empire.

More about Vespasian’s role in Revelation can be found in my book, http://www.thewayithappened.com

Book review: Why God Won't Go Away

by Alister McGrath 

★★★★

McGrath comes out of the gates with guns blazing against the New Atheism. He’s a debater, having met Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitches in debates, and his competitive stance shines through. He refuses to meet atheists on their level, insisting that "faith doesn't contradict reason, but transcends it." Questions such as, "What are we all here for?" and "What's the point of living?" are legitimate questions, and we're right to seek answers to them, but science isn't going to help.

There are three parts to the book:

Part I: McGrath discusses the New Atheism and its major proponents, giving a brief description of the work of Harris, Dawkins, Dennett, and Hitchens. The New Atheism, he explains, is about more than promoting disbelief in God. It's about intolerance of religion completely. It is aggressive anti-theism. For many, the New Atheism has become arrogant and increasingly disconnected from the real world.

Part II: McGrath puts his research to work against the New Atheism, concluding that: (1) Atheism has simply failed to make its case that religion is necessarily and uniformly evil. (2) Belief is actually quite rational. Some of the arguments here are quite interesting, and I'm still contemplating their validity. (3) Science is inherently limited in what it can prove. McGrath quotes Stephen Jay Gould as saying, "Science simply cannot (by its legitimate methods) adjudicate the issue of God's possible superintendence of nature. We neither affirm nor deny it; we simply can't comment on it."

Part III: A short little section about the New Atheism's future that's worth reading if only for its humorous conclusion.

The book is definitely engaging, if a little frustrating because of its limited focus. Let's be clear on what this book is not. It is not an argument for the existence of God. McGrath never once defines what he is defending--the entire point of the book seems to be to discredit the New Atheism--so I'm hoping this book was meant to lead into his 2011 book, Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things. I'll see about getting a review copy of that one.

In the mean time, I’m left hanging. If I reject atheism, what am I supposed to replace it with? There is, for me at least, a vast difference between accepting the possibility of a divine creator and believing in that creator. Then, there is a vast difference between believing in a creator and assuming the God of the Bible is that creator. Finally, there is a vast difference between believing that Bible writers have found God and believing that the Bible is the Word of God, endorsed by God Himself. So, we’ll hopefully see where McGrath goes with this in his next book. 

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Revelation 6:1-8, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Part I of V

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals.

//In Revelation chapter six, a mysterious scroll is slowly opened, as Jesus removes seven seals from the scroll one at a time. As each seal is removed, Revelation's story directs us to the earth and the events happening there. I briefly introduced this mystery scroll in a post a few days ago.

The first four seals serve to introduce four horsemen. This image of terrifying warriors riding horses of four different colors has fascinated artists, storytellers, and hellfire preachers for two thousand years. But what do you suppose John of Patmos was originally writing about, way back in the first century? Let's take a closer peek at these four horsemen, and see if we can make sense of the images from a first-century perspective.

Scholars have long recognized the unmistakable similarities between the images used here in the seal-breaking and the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21, where Jesus predicts the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 A.D. War, international strife, famine, and earthquakes occur in the same order in both the Gospels and Revelation. Luke specifically names Jerusalem as the city under siege, and nearly all Bible interpreters agree that the Gospels, all written after the war began, "predict" the war of 70 A.D. These Gospel accounts, often termed the "little apocalypse," mirror Revelation in other ways as well:

- The Gospels and Revelation both speak of the Abomination of Desolation.

- Both speak of the gospel first being preached to every land.

- Both speak of the Great Tribulation.

- Both say false prophets will arise.

- Both mention the Son of Man arriving on the clouds.

- Both mention a trumpet sounding the end of all things.

- Both mention a darkened sun and moon and stars falling from heaven.

- Both describe birds feeding on the carcasses of the dead.

- Both were to be fulfilled "soon."

How have we come to believe the Gospels speak of a different event than Revelation? Surely, as John penned his frightening story of four horsemen, he had in mind the events of his day. The "big apocalypse" of Revelation could only be the "little apocalypse" of the Gospels. Over the next four posts, I'll describe these four horsemen and their role in the first century.

Book review: The Dark Side of Christian History

by Helen Ellerbe 

★★★

This is a  rather discouraging look at Christianity through the last 20 centuries. The book’s value is not in the strength of its research (which is one-sided and sometimes shallow) but in its provocative imagery. You won’t forget it. “The Church had a devastating impact upon society,” Ellerbe insists at the beginning of chapter four as she dives into the dark ages. While historical  atrocities such as the crusades and the Inquisition are indeed embarrassing to the Christian side of the ledger, one gets the sense from this book that Christianity is at the root of racism, illiteracy, poverty, plague, violence, slavery, and everything else wrong with the world.

Do not imagine you are reading a book about Christian faith; Ellerbe’s focus is on the human abominations done in the name of religion, not on its creeds or principles. We all know that the example Christ left was one of nonviolence. Ellerbe’s take is not that Christianity is evil in itself, but that monotheistic religion is flawed, and simply cannot produce positive results over the long haul. A monotheistic religion naturally leads humanity to the “dark side.”

Ellerbe’s bias is easily detectible. She does, however, make some intriguing points and provide some graphic examples, not least of which is the treatment of accused witches, whose emphasis within the book is probably no coincidence. Though not clearly stated (or so I didn’t notice), Ellerbe’s religious sympathies appear to lie that direction; she bemoans Christianity’s “alienation from nature.”

The horror of witch hunts knew no bounds, she says. “Sexual mutilation of accused witches was not uncommon. With the orthodox understanding that divinity had little or nothing to do with the physical world, sexual desire was perceived to be ungodly. When men persecuting the accused witches found themselves sexually aroused, they assumed that such desire emanated, not from themselves, but from the woman. They attacked breasts and genitals with pincers, pliers and red-hot irons.”

Read the book for an eye-opening overview of the topic, but with a little grain of salt.

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Genesis 49:29, Gathered To My People, Part II of II

And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite.

 

//As described a couple days ago, Abraham held no dream of a  resurrection. His expectations beyond death were to be “gathered to his  people.” But no explanation of this phrase is given. If Abraham gives no  hint about his afterlife expectations, then what about his grandson,  Jacob?

 

Today’s  verse provides the answer. When Jacob dies, he doesn’t look forward to  living with God. Jacob is terrified of heaven. One day, in a dream, he  sees angels traversing a stairway up and down to heaven, and he is  afraid, having discovered the doorway to the realm of God. No, Jacob  just wants to be buried with his grandfather. Until very late in the  development of the Old Testament, that was the best one could hope for  after death; for your bones to be reunited with the bones of your  fathers. Jewish identity, then and now, is rooted in ancestry, with the  desire to be remembered among your offspring.

 

Even  in the second century, B.C., after Jews began to believe in an  afterlife, resurrection didn’t mean heaven. A friend asked me a few days  ago when Christians began believing in heaven. Not just an afterlife,  but a belief in living “up there” with God. I just don’t know! Part of  the problem is that the Greek word for heaven is also the Greek word for  sky. Our picture of heaven is so far removed from how it was pictured  in Bible days that this is a difficult question to answer. When did  heaven become more than just layers of sky? Revelation, which most  consider the ultimate description of life after death, was not  originally about heaven at all. It was about living again on earth.  Paul, who helped integrate the Greek concept of the soul into  Christianity, dreamed of floating about in the sky like Jesus, but not  as a bodiless spirit. I do wish we had more of Paul’s letters than the  few that were collected and preserved; he’s an absolutely fascinating  theologian, and could probably shed a lot more light on the topic.

Book review: The Blackberry Bush

by David Householder

★★★★★

I have strong feelings about this book. I just don’t know what they are. I must endorse it, because it’s unforgettable.

The Blackberry Bush was authored by a Facebook friend, whom I picture as a conservative “Christian teacher-leader” (David’s words) living 2,000 miles away. I’m not sure "conservative" is how David pictures himself, so I’ve probably already insulted him. And I’m not much of a fiction reader; this will be my last for a while—I’m burned out. But on a whim, I asked for a copy. David turned out to be quite insightful, and a superb fiction writer besides!

The two main characters, a boy and girl growing up on opposite sides of the world, are quite vivid. You’ll identify with one or the other, and possibly both. They are both very real—very real!—and what troubles me most about the book is that I dislike one of them. I don’t want to, and I don’t think I’m supposed to, but I do.

I can’t describe the emotional journey, so I won’t try. Just read it, and let yourself be immersed in feeling; it might change your view of life. The book is more spiritual than Christian, so it won’t change your life that way. It’s certainly not going to talk you into a church building. I’m not really sure “spiritual” is even the right word. Honestly, I can’t put my finger on the feelings it evokes, but there is one word at the root of it all. A word with many definitions, all of them lacking. That word is Faith.

I wish the book were true. I wish all that’s wrong with this screwed-up world could just work itself out, like a rubber band unraveling under its own pressure, perhaps with a little karma, or predestination, or meddling from above, or an intertwining of energies, or whatever your religious bent is, leaving everybody happy in the end. But life is messier than that, and the kinks don’t always get worked out. There’s no guarantee of happiness. So where does that leave faith? Faith certainly isn’t wishing, nor is it holding hands and singing Kumbaya. But whatever it is, David’s book will strengthen yours.

The author thinks this would be a good book for teens and book clubs. Ahh, what do authors know, he’s flat wrong. It’s for parents and grandparents.

(click picture to buy on Amazon)

Genesis 15:15, Gathered to My People, I of II

And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

//That’s God’s promise to Abraham, regarding his ultimate end. God promised a long, good life, after which he would “go to his fathers.” And that’s what happened ten chapters later:

Genesis 25:8, Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

Often the statement is made that the Old Testament authors did not believe in a resurrection. This appears to be true; there’s little hint about any idea of resurrection (bodily or otherwise) until the book of Daniel, penned in the Maccabean period, about 165 BC. Nor did Old Testament authors dream of living in heaven with God. Heaven was reserved for heavenly beings; not people. Abraham’s reward for obedience, like Job’s, was on earth, while he still lived, after which he went “to his people” … wherever that is.

But Abraham’s “people” would soon develop higher expectations than earthly reward. The mistreatment of Jews in the Maccabean period spurred the rise of a belief in reward after death. If bad things happened to good people on earth, with no hint of justice, then reward must apparently come later, right? This sort of thinking is natural: In 1997 a Gallop poll in America reported that 72% of Americans believe in heaven. That’s 1997, when unemployment hit a 28-year low and the Dow reached 7,000. Who needed heaven? Ten years later, the poll was repeated. After 9-11 and a serious recession, belief in heaven had risen nine points to 81%. Thankfully, we imagine, a better life awaits.

Comin’ for to carry me hommmmme. More on this topic on a couple days, when we’ll learn about Abraham’s “people” that preceded him in death.

Book review: Devil's Ink

by Jeffrey C. Pugh 

★★★★★

Is the Devil omniscient or merely opinionated? I don’t know. He certainly has lots to say, as he rants for page after page in his “blog from the basement office.”

At first, I felt like I just wasn’t getting it. I shook my head over the first dozen pages, thankful this lurking evil was all a myth. Then, I considered the many who do take the Devil seriously, imagining him as a sort of personified version of everything wrong with the world, and to them, this book must be absolutely frightful! How does one dare make light of the Evil One himself? The book is edgy to begin with, but as I imagined the dichotomy between believers and non-believers, it became doubly so.

When I came to realize Pugh was just building a little atmosphere, I started to relax. A feisty critter, that Devil. Arrogant, insulting, mischievous, sleazy, often crabby. I stuck my tongue out at the cranky old coot whenever he came unhinged. He does like to rant:

“If someone screws with me, they should pay. I really don’t want them forgiven. That’s just how I roll. Who is “god” to forgive someone who wrongs me, anyway? It’s sheer arrogance, it is.”

But my comfort faded when the book took another turn, and began to get serious. A new, not-so-simple image of God began to surface, one you “can’t put on a stained-glass window like you can a bearded guy on a throne.” Political, intelligent, and relevant, Pugh soon gave me much to think about, if I could keep from burning out by constantly looking at the world through the lens of the gleefully evil.

Suggestion: The blog-sized sections make for a perfect bathroom reader.

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Nehemiah 2:19, the Bible's only named Arab

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn.

//Today’s verse is the only named Arab in the Bible. Will you let me evoke my right as a book reviewer to quote from David Plotz’s Good Book again?

“When Geshem the Arab and his cronies hear that Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall, they ‘mocked and ridiculed’ him. Nehemiah responds by saying: ‘the God of heaven is the one who will give us success, and we His servants are going to start building; but you have no share or claim or historic right in Jerusalem.’ In what can be seen as a darkly humorous divine joke, the only Arab in the Bible turns out to be (1) an enemy of the Jews and (2) at odds with them over who should control Jerusalem. It’s 2,500 years later: Has anything changed?”

I’ve told you thrice, now: Go get David’s insightful book. Here it is again: http://www.dubiousdisciple.com/2011/06/book-review-good-book.html

Book review: Nero

by Jurgen Malitz 

★★★★★ 

I’m tempted to simply quote the opening chapter of my book about Revelation. Most of that first chapter comes directly from this book. I begin with a series of short glimpses into the life of Nero Caesar in an attempt to portray the demons within the man named by Revelation as the Beast of the Sea.

Nero was the fifth Roman emperor, and thus the fifth “king” of seven in the book of Revelation. He’s one of the most fascinating emperors of the era, sharing the title (in my opinion) with Augustus and Caligula. He’s known as a narcissistic tyrant, and the man who single-handedly ended the reign of the Caesars (the original family line) by putting every possible heir to death. He’s also known, of course, for his brutal and imaginative persecution of Christians. But Malitz also gives credit where credit is due, outlining Nero’s more positive contributions from earlier in his reign.

A short chapter near the end of the book discusses Nero’s “afterlife,” the enduring legend which sprang up in his name as the antichrist, 666. It was believed by many (including, apparently, John of Patmos) that Nero would come back to life to regain his throne by force. Nero is the ruler who dies and lives again as the eighth king of Revelation.

Mesmerizing and fun, if you have any interest at all in this stuff, you won’t be able to put the book down. Admittedly, many of the more sensational Nero stories are of questionable authenticity (such as blaming him for setting the fire that destroyed Rome near the end of his reign) and separating fact from fiction can be a challenge, but for me, writing from a Christian viewpoint, both sides are equally important.

This is a relatively short book, ending officially after 113 pages, but immediately following this is a translation of Suetonius’ The Lives of the Twelve Caesars.

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Revelation 2:13, The Throne of Satan

I know where you live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives.

//Ever wonder where Satan lives? Here it is, in black and white, in a message to the church of Pergamum, one of the seven cities of Asia Minor. As Rome had apparently become the center of Satan's activity in the West, Pergamum had become the "throne" of the East.

Pergamum, according to John of Patmos, was far from perfect. They had some among them who "held to the teaching of Balaam," an Old Testament character known for corrupting Israel by promoting idol worship. Pergamum also had some who "held to the teaching of the Nicolaitans," known for their deviant sexual practices and, again, for idolatry. But of the greatest idolatry of all, worshipping the throne of Satan, Pergamum's record remains unblemished.

What exactly was this throne of Satan in Revelation? Some have wondered if it referred to the great throne-like altar in Pergamum to Zeus, a massive structure originally built in the second century B.C. Given that Zeus is the father of Apollo, that Nero Caesar often portrayed himself in the divine image of Apollo, and that Nero Caesar is, by nearly every historical-critical account of Revelation, the original Beast of the Sea, it all comes together, once more displaying John's fondness for parody. As Jesus, the Lamb, is named the Son of God, Nero, the Beast, is named the son of Satan.

Book review: God's Trombones

by James Weldon Johnson 

★★★★★

Excellent! This is a Penguin Classic, reprinted in 2008 from the original in 1927. It presents seven inspiring Negro sermons in verse.

A thought-provoking statement comes from the Forward: “African Americans are the only people in the whole world and history who really practice Christianity.” No one else has ever found in their hearts the gift of forgiveness, the Forward claims. African Americans forgave the slave owners who worked them without payment for 240 years. This ability to forgive made many former slave owners uneasy, so incomprehensible was their forgiveness.

These transplanted Africans accepted Jesus as their savior and laid all their worries on him. God’s trombones—the old time Negro preachers—were powerful, eloquent figures in their community. A community surviving on hope. When the lyricists wrote, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, coming for to carry me home,” neither the singer nor the audience had to tax their imagination to consider death a sweet chariot or to doubt that heaven was their destination. When the folk-sermon was in full swing, a rhythmic dance to the beat of powerful voice, an electric current passed through the congregation.

You don’t want to miss these seven poetic sermons.

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2 Samuel 14:25, Absalom's Hair

In all Israel there was not a man so highly praised for his handsome appearance as Absalom. From the top of his head to the sole of his foot there was no blemish in him.

//What a specimen, that Absalom! So gorgeous was he that he sometimes had to cut his hair, because it grew so long and heavy. The locks of hair from each cutting weighed two hundred shekels (about five pounds).

Such a man deserves to be king, or so Absalom imagined. Rebellious, he turned against his father David, God's anointed king. And that's where divine justice caught up with him.

Fleeing the men of David on a mule, his dazzling hair caught on the branch of a tree, and the mule kept going without him. Dangling alive from the tree branch, David's men caught up with him and killed him.

Surely, it’s from this story that we derive the common saying: "Hair today, gone tomorrow."