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Welcome to “read the Bible – expand your mind:”

The Book of Common Prayer says that by sharing Holy Communion, Christians become “very members incorporate in the mystical body” of Jesus. The words “corporate” and “mystical” are key. They show that a healthy church has two sides, with the often-overlooked “mystic” side posing the question, “How do I experience God?” This blog will try to answer that.

It has four main themes. The first is that God will accept anyone. (John 6:37.) The second is that God wants us to live lives of abundance.(John 10:10.) The third is that Jesus wants us to read the Bible with an open mind. (As it says in Luke 24:45: “Then He [Jesus] opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”) The fourth theme – another one often overlooked – is that Jesus wants us to do even greater miracles than He did. (John 14:12.) 

And this thought ties them together:

The best way to live abundantly and do greater miracles than Jesus is: Read, study and apply the Bible with an open mind. For more see the notes or – to expand your mind – see the Intro.

In the meantime:

Monday, February 24, 2025, is the Feast of St. Matthias, the Apostle who replaced Judas:

[A]ccording to the Acts of the Apostles, [he] was the apostle chosen by the remaining eleven apostles to replace Judas Iscariot following Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and suicide.  His calling as an apostle is unique in that his appointment was not made personally by Jesus, who had already ascended to heaven, and, it was made before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church.

See Saint Matthias – Wikipedia. (Note that this St. Matthias is not to be confused with St. Matthew, the Gospel-writer whose Feast Day is September 21.) He is also called “Unremarkable Matthias” or the “Overlooked Apostle.” See The Overlooked Holy Apostle, Matthias.

Isaac Asimov described how Matthias became an Apostle:

Peter arranged to have a new individual selected to take the place of Judas Iscariot in order to bring the number of the inner circle back to the mystical twelve that matched the twelve tribes of Israel. Two were nominated, Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias. To choose between the two, lots were used, as told in Acts 1:26, “and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” Neither Joseph Barsabbas nor Matthias are mentioned anywhere else in the New Testament.

Since there’s no other mention of Matthias in the Bible, we know next to nothing about him. But there are theories. For example, Wikipedia suggested that “Matthias was originally Zacchaeus.” (Remember, the tax collector Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus? He had a hard time both as he was short and because of the crowd of people.)

So, was Saint Matthias really Zacchaeus, who fell from a sycamore tree?

Whatever the answer, the now-defunct article – Overlooked Apostle – went into great detail about how much Matthias suffered – and how he ultimately died. Like, he preached in Macedonia and Ethiopia, where “the heathen dragged him over the ground, beat him, hung him from a pillar and tore his stomach with an iron blade and burned him with fire.” Another town he preached in was a “city of the man-eaters,” cannibals. When Matthias came in “the men of that city took hold of him and thrust out his eyes and made him drink poison and sent him to the prison where he sat for thirty days waiting to be eaten and die.” But the Lord appeared to him and got his eyesight back for him, as well as other prisoners who’d suffered the same fate. The site also said Matthias was rescued by the Apostle Andrew; “as Andrew approached the gates of the prison, the doors opened of their own accord.” (But see also Matthias the Apostle – Wikipedia, which said “information concerning the ministry and death of Matthias is vague and contradictory, and that Hippolytus of Rome said Matthias “died of old age in Jerusalem.”)

That Wikipedia account may be true but it’s also a whole lot more boring! (And which indicates how internet users need to Lateral Read and check sources, including but not limited to claims seeming outrageous – or “not boring.”) Getting back to the now-defunct “Overlooked” article, it said eventually Matthias returned to Galilee where he was stoned to death. “The Jews, filled with malice and anger, seized Matthias and presented him to the High Priest, Annas.” The High Priest, who “hated all Christians and was responsible for the death of James, the first bishop of Jerusalem, ordered that Matthias be stoned.” One point of note: Overlooked Apostle said that when Matthias was taken to be stoned, he cried out, “You hypocrites, rightly did the Prophet David speak to those like you: ‘they shall hunt down the soul of the righteous man, and the innocent blood shall they condemn.’” (Which sounds strangely pertinent these days.)

After Matthias spoke these words, two witnesses who claimed he’d blasphemed picked up stones to be the first to stone him. But first, Matthias asked that these stones be buried with him as a testimony of his suffering for the Lord. So they stoned him to death, and as an added insult, also beheaded him to express that he was an enemy of Rome. So whether St. Matthias died by being first stoned and then beheaded, or had his eyes gouged out, then “sat for thirty days waiting to be eaten and die,” the lesson is: Being an apostle was no piece of cake!

Another lesson? Maybe there’s a reason the “Overlooked” piece is NOW DEFUNCT, but the main point remains: Trying to be a good Christian has never been a “piece of cake.” (And these days it’s mostly a pain in the ass.) As to who was Matthias, and how did he die? That’s one puzzle we Good Christians can work on this Lent. (As a spiritual discipline?) There’s also that whole controversy, “should I judge my fellow Christians?” I’ll explore that topic in a near-future post, in which I’ll revisit the March 2019 post, On the Bible’s “dynamic tension,” featuring Charles Atlas. 

Stay tuned…

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The upper image is courtesy of Saint Matthias – Wikipedia. The caption, as noted: “‘St Matthias’ (c. 1611) by Peter Paul Rubens.“

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

“Feast days” are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

Bibliography for this post: 2015’s On St. Matthias – and “Father Roberts”,” 2017’s The “Overlooked Apostle,” Ruth and Mardi Gras, and 2022’s St. Matthias, Zacchaeus, and the tough life of an Apostle.

Re: “Isaac.” The quote is from Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One), Avenel Books (1981), page 998. Asimov was “an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards.” His list of books included those on “astronomy, mathematics, the Bible, William Shakespeare’s writing, and chemistry.” He was a long-time member of Mensa, “albeit reluctantly; he described some members of that organization as ‘brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs.’” See Isaac Asimov – Wikipedia.

Re: That “mostly a pain in the ass” comment. Which may be true of this earthly incarnation, but there is that “you have already won your game of life” part. (John 6:37 and Romans 10:9.)

The lower image is courtesy of Dynamic Tension Charles Atlas – Image Results. See also Dynamic Tension – Wikipedia, and Charles Atlas – Wikipedia.

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As noted in the opening blurb, this blog has four main themes. The first is that God will accept anyone. (John 6:37, with the added, “Anyone who comes to Him.”) This is a consistent theme throughout the Bible. From the Old Testament, Psalm 9:10, “You never forsake those who seek you, O Lord.” (In the Version in the Book of Common Prayer.) The second is that God wants us to live abundantly.  (John 10:10.) The third is that we should do greater miracles than Jesus. (John 14:12). A fourth theme: The only way to do all that is read the Bible with an open mind:

…closed-mindedness, or an unwillingness to consider new ideas, can result from the brain’s natural dislike for ambiguity. According to this view, the brain has a “search and destroy” relationship with ambiguity and evidence contradictory to people’s current beliefs tends to make them uncomfortable… Research confirms that belief-discrepant-closed-minded persons have less tolerance for cognitive inconsistency…

So in plain words, I take issue with what I came to call “Christian first graders.” Those who stay in a kind of elementary school, and maybe even never go beyond first grade. See John the Baptist, ’24 – and “Christian First Graders,” for more detail. But the key point: “The Bible was designed to expand your mind,” not keep it narrow. Also, the idea that “Jesus was anything but negative. His goal was for you to grow and develop into all that you can be.” (For more on that see ABOUT THE BLOG, above.)

Before that post I wrote that the blog takes issue with boot-camp Christians, the Biblical literalists who never go “beyond the fundamentals.” But the Bible can offer so much more than their narrow reading can offer…  (Unless you want to stay a Bible buck private all your life…) Now, about “Boot-camp Christians.” See for example, Conservative Christian – “Career buck private?”  The gist of that post is that starting the Bible is like Army Basic Training. You begin by“learning the fundamentals.” But after boot camp, you move on to Advanced Individual Training.” 

However, after boot camp, you move on to Advanced Individual Training. And as noted in “Buck private,” one of this blog’s themes is that if you want to be all that you can be, you need to go on and explore the “mystical side of Bible reading.*” In other words, exploring the mystical side of the Bible helps you “be all that you can be.” See Slogans of the U.S. Army – Wikipedia, re: the recruiting slogan from 1980 to 2001. The related image at left is courtesy of: “toywonders.com/productcart/pc/catalog/aw30.jpg.”

Re: “mystical.” Originally, mysticism “referred to the Biblical liturgical, spiritual, and contemplative dimensions of early and medieval Christianity.” See Mysticism – Wikipedia, and the post On originalism.  (“That’s what the Bible was originally about!”) See also Christian mysticism – Wikipedia, “In early Christianity the term ‘mystikos’ referred to three dimensions, which soon became intertwined, namely the biblical, the liturgical and the spiritual or contemplative… The third dimension is the contemplative or experiential knowledge of God.” As to that “experiential” aspect, see also Wesleyan Quadrilateral – Wikipedia, on the theological reflection method using four sources of spiritual development: scripture, tradition, reason, and “Christian experience.”

For an explanation of the Daily Office – where “Dorscribe” came from – see What’s a DOR? 

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