On Eastertide – and “artistic license”

“Moses doesn’t like this. Moses doesn’t like this one bit…*“

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Last (Holy) Saturday night, I stayed home and watched part of The Ten Commandments. (Noted further below.) That’s where Moses – as seen in the image above – comes in. And by the way, the “quote” is pure illeism: “the tendency in some individuals to refer to themselves in the third person.” That’s where the imaginary quote – “Moses doesn’t like this. Moses doesn’t like this one bit“ – comes in. (Moses wrote the First Five Books of the Bible in the third person.)

There’s more on that later, but first a note: Many churches this year will celebrate the Annunciation on April 4, instead of the usual March 25. (See e.g. The Lectionary Page.) That is:

The Annunciation would normally fall on Friday, March 25, 2016. That day, however, is Good Friday, and Annunciation is never celebrated during Holy Week. It is transferred, therefore, to Monday, April 4, 2016, the first open day after Easter Sunday.

See also An Annunciation-Good Friday anamoly. Then there’s Easter Season – AND BEYOND, which noted that Easter isn’t just one day, it’s an entire season. (Aka Eastertide.) In turn, Eastertide is defined as that long period – of 50 days – from Easter Sunday to Pentecost. (For more on Pentecost, see Pentecost – “Happy Birthday, Church!”) But before we get into that, I wanted to make a few comments on watching part of The Ten Commandments, the Saturday night before Easter Sunday.

(The real version, the one with Charlton Heston. You know, the one God watches?)

I happened on the movie while channel surfing the night of Holy Saturday. I came in just as Moses was about to learn he wasn’t really a Prince of Egypt, as he’d been taught “since birth.” As the faithful reader will know, that was pretty much the topic of my Lenten meditation.

(Briefly, What did Moses know, and when did he know it?)

As for watching the movie: Some time and a lot of commercials after I started watching, I realized this Hollywood version was a whole lot longer than the original. So I pulled out my trusty Bible and checked. Sure enough, in a short time I found Exodus 2:11-14, telling what made Moses to flee to Midian (seen at right):

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” (Emphasis added.)

That’s it. That’s all there was to the Bible version. But Cecil B. DeMille turned those four short verses into what seemed like hours of viewing time. (Including commercials of course.) He also added a host of complicated sub-plots that simply aren’t anywhere to be found in the Bible.

From which – I figured – there had to be some kind of object lesson.

Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t give any clue about how Moses knew those two fighting Hebrews were “his own people.” (That passage follows right after Exodus 2:10, describing how Moses was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter: “When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, ‘I drew him out of the water.'”)

The point of all this being: The 1956 Hollywood-DeMille version of this passage featured a great deal of artistic license, used to fill in a whole lot of blanks in Exodus 2:11-14.

If you don’t believe me, read the Wikipedia plot summary of the movie yourself. You’ll see that the mere summary alone is much longer than the Bible account. For another thing, you’ll see that the movie included a whole lot of drama that the Bible doesn’t even infer.

You’ll see things like Moses growing up to be a winning Egyptian diplomat, and general. (As in “winning a war with Ethiopia.”) Then too there’s the torrid love affair between Moses and Nefretiri. (Played by a very hot Anne Baxter.)

The movie also had Moses meeting “the stone-cutter Joshua.”

Incidentally, Joshua did go on to become “the leader of the Israelite tribes after the death of Moses.” (He also went on to write the sixth book of the Bible, after Moses wrote his “First Five.”) But the movie had Moses meeting Joshua way too early, while the Israelites were still slaves in Egypt. (And it was this Joshua who – in the movie – tells Moses “of the Hebrew God.”)

But in the Bible, Joshua isn’t mentioned until Exodus 17:9. That was way after the Israelites had left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea and wandered around the wilderness a good long while.

For more examples of such artistic license – again – check out the Wiki-plot summary yourself. But here are a few more highlights.

For one thing, while Moses is still an Egyptian general and overlord, he saves an old woman from being crushed to death. That woman – in the movie – turns out to be “his natural mother, Yoshebel.” (Or Jochebed.) Then there’s the matter of the beautiful Hebrew virgin “Lilia.”

In the movie – but not mentioned in the Bible – Lilia is engaged to Joshua. But various bad guys lust after her, like the evil Egyptian “master builder Baka” – played to perfection by Vincent Price – and the “ambitious Hebrew chief overseer Dathan.” (Ditto, by Edward G. Robinson.) Then too, in the movie – but not in the Bible – Moses kills Baka, but only to save Joshua. (In the movie, Joshua attacked Baka to keep him from raping Lilia, and he in turn is rescued by Moses.)

Further, when Moses “confesses” to Joshua that he too is a Hebrew, the ever-sneaky Dathan overhears the confession. In turn Dathan tells Pharoah – Yul Brynner – and in turn is rewarded with his freedom, various “riches” – and his own shot at Lilia.

But in a strange turn of events, when Pharaoh tells Moses to take His People and leave Egypt, Dathan gets turned out with them. From that point on – throughout the film – Dathan remains a “thorn in the flesh” to Moses. (As the Apostle Paul might put it. See 2d Corinthians 12:7.)

There are other examples of such whole cloth and/or artistic license episodes drawn from those four short verses in Exodus 2:11-14. They include but aren’t limited to: 1) A Hebrew woman named Memnet telling Nefretiri that Moses is the son of Hebrew slaves, then being murdered – pushed off a high balcony – by Nefretiri. 2) Moses voluntarily becoming a slave himself – after he wangles the truth from Nefertiri – “to learn more of their lives.” And 3) Moses brought in chains to Pharaoh – played by Yul Brynner – and then “banished to the desert.” (All because Nefertiri is still madly in love with him – Moses – and because Yul Brynner doesn’t want Moses as a martyr to his new queen.)

These then are the few comments I wanted to make, “on watching parts of The Ten Commandments on the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. ”

Which brings up the topic of rabbit trails. Some people say running down a rabbit trail is an “exercise in futility. It means wasting time and energy pursuing leads that go nowhere – or everywhere.” (Obviously, if a rabbit trail “leads everywhere,” it doesn’t waste your time.)

Others take a more broad view, like Today’s Idiom Is … Rabbit Trail. That fellow-blogger noted that while going down rabbit trails in “discussions can be fun and interesting,” they can also “interfere with resolving the topic at hand.” But the blogger noted this distinction:

You would never use that phrase to describe a leisurely trip when you explored a side path and had an interesting adventure. That’s more like taking the road less traveled[,] which is a literary reference to a poem by Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken.” (E.A.)

So “we” may have ended up going down a rabbit trail here. Or we may have “taken the road less traveled.” Either way, it was fun for me, and I hope for the reader as well.

In the meantime, back to the subject of Easter being “not just one day, but an entire season.” (Also called Eastertide.) I’ll be writing more about Eastertide in the near future. But for now we can look forward to Pentecost – as the Birthday of the Church!

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An artist’s depiction of Pentecost – the “birthday of the Church…”

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I borrowed the idea of the upper image from On Moses and “illeism,” a post I did on May 20, 2014. But to get a larger version of the image I went to pinterest.com/pin/131237776614965931.

Also, as to the asterisk (*), I cut-and-pasted the caption quote for the upper image from Moses and “illeism.” As in: “Moses doesn’t like this. Moses doesn’t like this one bit…“

The map of Moses’ path to Midian is courtesy of treasureboxmy.blogspot.com/2013/12/exodus-moses-flees-to-midian.

Re: “Yoshebel” or Jochebed. Wikipedia noted that the “story of Jochebed is thought to be described in the Book of Exodus (2:1–10) – although she is not explicitly named here.” The article further noted that according to the Torah, she was “a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and Moses.” Also, she is “praised for her faith in the Epistle to the Hebrews.”

Re: Joshua’s first mention in the Bible. See When is Joshua first mentioned in the Bible – Answers.com.

Re: Rabbit trails. Today’s Idiom also noted this: “If you’ve ever seen a dog follow a real rabbit trail in a field or someone’s back yard, you’ll see where this idiom comes from. The dog will endlessly sniff around in circles, never getting anywhere. And it certainly never finds the rabbit!”

Other links about the “road less traveled” – or more precisely “the road not taken” – include: The road less travelled – meaning and origin, The Road Less Traveled – New York University, The Road Not Taken – Wikipedia, and How to Take the Road Less Traveled: 14 Steps – wikiHow.

The lower image is courtesy of Pentecost – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with the caption: “A Western depiction of the Pentecost, painted by Jean II Restout, 1732.”

An Annunciation-Good Friday anomaly

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Johann Schröder‘s interpretation of the Annunciation, which this year falls on Good Friday…

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Here’s an anomaly, having to do with this year’s Good Friday. (An anomaly is “odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc.” Either that or an “incongruity.”)

This year, Good Friday falls on March 25. But by tradition, March 25 is also the day when we celebrate the Annunciation. So this year – on the same day we remember Jesus being hung on a cross – we would normally also celebrate “the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus.” However:

The Annunciation would normally fall on Friday, March 25, 2016. That day, however, is Good Friday, and Annunciation is never celebrated during Holy Week. It is transferred, therefore, to Monday, April 4, 2016, the first open day after Easter Sunday.

See catholicism.about.com, as to the question, When Is Annunciation 2016?

And speaking of the Annunciation, last year I posted The Annunciation “gets the ball rolling.” I noted the metaphor of how the original early Church Fathers got that March 25 date by “figuring it backwards:”

It all started with the birth of Jesus. The early Church Fathers decided first that the celebration would be on December 25. (For reasons explained further below.) Then they figured backwards, nine months. Since they said Jesus was born on December 25, He had to have been “conceived” on the previous March 25. That’s where the Annunciation comes in.

I also noted how December 25 got picked as Jesus’ birthday. It had to do with the winter solstice, “the shortest day and the longest night of the year.” Back in the olden days, our primitive ancestors started worrying; “there was never any certainty that the sinking Sun would ever return… So about mid-December those old-time people kept worrying that the days would keep getting shorter and shorter, until there was nothing but eternal night.”

Which makes that the perfect complement to Good Friday, on which the liturgical color is black.

That is, beginning at the end of the evening Maundy Thursday service – in the Western church – the altar is stripped. Also, “the clergy no longer wear the purple or red that is customary throughout Great Lent, but instead don black vestments.”

But as we know, there is a happy ending.

For more on particular-church practices on Good Friday, see Wikipedia. But the general theme is revisiting “the events of the day through public reading of specific Psalms and the Gospels, and singing hymns about Christ’s death.” Other practices include fasting and acts of reparation.

Also, “the Stations of the Cross are often prayed either in the church or outside, and a prayer service may be held from midday to 3.00 pm, known as the Three Hours’ Agony.”

But during all those Good Friday hours of fasting, penance and remembering, don’t forget the real “reason for the season.”

That would be exemplified by the El Greco painting at right.

That painting “shows Jesus – the Risen Messiah – ‘in a blaze of glory … holding the white banner of victory over death.’” (See also On Easter Season – AND BEYOND.)

Note also that the Annunciation is celebrated about the time of the vernal equinox. (Vernal is from the Latin word for “spring.”)

Which brings up the matter of the Incarnation. See Wikipedia:

The Incarnation … is the belief that [Jesus], “became flesh” by being conceived in the womb of Mary… [The idea is that the Son of God] took on a human body and nature and becameboth man and God. In the Bible its clearest teaching is in John 1:14: “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” The Incarnation is commemorated and celebrated each year at Christmas, and also reference can be made to the Feast of the Annunciation; “different aspects of the mystery of the Incarnation” are celebrated at Christmas and the Annunciation.

(See also Liturgical year – Wikipedia.) In other words, before Jesus could perform His greatest miracle, he had to pay the price of going through Good Friday.

And that could be another way of saying that both the Good Friday Experience and the Joyful Easter Experience that followed were all part of the rich tapestry of life. On the part of Jesus, that is. (And through Him, something we can experience as well…)

Which in turn is another way of saying “When one door closes, another one opens.”

That’s a famous saying, and it’s variously attributed to Alexander Graham Bell, or to Helen Keller, or to “the 21st chapter of Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes’s classic, “Don Quixote.” (And incidentally, here’s the rest of the quote: “…but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”)

So here’s the real reason for the season: To remember the door that Jesus “opened for us.”

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Mihály Munkácsy‘s depiction of “behold the man” with Jesus and Pontius Pilate…

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The upper image is courtesy of Annunciation – Wikipedia. The caption: “The Annunciation – Johann Christian Schröder.” As to Good Friday on the same date at the Annunciation:

Because the sacrifice of Jesus through his crucifixion is commemorated on this day, the Divine Liturgy (the sacrifice of bread and wine) is never celebrated on Great Friday, except when this day coincides with the Great Feast of the Annunciation, which falls on the fixed date of 25 March (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar…

Re: “rich tapestry.” See also quotes and quotations on the tapestry of life, and/or America A Rich Tapestry Of Life « NaegeleBlog.

The lower image is courtesy of the Ecce Homo link in Annunciation – Wikipedia.

On Holy Week – 2016

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Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn: The Risen Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen

“The Risen Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen” – which comes at the end of Holy Week…

Today is the start of Holy Week. (Also known as the last week of Lent.) And just as an aside, last year – 2015 – Easter Sunday came later, on April 4. (As noted in On Holy Week – and hot buns.)

The “hot buns” part of that equation noted that “’hot cross buns are traditionally toasted and eaten on Good Friday,’ in the Anglican countries of the British Commonwealth:”

A hot cross bun is a “spiced sweet bun made with currants or raisins and marked with a cross on the top.” The eating of this hot cross bun was designed to mark the end of Lent, with all its disciplines and “giving ups.” I.e., during Lent, only “plain buns made without dairy products” could be eaten. That prohibition ended at noon on Good Friday.

The post also noted a number of superstitions from English folklore, about such “hot buns.” For example: Sharing a hot cross bun with friend “is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year.” Also, if taken on a sea voyage, “hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck.”

But enough about those “hot buns.” (We are still in Lent, after all…)

More to the point, Holy Week includes – but is not limited to, spiritually speaking – the following Feast Days: Palm Sunday, Holy Wednesday (also known as Spy Wednesday), Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday), Good Friday (Holy Friday), and Holy Saturday.” But here’s a key note:

Holy Week doesn’t “end” with Easter Sunday. By definition, Easter Sunday “is the beginning of another liturgical [season, 50 days long]…” That in turn could be a metaphor or object lesson for a whole new beginning, as in a “whole new way of life.” Which is another way of saying [that] Easter Sunday is the defining moment of the liturgical year…

See On Easter Season – AND BEYOND. That post noted that Easter Sunday – the end of Holy Week – is also known as Resurrection Sunday. For obvious reasons. It also included “a word about Rembrandt‘s interpretation of Easter morning, shown above:”

Mary Magdalen had just found Jesus’ grave empty, and asks a bystander what has happened. In her confusion she thinks the man is a gardener. Only when he replies with “Mary!” does she realize who she’s talking to. To illustrate Mary’s confusion, Jesus is often depicted as a gardener in this scene.

Then there’s the matter of Easter Sunday as celebrated today, “with the ‘Easter Bunny, colorfully decorated Easter eggs, and Easter egg hunts.’” (For a more liturgical view see What is Easter Sunday?) Which leads to the question: “So how did the Easter Bunny get mixed up in all this?”

The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the “Easter Hare” originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient… In legend, the creature carries colored eggs in his basket, candy, and sometimes also toys to the homes of children, and as such shows similarities to Santa Claus or the Christkind, as they both bring gifts to children on the night before their respective holidays.

That’s from the Easter Bunny link, connected with the “bunny” postcard image at the bottom of the main text. There’s also a note that the Easter Bunny custom was first written of – in America – at about the year 1682. (See also social control, connected to similar practices before Christmas.)

Last year’s post – On Easter Season – AND BEYOND – also included a link to Ēostre – Wikipedia.

That noted the “Germanic divinity” who originally served as “namesake of the festival of Easter.” And it noted that the “Ēostre” celebration was mentioned by the Venerable Bede – at left – in his “8th-century work The Reckoning of Time.”

But in closing, here’s a more incongruous note.

I was sitting in church this morning, listening to the priest read from Luke 22:14-23:56. (Part of the full Palm Sunday readings, which can be seen at Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.) And for some reason, on this particular morning I was struck by Luke 22:37. That passage came right after Jesus said that Peter would deny Him three times before the cock crowed. Jesus went on to say – in our translation – “I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me, `And he was counted among the lawless‘; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled.”

Biblehub.com has a number of different translations for the word “lawless:” Words like “transgressors,” or “rebels,” or “evil doers,” “criminals,” or even “outlaws.” And the notes thereto point to the “fifty third chapter of Isaiah, where this passage stands.” That 53d chapter is in turn “a manifest prophecy of the Messiah.” Specifically, see Isaiah 53:12:

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Another note pointed out that Jesus was “crucified between two thieves; and more than this.”

The more than this involved what might be known in the lawyer trade as a legal fiction. (That is, ” a fact assumed or created by courts which is then used in order to apply a legal rule.”) The legal rule in question demanded a blood sacrifice, under the Old Law, to cover the sins of the people. But to solve that problem for all time, Jesus substituted HIs own “blood” for ours:

[B]eing in the legal place, and stead of his people, and having their sins laid upon him, and imputed to him, he was made and accounted, by imputation, not only a sinner, but sin itself; and as such, was considered in the eye of the law, and by the justice of God… (E.A.)

Which is something to remember next Sunday, while enjoying those Chocolate Bunnies.

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“An Easter postcard depicting the Easter Bunny...”

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The upper image is courtesy of The Risen Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen – Art and the Bible.

The lower image is courtesy of Easter – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

St. Joseph and the “Passover Plot”

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Saint Joseph – his feast day is coming up on March 19 – “with the Infant Jesus…”

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Here’s a spoiler alert: Saint Joseph – earthly “father” of Jesus – has nothing to do with The Passover Plot. It’s just that this post is about both St. Joe and the book by Hugh Schonfield. (The thesis of that 1965 Schonfield book: The Crucifixion was a “conscious attempt by Jesus to fulfill the Messianic expectations rampant in his time,” but His plan “went unexpectedly wrong.”)

Then too, a discussion of The Passover Plot seems especially appropriate because Easter Sunday – March 27 – is now less than two weeks away.

But first, about St. Joseph. Last year at this time I posted On St. Paddy and St. Joe. There I noted the unusual situation in March – of most years – where a minor feast day is celebrated more than a major feast day.

That is – in a liturgical sense – the “earthly father[figure] of Jesus” outranks – by far – Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

(As noted in St. Joe, when it comes to the list of important Bible figures with feast days, St. Joseph “comes in third only to Christ the King and Mary.”)

St Patrick's Day Nevertheless, St. Patrick’s Day – March 17 – is celebrated far more widely than St. Joseph’s Day. (March 19.) On the other hand, this year’s Lectionary Page does list St. Joseph’s Feast Day, but it doesn’t list St. Patrick’s Day.

That’s because this year Easter comes way earlier than usual.

In other words, for this year – on what would normally be St. Patrick’s Day – the Lectionary Page has March 17 officially listed as Thursday in the Fifth Week of Lent. But of course that won’t change the fact that “St. Paddy’s Day” will be the more widely celebrated…

For more on St. Paddy and St. Joe, see last year’s post. It included a section on How the Irish Saved Civilization, and on how the Irish went from widespread ridicule to acceptance:

Facing nativist detractors who characterized them as drunken, violent, criminalized, and diseased [ – as illustrated at right – ] Irish-Americans were looking for ways to display their civic pride and the strength of their identity… [They] celebrated their Catholicism and patron saint … but they also stressed their patriotic belief in their new home. In essence, St. Patrick’s Day was a public declaration of a hybrid identity [with] a strict adherence to the values and liberties that the U.S. offered them.

And that seems to be an object lesson we could re-learn today…

But back to The Passover Plot. As noted, the thesis of Hugh Schonfield‘s 1965 book was that the Crucifixion was part of a “conscious attempt by Jesus to fulfill the Messianic expectations [but] that the plan went unexpectedly wrong.” On a related note, here’s something I didn’t know before: The book was made into a movie in 1976. That is, it was made into a:

Dramatization of the controversial best-seller that posits an alternate version of the birth of Christianity. In this version, Jesus planned for His crucifixion by taking a drug that would simulate death. After His unconscious body was placed in the tomb, a religious sect known as the Zealots would secretly steal Christ’s body from the tomb, then spread the rumor that He had risen, thus fulfilling Biblical prophecy.

The one thing I do remember is that the book was so fascinating it made me miss a plane to Key West.

This was in the days before cell phones. (In the late 1980s or very early 1990s.) My late wife was working as a traveling sales-lady, for a company that did church directories. So when she got posted down to Key West, I planned to fly down for the weekend. (From Tampa Airport.)

I brought along a copy of Passover Plot. I got checked in and seated in the waiting area, then started reading. When I looked up from the book – finally – I saw that my “flight had flown.”

I ended up getting to Key West on a later flight. I also ended up disagreeing with many or most of Schonfield‘s conclusions. But I found his methodical research enlightening. (In much the same way that I found Last Temptation of Christ enlightening. There too, I didn’t agree with all the premises of the movie, but I did feel it showed the conditions in which Jesus lived, far more accurately than the typical Hollywood “blonde, blue-eyed Jesus.”)

Then too, I’ve always felt that personal faith is not a matter of scientific proof. (Like those “boot camp Christians” who look so assiduously for proof of Noah’s Ark in Turkey, on or near Mount Ararat.) To me, faith is more a matter of that ongoing interactive walk to Jesus.

Hugh J. Schonfield. But we were discussing Passover Plot. I’ve included some excerpts in the notes, but first a couple reviews. For one, Goodreads also called the book fascinating, as well as “lucidly written and carefully documented.” At the same time it acknowledged “probably no other figure in modern Jewish historical research” was more controversial than Schonfield. (At right.)

Tim Chaffey said the book “created quite a stir.” He also questioned the author’s claims of objectivity: “it is easily demonstrated that his bias and philosophy overrule any attempt at objectivity.” And Stefan Zenker got to the crux of the matter:

[T]he discussion of Jesus’ faith and objectives was not what made the book controversial. The part that created an uproar was Schonfield’s claim that Jesus painstakingly built his own legend without actually performing any miracles. In particular, the greatest miracle of all: resurrection after death, had been carefully staged.

But Zenker also acknowledged that this “unusual book … read[s] like a thriller.”

And finally, there’s a review with a title that sounds a bit like a country-western song: “Pass Over ‘The Passover Plot’.'” But this review by the Christian Courier does provide one very valid reason for reading the book: “The Passover Plot illustrates every argument that tries to naturally explain the empty tomb.” (Emphasis in the original.)

And if that is true, then the Courier’s take on the matter almost makes The Passover Plot a bit of “required reading.” After all, Jesus Himself said in Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”

Other translations of Matthew 10:16 tell us to be “cunning as serpents,” or “crafty as snakes,” or “shrewd as serpents.” And since the serpent is a metaphor for the Devil, what Jesus seemed to say in Matthew 10:16 was that we should be “wise as hell” or “wise as the Devil.”

In plain words, Jesus was saying, “Know your enemy.” (A shrewd bit of wisdom officially attributed to Sun Tzu.) So for whatever reason, it might be “wise” to read The Passover Plot.

Unless of course you never made it beyond Bible boot-camp. . .

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The upper image is courtesy of Saint Joseph – Wikipedia, which also noted that the “Pauline epistles make no reference to Jesus’ father; nor does the Gospel of Mark.” The caption for the painting: “Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus, Guido Reni (c. 1635).”

The plot summary of the movie version of Passover Plot was written by Mike Konczewski.

The Schonfield image is courtesy of the zenker review.

The lower image is courtesy of The Passover Plot – Wikipedia: “First edition (publ. Hutchinson).”

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The following excerpts are from the 1967 “Bantam Books” paperback version of The Passover Plot.

1) At pages 17-19, Schonfield described circumstances “making the Messianic Hope the powerful influence it became in the first century B.C.,” one of which was a “change of attitude towards the Bible.” The Hebrew Bible had three divisions, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings:

The Law, as consisting of the five books of Moses, had binding force by the fifth century B.C., or not much later. The Prophets did not acquire their force until about the third century B.C…. The effects of the recognition of the Law and the Prophets … as a corpus of sacred Scriptures were far-reaching. It opened the way for a new development, the treatment of these books as the Oracles of God. They became subject to all kinds of interpretation to draw out of them hidden meaning hidden meanings and prognostications.

This and other factors – including occupation by foreign armies – led to an increase in both religious devotion and “messianic thinking and prediction.” As a result, from “160 B.C. we are in a new age, an age of extraordinary fervour and religiousity… The whole condition of the Jewish people was psychologically abnormal.” At page 23 he added, “A whole nation was in the grip of delirium.”

2) And speaking of Palm Sunday – coming up next week – at pages 114-15, Schonfield wrote of “the brilliant move on the part of Jesus” to enter Jerusalem openly, and with great fanfare. “There had been no attempt to sneak into the city unobserved.” That brilliant move also kept the members of Sanhedrin from “molesting” Jesus. And speaking of being “wise as a serpent:“

He had finally allowed Himself to be acknowledged as the Messiah; but the clever way in which He had done this secured Him for the present complete freedom from molestation. They had to recognise that they were up against a man of courage, cunning and ingenuity.

And finally, 3) At pages 179-80, Schonfield noted the love and compassion of Jesus, but “united with commitment … the emphasis is on deeds as the proof of faith and love.” He then indicated – in an offhanded way – that we too could fulfill John 14:12 by performing as great or greater miracles than Jesus. (Okay, that last was a bit of artistic license on my part.) He concluded Part I with this:

The Iron Chancellor Bismarck, with reluctant admiration, once said of Disraeli, another famous schemer, “The old Jew, there is the man!” Seen in the Messianic light of the Passover Plot we can with more wholehearted approbation say of jesus, “The young Jew, there was the Man!”

All of which leads to a key observation. It was apparently only from the fifth century B.C. on that the Hebrew Bible achieved “binding force.” It was also at that “original” time that the Scripture “became subject to all kinds of interpretation to draw out of them hidden meaning hidden meanings and prognostications.” In other words, it appears that as originally intended, there were no “boot-camp Hebrews.” Then too, it can be said that in his book Schonfield greatly admired Jesus, even if he didn’t recognize Jesus as “the Messiah.” But as noted above, while I disagreed with much of what Schonfield wrote, I found his research enlightening. That is, giving “spiritual or intellectual insight.”

Did Jesus write the Gospels?

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Luke, Matthew, Mark and John, each of whom did write a Gospel…

As noted in earlier posts, my Lenten discipline is a formal contemplation – some deep profound thinking – about exactly how and when Moses put the first five books of the Bible – the Torah – into writing.

One thing I’ve learned: Moses may have relied heavily on oral tradition.

It wasn’t until Moses’ lifetime that writing as we know it got used at all. (And then only among the “learned classes.”) And as late as 700 years after Jesus, even Charlemagne – lord and ruler of the Holy Roman Empire – couldn’t read or write.

And Moses lived a thousand years before Jesus. (And two millennia before Charlemagne.)

Another thing I learned: Moses may have gotten the “One God” idea from a Pharaoh who ruled 100 years before him. (That would be Akhenaten. Egyptians later called him the “heretic king” for messing with traditional Egyptian polytheism. See Moses, the Burning Bush, “et alia.”)

Of course you may find that a bit hard to swallow. (That Moses got “One God” from an Egyptian.)

But consider this new evidence from the Daily Office Readings for Saturday, February 27.

In Genesis 43:16-34, Moses continued the story of how the Hebrews came to be in Egypt. For starters, Joseph was the son of Jacob, whose name got changed to Israel by God. And basically, Joseph ended up in Egypt after being kidnapped and sold into slavery by his jealous brothers.

So Joseph ended up in Egypt as a slave, but that was a good thing. (As it turned out.)

And aside from being a slave, Joseph also had to become pretty much a convicted felon. That is, he got “convicted” after Potiphar’s wife – seen at right – falsely accused him of rape. But then he ended up so well rehabilitated that Pharaoh made him his right-hand man. (Pharaoh seems to have given Joseph the functional equivalent of a pardon.)

In the meantime, Joseph’s family back in Canaan was going through a devastating famine. So Jacob – alias “Israel” – sent most of his sons down to Egypt to negotiate for some food.

In turn, the reading for Saturday, February 27, had Joseph invite his brothers to dinner. Of course the kicker was that his brothers didn’t recognize the guy who invited them to dinner as their “dead brother.” (Joseph was “dressed as an Egyptian ruler,” and the the last thing the brothers expected was to “find the brother they had sold into slavery.”)

The point of all this: According to Genesis 43:32 the Hebrews were unclean to the Egyptians:

The waiters served Joseph at his own table, and his brothers were served at a separate table. The Egyptians who ate with Joseph sat at their own table, because Egyptians despise Hebrews and refuse to eat with them. (E.A.)

According to the Pulpit Commentary, Egyptians couldn’t “break bread” with Hebrews, basically because they were ritually unclean. (The ritual painting at right is of “taking the bride to the bath house.”)

In turn, the Hebrews – after Moses – went on to develop their own tradition of refusing to eat with, come in contact with, or even visit “Gentiles.” See for example Salvation of the Gentiles, Part 1:

A strict Jew wouldn’t allow himself to be a guest in a Gentile house, neither would he invite one to be a guest in his own home… The Jews viewed Gentiles as unclean, and that had great ramifications. For example, milk that was drawn from a cow by Gentile hands was not allowed to be consumed by Jews… No Jew would ever eat with a Gentile. (E.A.)

So it would seem that the Hebrews “borrowed” this idea of ritually unclean foreigners from the Egyptians. In turn it seems well within the realm of possibility that – in the same way – Moses borrowed the idea of “One God.” (From the “heretic” Egyptian king, Akhenaten.) But note that Moses did a much better job than Akhenaten. He literally changed history, in such a way that it can be said, “His burning bush still lights our world.” (Moses, the Burning Bush, “et alia.”)

But we were talking about about exactly how and when Moses put the first five books of the Bible into writing. And to that end, we were discussing the related topic of whether Jesus Himself personally “wrote” the four Gospels found in the New Testament.

Of course the short answer is No, Jesus didn’t personally write any of the Gospels.

In turn the fact that He left that task to His disciples – and/or followers – seems rarely to have been debated in history. (Of course one “atheist” answer is that Jesus didn’t write His own Gospel because He was, “as a Galilean peasant, most probably illiterate.”)

Then too, it seems to have been common practice back then for really smart people to have their students – and followers – take down what they said. For example, consider what Will Durant wrote about Aristotle, who lived from 384 to 322 “before Jesus.” (And so well after Moses):

…it is possible that the writings attributed to Aristotle were not his, but were largely the compilations of students and followers who had embalmed the unadorned substance of his lectures in their notes… Even the unity of style that marks Aristotle’s writings, and offers an argument to those who defend his direct authorship, may be, after all, merely a unity given them through common editing… About this question there rages a sort of Homeric Question… We may at all events be sure that Aristotle is the spiritual author of all these books that bear his name: that the hand in some cases [may be] another’s hand, but that the head and heart are his. (E.A.)

In turn it could easily be said that Jesus “spiritually authored” the four Gospels. But might the same thing be said of Moses? Once again, there seems no certain answer.

“Boot camp” Christians say that of course Moses personally hand-wrote all first five books of the Bible. (See Don Stewart :: When Did Moses Write, or Compile, the Book.) Others point out various anachronisms and/or “chronological inconsistencies” that seem to prove otherwise. (See Why Moses Did Not Write the Torah – Mesa Community College.)

But couldn’t Moses too have had his own “students and followers,” just like Aristotle?

Those students and followers might well have “embalmed the unadorned substance” of Moses’ “lectures.” After all, what else was there to do on those long dark nights during 40 years of wandering in the wilderness? And those students and followers might well have numbered in their “hundreds, fifties and tens.” (Just like the other “leaders over groups” noted in Exodus 18:21.) And just what was Moses trying to do during those 40 long years?

Mainly Moses was trying to forge a disciplined army – from a bunch of former slaves – capable of bringing down the walls of Jericho, on the way to re-conquering the Promised Land.

(As alluded to in the Old Testament reading for the Fourth Sunday in Lent, Joshua 5:9-12.)

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. And unfortunately we’ve gone beyond the ideal length of blog posts, meaning this Homeric Question will remain unresolved a while longer…

Aristotle [contemplating] a bust of Homer, by Rembrandt…

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The upper image is courtesy of Four Evangelists – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For the four listed in order of appearance, see Peter Paul Rubens: The Four Evangelists – Art and the Bible:

Rubens portrayed the four evangelists while working together on their texts. An angel helps them… Each gospel author can be identified by an attribute. The attributes were derived from the opening verses of the gospels. From left to right: Luke (bull), Matthew (man [angel]), Mark (lion), and John (eagle).

Re: “Boot-camp Christians.” There’s more on that concept at the end of these notes. See also 2d Timothy 2:3-4, where Paul wrote, ^“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

Also re: “buck private.” See Buck Privates – Wikipedia, on the “1941 comedy/World War II film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bona fide movie stars.” (A poster for which is seen at right.)

The image of Potiphar’s wife and Joseph is courtesy of Potiphar – Wikipedia, captioned: “Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, by Guido Reni 1630.”

On Joseph becoming “Israel.” See On arguing with God.

Re: brothers not recognizing. See Why didn’t Joseph’s brothers … Answers.

Re: Egyptians refusing to eat with Hebrews. See the full Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 43:32:

Because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews. Herodotus (2:41) affirms that the Egyptians would neither use the knife, spit, or basin of a Grecian, nor taste the flesh of a clean cow if it happened to be cut with a Grecian knife. For that is an abomination unto the Egyptians. The reason for this separation from foreigners being that they dreaded being polluted by such as killed and ate cows, which animals were held in high veneration in Egypt.

The Durant quote on Aristotle is from The Story of Philosophy: The lives and opinions of the world’s greatest philosophers from Plato to John Dewey. Specifically, from the 1953, Washington Square Press “Pocket Books” edition, at page 57, from Chapter II, “Aristotle and Greek Science,” sub-section II, “The Work of Aristotle.”

Note also that – strictly speaking – a Homeric Question “concerns the doubts and consequent debate over the identity of Homer, the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, and their historicity…”

The lower image is courtesy of Aristotle – Wikipedia.

Moses, the Burning Bush, “et alia”

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Moses and the Burning Bush – subject of next Sunday’s Old Testament Bible-reading…

The last time I reviewed the next-Sunday Bible readings was November 30, 2015. (On Advent – 2015.) But this next Sunday, February 28, 2016, I’ll be up front, serving as lay reader and chalicist. (A chalice is shown at left.)

Accordingly, it would behoove me to get familiar with those readings.

You can see the full readings at Third Sunday in Lent.

Those readings include: 1) Exodus 3:1-15 (on Moses and the Burning bush); Psalm 63:1-9 (the psalm I call “Patton’s psalm … both humble and defiant”); and 1st Corinthians 10:1-13 (Paul’s “warning against idolatry.”) They’re the ones I’ll be reading up front.

The Gospel – Luke 13:1-9 – will be read by “Father Paul.”

And a BTW: The theme of that Gospel is “repent or perish.” On the other hand, you could also say the Gospel is on a metaphoric “fig tree that bears no fruit.” (And in turn you could say that ties in with the last post, on Conservative Christians content to stay “career buck privates.”)

Also incidentally, et alia is Latin for “and others.” (As in, readings on Moses “and others.”)

You can see the full Old Testament reading at Exodus 3:1-15. For one interpretation, see Burning bush – Wikipedia, which said “the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by Adonai (God) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan.”

The article noted other interpretations, including that Moses “may have been under the influence of a hallucinogenic substance when he witnessed the burning bush.”

(Note also Mount Horeb – where Moses saw the Burning bush – is where he later “struck the rock” and got water, shown at right.)

And finally, the Burning bush article directed the reader to “see also” the article on Theophany.

For another take, see The great religious leaders, a 1958 book by Charles F. Potter (1885-1962). Potter was a “Unitarian minister, theologian and author.” In 1923-1924, he became “nationally known through a series of debates with Dr. John Roach Straton, a fundamentalist Christian.”

And for starters, Potter noted the “pre-Mosaic religion of the Hebrews was a mixture of animism and fetishism.” (43) But that all started to change when Moses had his theophany, his experience with the burning bush. (37) The upshot? Moses got commissioned by God in Exodus 3:10: “I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

Or as Potter put it, he got the divine call to every prophet: A “great wrong to be righted, a task to be done, and then a sudden blinding realization that the task is one’s own.” (43)

Potter noted several important factors about this theophany of Moses. One was that in all such experiences, “the hearing of the prophet seems much more acute than his vision.” (38) See also Exodus 3:6, “Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”

But perhaps more important: A “new religion does well to build on the old.” (38) And so, during his lengthy stay with his family – in exile, in Midian – Moses may have recalled some of the things he learned during the first part of his life, when he was a literal Prince of Egypt.

That is, he may have combined the “traditions of the fathers” with some things he learned as a “Prince of Egypt.” In doing so he went on to forge a sense of collective self in the Children of Israel. They became strong enough to go back and re-conquer their ancient Promised Land.

That is, Potter indicated that as such a Prince of Egypt, Moses was likely familiar with Akhenaten. (Seen at left.) He was the “heretic king” who had ruled Egypt a mere century before Moses. (36)

Briefly, Akhenaten introduced the idea of one God to Egypt – monotheism – but Egyptians just weren’t ready for that. (They liked “traditional Egyptian polytheism.” See Wikipedia.)

And so after his death the Egyptians abandoned Akhenaten‘s “new-fangled religion” and went back to their old ways. But in the mind of Moses, Akhenaten‘s One God may have taken new form.

Recalling his suffering fellow Hebrews in Egypt, Moses may have thought this way:

The great gods of Egypt could not be expected, of course, to help the Hebrews… If only they had one great god to help them now! Then Moses remembered the heretic [Akhenaten]… [Perhaps] there was one great god, greater even than Aten. Perhaps this unknown god had caused all things, even the sun, and really cared for suffering human beings, and would deliver the Hebrews from bondage and help them escape to some better land!

(36-37, emphasis in original.) That was of course a nice thing to think about God. (That “He” might redeem a nation of illiterate slaves.) But then Moses realized this “new God” wanted him to do the “legwork.” And so – not surprisingly – Moses protested his new assignment. “Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?'”

Among other concerns, Moses knew the great God of the Burning bush was not the “God of their fathers” to the Hebrews back in Egypt. (Remember their “animism and fetishism…”)

Moses also knew that this stubborn people – his fellow Hebrews who had not been “princes of Egypt” – would not “accept a totally new God.” (Or a new religion.) So he had to build on the past, as shown in Exodus 6:3. There God told Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai – ‘God Almighty’ – but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.”

In other words, before Moses appeared, “God” had apparently only appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (And then only as El Shaddai.) It was not until the time after Moses that God appeared to the Children of Israel as Yahweh. And so, after his “Burning bush experience,” Moses went on to forge a new nation from a group of exiled, illiterate slaves:

Moses made the Hebrew tribes into a nation by giving them a God … but that God was not made de novo. With [his] wisdom in dealing with men … Moses conveyed to his people the idea of one great personal God by using concepts already at hand… His was the task of leading a people from animism to monotheism … and he did a piece of work which deserves admiration… [T]o Moses belongs the glory of the pioneer.

(42-43) And it all started with that “burning bush” experience. Which is one big reason Potter said of Moses, “His burning bush still lights our world.” (61)

So as a result of all this, I have been able to both review next Sunday’s Bible readings, and continue work on My Lenten meditation. (See also two birds with one stone.)

Turning to Psalm 63:1-9, I reviewed it in “Patton,” Sunday School teacher:

He cursed like a sailor and believed in reincarnation, but Patton was a devout Episcopalian, as shown in the film [Patton, a poster for which is seen at right] starring George C. Scott. For example, Patton was at a low point in his career during World War II [and] was almost sent home in disgrace, but he found comfort in Psalm 63.

Turning to 1st Corinthians 10:1-13 (ESV), it includes a passage on Moses’ Children of Israel being “under the cloud,” passing through the sea, and “baptized into Moses.” It also includes this passage, that “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and … with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”

And finally, Luke 13:1-9 includes the Parable of the barren fig tree. Not to be confused with the parable of the cursing the fig tree in Matthew 21:18-22. Though both parables have “very similar wording,” the Luke 13:6-9 parable is about a “fig tree which does not produce fruit.”

Which arguably brings us back to Conservative Christian – “Career buck private?”

The upper image is courtesy of Moses and the Burning Bush painting Bourdon Sebastien. See also Moses and the Burning Bush – Hermitage Museum, which said of the 1642-45 painting:

Bourdon’s work bears evident traces of his religious belief and the constant inner opposition of his Protestantism, which he was obliged to conceal, to the Catholic surroundings… The shepherd Moses, who tended his flock on Mount Horeb, saw an angel in the burning bush. When he drew closer to have a better look and understand how the bush was aflame but not consumed, God called to him from the very centre of the flames and revealed His name to Moses, making him His chosen one. The Lord instructed Moses to go to the Pharaoh and lead the oppressed sons of Israel out of Egypt. Moses covered his face with his hands, since he was afraid to look upon God.

Re: “chalicist.” See also Chalice – Wikipedia, which includes the image in the text.

The “Moses striking the rock” image is courtesy of Mount Horeb – Wikipedia. The caption: “Moses Striking the Rock at Horeb, engraving by Gustave Doré from ‘La Sainte Bible,’ 1865.”

References to Potter’s The great religious leaders are from the 493-page Simon and Schuster edition (NY 1958). The book is sub-titled “A revision and updating of ‘The Story of Religion‘ in light of recent discovery and research including the Qumran Scrolls.” Story of Religion was published in 1929.

Pages 36-43. Part of Chapter II, on Moses, “who discovered the personality of God.” The subtitled portions included in the quoted material include: the Meditations of Moses; the Theophany; the significance of the burning bush; sacred localities; sacred trees and shrubs; sacred lights; not consumed; Moses protests; “Changing Gods;” and “Early Hebrew Animism.”

On a related note, in writing about Zoroaster – at page 69 – Potter said:

It is impossible for any mystic to describe his own trance temperately and accurately. There seem to be … two common elements in these calls which come to prophets. They all speak of a great light or flame and they are all commissioned to preach. Paul on the Damascus road or Moses by the burning bush or Zoroaster by the bank of the Daiti – brothers all.

(That “clunk” you heard may have been a Southern Baptist going into apoplexy.)

The lower image is courtesy of Parable of the barren fig tree – Wikipedia. The caption: “Jan Luyken etching of the parable, Bowyer Bible.”

Conservative Christian – “Career buck private?”

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An Army Drill Sergeant, ready to teach new recruits “the fundamentals of being a soldier…”

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As noted in My Lenten meditation, I’m not giving up anything this 40 days of Lent.

Instead I plan to spend this time “contemplating on how and when” Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. (The Torah.) But first, here’s a note about the “lead-in paragraphs.”

(The ones above “In the meantime.”)

Up to this point, those paragraphs have said the blog is about exploring “the mystical side of Bible reading.” That’s an accurate statement, but a trifle vague. On the other hand, help in curing that vagueness came to me in the form of some recent see Daily Office Readings.

Specifically, help came from one of the “gap readings,” between February 6 and 7. That reading is 2d Timothy 2:3-4:

Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. (E.A.)

(Saint Timothy is shown at right, with his grandmother.) On that note, see also On reading the Bible. That’s a post I originally published in July 2014, but recently “tweaked.” Near the end of the update, I took issue – again – with Biblical literalists.

Such literalism means “adherence to the exact letter or the literal sense” of the Bible. But to me, “literalness” doesn’t give full effect to the Bible’s frequent use of metaphor and parable. (See also On three suitors (a parable), on the “essence of the parabolic method of teaching.”)

Accordingly, I agree there is a time and place for fundamentalism, “learning the fundamentals.”

I also agree that the best place to start your “Bible training” is to take it literally:

Just like Army Basic Training, the best place to start is with the fundamentals: “This is where individuals learn about the fundamentals of being a soldier…” But no good soldier wants to be stuck as a buck private [during] his whole time “in service.” (Although there are some few [“soldiers of Christ”] who enjoy having no additional responsibility…)

In turn I concluded that this blog is for and about those Christians who want to develop into something “more than just someone who knows the bare ‘fundamentals.’”

See also Spiritual boot camp, which talked about the words “mystic” and “mysticism,” and how they affect some people:

The words “mystic” or “mysticism” seem to give some Christians apoplexy. Try it on a Southern Baptist some time! But seriously, one online dictionary defines a mystic as “a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute.” Again, arguably different words but the same idea…

All of which is a good reason to switch to Paul’s “soldier metaphor…”

There’s more on that metaphor later, but first some notes about that Lenten discipline.

I’ve noted that in writing the Torah, Moses had to be extremely careful. He had to be extremely careful because if his audience took his message the wrong way – or weren’t ready for it – he’d likely be killed. (As by getting thrown off a cliff or stoned. See Moses getting stoned.)

Jesus faced the same risk of stoning – a number of times – as shown by other recent Daily Office Readings. For example, John 8:59: “At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” And again in the NLT version of John 10:31: “Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.”

And Jesus Himself noted the danger – in the Gospel for February 21, the Second Sunday in Lent: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her!” (Luke 13:34.) And that’s not to mention Paul’s recital in Hebrews 11:36-37 (NIV):

Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.

The point of all this is that anyone – up to and including Jesus – had to be extremely careful in putting forth “the Word” to people who weren’t ready to receive its full implications yet.

And of those potential prophets, Moses – shown at right – was arguably the one who faced the greatest danger of all. He was after all “the First.” He was the original “prophet,” the man who single-handedly had to meld a huge group of former slaves into an army able to enter and conquer their own particular Promised Land.

But getting back to the Lenten meditation…

It turns out that there’s a number of theories on when, how, or even if Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.

For example, according to Mosaic authorship – Wikipedia, “The Talmud discusses the authorship of all the books of the Hebrew Bible and assigns all but the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, which describe the death of Moses, to Moses himself.”

Then there’s Did Moses Write Genesis? | Answers in Genesis. After noting the “Documentary (or JEDP) Hypothesis” – which the author rejected – he came to this conclusion:

There is abundant biblical and extra-biblical evidence that Moses wrote the Pentateuch during the wilderness wanderings after the Jews left their slavery in Egypt and before they entered the Promised Land… Contrary to the liberal theologians and other skeptics, it was not written after the Jews returned from exile in Babylon (ca. 500 BC)… It is the enemies of the truth of God that are failing to think carefully and face the facts honestly. As a prophet of God, Moses wrote under divine inspiration, guaranteeing the complete accuracy and absolute authority of his writings. (E.A.)

For the sake of argument, I’m assuming as well that “Moses wrote the Pentateuch during the wilderness wanderings.” But note also that the author of Did Moses Write Genesis seems to be one of those Biblical literalists I frequently take issue with.

Then there’s From What Did Moses Compose Genesis? That article claims Moses had access to material written by “Abraham, Jacob, Noah, and even Adam.” For myself, I’m inclined to think Moses got those materials, but through oral tradition, as noted in My Lenten meditation.

Finally – for now – there’s When did Moses write Genesis:

The Book of Genesis is traditionally attributed to Moses, writing around 1400 BCE. However, scholars now say that the Book of Genesis was really written in stages over a period of several centuries during the first millennium BCE.

I should note there’s a pretty good chance that statement – that Genesis was written by somebody other than Moses – will likely “give some Christians apoplexy.”

That in turn makes this a good stopping point. Except to say that after Basic Training, the good soldier – and by extension the “Good Soldier of Christ” – has a chance to go on to Advanced Individual Training, “where new soldiers receive specific training in their chosen MOS.”

For example, a new soldier could go to the Field Artillery Center at Fort Sill Oklahoma. (With all of the Freudian implications appertaining thereto.)

Or to the Aviation School at Fort Rucker Alabama.

Or even to the Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.

On the other hand, a ” Not-so-good Soldier of Christ” could choose to remain a buck private for the duration. But I seriously doubt if that would “please his commanding officer…”

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The upper image is courtesy of United States Army Basic Training – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Re: “‘Gap readings’ between February 6 and 7.” The dates for Lent and Easter shift each year. (It’s a “moveable feast.” See How Is the Date of Easter Calculated?) So, most lectionaries include Daily Office Readings for a Season of Epiphany that can last up to eight weeks. But in 2016, Lent started early. Thus the “Week of the Last Sunday after the Epiphany” – which includes Ash Wednesday – came on February 7. But the readings for the week before February 7 were for the Week of the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. That means there’s a “gap,” in which the readings for the Fifth, Sixth Seventh, and Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany go unread in a year like 2016. On the other hand, there are other – more assiduous – “Daily Office Readers” (like me), who do all the readings, regardless of any gap. And it was from just that practice that I “re-discovered” 2d Timothy 2:3-4 – and it’s “soldier metaphor” – in such a timely manner.

Re: Biblical literaiism. See also Biblical Literalism – Huffington Post.

The image to the left of the “spiritual boot camp” paragraph is courtesy of the link, “United States Marine Corps Recruit Training,” in the Wikipedia article on Army Basic Training. The full caption: “A Drill Instructor provides an example of boot camp instructional style to a Marine Corps poolee, before the poolee’s departure for boot camp.”

The “Moses” image is courtesy of Moses – Wikipedia. The caption: “Moses holding up his arms during the battle, assisted by Aaron and Hur; painting by John Everett Millais.” For more on the Battle of Rephidim, see Was Moses the first to say “it’s only weird if it doesn’t work?”

The “Moses writing” image is courtesy of:
theosophical…evidence-that-some-of-genesis-was-not-written-by-moses.

The “Sad Sack” image is courtesy of www.coverbrowser.com/covers/sad-sack/2. See also Sad Sack – Wikipedia, an article about the fictional World War II-era soldier, an “otherwise unnamed, lowly private experiencing some of the absurdities and humiliations of military life.”

Note that I originally planned to end this post with the image below, with the caption: “An Admiral speaks to the remaining Navy SEAL trainees “at the end of ‘Hell Week.’”

That image is courtesy of United States Navy SEAL selection and training – Wikipedia. The full caption is this: “First Phase [of training:] Then-Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen addresses the remaining trainees of Class 266 at the end of ‘Hell Week:'” (See also United States Navy SEALs – Wikipedia.) As to the “Hell Week” in Navy SEAL training:

The first two weeks of basic conditioning prepare candidates for the third week, also known as “Hell Week.” During Hell Week, candidates participate in five and a half days of continuous training. Each candidate sleeps at most four hours during the entire week, runs more than 200 miles, and does physical training for more than 20 hours per day.

But then I would have had to note also that the U.S. Army equivalent of Navy Seal training would be held at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, Fayetteville, North Carolina. “However, the latter site did not offer a suitable image for this post.”

Then too the point of that “Navy SEAL” image would have been to contrast the truly-zealous “Good Soldier of Christ” – volunteering for such training – with the slacker content to get by with just learning “the fundamentals.”

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And finally – really, really this time – note other articles of interest, to be addressed in a later post: Don Stewart :: When Did Moses Write, or Compile, the Book, Why Moses Did Not Write the Torah – Mesa Community College, and Tablets of Stone – Wikipedia.

My Lenten meditation…

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Did Moses write the Torah like Saint Mark did – above – for the first Gospel?

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We’re now well into Lent, which means doing Lenten Disciplines. For many, that means giving up something. On the other hand, some people choose to add a discipline “that would add to my spiritual life.” (See Lenten disciplines: spiritual exercises or ego trip?)

For my part, I’ve always wondered just when, where and how Moses came to write the first five books of the Bible. (The Torah.) So I’ve decided that – aside from Bible-reading on a daily basis, which I already do anyway – I’ll spend this Lent “meditating” on this topic.

More precisely, I plan to spend this Lent contemplating on how and when Moses wrote those first five books. And as Wikipedia explained, contemplation means “profound thinking about something.” Further, “In a religious sense, contemplation is usually a type of prayer or meditation.” And finally there’s this:

Within Western Christianity contemplation is often related to mysticism as expressed in the works of mystical theologians such as Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross as well as the writings of Margery Kempe, Augustine Baker and Thomas Merton.

So in so “contemplating,” I’d be in pretty good company.

And aside from all that, there’s the matter of “reaching the unreached.”

Put another way, from 1972 to 1985 there was a British sitcom on PBS called “Are You Being Served?” Which brings up an interesting fact these days. That fact is that there’s a whole segment of possible converts to Christianity who aren’t being served.

They are the potential Christians who’d like to find out more about the Bible. However, they don’t want to develop the faith of a narrow-minded pinhead. (Mere rhetoric hyperbole.)

Take for example the sentiment expressed by Gordon Sumner, known to his fans as Sting:

I don’t have a problem with God. I have a problem with religion. I’ve chosen to live my life without the certainties of religious faith.

But as noted below, “If your religion makes you ‘certain,’ you’re missing the point!” That is, maybe – just maybe – if I could figure out a common-sense explanation to some of these Biblical mysteries, I might be able to “convert” Sting and others like him…

But getting back to the meditation-contemplation. The key question: “What did Moses know, and when did he know it?” For example, did Moses know the full story about the “big bright thing in the sky?”

Did Moses know – far in advance of his fellow human beings – that the “earth” revolves around the “sun?”

On the other hand, there’s some pretty good evidence that if Moses did know that, he’d have been well advised not to share that information. He would have been “well advised” on pain of being stoned to death, for “heresy.” As it was, on more than one occasion Moses came close to being killed by the very tribe of Habiru he was ostensibly leading. (See On Moses getting stoned.)

And something like that almost happened to Jesus, in the Gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. (That is, last January 31st.) But in Luke 4:21-30, Jesus wasn’t threatened by stoning, as Moses was. Instead, “the people” wanted to throw Him off a cliff.

When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.

As Wikipedia noted, “Throwing or dropping people from great heights has been used as a form of execution since ancient times.” And in what may well be overstating the obvious: “People executed in this way die from injuries caused by hitting the ground at high velocity.”

Another aside: The article noted that in “pre-Roman Sardinia, elderly people who were unable to support themselves were ritually killed. They were intoxicated with a neurotoxic plant … then dropped from a high rock or beaten to death.”

But we digress… Getting back to Moses, tradition says he wrote the first five books of the Bible. (The Torah.) Of those first five books, the last four – Exodus, Leviticus, the Book of Numbers, and Deuteronomy – are all pretty much autobiography. Moses wrote about his life, and his role in leading the Hebrews out of slavery and into their Promised Land. (In doing so he referred to himself in the third person, a literary device called illeism. See also On Moses and “illeism.”)

But in writing Genesis, Moses had to go back to the origins of time itself. He had to go back to the Creation of the World itself. And in doing so, he almost certainly had to rely on oral tradition. (Referring to “cultural material and tradition transmitted orally from one generation to another.”) Note also that from Sunday, January 10, up to Saturday, February 6, the Old Testament Daily Office Readings have been from the Book of Genesis.

Beyond that, the readings from Genesis resumed on Monday, February 15, with the story of Jacob[:] Father of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Those OT Daily Office Readings will continue until Wednesday, March 9. (After that the DOR‘s from the OT will be from the Book of Exodus.)

So the subject of the Book of Genesis – as arguably written by Moses after the fact – is definitely topical. And for starters, there’s the question whether Moses “wrote” the Torah at all. On the matter of “Semitic writing,” see History of writing – Wikipedia;

The first pure alphabets … emerged around 1800 BC in Ancient Egypt, as a representation of language developed by Semitic workers in Egypt… These early abjads remained of marginal importance for several centuries, and it is only towards the end of the Bronze Age that the … Proto-Canaanite was probably somehow influenced by the undeciphered Byblos syllabary, and in turn inspired the Ugaritic alphabet (ca. 1300 BC).

Since Moses apparently lived from about 1392 to 1272 – see Answers.com – writing as we know it was just beginning. Which is why – it seems – Moses probably had to rely on oral tradition…

Then there’s the question whether Moses actually dictated the Torah to an amanuensis, rather than actually “writing” it himself. (See On Amanuenses, about Paul and his “person employed to write … what another dictates.”) Did Moses dictate the first five books of the Bible to another person, in the manner of Peter dictating to Mark? (And as shown below.)

To be continued…

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The Apostle Peter dictates to Mark the Evangelist…

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The upper image is courtesy of Mark the Evangelist – Wikipedia. The caption: “Saint Mark the Evangelist Icon from the royal gates of the central iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, 1804.” The lower image is also from that article: “Saint Mark writes his Evangelium at the dictation of St. Peter, by Pasquale Ottino, 17th century, Beaux-Arts, Bordeaux.”

Re: “Sting.” See 10 Questions for Sting – TIME. And re: “If your religion makes you ‘certain,’ you’re missing the point!” See On a dame and a mystic. The comment by Sting exemplifies some common perceptions today: 1) that too many Christians are too close-minded; 2) that too many are way too negative; or 3) that too many think The Faith of the Bible is all about getting you to follow their rules, on pain of you “going to hell.” (See also my way or the highway – Wiktionary.)

“…what did Moses know, and when did He know it?” One of many phrases – like “Irangate” or “Benghazi-gate” – traceable back to the 1972 Watergate scandal. It can be credited to Senator Howard Baker, who famously asked, “What did the President know and when did he know it?” The question was originally written by Senator Baker’s counsel and former campaign manager, future U.S. Senator [and Hollywood star], Fred Thompson. See, wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Baker, and firstthings.com/blogs/evangel/2011/04/what-did-jesus-know-and-when-did-he-know-it.

The “cliff” image is courtesy of thatpreacherwoman.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-real-cliffhanger-sermon-that-did-not-go-well. The article noted that the “people” – the ones Jesus spoke to in Luke 4:21-30 – “hadn’t really grasped the radical reforming he had in mind in order to bring good news to the poor and imprisoned and blind and oppressed.” In other words they weren’t ready for it yet…

The “Jacob” image is courtesy of Jacob – Wikipedia. The caption: “Joseph’s Coat Brought to Jacob
by Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari, c. 1640.” The story of Joseph being thrown into a pit began in the DOR’s for February 15, with his brothers being jealous. (Gen. 37:1-11.) On Tuesday, February 16, the brothers throw Joseph into a pit as an alternative to killing him. (Gen. 37:12-24.) On Wednesday, February 17, the brothers Joseph’s coat in goat’s blood, then show it to their father, as shown in the Ferrari painting. From there he went into slavery in Egypt…

Re: “To be continued.” See Cliffhanger – Wikipedia, which noted that a “cliffhanger is hoped to ensure the audience will return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.” See also the image below, courtesy of Did Back to the Future Originally Not End With ‘To be continued?’

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On Ash Wednesday and Lent – 2016

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Last year, Ash Wednesday came on February 18. This year, 2016, it’s celebrated on February 10. Which brings up a post I did last year at this time: On Ash Wednesday and Lent. That post was on and about the “whole topic of Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent:”

According to the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus Christ spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter.

See also Lent 101 – The Upper Room. So the “40 days of Lent” are supposed to commemorate the 40 days that Jesus spent “wandering in the wilderness.” On a related note, that act by Jesus mirrored the 40 years that the Hebrews – led by Moses – also spent “wandering around.”

But before that 40 days of Lenten “wandering in the wilderness,” there’s one last celebration, one last “blowout.” (The whole Christian – or liturgical – calendar year is pretty much filled with such alternating seasons of celebration and penance…)

For example, Lent is a season devoted to “prayer, penance, repentance of sins, almsgiving, atonement and self-denial. But that season of self-denial is preceded by “Fat Tuesday.” That’s the day before Ash Wednesday, which means this year Fat Tuesday is February 9. The French term for Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras, and Mardi Gras is now a generic term for “Let’s Party!!”

As Wikipedia put it, “Popular practices on Mardi Gras include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, debauchery, etc.”

See also A Brief History of Mardi Gras – Photo Essays – TIME, which noted that “Mardi Gras isn’t all nudity and drunken debauchery (though, yes, there is definitely nudity and drunken debauchery).” (Emphasis in original.)

But – as the article noted – the origin of Fat Tuesday was far more spiritual:

In earlier times, people used Lent as a time of fasting and repentance. Since they didn’t want to be tempted by sweets, meat and other distractions in the house, they cleaned out their cabinets. They used up all the sugar and yeast in sweet breads before the Lent season started, and fixed meals with all the meat available. It was a great feast! Through the years Mardi Gras has evolved (in some places) into a pretty wild party with little to do with preparing for the Lenten season of repentance and simplicity.

Lent 101, emphasis added. And incidentally, there are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. That’s because Sundays don’t count in the calculation.

That’s important because it means you can still enjoy whatever it is you’ve given up for Lent. (A fact overlooked by the producers of 40 Days and 40 Nights. That “2002 romantic comedy film” showed the main character in a “period of abstinence from any sexual contact for the duration of Lent.” But as noted, he could have “taken Sundays off.”)

But getting back to the subject at hand… You can see the full set of Bible readings for the day at Ash Wednesday. The highlight – once again – is the Gospel Matthew 6:1-6,16-21. That’s where Jesus warned of “practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them.”

On that subject, fasting (and abstinence are the usual components of a Lenten discipline. But as Jesus noted, “Do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.” Instead, He said to basically put on a happy face. That way, “your fasting may be seen not by others, but by your Father who is in secret.”

As for almsgiving, Jesus said, “Do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do … so that they may be praised by others.” Instead, “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret.”

Incidentally, that’s where the expression the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing came from. And finally Jesus said this about praying in public:

Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Are we getting the picture here?

The one theme Jesus kept returning to – over and over again – was hypocrisy. That includes – but is not limited to – “the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.”

I wrote about this whole controversy in On praying in public. I concluded that post with a variation of the classic Henny Youngman one-liner, “Take school prayer… Please!“

But we digress…

If you’re interested in more history on Ash Wednesday see The History and Meaning of Ash Wednesday. That site noted the “pouring of ashes on one’s body” – as an “outer manifestation of inner repentance” – is an ancient practice.

The earliest mention of that practice seems to have come at the end of the Book of Job, “older than any other book of the Bible.” In Job 42:6 – and after he is rebuked by God – Job says, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Not to mention “dressing in sackcloth, a very rough material.” On a related note, see also On Job, the not-so-patient.)

And finally see The ‘Splainer: Ash Wednesday and dirty Christian foreheads, about “washing:”

No one is required to keep the ashes on his or her face after the ritual. But some Christians choose to, perhaps as a reminder to themselves that they are mortal and fallible, while others may choose to leave them on as a witness to their faith in the hope others will ask about them and open a door to sharing their faith.

Here’s wishing you a happy and spiritually-fulfilling Lent!

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The initial indented quote about Lent is from Wikipedia.

The original post had an image courtesy of A Brief History of Mardi Gras … TIME. That article includes the caption:

OK, Mardi Gras’ reputation as an alcohol-fueled, nudity-filled bacchanal is not completely unearned. In 1973, a ban was established on Krewe parades in the increasingly rowdy and narrow streets of the French Quarter. In subsequent years, tourists and other drunken fools descended on the Quarter (especially the particularly saucy Bourbon Street) en masse, and the tradition of showing skin for beads began. Native New Orleanians despise the reputation, and rarely venture into the Quarter during Carnival season.

Emphasis added, which means “there’s probably some kind of object lesson there…”

For another take on praying in public, see school prayer.

The lower image is courtesy of Lent – Wikipedia. The caption:

Lent celebrants carrying out a street procession during Holy Week [in Granada, Nicaragua.] The violet color is often associated with penance and detachment. Similar Christian penitential practice is seen in other Catholic countries, sometimes associated with mortification of the flesh.

The article added that Lent’s “institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus … which ultimately culminates in the joyful celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

On Jesus as a teenager – REDUX

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Before getting into Jesus as a teenager, note that the upcoming February 15 is Transfiguration Sunday.

On that note, see On Exodus (Part II) and Transfiguration, a post I did last year at this time. That post noted that the Last Sunday of the Epiphany season is also – by tradition – known as Transfiguration Sunday. That’s based on the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus – in its earliest form, in Mark 9:2–8. (I erroneously wrote that it was in “Mark 9:29.”)

Among other things, that post talked about the movie Exodus: Gods and Kings. Specifically, it talked of how the movie painted a picture of Moses that was the “opposite of what we’ve been led to expect for other reasons. For one thing he hears voices, strange and unknown, just like Jesus.” (Like Jesus):

“I fasted for three months. I even whipped myself before I went to sleep. At first it worked. Then the pain came back. And the voices. They call me by the name: Jesus.”

I noted that this was not unlike the idea that “‘Jesus may not have known the minute He was born who He was.” That is, that Jesus may have “found out some time later in His life” just who He was, just like Moses had to have experienced.

That post also noted that Moses wasn’t allowed to enter the Promised Land, even after leading the Children of Israel through 40 years of Wandering in the Wilderness. However- with the Transfiguration of Jesus – Moses finally was allowed to enter that Promised Land. And that, even though it was a thousand years or more after he expected to. (Which just goes to show that God’s timetable may not be anything like the timetables we expect in our lives.)

But getting back to Jesus as a teenager: That post asked the musical question:

“What did Jesus know, and when did He know it?”

In other words, did Jesus know that He was the First-born Son of God when He was a teenager.

Which raises a host of other questions. For example, if Jesus did know that He was in fact the First-born Son of God – as a teenager – He could see into the future. And He would know – absolutely – everything that ever was or ever had been.

So maybe – as a teenager – Jesus did know everything there ever was to know, and everything possible that ever could be known. Yet there He was, stuck in that backwater, hayseed town of Nazareth, far away from any possible excitement, like what He might find in Jerusalem.

And, probably the worst thing of all for Him was that He had to take orders from older people, people who He knew didn’t know a fraction of what He knew about “real life.” Of course:

Since every teenager in the world has felt exactly the same way – since the beginning of time – how could the people in Nazareth know this teenager was any different?

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The upper image is courtesy of James Dean – Wikipedia. The caption: “Dean in Rebel Without a Cause.” The article noted, “Dean’s premature death … cemented his legendary status.”

As to the word “redux” in the title, see the notes to On “Job the not patient” – REDUX:

It’s an allusion to the 1971 book by John Updike, Rabbit Redux … about an aging high-school basketball star – Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom – as he went through five decades of life… See Wikipedia [which] added that the word redux means “brought back” or “restored…” Wikipedia also noted, “Rabbit Redux led to a redux in popularity of the word redux…”

Re: Last year’s post on Exodus … and Transfiguration. In that post I erroneously wrote that the “account of the Transfiguration of Jesus” was described in “Mark 9:29.”)

DOR Scribe

Expand your horizons – Read the Bible with an open mind

On Eastertide – and “artistic license”

An Annunciation-Good Friday anomaly

On Holy Week – 2016

St. Joseph and the “Passover Plot”

Unless of course you never made it beyond Bible boot-camp. . .

Did Jesus write the Gospels?

Moses, the Burning Bush, “et alia”

Conservative Christian – “Career buck private?”

My Lenten meditation…

To be continued…

On Ash Wednesday and Lent – 2016

But we digress…

Here’s wishing you a happy and spiritually-fulfilling Lent!

On Jesus as a teenager – REDUX

“What did Jesus know, and when did He know it?”