-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
That was the answer from a Hobby Lobby employee when asked where the Hanukkah goods were. The response was explained with a call to the Marlboro, New Jersey store: “Because Mr. Green is the owner of the company, he’s a Christian, and those are his values.” Hobby Lobby is an Oklahoma-based private company founded by David Green, who is known for applying “Christian values” in the running of his company. Christian hatred of Judaism and Jews has many origins, one of which can be found in the New Testament. While the Romans actually crucified Jesus, it is the Jews who have gotten the blame. The Gospels turned out to be good news for the Romans.
The tales of the final days in Jesus’ life are found in the three synoptic gospels, Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the latter two copied extensively from Mark, generally considered to have been written first.
We pick up the trail with Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin, the 71-member supreme court of the Jewish nation, which took place in the home of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest. This scenario has several problems pointed out by eminent Jewish scholars:
1) The Sanhedrin only met the Chamber of the Hewn Stone in the Temple.
2) The Sanhedrin never met at night, contrary to the 9 PM-10 PM arrest of Jesus after the Passover supper and the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
3) It is simply inconceivable that the Sanhedrin met on Passover. The Sanhedrin had a strict rule of no council meetings on the Sabbath and on religious feast days, such as Passover.
4) The Sanhedrin pronounced the death sentence immediately, instead of waiting the prescribed twenty four hours.
5) Caiaphas accused Jesus of blasphemy for Jesus’ claim to be the “Son of the Blessed One.” However, use of this phrase was no capital crime.
These errors show that the author of Mark knew nothing about the rules regarding the Sanhedrin and it practices, or the crime of blasphemy. The trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrin is pure fiction setting up the whitewash of the Roman participation in Jesus’ death.
The whitewash continues with Pilate’s attempt to make use of a custom in which one prisoner, of a crowd’s choice, is released during Passover. There is no historical evidence that such a custom ever existed, it is fiction intended to shift blame onto the Jewish crowd, who chose Barrabas. Barrabas is Aramaic for “Son of the Father,” and is also named Jesus in early manuscripts of Matthew. The freeing of “Son of the Father” and the sacrifice of the real Son of the Father is a literary device about atonement that parallels the Yom Kippur ceremony of Leviticus 16, the Jewish ritual of the scapegoat and atonement.
We next visit the Joseph of Arimathea narrative. Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin, who offered his tomb for Jesus’ burial, from the town of Arimathea whose location is unknown and is nowhere else recorded. As pointed out by historian Dr. Richard Carrier, “Matheia means ‘disciple town’ in Greek; Ari- is a common prefix for superiority.” Arimathea can be read as “best disciple town,” an obvious pun by the writer of Mark. Joseph of Arimathea is a fictional character.
The Gospel of Mark is a work of fiction by an author who wanted to shift the blame of Jesus’ death away from the Romans. The only other players in this drama who could be blamed were the Jews. After two thousand years, the Jews are still getting the blame. Any claim that the Jews were a contributing factor in the death of Jesus is not historic. If Christians hate Jews, they’ll have to find another reason.
Click on the Watch on YouTube button to see an amazing video series about the parallels of Mark and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey:
H/T: Ken Berwitz, Paul Tobin, Peter Kirby, Richard Carrier, PZ Myers.
rafflaw:
dont get worked up, hurt their pocket book.
this country was founded on individual liberty, that means people have the right to refuse service to other people who they dont agree with.
it also means the freedom to suffer consequences from that refusal.
Bron,
People get “worked up” about this stuff because it goes against what this country is founded on and against what Christianity was founded on.
Disgusted;
Jill has it apropos – Jesus was a Jew.
That does not give anyone the right to tell me or you what to believe. For G-d (if you believe in him) guarantees the fundamental rights of liberty & choice. If you don’t, then our Constitution provides the same liberty of choice.
If one (no matter who one claims to be) – is G-d’s chosen people (whether or not that be Christian, Jew, Israeli and/or what have you); then, being granted protection of the All Mighty – one really need not fight to prove any point.
Ross S. Heckmann (@RossHeckmann):
A careful reading of the post will demonstrate that I never said or implied that Green hated Jews. He may, or he may not. The Hobby Lobby angle was a recent event used to lead into the point of the post: Christian hatred of Jews based on the non-historicity of the Gospels.
Exactly the interpretation the author wanted to convey. Whether that interpretation is historically accurate or even plausible is the point of the post and the point of the cited reference.
If I walked into a store and they said we dont serve xyz types and I was an xyz type, I would laugh and take my business to another store.
Why do people get so worked up about stuff like this?
Get together with some other xyz types and go boycott the store or take an add out in the local paper.
Oro Lee,
I’m well aware of the pre-history including the Sumerian texts, but how much can you put into one comment. 🙂
Tony,
The only reason I find the discussion interesting, other than an overriding love of history, is that the many years of Jewish hatred trace directly back to the Gospels.
Gene —
Bring back Dionysian Festivals. The earth moving equipmentand car insurance will be needed for the combo jacuzzi/nascar track.
Tony,
There is a holiday utilizing sex toys, bondage outfits, Playboy, earth moving equipment, and car insurance?
All I can say is I must be using the wrong calendar and set of traditions if I missed that one although it certainly explains some questions I had about some former neighbors. 😀
‘BuyBull’ what a terrible book to base your life on. I find I have no respect for ‘Buybull’ readers…………
Bottom line — Mr. Green’s expression of his faith through his business dealings is all about Mr. Green, eventually to his own detriment.
Mike —
You’re right, Roman rule was pervasive and preferred to work with the more appeasement-minded Sadducees and their priests instead of the Pharisees and their rabbis. But even a Sadducee could get out of line … for example, Rome replaced Annas as High Priest with Caiphas, his son-in-law.
A) Jesus never existed, his life and times are a fiction, a rework of a verbal fable at least 3000 years older than his supposed birth, based upon the Sun’s annual travels through various constellations, a fable told to children to help them predict the seasonal variation of weather in rather fine detail throughout the year.
For one example, the sign of the Ram was not so called because the constellation looked anything like a Ram, it was called the Ram because it signaled the birthing of lambs coming up. For another example, near the Winter Solstice, the sun would “rise” on the horizon where a constellation called “the cross” was found; between two bright stars called the “two thieves”, so called because thievery of stores was something to watch for in the winter — Thus the Sun was crucified between two thieves…
B) A dispute between Christians and Jews disrespecting each other’s beliefs is like a dispute between Captain Kirk fans and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans over who is the better hero… Who cares? (And welcome back to TV, Sarah Michelle, you and Robin had decent chemistry in the pilot…)
C) I don’t think the owner of the store is doing anything particularly untoward. He also doesn’t carry sex toys, bondage outfits, Playboy, earth moving equipment, or car insurance. If he thinks a few hundred square feet will sell more if stocked with Christmas goods than if stocked with Hanukkah goods, it is HIS floor space. I see no particular obligation of store owners to cater to religion or anything else; if a vegetarian can’t find a meal in a barbecue joint, they shouldn’t try to eat there, the barbecue joint has no social or moral responsibility to serve vegetarians, the lactose intolerant, diabetics, the gluten-free crowd or the sugar-free crowd.
D) If they were excluding Jews from shopping there, I would be up in arms and ready to boycott or sue. Simply failing to carry what someone wants to buy is not tantamount to discrimination, it is much more likely to be a reflection of optimization.
I was watching an interview years back of Denzel and Streep, I forget the flick they were promoting, but whatever one they were both in. It must have been political and maybe an election year because the subject go on to religion and politics. Now, Denzel is a religious guy. Couric started blasting pols for using religion and Denzel made some good points adverse. Couric and Streep got wide eyed. At one point Couric huffed to Denzel, “You people..yada yada.” You could almost see a little bubble go on over her head saying, “Shit!!” So, it does go both ways, to be fair. However, I’ve lived long enough to know often times “fair” ain’t got nothin’ to do w/ it.
Mike —
You do a great job in describing the describing the when and the why of of later editing of New testament scriptures. What i find lacking is tracing the origins of the Bible story and not just the new 1st century writings
The earliest writing which became incorporated in the corpus of Bible appears to have been written circa 800 BCE –rather late for an ancient writing but admittedly based on oral traditions or, in common vernacular, tall tales. Do we have any hints of the origins of those oral traditions?
Why, yes we do — Sumerian and Mesopotamian texts, including the Epic of Gilgamesh. The earliest Epic text dates from 2150-2000 BCE. Undoubtedly, Epic texts are also based on oral tradition. Later texts contain greater elaboration and additions — hardly unexpected with tall tales.
Most interestingly, the Epic is chock full of proto-types for various Biblical accounts (and so are other ancient accounts, including Egyptian). While tomes differentiating the details of Epic and Bible accounts are employed to deny any common genealogy, such works fail to the account for just how much tall tales can evolve over 1200 years when the most creative creatures on the planet don’t have much to do after dark other than tell stories.
Orolee,
Ghandi said it best. “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mahatmagan107529.html
“The Gospel of Mark is a work of fiction by an author who wanted to shift the blame of Jesus’ death away from the Romans.”
Tradition holds that Mark was with Peter as he ministered in Rome, and that his gospel is based on Peter’s teaching — certainly plenty of impetus to shift blame away from the Romans. And let’s be honest — Romans crucifying the latest Messiah-of-the-month was common event at the time. The Romana Pax was wrought at the tip if the short sword. Do not challenge the authority of Rome!
The Gospel of John, probably the last gospel to be written, lamblasted the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ, but understand his focus was on Jewish leadership who sought the death of Christ out of fear of the Romans —
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did [in raising Lazarus from the dead], believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
“He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life. (John 11:45-53)
So who killed the Christ? The Romans or the Jews?
I did!
Christ died to pay the penalty for my sins.
It is not only a sin for me blame someone else, but a renunciation of my confession and a rejection of Christ as my Savior.
Why on heaven or earth would any Christian do such a thing.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
“He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life. (John 11:45-53)”
Oro Lee,
To fully round out this tale there is some historical detail need. The “High Priest” position in Judaism was strictly a hereditary sacramental one dealing with the operations of the Temple. “The “High Priest” was not like the Pope in that the HP had no spiritual function but presided over the performance of rituals. The HP’s party was the Sadduces. The group that actually dealt with Jewish spirituality was the Pharisees (the Rabbinical group). Contrary to the Gospels, Jesus was most probably a Pharisee Rabbi based on most of his teachings. Contrast Jesus “Golden Rule” with that of Rabbi Hillel, the elder, who was a contemporary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder .
The other salient point historically is that because Israel was an occupied country, that took the roman occupation bitterly, there were many uprisings. In Rome the Jews were not liked because for a small place they were very difficult to rule so required more expenditure than other areas, Egypt for instance that were wealthier and less rebellious. The Pharisees were the leaders of every Jewish rebellion against Rome and so were particularly hated. The Sadduces were the party of appeasement towards Rome and represented the upper classes of Jews. The High Priest was invariably a Roman functionary and did the bidding of people like Pilate. We know this from sources independent of the Gospels.
Mike S.,
you know better than to bring facts into a discussion about religion!! 🙂
David’s blog raises more than a few issues that resonate with me as a Jew.
1. About 5 years ago my wife and I went to a local craft/hobby store in Florida to buy decorations for a Chanukah Party we were giving for friends. We were surprised that not only didn’t the store carry any items even vaguely related, but when we asked the salespeople they responded with thinly disguised hostility. The store was of course replete with Christmas items and we were in an area with a large Jewish population. When I saw the Hobby Lobby story it brought our experience back to me. Needless to say we found a store that did carry a supply of items and that is the one we have used since for our shopping.
2. The entire stories in the Gospels ascribing Jesus death to the Jew is not historical as David shows. To add to it the idea that Pilate, a man who was recalled later to Rome in disgrace for his brutality (consider how normally brutal the Romans were), is supposed to be shocked at the Jews demanding
Jesus death. No Roman agent would have given over the pronouncement of the death sentence to an occupied nation. Furthermore, only a short time before Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem by a cheering multitude. Are Jews that fickle, or was this an attempt to show them as fickle? Finally, the fact is that when Rome adopted Christianity as its State religion at the Council of Nicaea in 320 CE, it needed to change the story of Jesus death because it would have seemed problematic for Romans to worship someone they had put to death. That council edited much of the Gospels and we know this from Roman historians and from so-called apocryphal texts. That Councils actions directly resulted in the persecution of Jews, Jesus people, for 17 centuries to come.
Jesus was born, lived and died a Jew. But hey, what the hell!