Loading...Here are some of the intriguing questions I have recently received from readers, on Jesus’ view of the law, the intriguing apocryphal Gospel about his father Joseph, Christ’s divine and human nature, and other things!
QUESTION:
Do you think Jesus taught complete pacifism in response to violence and a less legalistic form of Judaism?
RESPONSE:
I think he was a committed pacificist, yes. And he certainly thought that the laws of Torah were to be observed — they were what God commands. But as with other Jewish teachers, he knew that sometimes a situation would arise in which someone would be forced to violate one law or the other because they espoused different principles of behavior that were at odds. For example,
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Matthew 7:7-11 has Jesus arguing that only an evil father would give a snake to their children when their children ask for fish. Yet this is exactly what the Israeli god does to his children in Numbers 21:4-6. Perhaps the historical Jesus did take a stance against this story in Numbers, but do you think that Matthew is taking a stance against the Jewish faith here?
I think the point in Numbers is that they were disobedient and carping at God, showing how disastisfied they were with him, rather than making a simple request as a child to a father. When Matthew makes any explicit comments about the Jewish faith, they are positive. The problem for him is the Jewish leaders.
According to Jeremiah 22:28-30 no descendant of Jeconiah will sit on the throne of David. Yet Matthew 1:11-12 has Jesus as a descendant of Jeconiah. By that logic, Jesus cannot be the Davidic messiah. It seems that Matthew either didn’t know about this or Matthew is engaging in some sort of virgin conception irony. What do you think?
It’s one reason people give for explaining why Luke has a different genealogy (since there Jesus is not a descendent of Jeconiah!)
I am a Japanese reader from a Buddhist country in Asia who has been studying your books and listening to your podcast with the help of a dictionary.
Please forgive me if my question is somewhat naïve, but I have been reflecting on why, in the Gospel of Mark, all twelve disciples are portrayed as consistently lacking understanding and even misunderstanding Jesus’ messianic mission.
1.Mark may have belonged to a community that was more distant from the Jerusalem church, which had a more Jewish-Christian orientation, and closer in thought to Paul. If so, perhaps Mark portrayed the disciples in this way as a critique of the Jerusalem church, which may have still existed at the time he wrote his Gospel and was associated with the other apostles and their followers.
2. lternatively, by depicting the disciples in this way before the Resurrection, Mark may have intended to emphasize that it was the experience of the Resurrection that transformed them into true apostles.
Also, if there happens to be any special discount available for learners in Japan—where the average income is about one-fourth that of the United States to take all of your courses.
It’s a great question, and scholars do not have a consensus view of it. Both of your answers have been proposed and supported before. I myself lean toward thinking that it may be a kind of combination of the two, that Mark is trying to explain that the idea of a crucified messiah was so inconceivable that even Jesus’ own disciples didn’t get it during his life time, but now that it is “known” that he has been raised from the dead, his followers do understand.
It’s a good question about international discounts. I’m mention it to my COO to see if there are any options. In the meantime, you can certainly get all my weekly podcasts and we have a number of free lectures/short courses on my website, http://www.bartehrman.com
Enoch not Elisha surely (2 Kings 13:20)
Ouch. Those rotten scribes have botched it again. But their diorthotes has corrected the problem Many thanks.
Dear Dr Ehrman:
How can God be our Lord & Saviour. If he can’t communicate effectively.
Humankind is condemned because either God didn’t tell Eve to NOT eat of that tree. 2) Locke Blank slate theory: if Eve was Adam’s mate- how could she lead Adam astray to Sin.
You know the OT & NT far better than I, but throughout the Bible, worthless orders or commands & EDICTS. & then his chosen disciples & the other followers deciphering & interpreting what Jesus says on such a higher plane.
So Revelations 2 & 3. any attendee was fortunate [or not] to be attending the proper 3 churches, really what was the correct life in a new religion & life!