Jesus Said It #09: All these things are done in parables

And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. Mark 4:11-12

When I was a kid in sunday school, I was told that Jesus' parables were object lessons to make the ideas easier to understand. However, that's not what Jesus said.

Jesus explains to his disciples that he speaks in parables so that it will be harder for the other people to understand. So that maybe they'll hear the truth, but not understand it, so they won't be saved. So, when I'm told that Jesus want to save everyone, I'll just point them to this verse.

PS:
The Brick Testament portrays this passage with Lego action figures.
The Use of Parables Explained

Jesus says it again #1

Read my old article about this verse.

Jesus Said It #08: If any man come to me...

Most Christians today say that Jesus promoted family values. I can't count the number of times that I heard that the family that prays together stays together. So, what does Jesus have to say about family?

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26

This one verse seems to be saying that Jesus encouraged his followers to leave their families. As a matter of fact, he seems to be saying that if you love someone else, then you can't love Jesus enough to satisfy him. This verse makes Jesus sound like more of a cult leader than like the son of God.

This verse is in stark contradiction to many other verses in the bible.

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15

See also Leviticus 19:17 and 1 John 4:20-21.

Jesus Said It #7: I Will Kill Her Children

And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. --Revelation 2:23

Jesus and the grim reaper are getting together to kill a bunch of babies. Then afterwards they'll pile up the kidneys (reins) and hearts so that Jesus can sort through them.

The bible is full of atrocities, in both testaments. It doesn't take much research to find them. Of course, most christians I know would say that this verse is symbolic. Symbolic or not, it paints a terrible mental image of Jesus.

Jesus said it #6: And then shall appear ...

Ray Comfort has posted a cartoon by Richard Gunther. Here's the text of the cartoon.

Some Very General Signs of The End of The Age

• People claiming to be great spiritual leaders,


• Wars and unrest,


• Famines,


• Sun and Moon darkened,


• Earthquakes,


• Diseases,


• Stars falling,


• Persecution of Christians,


• Rise in law-breaking,


• Lack of sincere love,


• The gospel preached in all the world.

Then Jesus will return suddenly in his power and glory to judge the whole world.
Matt. 24

People claiming to be great spiritual leaders
My yes, there have been people claiming to be great spiritual leaders since the beginning of civilization. As a matter of fact, Jesus fits this description beautifully. Jesus was just predicting the obvious. A sure fire prophecy that could only be fullfilled. There had been false prophets before Jesus and many after him. So?

Wars and unrest
Same as above. There have been many, many wars since Jesus and there were many wars before him as well. Another prophecy that couldn't go wrong.

Famines
Again, this is an obvious prophecy. People have starved as long as there has been people on this planet.

Sun and Moon darkened, Earthquakes
We know what causes eclipses. They can be scary, but they are completely harmless. We also know what causes earthquakes. It's nearly impossible to predict earthquakes. They cause the loss of life and property in huge amounts. However, there have been earthquakes all over the entire planet as long and this planet has been here. There were earthquakes happening all the time before Jesus and many earthquakes since. Again this is a no-brainer prophecy.

Diseases
Again, this is a no fail prophecy. Diseases have been killing people ever since people have been here.

Stars falling
We know what causes meteors. They're mostly harmless. Of course, we may get the big one that wipes out life as we know it. But, the everyday, run of the mill, meteor shower won't hurt anyone. Well, for the most part. There are incidents of people being hit by metorites, but that is so rare.

Persecution of Christians
As long as there are opposing religions, there will be persecution. Christians are guilty of some persecution themselves. With the rise of evangelism in the U.S., I fear that christians will persecute the non-religious and critics of religion in the future.

Rise in law-breaking
There have been law-breakers in every decade since Jesus. Today, we may have more crime because there are more people. May, because I'm not sure that crime wasn't as bad in the Dark Ages or the Roman Empire. Crime rate was undoubtably high in Jesus' time. Again this is a sure fire win when it comes to prophecy.

Lack of sincere love
There's no way to prove that love was more sincere in Jesus' time. I do know that I don't treat my wife like 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 says. Treating your wife like that does not sound like sincere love to me.

The gospel preached in all the world
For the most part it has. There are probably a few tribes in the amazon who haven't heard yet. I hope the proselytizers can leave them alone. St. Paul believed that everyone already had heard the gospel in the first century (Romans 10:18).

Gunther misquotes Matthew 24:30

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Matthew 24:30

I find it amazing that Comfort and Gunther appearantly quote the bible without any reference. I had to look for the verse that Gunther has the bible saying. Then, he misquotes (badly paraphrases) it.

Gunther ignores Matthew 24:34

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Matthew 24:34

Jesus says that the disciples generation would still be around when Jesus returns.

These signs of the end of the world are constant. They've been a constant in the world since humans first looked up and wondered what was up there. If I prophecied that tomorrow someone would have an automobile accident, it would certainly come true. Does that mean that I am a prophet? No, of course not.

Edited for spelling. Doh!

Jesus Said It #05 and Atheist Starter Kit #04

Here's Ray Comfort's fourth item on his list of hints for the new atheist.

4. You can also deal with the "whoever looks on a woman to lust for her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart," by saying that there is no evidence that Jesus existed. None.

I think it's interesting that Ray didn't provide "Book Chapter:Verse" when quoting Jesus. I'm really suprized that he didn't. Here's the pertinent scripture reference.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28

Well Ray, There are several ways I deal with this verse, but denying that Jesus ever existed is not one of them.

Ray also posted this verse as an atheist memory verse on his blog. The 14th comment in the thread is mine.

It's one of my favorite verses. No longer are you guilty for actually commiting a sin, you're guilty for having a passing thought about sinning.

Consider how harsh this statement is. When Jesus said this, people were being stoned to death for commiting adultery. IOW, he may have been implying that just by thinking about a bueatiful [sic (my bad)] woman, you could be worthy of death.

Of course, Jesus may not have been implying this. The scripture does not say. What is important is that with this statement, Jesus introduced a "thought crime." IMO, Thought crimes are against your personal freedoms and are impossible to enforce.

Better to just repeal any thought crime and just concentrate on the things that people actually do. It's much easier to prove that something was done than to prove that something was thought about.

Of course, I had a few replies to that. Mostly claiming that God has the right to judge you for your thoughts because he knows your thoughts. (sigh)

Thought crimes are victimless crimes. Nobody is actually hurt. If you don't act upon your thought, why should it matter?

I'll close this post with some more absurdity from the Bible. The next two verses from Matthew.

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Matthew 5:29-30

I'll talk about these verses in a later post.

Jesus Said It #04: It shall not be forgiven him.

Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Matthew 12:31-32

See also Luke 12:10 and Mark 3:29.

Many christians claim that there is nothing you can do that God will not forgive. However, the bible says that at least one thing will never be forgiven. If you don't believe in the Holy Ghost, God will not forgive you of anything. Even if you change your mind, God won't forgive you because you didn't believe in the Holy Ghost in the past. Just for you doubters out there, yes, disbelief is often considered as blasphemy. Wikipedia says that blasphemy is also sometimes defined as language expressing disapproved beliefs, or disbelief. So, if I express that I do not believe that the Holy Ghost is real, then I am damned to heck. Forever.

Hey, I'm not going to be alone. Jehovah's witnesses and oneness pentacostals will keep me company. Maybe, I need to rethink this. Being harrassed by JWs and holy rollers for an eternity? That would be a fitting hell.

Well, If any of the christians that are praying for me are reading this, you can give up and get on with your own lives. It's a hopeless case, because God will never forgive me. Here's my official statement. You can quote me.

"The Holy Ghost does not exist. The Holy Ghost never did exist. The Holy Ghost will be as non-existent in the future as he is now. There is no such thing." -Robert J. Madewell

Jesus said it #03: She committeth adultery

But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. Matthew 5:32

And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. Mark 10:11-12

Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery. Luke 16:18

See Matthew 19:9 also.

Jesus had alot to say about divorce. According to him, divorce is adultery. The exception is that if the woman had fornicated. Most christians misunderstand what fornication means here. It's not fornication if the married woman is having an affair with another man. That would be called adultery. Fornication means that she had sex with a man before she was married. IOW, she was not a virgin when she was married. If the wife had an extra-marital affair, the husband wouldn't need to divorce her. He'd just have her killed. The Bible makes a clear distinction between fornication and adultery, so I know that I'm not off base in this assumption.

These passages are very severe in thier judgement. According to the OT law, adultery is punishable by death (Leviticus 20:10). Also, the term adultery is sexist as well. In Leviticus 20:10, it's adultery if a man has sex with a married woman, but not adultery if a married man has sex with an unmarried woman. That's just plain old fornication. That means that if a woman has sex before she's married (consential or not), she would be subject to legal divorce (if she marries), if her husband finds out. For as long as she is alive! To me, this is weird.

Why, should it matter if she is a virgin until she is married? Why just the woman? Why all this mysticism about virginity? I'll go out on a limb on this one. I don't have any books to reference. This is my own hypothesis. It all goes back to an ancient misunderstanding about human reproduction. Today, we know alot there is to know about human reproduction. There are vast volumes of scientific information about reproduction. This is one subject where there are only a few mysteries left. However, up until a few hundred years ago, humans didn't have the vast information about sex and reproduction that we have now. The Bible authors appearantly may not have understood that a woman get's pregnant by the man she is having sex with. In Judges 21:7-14, the Jews defeat a city and kill all the males (including little boys), kill all the married women, and keep all the virgins (many of whom were probably little girls) to give to the unmarried men in the tribe of Benjamin for wives. Why wouldn't an young widow (who wasn't pregnant) do? She could still give birth to children. I think it's because the ancients believed that no matter who a woman has sex with, her children could be fathered by any of the men she has ever had sex with! That's why it's so important that a bride be a virgin. That's why it's such a sin for a man to have sex with a woman married to another man. They may have believed that a child born years after an affair might belong to that other man.

Today in the U.S., the divorce rates are high. This paper from www.religioustolerance.org says that 25% of adults (in the U.S.) have had at least one divorce during their lifetime. That's one quarter of the population having been divorced. Further down on the page we have this table.

Over a third of non-denominational christians have been through a divorce! That's what I was raised as. The Baptists are not that far behind. Catholics and Lutherans seem to be the most faithful. Look at the next table from the same page.

So Atheists and Agnostics (what I am now) have a divorce rate similar to Catholics and Lutherans. That's less than one quarter of married agnostics and atheists have divorced. It's not a big difference, but it shows that despite what many evangelical ministers say, divorce rate is still very high in the christian community. I've heard the phrase, "The family that prays together, stays together." so often. These statistics surely puts that myth to rest.

According to Jesus, over one-fourth of his true followers have committed adultery.

Jesus said it #02: Behold, I come quickly!

John in Revelation has Jesus saying:

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Revelation 3:11

There are many passages in the gospels and revelation where Jesus promises to return and set up an earthly kingdom before all the apostles die. In sunday school, I was taught that the disciples falsely believed that Jesus would set up his earthly kingdom then and there. But, I wasn't told that Jesus (who some christians believe is God) thought he would be doing that too. Seems wierd to me that Jesus was God and knew all there was to know, but somehow got it wrong about the time he'd be returning to earth to smite all the evil-doers. Maybe "quickly" in Rev 3:11 means 2,000 to 3,000 years.

Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Matthew 16:28

I really don't see any other way you can interpret this verse other than the natural reading of it. I don't think that Jesus was talking about his ascension here. It's just not logical to think that Jesus meant that he'd go to heaven and not come back for a few thousand years when he said this. See also Matthew 23:36, Matthew 24:34, Matthew 26:64, Mark 9:1, Mark 14:62, Luke 9:27, and Luke 21:32.

Christians have been waiting for nearly 2,000 years for Jesus to return. They'll probably still be waiting for him in another 1,000 years. As a matter of fact, there has not been a year go by, since Jesus' death, that some group of christians somewhere didn't expect Jesus to return during their lifetimes.

I know there is a verse that says that even Jesus doesn't know when he'll return. (For the life of me, I can't find it at this moment.) That makes it even worse. If Jesus didn't know when he'd be returning, why would he have told his disciples that he was returning within their lives? Was he lying? Was it a "white lie" to give them hope? Isn't lying a sin? Did Jesus live a sinless life or not? Maybe, because he was God, he could lie and it wouldn't be a sin.

Well, I'll close this by saying, I'm done waiting. Now, I'm going to get on with my life and live it as comfortably and as fully as I can. I'm not going to waste my life waiting around for a 2,000 year old prophet.

Jesus Said It #01: He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

This is the first post in the series: "Jesus Said It." In this series, I'm going to look into some of the things that Jesus taught, then I'm going to investigate the implications of his teachings. I'm limiting myself to the four gospels, and the Book of Revelations. I am including Revelations, because many Red Letter Bibles attribute Jesus as the speaker of many of the verses in that book.

This weeks passage comes from The Gospel of Matthew.

For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Matthew 19:12

I paraphrased this verse thus.

Some men are born without testes. Some men lose thier testes at the hands of other men. But, some men castrate themselves so that they can go to heaven. If you feel you should do this, do it.

The last phrase of this, "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it," has been misused many times by ministers to mean the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. As far as I know, this is the only place in The Bible that this phrase appears. Jesus is clearly not talking about the Holy Spirit here.

The three verses before this put the meaning in better context.

And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. Matthew 19:9-11

Jesus may not be talking about a literal castration. The meaning of "eunuchs" here may be closer to "celebate men" than to gelding. Apologetic websites certainly claim this to be so. I'm sure that most Christians would agree. However, Jesus makes a point of mentioning those who are born without testes and men who are castrated, so assuming that Jesus is talking about men who purposefully castrate themselves is in line with the natural reading of this verse.

Of course, there are several examples of men who have mutilated themselves after reading this verse. Boston Corbett was the man who shot the man who killed Abraham Lincoln. He read this verse and took it literally. He was tempted by prostitutes, so he cut his genitals off with a pair of scissors. Immediately afterwards, he went to church, then went to the doctor after church, because the bleeding wouldn't stop. Origen was an early Christian leader who reportedly castrated himself as well.

Castration is also practised by cults, to keep the men in line. Heaven's Gate is probably the best example of this. Skoptism is another example.

This verse also demonstrates that sexuality was seen as something bad or dirty by Jesus. That it was a sin to even think about sex (Matthew 5:28). So, to avoid thinking about or having sex, castration may be an alternative (according to Jesus).

I do not believe that sexuality is a sin. Of course there are moral responsibilities. There is no excuse for cheating on your spouse (IMO). Sexual abuse is disgusting to me. It ruins the lives of many children. However, one should not feel guilty about the sexual experiences of early adulthood. As humans we have a sex drive. It is especially strong in a young adult. Looking back, I'm glad I wasn't very promiscuous. But, I'm not ashamed of the few experiences I had. I am mostly glad that I didn't take this verse literally.