Comments and Spam

by Ryan Posted on September 24, 2012

We’ve had a recent up-tick in the number of submitted comments in the last week. We get a tremendous amount of spam, but it’s usually pretty easy to spot: rarely are the spam comments on topic. That said, we’ve had a few among the many that seem like they might be legitimate, but seem fishy. If you’ve recently submitted a comment, please let us know by commenting on this post and I’ll make sure to approve your earlier comments.

Posted in Announcement | Comments Off on Comments and Spam

The Wife of Jesus

by Greg Posted on September 23, 2012

As readers of this site are probably aware, Karen King, Christian history scholar, caused quite a stir in religious circles with a surprise announcement regarding a fragment of an ancient document that quotes Jesus talking about his “wife.” While at Holey Books, on our long mission to blog through the Bible, we have only made it to Joshua so far, given the significance of this discovery we thought we might offer a few words of comment, in case you are wondering what the importance of this discovery is.

The answer: probably not much. But why? Wouldn’t an ancient text stating Jesus had a “wife” be the sort of revelatory thing the bad guys in The DaVinci Code so desperately wanted to keep secret?

Alas, in real life history is far less dramatic than Dan Brown makes it out to be. The New York Times article, at least, does a good job (as King does herself) downplaying the importance of this discovery. What this essentially shows us is that we can be reasonably confident that there was at least a group of Christians who believed Jesus had a wife, and that his wife was central to his teachings (the discovered papyrus also makes reference to Jesus’ wife being an important disciple). This may be an existing group that we already know about, including certain Gnostic Christians or others, or may be an entirely new group/tradition. At least with the former, we know from scholarly work in the 1970s and 1980s after the translation of the Nag Hammadi scrolls, that women were much more central to the beliefs of many Gnostics than the so-called “orthodox” Christians. (If you are unfamiliar with this history, Elaine Pagels’ book The Gnostic Gospels does a nice job of explaining this.)

So this new fragment all but confirms a lot of circumstantial sources in these Gnostic Gospels (and in other, harder to define “lost” gospels, of which we only have fragments thanks the purging efforts of early church fathers). Can we, then, rely on it as historical fact? That is difficult to say, but most likely we cannot. The gospels featuring the most historically accurate rendition of Jesus’ life are probably Matthew, Luke and Mark, with Mark being the earliest (and therefore best) historical account.* (Indeed, the oldest copies of Mark do not have a resurrection narrative, which is a curious fact.) Whatever this fragment came from, it seems unlikely that it came from an account earlier than Mark (or Thomas) or any of the other canonical gospels. Hence it probably has less historical value.

Nevertheless, it is still significant, especially if we find other pieces of it to provide context, or if we could eventually assign it to a certain gospel or certain Jesus-started movement. Let’s hope, then, that this is the first discovery of more to come.

*Depending on which scholar you talk to, they might also argue that the Gospel of Thomas, an arguably Gnostic text (I wrote a long paper about this in undergrad, actually) is older than Mark, or at least as old. I’m no scholar, but in my amateur research I tend to agree with this perspective.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Wife of Jesus

The Bible and Abortion

by Greg Posted on September 19, 2012

Rick Lowery, at the Huffington Post, discussing abortion and the Bible:

It’s hard to ask biblical texts the modern question, “when does human life begin?” because the Bible has a very different understanding of human reproduction. Biblical writers don’t talk about sperm fertilizing eggs. They talk about male “seed” planted in fertile female ground. Just as a seed becomes a plant when it emerges from the ground, so too a man’s planted seed becomes another human being when it emerges from the womb.

Lowery does make some good points about reading too far into Biblical passages to promote anti-abortion views. He doesn’t hit on everything, though, as this recent post by Ryan demonstrates. Ryan cites an Old Testament passage where God seems to condone abortion in cases (indeed, even assist it, essentially) where there is question as to the legitimacy of the child. But Lowery makes some good points that the Bible doesn’t say what many think it says regarding abortion, or the mark when a fetus is said to be “alive.” The conclusion: the Bible is not a good source for a Pro-Life viewpoint, as with using Leviticus to justify an anti-gay marriage viewpoint, one ends up just arbitrarily picking what Bible commands one wants to obey. Of course, we at Holey Books would argue it’s not a good source for a variety of other reasons, too.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Bible and Abortion

A New Leader, Part 2 (Josh. 1-5)

by Greg Posted on September 18, 2012

This is the second in a series of posts on Joshua and the leadership transition from Moses. The first post can be found here.

Despite a new face to lead the Israelites, Joshua proves to be pretty similar to Moses. In fact, he is strikingly similar to Moses, in a way that might cause us to immediately question the credulity of the stories about him (or, perhaps, the stories about Moses). For example, not too far into the Book of Joshua, Joshua leads the people on a miraculous river crossing: the people—Ark of the Covenant in tow—cross the Jordan while Joshua calls upon God to make the waters still (Josh. 3:9-17). Obviously, this is essentially the same miracle Moses performed as the Israelites escaped the clutches of the pharaoh (Exod. 15:19) Also, Joshua encounters an (ostensible) angel who tells him exactly the same thing that God told Moses in Exodus: “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy” (Josh. 5:15; Exod. 3:5).

So what do we make of this? Obviously these aren’t the only spiritual/communion with God things Joshua does. But that they are so strikingly similar to Moses should give us pause. Was this simply a common way of verifying that this particular individual (in this case, Joshua) was the right guy for the job? Were these later textual additions to make Joshua seem more like Moses? Another clue might be had from Joshua’s most famous “miracle” was a spectacular feat, but most notably something Moses had not done:

12 On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to theLord in the presence of Israel:

“Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
13 So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,

as it is written in the Book of Jashar.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when theLord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

I want to focus on one line right away: “There has never been a day like it before or since.” Obviously, this means this little bit was composed long after the lengthened day—as has been understood by scholars for hundreds of years—so we should be somewhat skeptical of what might have been lost in translation. (As does the final sentence of verse 14, which seems to be an editorial comment.) While one of Moses’ miracles was, as we can remember from Exodus, cover the land in darkness, Joshua, by contrast, extends the daylight. Indeed, “the sun stood still.” The connection here may actually be more than coincidence.

Not everything Joshua does is just like Moses, of course. But these striking examples may point to larger facts about the Book of Joshua and its historicity. Joshua, most everyone agrees, is not a historical account; power was never really transferred from Moses to Joshua. Where and how and when it was composed beyond that, however, has been the source of much debate, which the Wikipedia page covers decently. Thus we can take the sun standing still and the connections with Moses with heavy skepticism. What is important, as I noted in the first post, was the theological connection between Moses and Joshua, here illustrated by the likely fabrication (or exaggeration) of events and miracles to connect the two.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , | Comments Off on A New Leader, Part 2 (Josh. 1-5)

The Top 4 Most Ridiculous Verses Regarding Marriage and Sex in the Pentateuch

by Ryan Posted on September 16, 2012

The Pentateuch has proven to not keep with the times when it comes to marriage, sex, and women (among other things). Here are a few of the most ridiculous claims we’ve encountered so far.

  1. If you’re brother dies, be prepared to marry his wife (Deut. 25:5-10). According to Deuteronomy, if your brother dies without providing a male heir, then you (assuming you’re a dude) must marry his widow and (attempt) to produce a male heir to continue his line. If refused, the widow gets to spit in your face and take one of your shoes. Interestingly enough, this only appears as law after the exodus, even though God was quick to enforce it (with a twist on the punishment–death) on Onan hundreds of years prior (Gen. 38:6-10).
  2. Women are second to men (Lev. 27:1-8). This topic could probably have a “Most Ridiculous” post of its own. This verse specifically deals with the cost to redeem someone who is pledged to God. Or, in other words, the amount of money that will satisfy God in place of the person’s service. Able-bodied men are worth 50 shekels, while women come in at only 30. There are many other passages that hit on this theme of women being second to men, including: giving birth to a daughter makes the mother unclean for twice the time if she had a son instead (Lev. 12:1-5), women can only make pledges or enter contracts autonomously if they’re unattached to their father or husband (Num. 30), and they not counted among those fleeing  at the end of Exodus (Ex. 12:37), or in either of the censuses in Numbers.
  3. Akin’s “legitimate” rape is biblical (Deut. 22:23-29). If a married or engaged woman is raped in a town, and no one hears her scream, both she and her rapist are to be stoned. If she’s raped in the country, only her rapist is stoned. The reasoning? If she didn’t scream (or it can’t be verified) then she must have been complicit in the affair. Or, put another way, only “forcible” rape counts. In classic Old Testament style, if the woman is not married she must marry her rapist. Rape is rape is rape isn’t included in this version of morality.
  4. God will abort your baby (Lev. 5:11-30). This might be the oddest ritual in all of the Pentateuch. If a man suspects his wife of infidelity, he can take her to the priests where they’ll perform an elaborate ritual to determine her guilt or innocence. In the ritual, she drinks a bitter solution that, if she’s guilty, will cause her to have a miscarriage. That’s right, God has no problem aborting illegitimate fetuses. So much for the sanctity of life.

Homosexuality is regarded by many on the American religious right as an abomination, and that it is against the natural order. The Bible is almost always cited, and most often Leviticus (Lev. 18:22) (or tradition, whatever that is). As the above shows, there’s a lot in the Bible that these same people either disregard completely, don’t consider important enough to insist on violating others’ rights over, or they’re not even aware of.

Exposing this type of hypocrisy is one of our main objectives at Holey Books.   It’s not the first time the Bible has been used as a cover for personal prejudices and it’s unlikely it’ll be the last (so we’ll likely be in business for a while). Fortunately, the demographics are changing in the country. Equality is inevitable. And so is the reality that the arguments for “traditional” marriage were not rooted in religious texts, but rather bigotry.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A New Leader, Part 1 (Josh. 1)

by Greg Posted on September 9, 2012

This is the first in a two-part post series on Joshua and the leadership transition from Moses.

The next book after the Pentateuch, Joshua, carries the name of Israel’s successor to Moses, who is described here as “filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him” (Deut. 34:9). Joshua is an interesting figure, if nothing else than for the kinds of connections that can be made between him and the man who shared his name, Jesus. In this passage—and this post on the blog—though, the focus is on establishing the leadership transition, and designating Joshua as receiving a blessing from God, thus endowing him with obvious privileges.

By the beginning of the Book of Joshua, the Israelites seem entirely credulous about his bona fides as a leader:

16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous! ” (Josh 1:16-18).

He has a mandate, as we would say now. But why? The only answers to these questions come from Deuteronomy 31, which is the first appearance of Joshua in the Old Testament. It seemed Moses unilaterally tapped him:

Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ 3 The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. (Deut. 31-1-3).

So apparently Gold told Moses he wouldn’t make it across the river, so he will have Joshua do it. Moses seems to finish his succession plan with a benediction/admonition of sorts for the new leader (Deut. 31:7-8).

The transition seems somewhat shaky to modern views, but the Bible books indicate we must take God’s role in the transition with complete credulity. The text only elucidates the spiritual reasoning for the transition, which seems, according to the author(s) of Deuteronomy and the author of the first chapter of Joshua, to be enough. (The Book of Joshua was certainly not written by Joshua himself—just as the Pentateuch wasn’t written by Moses—if in fact Joshua even existed. That there were other authors has been widely accepted for some time, since John Calvin roamed the Earth.)

This transition underscores an important point to remember throughout this book: Israel is theocratic, and makes theocratic decisions. It’s a through-and-through theocracy. Although Joshua isn’t quite as rich of a source for the modern day argumentative uses of scripture, it’s still essential to remember that Joshua’s quests and the entire idea of Joshua (real or not) is a theocratic one. He is there to lead the flock. And, as we will see, he sure leads them into some interesting situations.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , | 2 Comments

How Many Atheists Are There?

by Greg Posted on August 21, 2012

According to the recently-released Global Index of Religion and Atheism, the world has grown less religious. Fifty-nine percent of the people in the world considers themselves “religious,” while 23% consider themselves “not religious.” Thirteen percent are committed atheists. Overall:

Globally, those claiming to be religious, drops by 9%, while atheism rises by 3%.

You should read the report, really, at least if you’re interested in this site—it contains all kinds of interesting data and revelations, which would be too numerous (and repetitive) to go through here. For a good round-up of the commentary, head on over to The Daily Dish.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged | Comments Off on How Many Atheists Are There?

Chick Fil-A and the Bible

by Greg Posted on August 7, 2012

Maggie Lamond Simone, at the Huffington Post, uses the controversy over Chick Fil-A’s stance on gay marriage to make a broader point about the Bible:

Those who base their prejudice on the Bible’s teachings are cherry-picking their beliefs, which I would suggest invalidates them.

We at Holey Books have certainly focused many posts that are problematic for most believers’ daily lives—for example, not far from the passage of Leviticus that prohibits homosexuality, there is a passage prohibiting tattoos. Which makes one wonder if everyone with a tattoo also believes we can’t trust the Old Testament’s words on gay marriage. At least, I’d be willing to bet the two groups are not mutually exclusive.

Lamond Simone continues:

Until we see, for example, Mitt Romney selling everything he owns and giving the money to the poor, which the Bible instructs, his use of the Bible to deny gay marriage will never be valid.

Of course, this could also apply to the President (he may not be using the Bible to deny gay marriage, but as a Christian he is not exactly selling everything he owns). At our current pace, it’s going to be a while before we get to the New Testament—and the consistency issues there, both between the Gospels and between the Old Testament and the New.

Coming up next, though, is the story of the original Jesus (so to speak*):the Book of Joshua.

*“Jesus” and “Joshua” were the same name in Hebrew. If you watched The Passion of the Christ, you probably already knew this.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Chick Fil-A and the Bible

The Top 5 Most Ridiculous Verses in Deuteronomy

by Greg Posted on August 1, 2012

One of the most popular and most searched-for types of post on this site has been our series of the most ridiculous things in scripture. The series serves as a sort of round-up post on each book of the Bible that we have analyzed. Thus far we have examined some of these absurdities in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Now, we finish up the Pentateuch with our look at the most ridiculous things in Deuteronomy. Spoiler alert: this one is just as ridiculous as the others. Consider the following in no particular order of ridiculousness, although it’s hard to top #5:

Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Ethicist: Bible Study

by Greg Posted on July 29, 2012

Not sure how we missed this one: Over at the New York Times, the regular humorly advice column, The Ethicist, recently featured a question regarding a nonbeliever joining a Bible study. (The questioner wanted to join the Bible study to learn more about the Bible.) The Ethicist’s response:

You are never obligated to tell anyone about your personal religious beliefs (or the lack thereof). Joining a Bible-study group is not the same as committing to a religion. You have every right to view the Bible solely as a literary document or a historical curiosity. In fact, I suspect your undefined addition to this collective will be intellectually and emotionally enriching to everyone, including yourself. Moreover, if you immediately marginalize yourself as a nonbeliever, it could derail the group dynamic and skew the experience (because some members of the ensemble might feel a compulsion to convert you, which is not the goal of a study group).

The current Ethicist is the excellent essayist Chuck Klosterman. I think his answer is pretty-spot on. Whether you’re a believer or a non-believer, we hope that Holey Books provides some more information and thoughtful analysis of the Bible.

Posted in Blog Post | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Ethicist: Bible Study