NONSENSE FROM THE BIBLE (3 page)

Revelation 22:

6. And he said unto me, these sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of  the holy prophets sent his angel 
to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
 

7. 
Behold, I come quickly:
 blessed is he that keeppeth the sayings of this book:
 

10. And he sayeth unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: 
for the time is at hand.
 

12. And 
behold, I come quickly
; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
  

According to the Bible this is a prophecy from Jesus received by John in a dream which he then wrote down and sent to the seven churches – It was not a prophecy or message for the rest of the world for sometime in the future!  Primarily it was telling them to get their act together and repent or he would come and sort them out himself! 

If this is to be used to suggest a belated time for the return of Jesus, please note, that, here again he says -
Surely I will come quickly
 
and 
for the time is at hand
– Why then should these verses be quoted as suggesting that they are a prophecy for the return of Jesus sometime around 2,000+ years in the future? The warning and the return of Jesus were entirely for those seven rebellious churches at that time. The chapters which describe, according to the prophecy, the events which would occur prior to the second coming of Jesus were certainly intended as a grave warning to Christians of the terrible events they would endure if they failed to keep the faith. Fear is always a powerful weapon to keep the believers faithful and is the reason why it is difficult for Christians and members of other faiths to renounce their beliefs. The belief that all will face ‘Judgement day’ is a constant fear-filled reminder to maintain a good relationship with God.

The last few verses of Revelation, which are also, the last words of the Bible are not lacking in imposing fear by some horrific threats. Notice also that the Bible finally ends with the words of Jesus -
Surely, I come quickly.
He didn’t!

Revelation 22:18-21  

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith,
Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

To interpret the book of Revelation as a valid warning and prophesy for the inhabitants of the entire world living now is seriously flawed to the point of being ridiculous! Or should I say - this is all nonsense?

THE SEARCH FOR THE BEAST – THE ANTICHRIST  

As Jesus had not returned during the lifetime of those early Christians they may have considered and accepted that each of the prophecies, particularly by Daniel, Ezekiel and Matthew together with the book of Revelation were possibly predictions for a future doomsday. They could then add from those scriptures the terrifying news of the rise of the anti-Christ, the Beast and the final battle between good and evil - Armageddon! Fear has always been an important ingredient to use to evangelise and remains so today.

This also opened an enormous and on-going amount of speculation during almost every decade to name the person believed to be ‘The Anti Christ – The Beast.’ The latest candidates for this being Prince William and Oprah Winfrey! Other notable ‘beast’ contenders in recent years have included Presidents Barack Obama, Clinton and Reagan
, 
sundry Popes including Benedict XV1, Saddam Hussein, Henry Kissinger, Mikhail Gorbachev, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

Ronald Reagan was named as the possible anti-Christ because each of his names: Ronald Wilson Reagan - had six letters – thus 666 – the ‘mark of the Beast’ – How silly is that?

Just more nonsense!

There is a pathetic history of unfulfilled prophesies concerning the Second Coming of Jesus.

Christians seem to be obsessed with their belief in the end of the world as a catastrophic event – Armageddon
*5,
which will be orchestrated by God himself. Prior to that event will be the ‘rapture’ – when all the believers, dead and alive, will be ‘caught up in the clouds’ with Jesus. Christians even now, instead of actually taking those words of Jesus as absolute fact and well past their ‘use by date,’ prefer to believe that what he said was not restricted to that time and his return has yet to come to pass.  

This also provides an interesting and profitable ministry for Christian preachers and teachers. During my years as a Christian I heard many, many times preaching and teaching about the End Times and the Second Coming of Jesus. There are innumerable books on the subject in Christian bookstores, and several, mostly American, authors have become extremely wealthy writing and selling millions of books on the subject – one in particular, Tim LaHaye, who has written and published 60 books, including the
Left behind
 series (by LaHaye & Jerry B.Jenkins) with 80 million copies in print. It’s all big business!

During the time I was a pastor, I knew and had met personally one self-appointed Christian preacher in Australia who predicted the world would end on a certain date and had convinced his small congregation to gather on a hillside that day to await this mammoth event. Of course like many others before him he was humiliated as nothing happened. In New Zealand I had heard the ministry of a travelling Christian preacher who would visit churches on a regular basis preaching on this subject and predicting that the end of all things was very close and that Jesus would return in the clouds at any moment.

THERE IS A HISTORY OF FAILED PREDICTIONS OF THE SECOND COMING

The Adventist Church founded by William Miller predicted the second coming would be between March 21st 1843 and March 21st 1844, then changed that to October 22nd 1844. Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, predicted the return of Jesus would be in 1874. The Jehovah’s Witnesses who followed him decided that he had made a mistake and that Jesus would return in 1914. The list continues – Rudolf Steiner
*6
predicted it would be in the 1930s, The Assemblies of God Church in their
Weekly Evangel
newspaper predicted that the second coming would be ‘no later than in 1934 or 1935’ - Herbert Armstrong
*7
said it would be in 1975. An eminent pastor in Tucson, Arizona, Bill Maupin, predicted June 21st 1981; his congregation believed him and sold their homes and everything they owned and sat with the pastor on a hill awaiting the return of Jesus on that date! Nostradamus predicted 1999 as the date. The well known fundamentalist Baptist evangelist Jerry Falwell said Jesus would return between 1999 and 2009!

A more recent prophesy of the second coming was made by Harold Camping, a Christian minister in USA; that the ‘rapture’ would take place on May 21 2011, at 6.00 pm, and that a ‘pulverizing’ earthquake would occur at the same time. He had made a similar prediction back in 1994.

Now, at the time of writing this book, the ‘doomsday prediction’ is set for 11.11. pm - Universal Time on December 21st 2012. The reason for this belief is generally based on the ancient beliefs of the Maya civilization, known for mathematics and astronomy circa 300-900CE. On December 21st, the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere, the sun will be aligned for a few days with the centre of the band of stars known as the Milky Way. Susan Milbrath, a Maya archaeoastronomer and curator of the Florida Museum of Natural History said: 
we have no record or knowledge that they (the Maya) would think the world would come to an end at that point.

The weak and gullible people who have been subjected to these ministries often live in fearful expectation and some in triumphant anticipation awaiting these events. Understandably they are all disappointed, just as all believers have been during the past 2,000 years.

There is more nonsense to consider in the following pages!

 
BIBLE NONSENSE NUMBER 2

The credibility and authenticity of the Christian religion is entirely based on the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul said:

1 Corinthians 15:13 -17

But
if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain;
ye are yet in your sins.

Jesus was one of possibly hundreds of similar so-called prophets, holy men and gurus wandering the counties of the Middle East in every century before and during the time of Jesus. The story of Jesus has continued as his disciples and followers were more organised than others in spite of suffering severe persecution during the 1st Century. The Apostle Paul was particularly prominent in the promotion of Christianity and actively encouraged the founding of churches as he travelled throughout the eastern Mediterranean region, preaching about the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. During a period of 250 years Christians were persecuted by the Romans for refusing to worship the Emperor - this was ‘treason’ and punishable by death. In the year 64CE a more intense period of persecution began as the Emperor Nero
*8
 blamed the Christians for the great fire of Rome. Many, it is claimed, including Paul, Peter, James, Stephen, Matthew, Simon and others were martyred during this time.

The most important factor in the spread of Christianity after that time was that the Roman Emperor Constantine
*9
 was converted to Christianity and in 313CE he presented the Edict of Milan which allowed Christians to follow their faith. Until then Christians had been constantly persecuted by the Romans. This was a major breakthrough for Christianity as the Roman Empire had the greatest influence in the Western World at that time. Christianity then became the major religion and influenced every part of Europe and beyond. It is not by accident that Rome is still the centre of the Christian faith.

If we are to believe the story as reported in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John it is important to note that the Gospels were written between 40 and 60+ years after the events are alleged to have taken place. We should also be aware that the actual writers of the Gospels are in fact, unknown. They were originally written in Greek whereas the disciples of Jesus spoke Aramaic and most were likely to have been illiterate. Some were simple, uneducated peasants, with the exception of Paul, who was an educated ethnically Jewish man and a Roman Citizen. He was born circa: 5CE. The actual writers of the Gospels are anonymous and it is believed that the names Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were added later as it was obviously preferable to have called them by the names of some of the known disciples of Jesus rather than Tom, Dick, Harry or whoever. It is also possible that the content of each Gospel may be based on information which was passed down by word of mouth by some of the disciples of Jesus. The content of all the Gospels and for most of the Bible is based on hearsay. None of the writers were actually eye witnesses to the events, described.

The events leading up to and during the crucifixion are recorded in the four Gospels but there are many variations and inconsistencies we need to examine in seeking evidence for the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

Crucifixion was not, as some may believe, a special type of execution for Jesus, it was the means of disposing of criminals convicted of heinous crimes, particularly for acts of high treason, by the Romans. In both Matthew and Mark’s Gospels they reported that Jesus was crucified between two ‘robbers’ - this factually is most unlikely as the Romans did not crucify ‘robbers!’
*10
 as a method of execution or punishment for their crime.

Execution by crucifixion was finally abolished in 337CE by the Christian Emperor Constantine in respect for Jesus.

When we think about the crucifixion of Jesus we are likely to remember paintings or illustrations in Bibles or even some movies which depicted a tortured and bloody Jesus struggling under the weight of the cross as he made his way to the place of execution.

The inconsistencies in the story begin here! In fact only one of the Gospels says that Jesus carried the cross, here are the four versions of this event: 

Matthew 27:31-32  

And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. 
And as they came out, they found
a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. 

Mark 15:20-21  

And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him
. And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. 

Luke 23:26

And
as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.  

John 19:16-17  

Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified.
And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 

 Now to the Crucifixion:

 Consider these statements:

Matthew 27:46-50

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias.

Mark 15:34-35

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.

Note: Elias literally means - Yahweh is my God

Luke 23:44-46

And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands commend my spirit:
and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

In Matthew and Mark’s accounts of the story Jesus cried out not as you would expect if he was the son of God and one who would know his father’s plan for him in advance. Surely, he would have been looking forward to his final performance, fully confident that his father knew what he was doing and that in a matter of a few days he would be resurrected and alive again for ever more. Obviously he didn’t know about the plan.

I suggest a more feasible explanation is that this was the cry of a deluded religious fanatic who sincerely believed that God would rescue him from the cross and his imminent death. In fact he was quoting part of a Psalm of David which he would have known from his study of Jewish scripture. It was appropriate for such a dramatic moment.

Psalm 22:1-8

To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
 
why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

He only quoted the first verse as the original context of the Psalm would not fit with the idea that he could be the Son of God.

The story gets more incredible as one reads Matthew’s account of the happenings at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus.

1.  Darkness covered the entire land

2.  There was an earthquake

3.  The veil of the temple was torn in two

4.  The graves opened and many bodies of the ‘saints’ arose and came out of their graves and went into the Holy City and appeared to many!

Matthew, Mark and Luke all record various versions of these events, all of which, without doubt, would have caused all the Jews in Jerusalem to immediately believe that this Jesus really was the son of God, the true Messiah. If there was a shred of truth in the report that:

about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the
veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

Here are the variations between the three accounts concerning when the veil of the Temple was split in two:

Matthew 27:50-51

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Mark 15:37-38

And
Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.

Luke 23:44-46  

And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 
And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Matthew and Mark claimed that the veil of the Temple was split
after
Jesus had died; Luke said it was
before
Jesus died and John does not report any of these amazing events.

Nonsense 1

It has been widely believed that the ‘darkness’ was caused by an eclipse but this cannot be true as the crucifixion of Jesus took place during the time of the Jewish Passover
*11
which takes place during the period of the full moon whereas a solar eclipse only happens during the period of the new moon
*12
. At most there may have been a storm which partly obscured the sun for a period of time. A solar eclipse lasts well under 10 minutes. The longest duration of a total eclipse, recorded in 1453, was 1 minute 45 seconds - not three hours!

Nonsense 2

The veil of the temple was the huge curtain, believed to have been about 18 meters high and 10 centimetres thick, which separated the people from the
Holy of Holies
- the most sacred part of the temple. Had this really happened it would have been sensational news which would have been known across the nation and reported by every scribe and historian for centuries. Every Jew would have immediately believed that Jesus was the Messiah!

As no such evidence exists we must conclude that this is another example of human imagination to add colour and sensation to the story.

Nonsense 3    

The most amazing part of the above reports is here in Matthew’s gospel:

THE MARCH OF THE ZOMBIES!

Matthew 27:50-53

Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

This sounds like the climax of a Hollywood movie although apart from the darkness and a storm the rest of the Bible story was left out of the Movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Obviously it was too incredible even for the Catholic Bible believing producer Mel Gibson to accept as a factual series of events. Darkness in daytime can be caused by a storm, earthquakes do happen, and we can all accept the possibility of those natural events at any time. As for the veil of the temple being torn in two followed by graves opening and the bodies or rather, skeletons as they would be, walking into Jerusalem and being seen by many, this is bizarre and completely beyond belief and all possibility. Had any of this happened it would have been the most sensational event of the age. Everyone would have been convinced that Jesus was truly the son of God, and would have immediately become believers. Apart from Matthew’s story there is not a shred of evidence that any of this occurred.