Bible Topics

The more we talk about the meaning, value and power of love the more I see the dynamic force of love as portrayed in the Gospel and how the notion was emasculated over the centuries. Love is an active giving, an active receiving, and a mutually active give and take from that initial exchange. As soon as either party takes the active exchange out of love, it loses its force. The Gospel story is bound up in the word "love" but it is a living responsible force.

I see a lot of value in many of the ideas contained in the Bible. It is not because they are unique but because they are common heritage of human beings. The Bible is a work of authority to myriads of people and can serve as the structure on which to build.

I don't think the Gospel message and goals are any greater than the Hindu or Moslem. It's just that a huge segment of the world accepts the authority of the Gospel even though they don't understand or follow its implications and principles. Many are fundamentalists who mouth the words pietistically, bow their heads ceremoniously, shout Amen and then live as they "dam-well please." Others are reared in ritualist tradition as in the Catholic Church. If certain rituals are followed a heavenly reward is automatic.

I propose the basic message of the Gospel is personal responsibility expressed in continual growth as a better person. This responsibility is to be expressed in all circumstances of daily life.

I really enjoy the study of sheep herding and sheep dogs and the shepherd. When I was working on the meaning of shepherd in the Biblical literatures years ago, I read a lot about this phase of sheep herding. The Palestinian picture, of course, had none of the finesse of these sheepdogs (on TV). Their flocks were usually about 30 sheep maximum. A teenage boy took care of them most of the time. They were more like individual pets than herd animals.

The Joseph story in Genesis was the first break through in the re-interpretation of the Biblical story. Dibelius proposed that this whole story was a separate account written by the Priestly editors in the post-exilic period. It was all hindsight interpretation written in story form. The stories were fables to make a point: The disintegration of the kingdom was due to a basic inability to work together as found in all the tribal groups of the middle east.

I have been working on this "Gospel" notion over the past couple of months. First, I keep mulling over the term itself. "I have good news (gospel) for you!" This was a term started by an educated teacher among the Jews, Isaiah III, about the 3rd century B.C. It was chosen clearly as a reaction to the Greek Wisdom of the pagan world. Luke, a non-Jew, brought it over into the Christian perspective. So the aspect of "good news" is always there.

Then each collection of stories and sayings develops one key aspect of the news. The Petrine (Mark) message stresses the vitality & dynamism of the story. The Pauline (Luke) points constantly to the justice or "wholeness" of the story. The Matthean picture is the orderliness of this Kingship. The Joanine picture brings every detail down to the effectiveness of true Love.

Bultmann & Dibelius introduced the necessity of knowing "literary forms" in order to get the literal meaning of scripture. The Biblical writings expressed the realities of their time, place and people. They can be understood accurately only if the cultural background of the writers is understood.

In the first few generations, there was no problem. The writings were in their culture. Then the Roman mentality took over and the theologians began to impose their ideas into the foreign culture. The "good news" was emasculated and the dogmatic structure was born. This gave rise to the hierarchy and the vitality of the gospel message was buried in terms and laws.

The Article on the (Dead Sea) Scrolls was of interest. Skehan, Arbez and Hartman were saying in 1947 that it would be years before the scrolls were available to all scholars. They pushed for copies and we had the copies of the Isaiah scroll and the Battle between the Children of Light & Darkness already in 1948.

The article suggested the possible influence of the "Essene" group on Christian communities. It was well-established that there was a close tie-up between this group and the Joanine communities. The literary use of Light & Darkness in the Joanine writings would show this. The tradition about John as the favored disciple and his being put in charge of the women and Mary also point in this direction.

I can still hear Skehan telling about the scrolls. He stressed how many of the pieces were too small to be read with the naked eye, how little they were, and how much patience it took to fit two pieces together without forcing them.

I see Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) has spoken for the Vatican again. They (teachers) are not to veer a smidgeon from the straight and narrow. This certainly fits the picture of the man who held forth in his pompous asininity years ago at Marquette (university). He (Ratzinger) proceeded to lambast and belittle American scholarship and orthodoxy. His audience went from full house to a dribble. They didn't even have the proposed dinner.

The Gospel message is simple, universal, totally human, and leads to true cooperation if understood and taught.

As I read the article on M.J. Lagrange and Alfred Loisy, I got a lot of perverse delight. Both men attacked the same teachings of the Church and theologians. Loisy was condemned and kicked out as a Modernist. M.J.L. built up the credibility of the L'Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem, got control of all the archeological studies of the Biblical Lands, established the Revue Biblique as the only Catholic scholar's Biblical magazine and established the only Biblical doctoral program.

I'm sure I read everything M.J. ever wrote. The Revue Biblique started in 1920. We had every issue in Oc-oc. As a student I started at the beginning and read up to 1948. I translated many of the articles for other students and made notes on almost everything M.J. said. I used some of his ideas for my presentation in Fundamental Theology in the seminary.

M.J. taught openly that there is no biblical basis for papal infallibility — even though it was defined in 1870.

The short title to each Biblical pericope is the key. I thought of one for the Parable of the Sower. It would be "A Bumper Crop — Each Year of Your Life." The Prodigal Son could be "I Want to Go Home!" Moses with Israelites at the rock in the desert — "I Don't Believe It!" Noah hurrying the animals along — "Move Along — This Won't Let Up for Days!"

There is a basic message on human values in the Biblical story. It was conceived and written by ordinary people. It was intended for common people to establish peace, harmony, happiness and productivity.

I finished writing on the Prodigal Son and the Parable of the Sower. They sound "good" but there is a certain "zing" that is missing. I puzzled over both pericopes and tried various re-hashings but I am still not satisfied. I ran paper copies of both and read them from the paper. Now, I'll move on to other titles and come back to these later.

I don't want the commentary to read like a homily or sermon. I don't want it to sound "preachy." I want it to have the zest of good news. When a person brings "news," the listeners are automatically fired up and want to listen. If it's "news," they talk about it and hand it on to others.

I finished 7 of the 8 parables in Matthew 13 yesterday. This chapter is one of the most important in Matthew's presentation. It is the easiest to understand but many false ascetical ideas have been drawn from these 8 parables over the centuries.

I have the biblical stories (commentaries) from Genesis complete. I wrote them in 3 sections. The first creation story is called "The Right of Eminent Domain." The second creation story is entitled, "Happiness is a Reward, Not a Gift!" Finally, the "The Joseph Saga."

The stories are refined to a good format but I have not added the final touch to any of them. I want each story to stand independently.

I have handled the Bible-Science controversy to my satisfaction. The Bible stories, following the Semitic mentality, always ask the question "Why do things happen?" They are not concerned with "how." Science is concerned with "how." There is no conflict between the two accounts. Bible and Science complement each other.

You mentioned you wanted the abandonment of Christ included in my commentary on his life. There is certainly enough evidence for it in the Gospel stories. First of all, he never was accepted by the "powers" in Jerusalem. He was a common laborer from an obscure village in Galilee. He had never attended any of their schools. So he was on the "s___ lists" of those who claimed authority.

He challenged the leading parties of the day: Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees he told off publicly in the excoriating list of "Woes." The Sadducees he drove out of the temple with a whip & dumped their money table on the floor.

His apostles — Judas, his treasurer, sold him out for the price of a slave. Peter, his leader, told everyone he had never heard of him. The other ten took off and ran. John, the teenager, came back on Calvary. At the foot of the cross were his mother, Magdalen and a teenager. On the Sunday before, the crowds couldn't shout their approval loud enough. On Friday, the same crowds couldn't cry their hatred loud enough. Many of them were the same crowd he fed in the desert. They were the sick he cured, the blind he gave sight.

Yes, he was abandoned and destroyed physically. But his message won out for a few years. Some of the people came back and followed his ideas and ideals for awhile. Then, at the instigation of the same Jewish leaders, Rome started a new persecution. In 313, with the Edit of Milan, the persecutions were over for a few years until the structure of the church took over.

I really enjoyed the Fiddler on the Roof as a story filled with deep feeling. Some of the scenes really get to me even though I have seen them repeatedly. Part of the appeal of the story is that it is so true to the development of the Jewish mentality from the very start in Egypt. When they are being persecuted they pulled together and salvaged a life from the wreckage. When they are at peace with the world, they cut each other. They have an intense family loyalty and yet they can sever all ties and never relent.

You asked, last night, what is the Christian message. The origin of the ideals is in the Gospels and New Testament. However, they were written for the first century and early second century. They were to be adapted to the life and culture of each place. But the militaristic regimen of the Roman Empire was adopted by the Church in an absolute way with the Council of Nicea in 326 A.D. The Apostles Creed was substituted for the Gospels, and Canon Law took over. The structure of the church was like a dome that sealed in and imprisoned the dynamism of the Gospel.