July 5, 1999
Yesterday I was going through Matthew again. I really appreciate him and his work more each time. I see him as a young man 22-23 years old. He took the job as tax collector for the Romans even though he knew it meant he was an outcast from his people and only a tool in the eyes of the Romans. At least he made money and could irk the Scribes and Pharisees.
Then Jesus came along and Matthew found a person he could respect and follow. Matthew spells out in several ways the part of the message he liked best. Life was a matter of sharing with each other according to the abilities and needs of all the people around you. He put the formula in explicit words three different times. His fullest picture is the judgment scene at the end. A person is identified and rewarded according to his sharing in this life. Such sharing, sincerely practiced, would remove all societal ills.
July 7, 1999
Yesterday I spent my writing time on Mark. His is the shortest and almost all is contained in the other gospels. However, it is Peter’s approach and that is important.
July 13, 1999
The question about the attitude of the Christians toward the Jews is really on the front burner. A few months ago, an article appeared saying that the term “Jews” is spoke with dislike and even hatred in the New Testament. Then the author quoted John and applied the same notion to Luke, Matthew and Paul.
There is no doubt that “Jews” in John’s Gospel are strongly disliked. However, the author makes it very clear the “Jews” is a term that refers to the leaders only, the Sadducees, Pharisees and Scribes.
All the other first Christians were themselves Jews. Paul clearly was a Jew but he had a strong dislike for the ones he met after his conversion during his missionary career. As a rabbi, he was invited to speak. When he began to speak of Jesus as the Messiah, he was literally thrown out of the synagogues and stones a few times.
Matthew’s whole Gospel is an attempt to show how the kingdom of God is the fulfillment of the whole Jewish picture. Luke stresses the universality of the goal of Christ.
July 15, 1999
I hope to get some work done on Luke today. Luke is really a fascinating person as a M.D. and non-Jew, a companion of Paul and a person who always goes to the sources. There is no doubt that he talked at length with Mary, Jesus’ mother, because he tells us how she reacted internally to events.
July 21, 1999
I listened to all the to-do on public radio about the homosexuals and adultery. The priest from Rome and the priest from Marquette and the one Bishop (discussants on the program) were tossing around some Bible texts. The Israelites had learned lots of forbidden ways in Egypt and brought them with them to their homelands. Homosexuality was mentioned and forbidden in a couple of places.
However, the big concern in the New Testament was “porneia” in the marriage. This Greek word meant any kind of “selfishness” that threatened the marriage. This was sufficient grounds for divorce and re-marriage.
July 22, 1999
I looked up the topic of “Homosexuality” in the Jerome Commentary this morning. In the letter to the Romans, Paul is talking of the fertility cults as they were practiced at that time, 57 A.D. He condemned the practice and told the Christians to stay out of it. His primary concern was participation in fertility worship of the pagan gods.
The Roman leaders had control of these men and women who were people from nations conquered in the wars. Anyone could come to the temple and “rent” a man or woman. The money went to the Roman leaders. Actually, they were running brothels in the name of their gods and religions.
The Old Testament story begins with the people of Sodom and Gomorra. Lot and his family had settled there by choice to be in on the “city life.” Abraham had gone north. The people of Sodom wanted the men for their cultic practices. Abraham heard of the problem, delivered Lot, and Sodom and Gomorra were destroyed. Again the practice was part of a religion.
Nothing is said explicitly of the immorality or morality of “homosexuality or lesbianism” apart from worship of false gods.
July 24, 1999
Each time I look at Matthew I see a better way to express an idea or I see a new aspect of what Matthew is saying.
The one thing that has come out of all this writing is how “real” Christ and the apostles are to me. I feel as if I am walking along with them and can call them all by first names. I have removed all the sham and fakery imposed by theologians and church authority over the centuries.
August 6, 1999
I did a lot of thinking about the real message of Christ and the Gospels. We clearly have a simple message. The first Christians understood it thoroughly and summed it up in the Apostle’s Creed. There was to be a “gathering” or “nucleus” of the followers of Christ. This was to be “holy” and spread everywhere. The followers were to be noted “solely” for the way in which they cooperated with and helped each other and any who needed help.
That is the sum total of what Christ had in mind. When they got together for the “cup of friendship” it was to recall Christ and his ideals rather than the Passover Lamb. The “elders” in each group would be in charge as was the custom.
Paul joined and immediately started to try to “boss the show.” So he was invited to go on the “foreign missions.” Luke tried his beat to soften the harshness of Paul but succeeded only partially. Unfortunately, when the persecutions stopped, the church structure followed the ideas of Paul.
August 7-8, 1999
We just talked of what Jesus expected of his followers. He laid down a few ground rules for his basic ideas and ideals. In St. John, he sums everything up in the service of each other. Then he shows by his example how this could be done. Luke and Matthew spell out the same idea of sharing, a bit more in details.
The main point, as the first followers saw the message, was to avoid static, crushing structure. This had killed Judaism through the governance of the Sadducees, Pharisees and Scribes. They had all their sacred little practices and Jesus condemned these openly and totally.
August 16, 1999
I really don’t care who is Pope. It would take a person like Christ himself to make any real changes in the structure today. The church, as it is today, is the very thing Christ condemned so roundly in his public life. The only man since the Council of Trent in 1563, who even saw the problem was Pope John XXIII. He began a true renewal. He died. In a few months the only thing left was the word “aggiornamento.”
Right now, the only thing that is going to make a mark is a real updating of the message of Christ which means an overthrow of 17 centuries of legalism and ritualism. The USA could have the most influence because American money supports the Vatican. However, the Council of Bishops in this country is as backward as the Code of Canon Law of 1918.
August 19, 1999
Where is heaven? We know from the gospels that the body of a person is the same so that it is easily recognized. Yet it has characteristics that are totally new. There will be no more pain or suffering.
I think the final stage of heaven will be a new earth from which all the ills, problems, and disasters will be removed. It will be the final “Garden of Paradise” as intended from the beginning. The life here on earth is the preparation fot his happiness. That the Bible picture and I like it.
