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(Phil had bypass heart surgery in Jan. 2000. Rehab sessions followed. He also accompanied Lois to do workshops in Nebraska and Wisconsin and Iowa. So there are fewer entries in the journals, and entries often spanned several days. )

April 1, 2000
I continued the work on the Psalms yesterday. I like the introductory work I have written. Now I am developing a title, short summary, 1 or 2 verse quote, and listing of psalms related to each other by style or content.

As I said last night, it is too bad we cannot get a copy of St. Jerome’s original (translation) work. It is in the Vatican Library and can be read with the Swiss Guards standing by. Lyonnet (professor at Biblical Institute) talked about it several times and Bea (professor at Biblical Institute) insisted we all had to go over and look at it. I read it on several occasions. I memorized a few of the phrases but forgot them later. You were not allowed to have pen or paper with you to copy anything down. The Swiss Guard would say “no-no” and if the person persisted he would simply take the paper, tear it up and send the person away. The rule of the Swiss Guard was absolute.

David is given credit for the whole collection of Psalms because he was noted for his songs.

April 12-14, 2000
Matthew’s presentation of the Ten Commandments is clearly a contrast between the Old and New. “You heard it said of old... Now I’m telling you.” John says explicitly there is only one commandment, “Love expressed in service and sharing.” Luke stresses the one notion “Koinonia” (sharing) or “community” in the sense of freely willing to share with others. Now, of course, the one command has been raised to 2414 (commands) in the Code of Canon Law.

April 21, 2000
Jesus was a Jew from Galilee. At age 12, he realized how far off base the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees were in their teachings. At age 30, he began to talk publicly about this and immediately roused the anger of Pharisees because he was just an uneducated man from Nazareth. The people flocked to him because they saw him as opposed to authority and the man who could give them their hoped-for dominion again. The Romans were alerted of a possible rabble-rouser who could cause trouble.

Jesus left the crowds and went on his own on several occasions. Finally, he decided he had to back his word by being willing to die for it. He had already picked and trained the men to carry on, the 12 apostles.

April 25-30, 2000
The Bible writers didn’t have the slightest idea HOW the world was made. They were interested only in WHY. Everything that is, is to manifest the Fatherhood of God in the brotherhood of man. The more scientific marvels that are discovered, the greater the smile of Yahweh. He tells mankind to go out and control and use the world. With each new discovery his wisdom and power are seen as greater.

May 12, 2000
I read through a portion of Matthew this morning. The more I read this gospel, the more I see how Matthew spells out the remedy for all the ills in the world today. He describes the “kingship” from every aspect and how necessary it is if the world is to arrive at its “synteleia.” This means that everyone and everything are to work in harmony and achieve their purpose. Each person is to establish his/her identity in this Kingship. This power comes from sharing with each other. There is no new structure but the society around is given new life.

June 11, 2000
As I sat in my chair this morning, I was thinking about Paul, Luke, Mark and the first Christians. I had been reading my writing on Acts and Paul, yesterday. Paul comes off, as always, a real pain in the lower parts. He was a rabid persecutor of the Christians. Then he saw a chance to get in on the ground floor of this new “Jewish” group. So he proclaimed his “great vision” and converted. In short order, he was detestable to the Christians in Jerusalem so they sent him on the foreign missions. Only a man like Luke could have tolerated him. Paul is proof that from the very beginning they had domineering leaders who missed the whole message of Christ.

June 12, 2000
You (Lois) mentioned again that you thought I would continue my lectures on the Bible after we were married. I knew that was impossible

I have truly enjoyed and feel fulfilled in the career I’ve had. I learned how to work in elementary school under your tutelage and was in my 12th year when we moved to New Sharon (Iowa). I had a good stint at Chapter One (remedial reading and math at elementary and middle school) and worked with all kindergarten daily (reading to all kindergarten students and listening to the advanced readers read). Then I ended on the top note at Upper Iowa U (Upper Iowa U, Des Moines campus. Phil taught: Intro to Christian Religion, Business Ethics, Spanish I & II, Intro to Philosophy) for five years. Now I have all that I taught written and continue with new topics.

June 16-17, 2000
We talked about the value of the Bible. The Old Testament was the Word of God for the Israelites from Moses to Wisdom. In general, the people of Israel and their leaders failed miserably in following the ideas and ideals. The prophets and wise men rose up regularly and led a few on to the right track again.

Jesus comes. He and John Baptist see the miserable state of matters and decide to do something about it. The leaders of the Jews were the Sadducees, the priestly group. They kept the ritual of the sacrifice. The Pharisees were a group of insincere fanatics who were backed by the Scribes, the legal scholars.

Jesus condemned the Scribes and Pharisees by name. The Sadducees he condemned when he cleaned the trash out of the temple. The first Christians had no specific set of laws or rules. They lived a community life and shared voluntarily with each other. Their first creed was the Apostles Creed as we learned it. The gospel stories gradually grew out of what different groups remembered. Gradually, four of these writings took precedence and in 1563, the Council of Trent declared that from historical evidence these four (gospels) were the accounts all accepted.

They are to be read and adapted to each age.

June 18-20, 2000
The oldest document outside the Gospels is the “Didache ton Apostolon” the “Teaching of the Apostles.” The creed we all learned as kids is the “Apostles Creed.” This says “I believe in the holy, universal church.” There is nothing about “one” church. The only quality demanded is that it be “holy” and spread everywhere.

The “Eucharist” was the big act from the beginning. Jesus and the twelve apostles sat down to the Passover Meal. The Friendship Cup at the end was given a new meaning. Instead of recalling the Pascal Lamb, this cup would now recall Jesus and his ideas and ideals expressed in the lives of the Christians. According to Acts and the Pauline Letters, they had the cup of friendship at any big meal.

That’s the simple picture but it was “messed up” by theologians, bishops and ritualists.

June 26-27, 2000
ABC news did the “harmony” approach to the gospels and this destroys the value of the individual gospel. Each gospel is a separate work proceeding from a particular man and community. Each has a particular theme that is being developed. To take items from the different gospels and run them together usually changes the meaning. It is the same as taking four masterpieces of four different artists, jamming them together, and trying to understand them. We have destroyed all four paintings.

The gospels are word pictures. When you try a harmony of the gospels, the pictures are destroyed. As to the resurrection, I see no problem. In the Christian ideal, each of us is going to rise a full person when the world is complete. We will be the person we made during our life in this world. Jesus could easily have been raised from the dead, the fully developed person he became, in order to encourage his followers.

July 1 & 2, 2000
I worked on Matthew, yesterday, reviewing and enjoying the full idea of “kingdom” or “kingship” as he presents it. Matthew was the bookkeeper and this shows all through his gospel. He gives a list of events. Then he shows how these fulfill what the OT writers and preachers talked about. He never gets excited but just puts two and two together as he did his tax work.

Each time I go through the gospels I marvel more at their variety or differences. I like to compare the events when this is possible but never push them into a “harmony.” This has been done for centuries to try to drag some dogma out of the text.

July 15-16, 2000
I read more of (Gospel of) John this morning. He really stirs my blood. He lived through the first century of Christian life. He saw the strength of those first generations. He never lost his “thunder” as can be seen in his approach to the Romans in the Apocalypse. He was just as unbending as the Romans. Yet he could present true Christian love that was to change the world.

July 17-18, 2000
I finished the works (gospel and letters) of John yesterday and really enjoyed them. Of all the apostles he was certainly the one who had the most influence on the first Christians because he lived so long with them. He was a prophet who developed a picture of the world if the ideas and ideals of Christ were followed. He also was a prophet who looked ahead and talked of what the future would bring. As I said yesterday, John is my favorite writer because I see him in the Trastavere section of Rome where the first Christians lived. I can see him in the old Roman Forum that has been completely uncovered. I can see him at the Coliseum where the first martyrs were used for the amusement of the Romans.

July 23-24, 2000
Matthew gives a developed picture of the Kingdom of the Heavens. He develops the seven basic sources of happiness in the lives of all people. Then he places the whole judgment scene at the end of each person’s life in these ideas. Everything depends on how well you worked with other people and got along with them.

Luke is gentle. He was able to be converted by Paul, live and work with Paul in all those years and edited Paul’s writings and yet not tell him off or lose his patience.

John never lost his “thunder.“ He saw the greatness of Mary in the whole picture.

August 16, 2000
I’ll work (write) on Proverbs for awhile this morning and then go on to Sirach. Proverbs were collected in bits and pieces over the centuries and finally edited into the present form about 400 BC. I really enjoy reading and seeing the wisdom of the ages.

August 27, 2000
I started through my series of articles on the Eucharist. I followed the chronological order of the writings - Paul (least developed) - Mark (Peter’s teaching), Luke, Matthew and John. The original statement in the gospels is very clear. Christ and the apostles had just finished the Passover meal of the Old Law. Then Christ said, “That’s it! From now on, eat this meal in honor of me and my death.” That meant the meal would be eaten once a year on the day of Passover. Then he sealed it with a friendship cup of wine and a small piece of bread dipped in the cup and eaten. Paul made the first changes. His groups had a basket or pot-luck supper each Sabbath. The problem (in his groups) was gluttony of food and drink by a lot of people who saw it as a free meal.

Gradually, after 325 AD, the present form developed. The only relevant action, today, is the parish pot-luck on various occasions.

August 28, 2000
I was going through my writings on “Who is Jesus Christ?” The part that really holds my attention is the statement that Jesus Christ was able to achieve so much because he was perfectly obedient to the Father. This would presuppose that he is totally human and that’s it. When he was presented as “a divine nature,” this made obedience ridiculous. He is able to obey because he is truly and only human.

Martin Luther talked about this in the 16th century. He was shouted down by the Council of Trent and the “mystery” of two natures in one person came to the fore. Perhaps, we’ll get to the true message of the gospels soon.

September 13, 2000
I read through the four major prophets. They are certainly four completely different characters. The original Isaiah was a very well-educated man. He is proficient in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek and uses all three. He is a master of imagery. Then Isaiah II, chapters 40-55, was attached to the original. The Northern Kingdom had been destroyed for two centuries and the southern kingdom has crumbled. His work is more a work of consolation, urging to turn back to Yahweh, and a look to the future where a Redeemer would come. Chapters 56-66 were attached to the scroll later and represent three or four different men.

Jeremiah has, perhaps, the toughest task in the OT. He is a very kind, tenderhearted person and an excellent preacher. He begins his work about 597 BC, ten years before Jerusalem is erased. He urges the people to repent and obey before it is too late. They make fun of him, beat him up, and imprison him. The Lamentations are some of the most beautiful poetry of the OT.

September 18-19, 2000
The more I read and think about mistakes in the past, the more I think the greatest are: First, they developed the notion of a Trinity - not three gods but three persons in one God. Then they put two natures in one person and called him the Messiah. (They put) the Holy Spirit into a divine person instead of the spirit of sharing and community to be found in the people who lived the ideas and ideals. Then, to top this all off, they took a simple meal of a group of people and developed the transubstantiation. Finally, in 1870, the Pope declared himself infallible because he was infallible and therefore he could make no mistakes.

Then I go back to the leaders of the Jews in the time of Christ. I read Christ’s scathing condemnation of the Scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. If Jesus were to appear in person, today, he would blast out with the same list of “Woes” against the leaders of the Church.

Christian life and ideals are so simple. Everything is concerned with how we respect, help and share with those around us.

September 20, 2000
We were talking about the Eucharist last night. Prior to 313 AD and the Edict of Milan, the Eucharist was just a family meal with the special Cup of Friendship at the end. Then the church came out in the open (after persecutions) and within a century the present day hierarchical structure was in place. Laws and rubrics were developed for everything. Finally, in 1918, all the laws and rules were codified in the Code of Canon Law with 2414 laws.

Then the commentaries (on the Code of Canon Law) came into being to account for all the exceptions and loopholes (of the 2414 laws). We studied Canon Law for 2.5 years out of 6 years in Oconomowoc. Beste (author) wrote the commentary. It was a huge volume of over 850 pages. I found the course the most boring class in all my years of study.

September 22-23, 2000
It really bothers me when I see how simple the idea of a Church is in the gospel. The people were to be a part of the society in which they lived but recognized by the way in which they shared with others and helped others in their need.

The leaders in the Church were to be the “Foundation” on which people built, not a “Roof” which held them down.

Sept 16, 2000
I have written a commentary on all the books of the Bible. The NT works are thorough. The OT works do not give the commentary in as much in detail as the NT. This is due to the basic difference between OT and NT. As I said before, I had the pleasure of teaching my ideas to many and varied audiences. I was well-received. I have the ideas on disks (computer disks).

September 30, 2000
I’ll work on the commentary today. I’ll start with John’s work and then go to Paul. That’s backwards, of course. Paul’s are the earliest ideas and John’s are the latest.

Oct 4-5, 2000
I’ll work upstairs this morning. (Phil’s computer station and major reference library was upstairs). Yesterday, I read through the Creation Story, the Noah Story, the Patriarch Story, the Joseph Story, the Moses Story and the David Story. It really flows nicely and does just what it says. It presents the “story” picture of the world as the people of Israel saw and developed it.

It is true “Semitic history.” The writers and editors were interested foremost in “why” things happened. They present, combine and develop facts for the answer to this question. They write, think and talk the same way today. This creates part of the problem for interchange between the Semite and the West. We don’t think this way.

October 6-7, 2000
I read through the rest of my work (commentary) on the Prophets and then Wisdom literature. It is complete and easily understood. It is the Jewish-Christian picture of the world and people in the Bible.

Women are given their full and true worth in all the writings except Paul. He clearly looks on women as second-class people. The Roman Church clearly followed the lead of Paul in this matter. The very fact that all orders of nuns must have a cardinal-protector to speak and act for them is just one example.

October 10, 2000
Yesterday, I read the Moses Story from beginning to end. I really like the character that is presented in the Biblical picture. He should have been slaughtered as a baby but his mother and sister cleverly saved him. Pharaoh's daughter let him stay with his mother and family until he was able to be on his own. He received a full background as member of the Chosen people.

Then he goes over to the princess in Egypt and grows up there. This is the Hyksos period when the non-Egyptians were in power. The Egyptians get their country back and the Israelites are enslaved. Moses visits his people and kills an Egyptian who is mistreating an Israelite. The next day, he tried to intervene in a spat between two Israelites. They let him know that his killing of the Egyptian is common knowledge.

Moses takes off for the desert. He defends the girls at the well and is invited into the home. He marries one of the girls and takes care of his father-in-law’s flocks. This prepared him for his future leadership.

Moses tries to get out of the job as liberator but is told to get moving. He has a very rough trip through the desert. But he does not actually enter the Promised Land. He sees it from the east side of the Jordan and died.

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