Morality in Bible stories that you don't understand

[Swammerdami]

The fig tree story is what motivated me to research the Bible...for hidden meaning...I still have a lot of questions...
What is happening in Israel now might be related to this little story after all...

Bishop Spong discusses the fig tree in some of his books. (He wrote more than a dozen; I've read only one.)

In the synoptic Gospels the triumphant Palm Sunday occurs one week before the Crucifixion. Spong thinks this chronology is wrong, and that the triumphant Palm Sunday coincided with the Feast of Tabernacles in autumn, not in spring. (Sayings cited in the relevant Gospel accounts are associated with the Feast of Tabernacles.) In particular he places the triumphant Palm Sunday several months AFTER the Crucifixion: It is the triumph of the Resurrection which is being celebrated. Simon Peter et al mourned Jesus for some months, then returned to Jerusalem in triumph when they discovered the Resurrection.

(Note that John's Gospel (2:13ff) places the rampage in the Temple immediately after the wedding with wine, early in the ministry rather than a week before the Crucifixion. This further suggests that Mark's chronology is distorted.)

I don't understand what Spong thinks of the fig tree (and he doesn't mention "nodules" as the YouTube does), except that figs WERE in season in the revised Palm Sunday chronology. (But is "not in season" a cryptic clue to the correct chronology? Unlikely?)

 

[excreationist]

(But BTW I've never really understood the "Shame of Nakedness", e.g. the story of Ham and Noah. I avoid displaying my own member, but that's for conformity and because it seems pathetic in its non-erect state.)

When I was in primary school I avoided camps for a while because I heard that sometimes other people could see you having showers. When I had my first manic episode I still had strong inhibitions about being seen in the nude. Later when I was at some markets I was alone with a daughter of my friend's girlfriend. She was maybe 3 and didn't mind being nude. I told her off and she learnt the shame of nakedness.

 

[DrZoidberg]

The fig tree story is what motivated me to research the Bible...for hidden meaning...I still have a lot of questions...
What is happening in Israel now might be related to this little story after all...

Bishop Spong discusses the fig tree in some of his books. (He wrote more than a dozen; I've read only one.)

In the synoptic Gospels the triumphant Palm Sunday occurs one week before the Crucifixion. Spong thinks this chronology is wrong, and that the triumphant Palm Sunday coincided with the Feast of Tabernacles in autumn, not in spring. (Sayings cited in the relevant Gospel accounts are associated with the Feast of Tabernacles.) In particular he places the triumphant Palm Sunday several months AFTER the Crucifixion: It is the triumph of the Resurrection which is being celebrated. Simon Peter et al mourned Jesus for some months, then returned to Jerusalem in triumph when they discovered the Resurrection.

(Note that John's Gospel (2:13ff) places the rampage in the Temple immediately after the wedding with wine, early in the ministry rather than a week before the Crucifixion. This further suggests that Mark's chronology is distorted.)

I don't understand what Spong thinks of the fig tree (and he doesn't mention "nodules" as the YouTube does), except that figs WERE in season in the revised Palm Sunday chronology. (But is "not in season" a cryptic clue to the correct chronology? Unlikely?)

deleted

 

[Thomas II]

 

[Jarhyn]

The one thing Jesus had to say about anything culturally analogous to gender transition was Matthew 19:12, in which he said "eunuchs are a thing, let eunuchs be as they are, maybe consider becoming one yourself."

Jesus preached love for the refugee, acceptance of the foreigner, generosity to the poor, forgiveness of debt, treating sex workers like everyone else, and acceptance of the gender-nonconforming.

The modern churches of the US teach hate for the refugee, rejection of the foreigner, enforcement of inescapable debt, 'bootstraps logic', treating sex workers as criminals, rejection of gender-nonconforming persons.

The modern church is as much a church as the DPRK is a democracy for the people.

 

[BH]

The Law of Moses actually mandated a primitive welfare state, safety net for the poor. You had the right to glean fields when hungry, you could not put your livelyhood up for collateral for a loan, and debts were canceled every 7th year. If you could not pay your debts you could be locked out of your home during the day but had to be allowed back in at night. It really is sad that ancient people saw the wisdom in such things (even other ancient near east societies had similar laws) but we moderns are so smart we have become so dumb.

 

[Thomas II]

 

[ideologyhunter]

A 600-year-old man with a pronounced alcohol problem. Just who you want for your skipper. "Hold my beer, Shem." (Do Sunday school kids who hear this story get to hear about Noah's supposed age? Makes you wonder. Get 'em when they're young and can be taught nonsense.)

 

[Thomas II]

 

[ideologyhunter]

The sign makers missed a real stinker in I Corinthians:
"...any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head...For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man."
(I Cor. 11:5-8)
Has anyone told Joyce Meyer or Anne Graham Lotz??

 

[DBT]

If it hadn't already been posted.

Ephesians 5:22-33 - "Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head and Savior of the church, which is His body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

 

[Swammerdami]

If it hadn't already been posted.

Ephesians 5:22-33 - "Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head and Savior of the church, which is His body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

Is this the "Guess that Movie or TV Line" thread? I'll guess it was spoken by the Jon Hamm character (Sheriff Roy Tillman) in Fargo Season 5.

I'll wait for confirmation from DBT before posting my own challenge.

 

[DBT]

Apparently it's the Word of God Himself....so some say.

 

[excreationist]

If it hadn't already been posted.

Ephesians 5:22-33 - "Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head and Savior of the church, which is His body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

A similar part in Ephesians:

Ephesians 6:5-9
5 Slaves, obey your masters here on earth. Respect them and honor them with a heart that is true. Obey them just as you would obey Christ. 6 Don’t obey them only to please them when they are watching. Do it because you are slaves of Christ. Be sure your heart does what God wants. 7 Serve your masters with all your heart. Work as serving the Lord and not as serving people. 8 You know that the Lord will give each person a reward. He will give it to them in keeping with the good they do. It doesn’t matter whether they are a slave or not.

9 Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. When you warn them, don’t be too hard on them. You know that the God who is their Master and yours is in heaven. And he treats everyone the same.

God, speaking through Paul, is nice in verse 9.