As a counterpoint to passages that homophobes use to justify the claim that “the Bible condemns h... more As a counterpoint to passages that homophobes use to justify the claim that “the Bible condemns homosexuality,” this episode examines passages in which readers have found positive homosexual, or at least non-heteronormative images. These include potentially homoerotic passages (Jacob wrestling an angel), acceptance of people in a gay relationship (the healing of the centurion’s servant), or even main characters in relationships that seemingly go beyond the bounds of friendship (Ruth and Naomi, David and Jonathan, Jesus and the Beloved Disciple). Of course, all of these readings reflect choices by the readers, and different choices are available.
The Synoptic Problem relates to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three texts are ver... more The Synoptic Problem relates to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three texts are very similar, which suggests someone copied off of someone. The problem is that the authors are long dead, so all we have are the gospels they left behind. This episode explores why scholars think one or more of the gospel writers plagiarized the others, and how scholars go about theorizing the writing history of the gospels. We end with segments on the most popular theories today: The Farrer Hypothesis, the Matthean Posteriority Hypothesis, and the Two-Document Hypothesis.
In this final episode on biblical passages that anti-gay Bible readers use to condemn LGBTQ peopl... more In this final episode on biblical passages that anti-gay Bible readers use to condemn LGBTQ people (see links to the previous three below), we look at Romans 1:26-27. It’s only two verses, but it is also the longest sustained comment on homosexuality in bibles. Even more importantly, it addresses two things that have gone ignored so far: desire and women. Does Paul condemn homosexual desire? Does he condemn lesbians? Does Romans compel Christians to condemn gay people? It depends on the interpretive choices you make.
Here I examine the choices readers make when interpreting the laws against male anal sex in Lev 1... more Here I examine the choices readers make when interpreting the laws against male anal sex in Lev 18:22 and 20:13 as condemnations of homosexuality in general. These include: - taking a specific sex act as a symbol for a whole sexual orientation, when they do not take prohibitions of heteroerotic sex acts as symbols of heterosexuality (so that heterosexuality would be condemned) - thinking a law very narrowly pointed at men has anything to do with lesbians, reflecting our modern paradigm more than ancient sexual ethics - and for Christian readers, cherrypicking these two laws while ignoring many of the rest because they happen to agree with them.
The story of the destruction of Sodom only has anything to do with homosexuality with considerabl... more The story of the destruction of Sodom only has anything to do with homosexuality with considerable work from the reader. Here I break down the many choices a reader has to make to get what they want: a story where God kills gay people. These include: - ignoring the many other biblical passages pointing to other issues, like mistreatment of the poor or of foreigners; - ignoring that the crime is sexual assault, not asking Lot's guests out for a date; - ignoring that the "men" aren't men but angels; and more. The video is part of a larger project seeking to emphasize the responsibility readers of the Bible have for their own readings due to the many choices they have to make -- including simply following other people's choices.
In his influential Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham claims that eyewitnesses to event... more In his influential Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham claims that eyewitnesses to events in Jesus' life minimized changes to Jesus sayings by establishing a culture of formal control in oral performance, a culture reflected in the gospels and Acts. This study tests Bauckham's hypothesis using verifiable internal quotations, cases where a single text narrates the original speech act and its later direct quotation by the speaker or by another character. Most quotations modify the original statement, and eyewitnesses paraphrase roughly as often as others. Whatever the historical character of the eyewitnesses actually was, they are not portrayed as the careful reciters of Jesus' words that Bauckham's model requires.
In this book, I examine three aspects of the many cases where John has characters quote themselve... more In this book, I examine three aspects of the many cases where John has characters quote themselves and others directly. First, the quotations are rarely exact, even when made by Jesus or the narrator. So, I examine them in light of first-century paraphrase exercises as the author would have learned under a grammarian, as well as in light of paraphrastic quotations in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. John does not paraphrase carelessly, but in order to communicate more about the understandings and intentions of the character who quotes. Second, I examine what the act of quoting so many times says about the characters and about the text. Such frequent direct quotations frame the Fourth Gospel as a trial narrative, where testimony is quoted and re-quoted as it is cross-examined by Jesus and the narrator on the one hand, and “the Jews” on the other (Pharisees never quote, and the crowd quotes only once). Third, many of the quoted phrases have parallels in Synoptic and other early Christian literature, suggesting that John may have used direct quotation as a way of incorporating and adapting traditional material. I end with a case study of the sayings regarding Jesus’s arrival and departure, showing that John uses quotation to expose misunderstandings but also to adopt a larger range of meanings that includes Jesus’s departure in death and in ascent to the Father, and his arrival in resurrection, in the Spirit, and finally in the eschaton.
The argument from order for the two-document hypothesis is central to the claim that Q is a unifi... more The argument from order for the two-document hypothesis is central to the claim that Q is a unified document rather than a collection of shorter documents or shared oral tradition. Once double tradition material is extracted from Matthew and Luke and paired, the argument becomes essentially mathematical. Previous attempts at measuring the degree of agreement have rarely included detailed methodological discussions. Hence these measurements derive from loosely defined or implied methodologies influenced by subjective choices of the scholar, making it impossible to judge the relative probabilities of their results. This article proposes a new statistical metric borrowed from regression analysis, the coefficient of determination (r2). This metric is then applied to influential tables of double tradition material to determine the strength of their agreement. As will be demonstrated, these tables do not provide strong evidence of a unified document behind double tradition material based on order alone.
Although the angel Gabriel is viewed positively in three world religions, he has appeared as the ... more Although the angel Gabriel is viewed positively in three world religions, he has appeared as the villain in three Hollywood films over just a decade and a half: The Prophecy (1995), Constantine (2005), and Legion (2010). While these films draw on apocalyptic themes from the book of Daniel, they also play ironically on Gabriel’s other biblical appearance, the Annunciation of the virginal conception in Luke. All three films feature a Gabriel who attacks rather than protects women ‘‘impregnated’’ by a being of apocalyptic importance. The three movies can be shown to reflect various dimensions (and sides) of the contemporary American abortion debate, each casting Gabriel polemically in the image of misguided Christians (as they see it).
Towards the end of Paul's career, Acts narrates two riot scenes tied to the temples in Ephesus an... more Towards the end of Paul's career, Acts narrates two riot scenes tied to the temples in Ephesus and Jerusalem, forming a synkrisis between the two cities and their temples. The similarities between the two scenes argue for temples as places of danger for Christians while protecting the Christian community from perceptions of anti-cultic teaching. The endings, however, are very different. In the first case, the correct response to the church is presented in Ephesus where the riot ends in a quick and orderly manner. In the second case, the incorrect response is presented in Jerusalem where the disorder spreads to the local government, forcing the Roman military to intervene.
This reading of the recently discovered Hazon Gabriel (or Vision of Gabriel) argues that the apoc... more This reading of the recently discovered Hazon Gabriel (or Vision of Gabriel) argues that the apocalyptic text fills out the details of the prophet Nathan's vision in 2 Samuel 7, in which King David is forbidden from building the temple in Jerusalem, favoring his son Solomon instead. The apocalypse is aimed at King Herod, who, in contrast to David, destroyed then rebuilt the temple without God's permission.
This paper takes Edwin A Abbott's extensive work in biblical studies and his rejection of apocaly... more This paper takes Edwin A Abbott's extensive work in biblical studies and his rejection of apocalyptic literature / apocalypticism as the background of his pseudonymous novel, Flatland. In Flatland, Abbott constructs a geometrical apocalypse in which A Square fails as a visionary, epistemologically and morally, for the same reason that many in Abbott’s England failed to benefit from ancient apocalypses: he focuses too narrowly on the literal reality of the revelation, which he can neither reproduce nor adequately explain, instead of allowing it to help him become a more just, sympathetic, and loving person. Abbott writes Flatland as an apocalyptic, which is to say a symbolic, prophetic warning to his own England, which looks for salvation in miracles, Spiritualism, and the fulfillment of poorly understood predictions in the records of ancient apocalyptic visions, rather than question the social and gender inequalities of its day.
The interrogation of the man bom blind in John 9 is a well-crafted scene that nonetheless present... more The interrogation of the man bom blind in John 9 is a well-crafted scene that nonetheless presents several difficulties: the nature of the body interrogating him, whether official or unofficial, investigating or judging; the question of the apparent anachronism of an agreement to expel from the synagogue anyone who confesses Jesus to be the Christ (9:22); and the density of cognitive assertions that, unlike the rest of the Gospel where variatio is common, consistently use only one verb (οιδα). Reading John in light of contemporary trial records and literature may heighten our understanding of the nature of the scene. Since the declarative use of (ούκ) οιδα is a rhetorical trope used either to assert testimony or to avoid it altogether, John 9 can be read as a pre-trial hearing to assess the potential testimony of the blind man. The expulsion agreement, even in the story's context (late 20s c.e.) and for any in John's audience who had not experienced conflict with synagogues, may be read as an intimidation tactic to silence potential witnesses for the defense.
The Fourth Gospel portrays Jesus as having special knowledge of himself and his future, but also ... more The Fourth Gospel portrays Jesus as having special knowledge of himself and his future, but also of the people and events around him. While John's Jesus always has divine insight, he does not always share it. Jesus neither shares nor hides special knowledge haphazardly, but in service of two interrelated goals: sharing special knowledge persuades doubting characters in order to build a group of believers to receive the Spirit after his death. Jesus hides special knowledge in order to ensure a proper death at his hour. In this way, John explains how a character who exerts sovereign control throughout the Gospel is nevertheless betrayed and executed.
Mary Magdalene from the New Testament to the New Age and Beyond
As part of a larger reception history of Mary Magdalene (Mary Magdalene from the New Testament to... more As part of a larger reception history of Mary Magdalene (Mary Magdalene from the New Testament to the New Age and Beyond [TBN 24; ed. E. Lupieri; Leiden: Brill, 2019]), this chapter traces the humanist debate over whether Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the sinner in Luke 7 were one woman—as the Roman Catholic Church taught—or three separate women. In contrast to previous scholarship which has used the Three Magdalenes Debate to study one or more of the writers involved (or their groups), this study rather uses what we know of these writers to better understand what problems were posed by united and divided Magdalenes. The different positions depended less on whether the writer was a humanist or not, but rather on their pastoral versus monastic sensibilities: Writers who wished to create a chaste saint out of Mary of Bethany leaned toward separation, while writers with more pastoral experience preferred the traditional image of a Mary Magdalene rewarded for repenting. This division continued into the nascent Protestant Reformation, in which Martin Luther maintained the united Magdalene while John Calvin shifted toward a divided one.
As a counterpoint to passages that homophobes use to justify the claim that “the Bible condemns h... more As a counterpoint to passages that homophobes use to justify the claim that “the Bible condemns homosexuality,” this episode examines passages in which readers have found positive homosexual, or at least non-heteronormative images. These include potentially homoerotic passages (Jacob wrestling an angel), acceptance of people in a gay relationship (the healing of the centurion’s servant), or even main characters in relationships that seemingly go beyond the bounds of friendship (Ruth and Naomi, David and Jonathan, Jesus and the Beloved Disciple). Of course, all of these readings reflect choices by the readers, and different choices are available.
The Synoptic Problem relates to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three texts are ver... more The Synoptic Problem relates to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. These three texts are very similar, which suggests someone copied off of someone. The problem is that the authors are long dead, so all we have are the gospels they left behind. This episode explores why scholars think one or more of the gospel writers plagiarized the others, and how scholars go about theorizing the writing history of the gospels. We end with segments on the most popular theories today: The Farrer Hypothesis, the Matthean Posteriority Hypothesis, and the Two-Document Hypothesis.
In this final episode on biblical passages that anti-gay Bible readers use to condemn LGBTQ peopl... more In this final episode on biblical passages that anti-gay Bible readers use to condemn LGBTQ people (see links to the previous three below), we look at Romans 1:26-27. It’s only two verses, but it is also the longest sustained comment on homosexuality in bibles. Even more importantly, it addresses two things that have gone ignored so far: desire and women. Does Paul condemn homosexual desire? Does he condemn lesbians? Does Romans compel Christians to condemn gay people? It depends on the interpretive choices you make.
Here I examine the choices readers make when interpreting the laws against male anal sex in Lev 1... more Here I examine the choices readers make when interpreting the laws against male anal sex in Lev 18:22 and 20:13 as condemnations of homosexuality in general. These include: - taking a specific sex act as a symbol for a whole sexual orientation, when they do not take prohibitions of heteroerotic sex acts as symbols of heterosexuality (so that heterosexuality would be condemned) - thinking a law very narrowly pointed at men has anything to do with lesbians, reflecting our modern paradigm more than ancient sexual ethics - and for Christian readers, cherrypicking these two laws while ignoring many of the rest because they happen to agree with them.
The story of the destruction of Sodom only has anything to do with homosexuality with considerabl... more The story of the destruction of Sodom only has anything to do with homosexuality with considerable work from the reader. Here I break down the many choices a reader has to make to get what they want: a story where God kills gay people. These include: - ignoring the many other biblical passages pointing to other issues, like mistreatment of the poor or of foreigners; - ignoring that the crime is sexual assault, not asking Lot's guests out for a date; - ignoring that the "men" aren't men but angels; and more. The video is part of a larger project seeking to emphasize the responsibility readers of the Bible have for their own readings due to the many choices they have to make -- including simply following other people's choices.
In his influential Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham claims that eyewitnesses to event... more In his influential Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham claims that eyewitnesses to events in Jesus' life minimized changes to Jesus sayings by establishing a culture of formal control in oral performance, a culture reflected in the gospels and Acts. This study tests Bauckham's hypothesis using verifiable internal quotations, cases where a single text narrates the original speech act and its later direct quotation by the speaker or by another character. Most quotations modify the original statement, and eyewitnesses paraphrase roughly as often as others. Whatever the historical character of the eyewitnesses actually was, they are not portrayed as the careful reciters of Jesus' words that Bauckham's model requires.
In this book, I examine three aspects of the many cases where John has characters quote themselve... more In this book, I examine three aspects of the many cases where John has characters quote themselves and others directly. First, the quotations are rarely exact, even when made by Jesus or the narrator. So, I examine them in light of first-century paraphrase exercises as the author would have learned under a grammarian, as well as in light of paraphrastic quotations in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. John does not paraphrase carelessly, but in order to communicate more about the understandings and intentions of the character who quotes. Second, I examine what the act of quoting so many times says about the characters and about the text. Such frequent direct quotations frame the Fourth Gospel as a trial narrative, where testimony is quoted and re-quoted as it is cross-examined by Jesus and the narrator on the one hand, and “the Jews” on the other (Pharisees never quote, and the crowd quotes only once). Third, many of the quoted phrases have parallels in Synoptic and other early Christian literature, suggesting that John may have used direct quotation as a way of incorporating and adapting traditional material. I end with a case study of the sayings regarding Jesus’s arrival and departure, showing that John uses quotation to expose misunderstandings but also to adopt a larger range of meanings that includes Jesus’s departure in death and in ascent to the Father, and his arrival in resurrection, in the Spirit, and finally in the eschaton.
The argument from order for the two-document hypothesis is central to the claim that Q is a unifi... more The argument from order for the two-document hypothesis is central to the claim that Q is a unified document rather than a collection of shorter documents or shared oral tradition. Once double tradition material is extracted from Matthew and Luke and paired, the argument becomes essentially mathematical. Previous attempts at measuring the degree of agreement have rarely included detailed methodological discussions. Hence these measurements derive from loosely defined or implied methodologies influenced by subjective choices of the scholar, making it impossible to judge the relative probabilities of their results. This article proposes a new statistical metric borrowed from regression analysis, the coefficient of determination (r2). This metric is then applied to influential tables of double tradition material to determine the strength of their agreement. As will be demonstrated, these tables do not provide strong evidence of a unified document behind double tradition material based on order alone.
Although the angel Gabriel is viewed positively in three world religions, he has appeared as the ... more Although the angel Gabriel is viewed positively in three world religions, he has appeared as the villain in three Hollywood films over just a decade and a half: The Prophecy (1995), Constantine (2005), and Legion (2010). While these films draw on apocalyptic themes from the book of Daniel, they also play ironically on Gabriel’s other biblical appearance, the Annunciation of the virginal conception in Luke. All three films feature a Gabriel who attacks rather than protects women ‘‘impregnated’’ by a being of apocalyptic importance. The three movies can be shown to reflect various dimensions (and sides) of the contemporary American abortion debate, each casting Gabriel polemically in the image of misguided Christians (as they see it).
Towards the end of Paul's career, Acts narrates two riot scenes tied to the temples in Ephesus an... more Towards the end of Paul's career, Acts narrates two riot scenes tied to the temples in Ephesus and Jerusalem, forming a synkrisis between the two cities and their temples. The similarities between the two scenes argue for temples as places of danger for Christians while protecting the Christian community from perceptions of anti-cultic teaching. The endings, however, are very different. In the first case, the correct response to the church is presented in Ephesus where the riot ends in a quick and orderly manner. In the second case, the incorrect response is presented in Jerusalem where the disorder spreads to the local government, forcing the Roman military to intervene.
This reading of the recently discovered Hazon Gabriel (or Vision of Gabriel) argues that the apoc... more This reading of the recently discovered Hazon Gabriel (or Vision of Gabriel) argues that the apocalyptic text fills out the details of the prophet Nathan's vision in 2 Samuel 7, in which King David is forbidden from building the temple in Jerusalem, favoring his son Solomon instead. The apocalypse is aimed at King Herod, who, in contrast to David, destroyed then rebuilt the temple without God's permission.
This paper takes Edwin A Abbott's extensive work in biblical studies and his rejection of apocaly... more This paper takes Edwin A Abbott's extensive work in biblical studies and his rejection of apocalyptic literature / apocalypticism as the background of his pseudonymous novel, Flatland. In Flatland, Abbott constructs a geometrical apocalypse in which A Square fails as a visionary, epistemologically and morally, for the same reason that many in Abbott’s England failed to benefit from ancient apocalypses: he focuses too narrowly on the literal reality of the revelation, which he can neither reproduce nor adequately explain, instead of allowing it to help him become a more just, sympathetic, and loving person. Abbott writes Flatland as an apocalyptic, which is to say a symbolic, prophetic warning to his own England, which looks for salvation in miracles, Spiritualism, and the fulfillment of poorly understood predictions in the records of ancient apocalyptic visions, rather than question the social and gender inequalities of its day.
The interrogation of the man bom blind in John 9 is a well-crafted scene that nonetheless present... more The interrogation of the man bom blind in John 9 is a well-crafted scene that nonetheless presents several difficulties: the nature of the body interrogating him, whether official or unofficial, investigating or judging; the question of the apparent anachronism of an agreement to expel from the synagogue anyone who confesses Jesus to be the Christ (9:22); and the density of cognitive assertions that, unlike the rest of the Gospel where variatio is common, consistently use only one verb (οιδα). Reading John in light of contemporary trial records and literature may heighten our understanding of the nature of the scene. Since the declarative use of (ούκ) οιδα is a rhetorical trope used either to assert testimony or to avoid it altogether, John 9 can be read as a pre-trial hearing to assess the potential testimony of the blind man. The expulsion agreement, even in the story's context (late 20s c.e.) and for any in John's audience who had not experienced conflict with synagogues, may be read as an intimidation tactic to silence potential witnesses for the defense.
The Fourth Gospel portrays Jesus as having special knowledge of himself and his future, but also ... more The Fourth Gospel portrays Jesus as having special knowledge of himself and his future, but also of the people and events around him. While John's Jesus always has divine insight, he does not always share it. Jesus neither shares nor hides special knowledge haphazardly, but in service of two interrelated goals: sharing special knowledge persuades doubting characters in order to build a group of believers to receive the Spirit after his death. Jesus hides special knowledge in order to ensure a proper death at his hour. In this way, John explains how a character who exerts sovereign control throughout the Gospel is nevertheless betrayed and executed.
Mary Magdalene from the New Testament to the New Age and Beyond
As part of a larger reception history of Mary Magdalene (Mary Magdalene from the New Testament to... more As part of a larger reception history of Mary Magdalene (Mary Magdalene from the New Testament to the New Age and Beyond [TBN 24; ed. E. Lupieri; Leiden: Brill, 2019]), this chapter traces the humanist debate over whether Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the sinner in Luke 7 were one woman—as the Roman Catholic Church taught—or three separate women. In contrast to previous scholarship which has used the Three Magdalenes Debate to study one or more of the writers involved (or their groups), this study rather uses what we know of these writers to better understand what problems were posed by united and divided Magdalenes. The different positions depended less on whether the writer was a humanist or not, but rather on their pastoral versus monastic sensibilities: Writers who wished to create a chaste saint out of Mary of Bethany leaned toward separation, while writers with more pastoral experience preferred the traditional image of a Mary Magdalene rewarded for repenting. This division continued into the nascent Protestant Reformation, in which Martin Luther maintained the united Magdalene while John Calvin shifted toward a divided one.
Uploads
Videos by Jeffrey Tripp
WARNING: things get a bit salty in this episode since we are talking about slang terms possibly referring to sex acts.
For a youtube version of this video, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLYDAGsoTc
For episode 1 on Sodom and Gomorrah, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp0EOHBViPw
For episode 2 on Leviticus 18 and 20, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-5t31HVl1I
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLHBnT90b8c
These include:
- taking a specific sex act as a symbol for a whole sexual orientation, when they do not take prohibitions of heteroerotic sex acts as symbols of heterosexuality (so that heterosexuality would be condemned)
- thinking a law very narrowly pointed at men has anything to do with lesbians, reflecting our modern paradigm more than ancient sexual ethics
- and for Christian readers, cherrypicking these two laws while ignoring many of the rest because they happen to agree with them.
These include:
- ignoring the many other biblical passages pointing to other issues, like mistreatment of the poor or of foreigners;
- ignoring that the crime is sexual assault, not asking Lot's guests out for a date;
- ignoring that the "men" aren't men but angels;
and more.
The video is part of a larger project seeking to emphasize the responsibility readers of the Bible have for their own readings due to the many choices they have to make -- including simply following other people's choices.
Papers by Jeffrey Tripp
First, the quotations are rarely exact, even when made by Jesus or the narrator. So, I examine them in light of first-century paraphrase exercises as the author would have learned under a grammarian, as well as in light of paraphrastic quotations in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. John does not paraphrase carelessly, but in order to communicate more about the understandings and intentions of the character who quotes. Second, I examine what the act of quoting so many times says about the characters and about the text. Such frequent direct quotations frame the Fourth Gospel as a trial narrative, where testimony is quoted and re-quoted as it is cross-examined by Jesus and the narrator on the one hand, and “the Jews” on the other (Pharisees never quote, and the crowd quotes only once). Third, many of the quoted phrases have parallels in Synoptic and other early Christian literature, suggesting that John may have used direct quotation as a way of incorporating and adapting traditional material. I end with a case study of the sayings regarding Jesus’s arrival and departure, showing that John uses quotation to expose misunderstandings but also to adopt a larger range of meanings that includes Jesus’s departure in death and in ascent to the Father, and his arrival in resurrection, in the Spirit, and finally in the eschaton.
reason that many in Abbott’s England failed to benefit from ancient apocalypses: he focuses too narrowly on the literal reality of the revelation, which he can neither reproduce nor adequately explain, instead of allowing it to help him become a more just, sympathetic, and loving person. Abbott writes Flatland as an apocalyptic, which is to say a symbolic, prophetic warning to his own England, which looks for salvation in miracles, Spiritualism, and the fulfillment of poorly understood predictions in the records of ancient apocalyptic visions, rather than question the social and gender inequalities of its day.
WARNING: things get a bit salty in this episode since we are talking about slang terms possibly referring to sex acts.
For a youtube version of this video, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooLYDAGsoTc
For episode 1 on Sodom and Gomorrah, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp0EOHBViPw
For episode 2 on Leviticus 18 and 20, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-5t31HVl1I
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLHBnT90b8c
These include:
- taking a specific sex act as a symbol for a whole sexual orientation, when they do not take prohibitions of heteroerotic sex acts as symbols of heterosexuality (so that heterosexuality would be condemned)
- thinking a law very narrowly pointed at men has anything to do with lesbians, reflecting our modern paradigm more than ancient sexual ethics
- and for Christian readers, cherrypicking these two laws while ignoring many of the rest because they happen to agree with them.
These include:
- ignoring the many other biblical passages pointing to other issues, like mistreatment of the poor or of foreigners;
- ignoring that the crime is sexual assault, not asking Lot's guests out for a date;
- ignoring that the "men" aren't men but angels;
and more.
The video is part of a larger project seeking to emphasize the responsibility readers of the Bible have for their own readings due to the many choices they have to make -- including simply following other people's choices.
First, the quotations are rarely exact, even when made by Jesus or the narrator. So, I examine them in light of first-century paraphrase exercises as the author would have learned under a grammarian, as well as in light of paraphrastic quotations in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. John does not paraphrase carelessly, but in order to communicate more about the understandings and intentions of the character who quotes. Second, I examine what the act of quoting so many times says about the characters and about the text. Such frequent direct quotations frame the Fourth Gospel as a trial narrative, where testimony is quoted and re-quoted as it is cross-examined by Jesus and the narrator on the one hand, and “the Jews” on the other (Pharisees never quote, and the crowd quotes only once). Third, many of the quoted phrases have parallels in Synoptic and other early Christian literature, suggesting that John may have used direct quotation as a way of incorporating and adapting traditional material. I end with a case study of the sayings regarding Jesus’s arrival and departure, showing that John uses quotation to expose misunderstandings but also to adopt a larger range of meanings that includes Jesus’s departure in death and in ascent to the Father, and his arrival in resurrection, in the Spirit, and finally in the eschaton.
reason that many in Abbott’s England failed to benefit from ancient apocalypses: he focuses too narrowly on the literal reality of the revelation, which he can neither reproduce nor adequately explain, instead of allowing it to help him become a more just, sympathetic, and loving person. Abbott writes Flatland as an apocalyptic, which is to say a symbolic, prophetic warning to his own England, which looks for salvation in miracles, Spiritualism, and the fulfillment of poorly understood predictions in the records of ancient apocalyptic visions, rather than question the social and gender inequalities of its day.