blue<\/span>.<\/p>\n* * * * *<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just a movie! Chill out!<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s just a theologically certain truth about our Lord Jesus Christ that is denied here. Get serious<\/em>!<\/span><\/p>\nSo did you really believe that the earth opened up an swallowed all the people and the molten calf into a pit of bottomless fire when Moses threw the ten commandments at them in disgust? Is that in the bible? It\u2019s not about \u2018exactness\u2019. It\u2019s not suppose to be. Books and movies engage the imagination. Anything is possible\u2026with God. We don\u2019t know about the childhood of Jesus. A little conjecture is harmless\u2026unless one takes the movie too serious\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nYes I do, and that is in the Bible.\u00a0I\u2019m a Catholic, and so I believe in, and am bound to what the Church teaches about Jesus.<\/span><\/p>\nYou\u2019re either not a Catholic, or you are and don\u2019t care about the Church\u2019s Christology.\u00a0I can\u2019t make you care about that, but I can at least show you and anyone who reads my paper what the Church teaches about it.<\/span><\/p>\nReally??? What bible do you use??? What verse says that the earth opened up and swallowed the people into the flames when Moses threw the tablets at them???\u00a0For the record\u2026I am very much Catholic\u2026just not an \u2018extremist\u2019\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nAlrightey. With the golden calf, the Levites judged and killed 3,000 men (Ex 32:15-28).<\/span><\/p>\nI had that confused with another instance: the rebellion of Korah:<\/span><\/p>\nNumbers 16:32<\/b> (RSV) and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods. (cf. 26:10)<\/span><\/p>\nSo Cecil B. DeMille\u2019s Ten Commandments<\/em>\u00a0conflated the two incidents (taking dramatic license: not objectionable, I think, in this instance). Both took place at roughly the same time: during the Jews\u2019 40 years wandering in the wilderness.<\/span><\/p>\nBut DeMille\u2019s \u201cdramatic compression\u201d of two distinct but related biblical stories was not that far off, because the rebellious Biblical figure Dathan was portrayed in some depth in the film, by Edward G. Robinson. Dathan indeed was swallowed up by the earth, as the film showed. It was just in a context other<\/em> than the golden calf:<\/span><\/p>\nNumbers 16:27-34<\/b> So they got away from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abi\u2019ram; and Dathan and Abi\u2019ram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.<\/span>
\n [28] And Moses said, \u201cHereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.<\/span>
\n [29] If these men die the common death of all men, or if they are visited by the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.<\/span>
\n [30] But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.\u201d<\/span>
\n [31] And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split asunder;<\/span>
\n [32] and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men that belonged to Korah and all their goods.<\/span>
\n [33] So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.<\/span>
\n [34] And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, \u201cLest the earth swallow us up!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nDeuteronomy 11:6<\/b> and what he did to Dathan and Abi\u2019ram the sons of Eli\u2019ab, son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel;<\/span><\/p>\nPsalm 106:17<\/b> the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abi\u2019ram.<\/span><\/p>\nOf course, such a conflation is quite different from making up myths out of whole cloth, that Jesus, God the Son, God incarnate, fully God and fully man, was an ignoramus about Who He was (even as a child). That ain\u2019t in the Bible, and is directly contrary to a \u201ctheologically certain\u201d Catholic teaching.<\/span><\/p>\nMeanwhile, oddly enough, John the Baptist in the womb, somehow knew Who Jesus was<\/em> (Lk 1:39-44). So we are to believe that preborn John (a mere man) knew more about Who Jesus was, than Jesus, God the Son, did Himself, at age seven? I don\u2019t think so.<\/span><\/p>\nI showed that the contrary is indeed Catholic teaching. So if you are an observant Catholic, your burden is to demonstrate how my documentation is somehow faulty, or else admit that you don\u2019t care<\/em>\u00a0what the Church teaches on this. If the later, it seems that you<\/i> are the \u201cextremist\u201d, not I. I made a simple human mistake of memory. But there was<\/i> indeed an event in which the earth swallowed up rebels against God.<\/span><\/p>\nLiberals can simply \u201cspiritualize\u201d that away and say it was symbolism (one of their favorite games), But that just shows that they are not serious in their Bible interpretation. They pick and choose whatever they want to believe.<\/span><\/p>\nI don\u2019t know if you are a liberal or not. It depends how you view the Bible and Catholic dogmas and doctrines and teachings, and Church authority.<\/span><\/p>\nI think that if you were to remove your \u2018apologist\u2019 eyeglasses, and put on your \u2018inner child\u2019 eyeglasses, and then go see the movie again\u2026you might notice something that the mighty intellect tends to keep hidden \u2013 Something that Jesus \u2018attempted\u2019 to tell us with His statement \u201cunless you become as children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven\u201d. Or\u2026you can wait\u2026and do what He said later?<\/span><\/p>\nI repeat: \u201cIt\u2019s just a movie\u201d!!! Movies are for entertainment. The movie did not tear down Jesus as you suggest. It magnified His humanity\u2026which many people NEED to see. At the same time, it showed His powers, and the contempt that people had toward Him.<\/span><\/p>\nIf you do decide to take my suggestion and go see it again, I would highly suggest that you pray for the grace to \u2018chill\u2019 as you go in. Don\u2019t bother even going to see it again if you\u2019re going to analyze it again\u2026because the results will be the same. Rather, ask the Holy Spirit to \u2018enlighten\u2019 you and help you see what HE wants you to see, rather than what YOU try to see on your own? God bless!<\/span><\/p>\nObviously, you care not one whit about Catholic theology in this regard, which is very sad. But there are millions of Catholics like you<\/em>, which highlights the need for people like me<\/em>, to help them harmonize the mind and theology with a pious faith and trusting childlike discipleship.<\/span><\/p>\nJesus said that \u201cyou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength\u201d (Mark 12:30). He didn\u2019t separate the mind. Being childlike doesn\u2019t mean having an irrational, solely subjective, gullible faith. Hence, St. Paul wrote:<\/span><\/p>\nEphesians 4:13-14<\/b> until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; [14] so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.<\/span><\/p>\nI must care about my Catholic Theology\u2026or else I would have never noticed the \u2018incorrect\u2019 scene in the Ten Commandments, no? I know the difference between what is real and what is not real. You thought it was in the bible. I never take movies seriously. Why would I? The whole point of a movie is to entertain\u2026for a PROFIT!!! That\u2019s your basic Catholic Theology 101 right there. As soon as you \u2018pay\u2019 to see something\u2026beware\u2026you\u2019re being entertained. I\u2019d rather have that simplistic understanding than all the apologetic views on the planet.\u00a0When watching a movie\u2026or reading a book\u2026it\u2019s ALWAYS important to know who wrote it\u2026and why. I do my homework\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nMy own (rather strong) opinion is that when a movie purports to treat Christian, biblical history, that it has a responsibility to get the facts right and the doctrine correct.<\/span><\/p>\nOtherwise, why bother at all with theological advisers? Obviously their input has to do with what should and shouldn\u2019t be presented, in terms of what Catholics (or Christians) believe. If this doesn\u2019t matter<\/i> why have these advisers? This movie had them. I just think some of them were mistaken.<\/span><\/p>\nThere are plenty of biblical movies that are perfectly orthodox, and that I like and have no problem with. I even liked Noah<\/i> and that took plenty of liberties, but contained no heresy or theological falsehood that I am aware of.<\/span><\/p>\nAs I said in my paper, my concern is that many millions will 1) assume that the material is indeed in the Bible, when it isn\u2019t, and 2) will believe that Jesus didn\u2019t know Who He was at some point in His life, which contradicts a \u201ctheologically certain\u201d teaching of the faith.<\/span><\/p>\nFilms can go a long ways by way of historical fiction (in the very best sense). Hence, Risen<\/i> takes the theme of a secular Roman perspective of the purported Resurrection. There is nothing wrong with that (unless, e.g., it portrayed a stolen body or \u201cPassover Plot\u201d or some other ridiculous alternate theory). One can go beyond the biblical text, while not contradicting it, or any Christian doctrine. Risen<\/i> is a superb example of that.<\/span><\/p>\nI think Catholic art or Christian art must seek to be consistent with those worldviews. Many great biblical movies like Jesus of Nazareth<\/i> (by a major director, yet), and The Passion<\/i> were orthodox (excepting a denial of Mary\u2019s virginity\u00a0in partu<\/i> \u2014 during<\/em> birth \u2014 in the former), and both of these were great art and extremely moving. We don\u2019t have to choose between one or the other. I say do great art and keep it within orthodoxy.<\/span><\/p>\nThe problem with the current film is that it involves a very subtle Christological doctrine, where there is obviously some confusion afoot. The confusion originated in the early heresies and theological liberalism \/ modernism after 1800.<\/span><\/p>\nPeople should<\/i> know the difference between a film and the faith, but millions do not, and that<\/i> is the problem. As an apologist, my job is to defend the faith and correct erroneous theology, and I have done so.<\/span><\/p>\nI don\u2019t treat cinematic films as \u201ccatechesis\u201d, but on the other hand, it is naive to suppose that many millions won\u2019t take in what they see in this film and regard it henceforth as \u201ctrue fact.\u201d That\u2019s just how reality is. I\u2019m as idealist as anyone, but we have to live in the actual reality of things, too.<\/span><\/p>\n* * *<\/span><\/p>\nI guess you wouldn\u2019t think too much of a theological teaching like this one about Jesus, seeing that you wrote six months ago:<\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s really quite amazing how the institution of the RCC truly reflects the population of a mental institution, under the \u2018control\u2019 of medication and rules. It\u2019s like walking among the dead\u2026or zombies. They \u2018look\u2019 alive\u2026but are they? Or are they \u2018desperately\u2019 needing a little \u2018spark\u2019 from the Holy Spirit\u2026<\/span><\/p>\nI thought I\u2019d heard everything about the Church . . . One Flew Over the Catholic Cuckoo\u2019s Nest<\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\nAs one who used to attend charismatic churches, who believes in the continuance of all the gifts and in healing, who has been healed (and whose wife has been healed), who has been \u201cslain in the Spirit\u201d many times, and who experienced a very profound \u201crenewal\u201d in the Holy Spirit in 1980, that changed my life forever and led me to my apologetics apostolate, your complaints about Catholics [i.e., being \u201cwalking dead\u201d or \u201czombies\u201d] hardly apply to me.<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m very uncomfortable around people who claim to be \u2018healed\u2019 or \u2018sane\u2019. And yet\u2026at the same time\u2026it always makes me grateful to see myself for who I am. I\u2019m so thankful and grateful for the sacraments, that treat my ongoing \u2018human\u2019 condition. I\u2019m happy for you and your wife that both of you are healed and have no further need for any kind of \u2018followup\u2019 treatment. It certainly sheds a lot of light on your movie review and subsequent comments though! Thank you very much!<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m afraid I do<\/em> lay claim to being \u201csane.\u201d Sorry for that shortcoming. I pray that you\u2019ll be able (by God\u2019s grace) to overcome your confessed\u00a0in<\/em>sanity in due course.<\/span><\/p>\nYou appear to be using \u201chealing\u201d here in a purely spiritual sense (healing from sin or propensity to sin). We have no disagreement there; nor about the role of the sacraments. I<\/em> used it in the\u00a0sense of \u201csupernatural cure of serious clinical depression and of severe pain from lifelong scoliosis.\u201d I haven\u2019t had need of a follow-up treatment for depression. I have never had serious \/ despairing \/ hopeless depression since my six-month experience of it in 1977. Nor has my wife ever since had the extreme<\/em> pain she had prior to her healing in the early 1980s.<\/span><\/p>\nThat\u2019s kind of sad really. I don\u2019t mind being thought to be insane. Jesus was thought to be insane as well. I don\u2019t think He minded either. He knew full well that there would be some who accepted Him and others who would not because of His \u2018contradictory\u2019 nature. It didn\u2019t seem to deter Him whether He was thought to be insane or not. He didn\u2019t but into the label thing. He was most comfortable hanging out with the rejects of society. The ones that society labeled. Why would I want to \u2018overcome\u2019 my confessed insanity? Would that bring me closer to Jesus?<\/span><\/p>\nYes, a sane person is closer to Jesus than an insane one, because Jesus was falsely<\/i> accused of being insane.<\/span><\/p>\nHave a great day. We\u2019ve strayed far from the Bible, which is what you obviously wanted to argue about at first (taunting me as a possible \u201cextremist\u201d), till I showed that the incident you mocked actually was<\/i> in the Bible (though not in conjunction with the golden calf).<\/span><\/p>\nSince you no longer want to discuss the Bible, and never began<\/em> talking about Catholic theology and doctrine, we\u2019re through.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Death of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (1865), by Gustave Dor\u00e9 (1832-1883) [public domain \/ Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * See my lengthy treatment of the theology of this film, and my follow-up. * * This exchange occurred in the combox of my first post (above). The words of John (Catholic) will be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2331,"featured_media":6559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112,172],"tags":[2497,2473,2493,2494,2472,459,2471,2475,2496,2495,2474,460,1977,2470,464],"class_list":["post-6557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy-science","category-trinitarianism-christology","tag-art-theology","tag-beatific-vision","tag-catholic-art","tag-catholic-cinema","tag-christs-knowledge","tag-christology","tag-consciousness-of-christ","tag-divine-nature-of-christ","tag-drama-theology","tag-dramatic-license","tag-human-nature-of-christ","tag-nestorianism","tag-omniscience-of-jesus","tag-the-young-messiah","tag-two-natures-of-christ"],"yoast_head":"\n
"Young Messiah", Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John the Baptist in the womb, knew Who Jesus was (Lk 1:39-44). But Jesus, God the Son, didn't know as much Himself, at age seven?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Young Messiah", Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John the Baptist in the womb, knew Who Jesus was (Lk 1:39-44). But Jesus, God the Son, didn't know as much Himself, at age seven?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-18T16:07:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-03-24T18:06:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/KorahDathan.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"498\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Armstrong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"Young Messiah\\\", Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-18T16:07:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-03-24T18:06:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\"},\"description\":\"John the Baptist in the womb, knew Who Jesus was (Lk 1:39-44). But Jesus, God the Son, didn't know as much Himself, at age seven?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Young Messiah”, Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/\",\"name\":\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism\",\"description\":\"Catholic biblical apologetics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e\",\"name\":\"Dave Armstrong\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Armstrong\"},\"description\":\"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \\\"This Rock\\\" (now called \\\"Catholic Answers Magazine\\\"), \\\"Envoy Magazine\\\" (Patrick Madrid), \\\"The Catholic Answer,\\\" \\\"The Coming Home Journal,\\\" \\\"Gilbert Magazine\\\" (American Chesterton Society), and \\\"The Latin Mass.\\\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \\\"The Michigan Catholic\\\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \\\"Catholic Answers Live\\\" (twice), \\\"Faith and Family Live\\\" (Steve Wood), \\\"Kresta in the Afternoon,\\\" \\\"Son Rise Morning Show,\\\" \\\"Catholic Connection\\\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \\\"The Catholics Next Door.\\\" His large and popular website, \\\"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\\\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \\\"Envoy Magazine.\\\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \\\"index\\\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \\\"Surprised by Truth\\\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \\\"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\\\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \\\"The Catholic Verses\\\" (2004), \\\"The One-Minute Apologist\\\" (2007), \\\"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\\\" (2009), \\\"The Quotable Newman\\\" (editor: 2012), and \\\"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\\\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \\\"The New Catholic Answer Bible\\\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \\\"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\\\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \\\"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\\\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \\\"Quotable Wesley\\\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Young Messiah\", Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology","description":"John the Baptist in the womb, knew Who Jesus was (Lk 1:39-44). But Jesus, God the Son, didn't know as much Himself, at age seven?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Young Messiah\", Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology","og_description":"John the Baptist in the womb, knew Who Jesus was (Lk 1:39-44). But Jesus, God the Son, didn't know as much Himself, at age seven?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html","og_site_name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","article_published_time":"2016-03-18T16:07:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-03-24T18:06:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":498,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/KorahDathan.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dave Armstrong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Armstrong","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html","name":"\"Young Messiah\", Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-18T16:07:40+00:00","dateModified":"2017-03-24T18:06:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e"},"description":"John the Baptist in the womb, knew Who Jesus was (Lk 1:39-44). But Jesus, God the Son, didn't know as much Himself, at age seven?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/2016\/03\/young-messiah-dramatic-license-biblical-theology.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Young Messiah”, Dramatic License, & Biblical Theology"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/","name":"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism","description":"Catholic biblical apologetics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/471eaa20e441eca4bb1ea50393cf632e","name":"Dave Armstrong","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/820e6db89734ae7a9e5dac8d498f5ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dave Armstrong"},"description":"Dave Armstrong is a Catholic author and apologist, who has been actively proclaiming and defending Christianity since 1981, and Catholicism in particular since 1991 (full-time since December 2001). Formerly a campus missionary, as a Protestant, Dave was received into the Catholic Church in February 1991, by the late, well-known catechist and theologian, Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave\u2019s articles have appeared in many influential Catholic periodicals, including \"This Rock\" (now called \"Catholic Answers Magazine\"), \"Envoy Magazine\" (Patrick Madrid), \"The Catholic Answer,\" \"The Coming Home Journal,\" \"Gilbert Magazine\" (American Chesterton Society), and \"The Latin Mass.\" He also writes a featured column for every issue of \"The Michigan Catholic\": published by the archdiocese of Detroit, and was editor for most of the apologetics tracts published by the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. Dave\u2019s apologetics and writing apostolate was the subject of a feature article in the May 2002 issue of \"Envoy Magazine.\" He served as the staff moderator at the Internet discussion forum for The Coming Home Network, from 2007-2010. Dave has been interviewed on many nationally syndicated Catholic radio shows, including \"Catholic Answers Live\" (twice), \"Faith and Family Live\" (Steve Wood), \"Kresta in the Afternoon,\" \"Son Rise Morning Show,\" \"Catholic Connection\" (Teresa Tomeo), and \"The Catholics Next Door.\" His large and popular website, \"Biblical Evidence for Catholicism,\" was online from March 1997 to March 2007, and received the 1998 Catholic Website of the Year award from \"Envoy Magazine.\" His blog of the same name (now transferred to Patheos), begun in February 2004, contains more than 1,500 papers, at least 500 debates or dialogues, and over 50 distinct \"index\" web pages. Unsolicited correspondence has indicated many hundreds of conversions (or returns) to the Catholic faith as a result, by God's grace, of these writings. Dave's conversion story was published in the bestselling book \"Surprised by Truth\" (edited by Patrick Madrid; San Diego: Basilica Press, 1994). Sophia Institute Press has published six of his books: \"A Biblical Defense of Catholicism\" (Foreword by Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J., 1996 \/ 2003), \"The Catholic Verses\" (2004), \"The One-Minute Apologist\" (2007), \"Bible Proofs for Catholic Truths\" (2009), \"The Quotable Newman\" (editor: 2012), and \"Proving the Catholic Faith is Biblical\" (2015). He is co-author (with Dr. Paul Thigpen) of the inserts for \"The New Catholic Answer Bible\" (Our Sunday Visitor: 2005), and editor for \"The Wisdom of Mr. Chesterton: The Very Best Quotes, Quips, and Cracks from the Pen of G. K. Chesterton\" (Saint Benedict Press \/ TAN Books: 2009). \"100 Biblical Arguments Against Sola Scriptura\" was published by Catholic Answers in May 2012. His \"Quotable Wesley\" compilation was published by (Protestant \/ Wesleyan publisher) Beacon Hill Press in April 2014. Several of his 49 books are bestsellers in their field. Dave maintains a popular personal Facebook page, a Facebook author page, and has a Twitter account as well. He offers almost all of his books in e-book form on his own Biblical Catholicism site (http:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/), at a permanent deep discount: only $2.99 for ePub, mobi, and AZW, and $1.99 for PDF. His writing has been enthusiastically endorsed or recommended by many leading Catholic apologists, authors, and priests, including Dr. Scott Hahn, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Marcus Grodi, Patrick Madrid, Steve Ray, Tim Staples, Devin Rose, Mike Aquilina, Al Kresta, Karl Keating, Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Brandon Vogt, Marcellino D'Ambrosio, and Fr. John A. Hardon, S. J. Dave has been happily married to his wife Judy since October 1984. They have three sons and a daughter, and reside in southeast Michigan (metro Detroit).","sameAs":["https:\/\/biblicalcatholicism.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dave.armstrong.798","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@LuxVeritatisApologetics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/author\/davearmstrong"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2331"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/davearmstrong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"KorahDathan\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/572\/2016\/03\/KorahDathan.jpg\")
<\/p>\n