Strange Things in Sunday’s Gospel—John 1:35-42

Last updated on: January 17, 2021 at 7:49 pm By Fellow Dying Inmate

Strange and peculiar things about evangelizing and more fill this Sunday’s Gospel of John 1:35-42. This Sunday’s Gospel (John 1:35-42) comes from the Fourth Gospel—the Gospel from Outer Space we call “John.” Although he is the attributed author, the illiterate peasant fisherman John could not have written this Gospel. The canonical version of “John” we have is a fourth-wave Jesus-group document, evolved from an earlier version from third-wave times. But the historical Galilean John was a first-wave person—we spoke of these... Read more

Grandchildren Wrote the Gospels

Last updated on: January 17, 2021 at 7:51 pm By Fellow Dying Inmate

History repeatedly shows a third-generation interest, which illuminates the origins of the Gospels as authored by grandchildren. How do we know when the Gospels were composed, and why? One way comes from historian Marcus Hansen. He was the first scholar to articulate the principle of third-generation interest. What does that have anything to do with the Gospels, you ask? Here’s a video presentation explaining it— Hansen Effect & Grandchildren To understand the Gospels as third-generation or “grandchildren” documents, we need to date the... Read more

Deaf to Jesus

Last updated on: January 13, 2021 at 12:19 pm By Fellow Dying Inmate

Being culturally deaf to the Mediterranean hero Jesus makes following his edicts and commands a farce. What good is a Christian who can’t listen to Jesus? But how can any 21st-century Western person listen to Christ if they dismiss or ignore his cultural background? If I am deaf by ignorance or rejection of Mediterranean culture being the first interpretation of the Bible and fail to read accordingly, I better forget about listening to Jesus. For instance, how will I, culturally... Read more

Miss the Point of Jesus’ Baptism?

Last updated on: January 10, 2021 at 7:05 pm By Fellow Dying Inmate

Miss the cultural cues, and you’ll likely disengage from the Gospel story of Jesus’ Baptism. Scripture is “high context” literature. American Bible readers are low context readers. This makes us miss the point of what the Scriptures are actually saying. Crucial details pass by in our reading never picked up on by us because we can’t see them. This is because our “low context” culture bombards us with documents where all details are provided and all gaps are filled. We... Read more

Cussing and Prayer: Trumper Chaos at the Capitol

Last updated on: January 7, 2021 at 12:10 am By Fellow Dying Inmate

Cussing and prayer, two healing balms, help when your country’s in chaos. Goddamn, I feel like cussing today. I’m cussing in relief and cussing in frustration. Hell, I am cussing just for the sheer enjoyment of swearing. Given today, maybe I should swear in terror too. Trump supporters, domestic terrorists, have stormed and breached the Capitol. How are you doing? Glued to television? I am. But not this morning. Around 8am, I was delighting in nature and new possibilities—can’t tell... Read more

Growing Christmas Stories

Last updated on: December 18, 2020 at 1:26 am By Fellow Dying Inmate

Americans find growing problems in the two different Gospel stories of Jesus’ birth, both true, yet neither completely factual. Last time we learned that to write an account of a great Mediterranean person’s childhood required no research, fact-checking, and “reliable sources” in the modern sense. Thus, the Evangelists “Matthew” and “Luke” wouldn’t have needed to interview Jesus’ parents, or home village, or childhood friends and acquaintances. Growing Christmas came by a different method entirely. So we discussed where the information... Read more

Discovering Baby Jesus—Matthew, Luke, & Christmas

Last updated on: December 15, 2020 at 5:46 am By Fellow Dying Inmate

Only “Matthew” and “Luke” tell stories of Jesus’ infancy—from where did they get their information? When ancient authors, like the anonymous Evangelists we call “Matthew” and “Luke,” described the birth and childhood of a hero or famous person, where would they research and gather data? And how would they verify sources and check facts? Would they interview the parents and relatives of the hero? His childhood friends who knew him? In fact, these authors performed no journalistic investigations as we’d imagine. It... Read more

Pagan Christmas!!??

Last updated on: December 11, 2020 at 5:39 pm By Fellow Dying Inmate

Do not let your hearts be troubled by Christian Christmas-bashers calling the Season Pagan. Have you ever encountered a Christian Christmas-basher? I know plenty. I am talking about a growing number of Enlightened Christians, some ex-Catholic anti-Catholics, who roam about on social media, waging war against Yuletide cheer. They must be heroes in their minds, risking “everything” to inform blind saps like me that Christmas is Pagan. “Did you know that Christmas is a PAGAN holiday?” they ask. “Did you... Read more

Immaculate Perception for the Immaculate Conception

Last updated on: December 10, 2020 at 10:41 am By Fellow Dying Inmate

The Immaculate Conception showcases why it is better to be wrong for the right reason than right for the wrong reason. Move the language, and you necessarily change the meaning. Theology changes as we change. You can see what I mean when you consider the theology behind the Solemnity yesterday, the Immaculate Conception. Here’s a brief video explaining the connections: Immaculate Conception Means?? What does the Immaculate Conception mean? I could parrot you the basics. But would that be of... Read more

Santa Punching Arius & More Stupidity

Last updated on: December 5, 2020 at 7:30 pm By Fellow Dying Inmate

The same stupidity fixing some Catholics into seeing Saint Nick as an MMA champion kills us with preventable disasters. I was watching the new movie FATMAN the other day, starring Mel Gibson. As it went along, I kept thinking about so many young priests and seminarians I know who will eat this movie up, but completely miss it, at the same time. Stormtroopers of orthodoxy, Gen-X and Millennial, rigid and unyielding in desperate times of COVID-19, fill our seminaries and... Read more