Divorce And The Bible (1)

 

Divorce And The Bible

Brett A. Todd

Just as there was no one single view on marriage in the Bible, so is it true for divorce.  This can be said no clearer than what is reported in Mark 10:2-9:

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?’ He answered them, ‘What did Moses command you?’ They said, ‘Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.’”

Then in the house, the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’

In the passage above, it is reported Moses allowed divorce (Deuteronomy 24:1-4), but for Jesus, no, “What God has joined together, let no one separate.”  In other words, divorce was wrong and should not be allowed.  To be clear on this point and to leave no confusion for the reader, the author of Mark tells us that after Jesus had this discussion with the Pharisees, he sat down with his disciples and unambiguously declared, whoever divorces their spouse and marries another is committing adultery. 

Whether Jesus and the Pharisees actually had this discussion as reported by Mark and whether or not Moses and Jesus believed what was stated above, it is clear that we have two different perspectives of divorce in the Bible.  The first perspective, common in Jesus’ time, was that divorce was allowed, whereas, in Jesus’ perspective, divorce was not allowed.  Here the Gospels of Matthew and Mark seem to agree.

Keep in mind, that these two perspectives are not the only ones found in the Bible. The Apostle Paul had a different perspective as well, which we will talk about in our next study.

Marriage: Polygamy And The Bible

 

Marriage: Polygamy And The Bible

Brett A. Todd

How does one explain the common idea held by many Christians that in the Bible there is one single view of marriage, when in fact there is not?  Actually, the idea that marriage is between one man and one woman, sanctioned by the church and state, is not even found in the Bible.    

Let’s take a look at one form of marriage in the Bible that is not accepted by most Christians today.

As some Bible readers are aware, in the Bible, many of the Hebrew patriarchs were polygamists.  In other words, they had more than one wife, and some had many wives.  It is reported in the Bible  that Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.”  All in all, the practice of polygamy in the Bible seemed to be common and it even continued into Jesus’ day and beyond.  The Jewish historian, Josephus (37-100 CE), writes, “For it is our ancestral custom that a man have several wives at the same time” (Ant. 17.14; J.W. 1.477).

Laying aside wayward patriarchism for a moment, we must admit that polygamy was for some time an accepted form of marriage.  In Genesis 4:19, Lamech had two wives, Abram had children with his wife and his maid (Genesis 16:2-3), Jacob had two wives (Genesis 29), Gideon we are told had many wives and a concubine (Judges 8:30-31), David was given (into his bosom) Saul’s wives (2 Samuel 12:8), and let’s not forget Bathsheba. 

It wasn’t until later that this form of marriage, polygamy, was frowned upon, especially with Roman control of Judea and with the influx of Roman citizens into early Christianity. By the 2nd to 3rd century, monogamy became the standard of Christian marriage.  Augustine of Hippo, better known as Saint Augustine, shared these words concerning monogamous and polygamous marriages in the second half of the 4th century:

That the good purpose of marriage, however, is better promoted by one husband with one wife, than by a husband with several wives…

Once again I share all of this to help you understand that there is no one single view on marriage in the Bible.  Both polygamy and monogamy were options.  Of course, this is only one of the many differences you will find in the Bible when it comes to marriage.

In our next study, we will talk about divorce and the Bible.

A Pagan Novel, Jesus, and a Tomb

A Pagan Novel, Jesus, and a Tomb

Brett A. Todd

We have mentioned in the past how the stories of Jesus were passed down by word of mouth and possibly even in written texts, whether Jewish or Christian.  Eventually, these stories ended up becoming resources for the authors of the New Testament to help them write their own stories, however, we also know many of these Gospel stories found their sources in Greek and Roman literature.  To put it more plainly, the Gospel stories did not get their inspiration only from other Jewish and Christian stories but also from pagan stories.

Among scholars, this idea has at times become contentious.  Basically, what you have are two sides to this debate.  You have those who believe all the stories of the Bible came from pure oral traditions passed down from one Christian to another and those who believe the stories of the Bible come from Greek and Roman pagan stories.  Truth be told, it is actually a mix of both.  This will be something we will talk about in another study.  Notwithstanding, it is certain, that many of the Bible stories make allusions to Greek and Roman literature.  Not word for word, but the inspiration seems obvious.  

The story of Jesus’ tomb and his resurrection is one example.  Although we cannot go into depth, we can at least give you a sense of how the Gospel stories do make allusions to Greek and Roman stories.  Here is one from an ancient novel, Chariton’s novella Chaereas and Callirhoe, Book 3, Section 3 (1 CE-100 CE):

At the crack of dawn, Chaereas turned up at the tomb, apparently to offer wreaths and libations…he found that the stones had been moved and the entrance was open. He was astonished at the sight and overcome by fearful perplexity at what had happened…It seemed incredible that even the corpse was not lying there…Chaereas looked toward the heavens, stretched up his arms, and cried: “Which of the gods is it, then, who has become my rival in love and carried off Callirhoe?

There are other similar pagan stories as well, however, this one is quite pronounced.  

In light of this particular allusion, what can we learn?  If you were an educated Gospel writer, you were more than likely aware of these pagan stories and would use them to help create your own stories.  Here I cannot stress enough that all of these authors, not just Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but other Gospel writers whose books didn’t make it into the Bible, were in competition with each other to get their books on the ancient bestseller list (the Bible).  So they borrowed material from other Christians, made stories up, and used Greek and Roman writings as a way to make their Gospel, the best Gospel.

In our next study, we will study marriage: polygamy and the Bible.

Straddling Two Donkeys?

 

Straddling Two Donkeys?

Brett A. Todd

Every year on Palm Sunday, churches around the world celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, “Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!”  Some churches even have Palm Sunday pageants with people in costume waving their palms, and a real donkey walking down the aisle of the church.  But never have I heard or seen two donkeys walking down the church aisle, it’s always one donkey.  Makes sense, doesn’t it? How could Jesus ride two donkeys at one time?

All four of the Gospels in the Bible tell the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem as the crowds laid down their coats and/or palm branches (John 12:13) for Jesus to ride over as he made his way to Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:10; Luke 19:28-48; John 12:12-19).  But in Matthew’s story, we are told he rode not only on a donkey but also on a colt, two donkeys at the same time.  This is how it reads, Matthew 21:7:

they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.

What is going on?  Certainly, Jesus was not riding the donkey and the colt at the same time, was he?

Some attempts have been made to reconcile and harmonize Matthew’s reading with the other three Gospels (Mark, Luke, and John).  Let me share a couple of interpretations with you.  First, some believe when Matthew said Jesus “sat on them”, he was actually using a loose form of speech to mean “one of them”.   An example of this loose form of speech would be, “he jumped off the cliffs”, but in reality, he only jumped from one cliff.  

Another interpretation goes like this: when Matthew said, “sat on them” what he was referring to was the cloaks they put on the donkeys.  So when Jesus sat on one donkey, he was actually sitting on several cloaks (them).   Mistakenly, some Bible translators have taken it upon themselves to make their translations read as though there was only one donkey when the New Testament Greek is clear, there are two donkeys.  

I know, I know, this all gets quite confusing, doesn’t it? Let me offer you what I believe is a much more accurate and simpler interpretation.   Instead of doing a “song and a dance”, let’s just admit that Matthew messed up.  In his zealous attempt to make Jesus’ victorious entry into Jerusalem a fulfillment of Scripture (Zacheriah 9:9), Matthew botched up the story.

For many Christians, it is difficult to admit that the Bible is not perfect.  The image they have in their mind is God manually guiding the hands of the authors of the Bible so there would be no mistakes.  Well, guess what, there are mistakes and a lot of them.  There is also a good reason for these mistakes: God was not the one with a reed pen and parchment in hand, it was men, men who make mistakes.

In our next study, we will discuss another source the Gospel writers used in writing their stories.  For some, it is surprising to find out that they used pagan literature.

How Many Times Did The Cock Crow?

 

How Many Times Did The Cock Crow?

Brett A. Todd

Perhaps the most well-known contradiction in the Bible is found in the story of Peter’s denial of Jesus.  Did the cock crow one or two times?  This might seem quite an insignificant question, who cares if the cock crowed once, twice or a zillion times–the cock crowed.  For others, however, it is not insignificant, it is a very important question.  For them, there can be no contradictions in the Bible, it is the Word of God.  Our approach, again, from a historical perspective is: what can we know historically about the Bible?

All four Gospels contain this story of Peter’s denial and the Cock crowing, but as you will see, they don’t all agree.  Matthew, Luke, and John tell us that the cock crowed one time while the Gospel of Mark tells us it crowed two times.  The reason this is significant is that we know other Gospels used Mark as their main source for writing their own stories, this is especially true of Matthew and Luke.  We will talk more about John’s source later.  For now, note the four readings below:

At that moment the cock crowed. Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:74b-75). 

At that moment, while he was still speaking, the cock crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times” (Luke 22:60b-61).

Again, Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed (John 18:27)

At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times” (Mark 14:72).  (emphasis added)

If Matthew and Luke used Mark to write their own story, why didn’t they follow Mark and say the cock crowed two times rather than three?  To answer this question, we must first remember that these Gospels were using other sources than Mark as well to write their stories.  For example, both Matthew and Luke used “Q”. but they had other sources they were using as well.  Knowing this, I think the answer to this question is pretty straightforward: when Matthew and Luke were writing their stories of Peter’s denial, they were using a different source (oral traditions?) than Mark. It is possible that Matthew and Luke were using a similar source as John in telling their story of Peter’s denial.

In our next study, we will look at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem by asking: Was Jesus riding one donkey or two?