Scripture versus modern gossip?

On December 2, 2023, the Wall Street Journal published a column by author Katie Roiphe entitled "In Praise of Girls’ Night". Roiphe wrote, "Sometimes [women] embark on what I can only describe as elaborate gossip projects that extend over more than one meeting. These are particularly mystifying, juicy quandaries within our extended social circles. Gossip in the highest sense of the word (and probably the lowest mixed in there too). I have a feeling that if a man were to wander in for 20 minutes he might think this part of the conversation was "mean" or "brutal," but he would be missing some layers. Beneath the sharp observations, the cutting analyses and the jokes are also compassion, a deep desire to sort things through and a genuine effort to figure out how to live a good life."

I wonder if Scripture was written in this manner!

Consider Genesis 22. Isaac, the son of Abraham and Sarah, when very young, was to be sacrificed by Abraham according to God's command, but Isaac was spared at the last second by the angel of the Lord. If that's not already enough of a soap opera for you, proceed to Genesis 27. Isaac is, by then, old and nearly blind. Before dying, Isaac must bless one of his sons, Esau or Jacob. Since Isaac prefers the elder Esau, Isaac asks for Esau to cook dinner in preparation for the blessing. But, Isaac's wife Rebekah prefers the younger Jacob, so, while Esau is hunting, Rebekah hatches a plan for Jacob to dress in Esau's clothes and add a covering of goat skins to make Jacob seem hairy like Esau, in order to confuse the blind Isaac. Indeed, Isaac blesses Jacob and makes Jacob lord over his brothers, so there is nothing left with which to bless Esau. Esau is understandably upset and Jacob runs off to avoid getting whacked by Esau.

Of course, Katie Roiphe's essay was unrelated to Scripture, but how many times have we wandered into Scripture for 20 minutes and missed some layers? Roiphe's "desire to sort things through" and "live a good life" seem fitting for my Scripture blog. Jacob becomes an important Jewish patriarch; the twelve tribes of Israel are named after his sons, possibly in a mythical sense, but monumentally important just the same. People can act selfishly sometimes, but God's plan can be honored.

Holy Spirit biblebombs some narratives

 

In this post, I will point out Bible verses showing how the Holy Spirit, part of the Trinity, keeps "biblebombing" various narratives.  Compare this word to "photobomb", which is when you aim your camera and a person unexpectedly jumps into the background just as you click. So, "biblebombing" occurs when a Bible narrative includes the appearance of someone who plays a role that doesn't immediately seem important, but after reflection, the role turns out to be special. As far as I can tell, I (Gary Gocek) invented this word "biblebomb" on 2023 December 13.

Genesis 1:2 - "the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters." NRSV has a footnote to indicate that "wind" has another translation from the ancient texts, "spirit". This wind is the Holy Spirit, and this verse shows why the Nicene Creed says it proceeds from the Father. I'll get to the Son in a moment.

Luke 1:35 - "The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God." There is that Holy Spirit again. This verse (the conception of Jesus) refers back to the Genesis creation narrative. As a Protestant, I don't see Mary as an intercessor between me and God (Jesus is the only intercessor), but this verse of Luke assigns immense, presumably lifelong importance to Mary. Only a handful of Bible characters get the same level of direct contact with the Holy Spirit - people like Abraham, Moses, Jesus, the Apostles with Paul (see Acts 9:17), and others.

John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Later in John 1, the Word becomes incarnate as Jesus. I said I would "get to the Son", so there ya go. There is some theological disagreement over whether the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, or only from the Father, but in my opinion, John 1 as a whole gives a lot of credit to the Word and this explains why the Creed is as it is. The Holy Spirit is inseparable from God and the Word, and is apparently necessary for the completion of these creation tasks, and so the Holy Spirit biblebombs the Holy Trinity itself.

Matthew 14:26 / Mark 6:49  / John 6:19 - these verses describe Jesus walking across the surface of a lake. This is interpreted as a direct fulfillment of a reference to God in Job 9:8, "who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the Sea;". This verse in Job refers back to Genesis 1, in which the Spirit swept over the waters. In the New Testament verses, Jesus swept over the waters. It is not theologically correct to equate Jesus with the Spirit, since they are two aspects of the Trinity, but the correlation is obvious.

I invite you to keep thinking about this. It can be hard to understand exactly what the Holy Spirit is or why it is needed, but clearly, God's most miraculous actions utilize the Holy Spirit.

Radical: A Satire

I have recently been studying the opening books of the Old Testament. The Torah refers to the first five books as we know them today, while the Pentateuch refers specifically to ancient scrolls that served as the basis for the Torah.

In any case, BEGIN SATIRE, I implore readers of other texts to avoid blasphemy! The Pentateuch and beyond describe God's might, the need to be loyal to the one God and to despise other gods and idols, and to obey The Law given by God to Moses. Consider this hypothetical question: What if a person were proven to have committed adultery? The Law (a) prohibits adultery, (b) requires that adulterers be stoned to death, and (c) states that the first stones are to be cast by the verified accusers. If another (hypothetical) person were to advise against carrying out the punishment, such a person would be promoting disorder, regardless of the sinfulness of neighbors. Disobedience by one is not atoned for with disobedience by another! A person advising such chaos, which is akin to spitting into the very eye of Moses, would be a blasphemer of the highest order. How could such blasphemy be justified? Such a person would need to be publicly executed by any available means, the more painful the better. END SATIRE.

Of course, in John 8:1-11, we read that Jesus directs an adulterous woman to depart and sin no more, without having been stoned. We all have our favorite Bible passages, and I have liked this one because it seemed like an ingenious retort by Jesus, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone," aimed at the scribes (historians and observers) and Pharisees (official, hardline enforcers of the Law given by God to Moses). I had considered that Jesus' statement caught the others by surprise (including the townspeople holding stones).

However, it would NOT have been a surprise to an ancient Jew that neighbors and officials were watching for deviations from The Law. In fairness, The Law's primary objective was order, i.e., to maintain an orderly society, socially and religiously. It is true that The Law was enforced harshly, and women and certain others (slaves, the disabled, etc.) were treated more harshly than Jewish males who traced their ancestry though the twelve tribes. In any case, all were taught to avoid the temptation lurking around every corner. In the Gospel story, "sin" was not just an abstract concept relating to our worthiness of God's love; sin was strictly laid out in Scripture.

When a person wonders about those without sin, again, this not just an abstract question. The ancients lived a difficult life, and the Hebrews got to where they were through ruthless military conquests. Even if all Scriptural battles do not have independent historical verification, life was hard and dangerous. Have no doubt that the townspeople were not as righteous as The Law demanded. The townspeople were reminded there was always another mob with stones looking for retribution.

In my satire, the person advising the chaos is not necessarily ingenious. The advice would be radical. The society and the woman both need love. One needs to read the New Testament to understand how Christians are Abrahamic and descendants of The Law but have, um, "turned the tables" on The Law.

Does Torah ignore collateral damage?

 

Due to Google search idiosyncrasies, I have adjusted the spelling of certain words.

I am not a rabbi; I am a Christian studying the Bible. One of my frustrations is the modern tendency of Jews to claim righteousness from the law, but ignore some laws. (Christians do it, too, but I just read the Pentateuch.) I am OK with ignoring laws about ritual sacrifices, which the ancient Babylonians essentially ended with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, but let's explore what's left.

My local Gannett newspaper published an opinion piece by author/activist Julianna Margulies on November 26 entitled, "Silence is loud from my friends who aren't Jewish". In general, columnists supportive of Israel extol the righteousness of Judaism. Consider that Israel is a "Jewish state" established in 1948 and admitted to the United Nations in 1949. Leon Kass therefore opined in the Wall Street Journal on November 24 that Israel is committed to the Jewish principles of "the prophets' demands for justice and regard for the other, and ... the law's concern with holiness." Jews stand for "good against evil", and Kass presumably believes Israel is "good".

Back to Margulies, she wrote that modern Jews fear not only the current threat to Israel, but also antisemitism in America and worldwide. She added that nobody else (i.e., Gentiles, without using the word but referring to them as friends) understands Jews' fears; nobody else remembers the Holocaust like Jews do.

Modern Jewish columnists seem to think the phrase "never forget", used by Margulies in her column, was invented after the Holocaust. In fact, the phrase originates with a militaristic verse in Deuteronomy 25.19: "...you shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; do not forget." Deuteronomy is not a reminder about the persecution of Jews; it is a reminder to maintain the struggle against "Amalek", metaphorically, the other. Kass tried to distract us, but he did not suggest when we should have redacted the nasty parts of Scripture. The Hebrews occupied the promised land by killing everyone previously living there, and the Palestinians make the ridiculous claim today that Israel should give it back.

Margulies, in claiming a unique indignation, has apparently forgotten about the plight of Afghans, half of whom are undernourished and whose girls are prohibited from an education. Margulies forgets the deplorable slaughter of the men of Russia and Ukraine and the criminal destruction of Ukrainian towns and infrastructure. She forgets the atrocities currently ravaging towns in the Darfur region of Sudan. She forgets that half of Gaza is now uninhabitable at the hands of the I$$$$$$ Defense Fource ideeff), and Margulies presumably blames Paaaaaaaaaa suffering on H@@@@ and believes I$$$$$ can pull the triggers but feel no guilt and deserve no consequences. Certainly, I$$$$$ fights in self defense after the October 7 H@@@@ massacres, but no one really believes this is an existential battle. When H@@@@ reaches Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, the tactical nukes will come out and the Paaaaaaaaaa race will no longer be able to sustain itself.

The Pentateuch is all about judgement, atonement and punishment. The ideeff is inflicting extreme collateral damage and casualties, and as a Jewish state, Jewish citizens of I$$$$$ must make a choice: claim righteousness from their study of the law and accept the consequences, or deny judgement and responsibility for their actions. They can't claim both. If God walks before Jews in this war, as in the Pentateuch, then God is responsible, not H@@@@, and consequences will be enforced. The Hebrews did not slaughter the Egyptian firstborns during Passover; God did that (Exodus 12:12). If the ideeff pulls the trigger in 2023, Torah can't ignore it.

Imagining the transcendent spirit

 

I have been thinking more about the transcendence of the divine that manifests itself as the Holy Spirit. What is it that I felt in my head and heart as I recognized (in my previous post) the one spirit across different Bible narratives? I reflect on the notion of a "wind from God". In the case of Genesis 1 and creation, the wind is not a tropical breeze; it is a mighty wind keeping the void in check. Genesis does not refer to chaos, and indeed, NRSV rarely uses the word, so the wind must be keeping the chaos in check, right? I suppose there is not much to keep in check when there is only a "formless void", but there is "something". NRSV does NOT present creation as occurring ex nihilo (from nothing). When Genesis begins, the wind is already sweeping over the waters.

In any case, my impression of the transcendent spirit is not of a hurricane. I think what I feel is that the divine wind is what it needs to be at any given moment. For creation, it needs to be mighty and controlling. For the conception of Jesus in Luke 1, it needs to be a heavy, overshadowing atmosphere, even to the point of consciousness.

And for me? What is this spirit during a day in the life of me? When I am waking up to get ready for work, maybe a quick gust to jar me into activity. Later, when my lovely wife pulls some chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, it's a warm breeze that connects all the way back to her mother and my mother (who were saints, for sure).

Lord, let the wind blowing us be light and warm when we need comfort, and strong enough to push us to act when we discern a neighbor in need. Immanent and transcendent, now and forever, amen.

Hamas responsible but is Israel remorseful?

I read in an October, 2023 Wall Street Journal editorial by William McGurn that Hamas is morally responsible for the deaths of civilians because Hamas uses civilians as shields. I agree, but Israel pulls the trigger. Israel cuts of the water, food and power, and Israel drops the bombs. Therefore, I wonder if Israel is remorseful for killing babies and crippling hospitals. Israel should express remorse and describe plans for avoiding collateral damage. The USA does not strafe the Rio Grande to wipe out the migrants attempting to violate American borders. The USA feeds them.

gary.gocek.org redesign

And now my personal home page (gary.gocek.org) has been redesigned using a look-and-feel similar to the recently redesigned home page at gocek.org. Key goals were to be responsive and mobile-friendly. I fixed more Adsense syntax. The text content is now less wordy, and the images in the main body are small.

https://gary.gocek.org/

Home page redesign

 I redesigned the gocek.org home page to be more responsive and mobile-friendly. I fixed a bunch of external links that had changed, and fixed some Adsense syntax. For years, I made it known that I own gocek.org, gocek.net and gocek.com. All three addresses work the same, and in fact, gocek.net is the physically hosted address (org and com are mirrors). But from a branding perspective, I only care about gocek.org, so I have removed some text referring to the other domain extensions. And a few months ago, I added SSL, so use https instead of http. I added SSL because search engines have become less friendly to non-SSL sites, although I am not really sure why unless the site is doing e-commerce, which I am not.

https://www.gocek.org/