Monday, October 30, 2023

Who Would Jesus Whip?

 


Why did I call my website and this blog "Who Would Jesus Whip"? Why do I use the appellation "Who Would Jesus Whip" on all social media accounts associated with the website?  My intention for the first post (excepting the intro, obviously) was to introduce the idea behind it, but when I got the following message, I really felt the need to make it happen sooner rather than later:


I assume most of the people who venture to read my blog will be familiar with the phrase "What would Jesus do?" often stylized as "WWJD?"

A friend of mine also has a "favorite July 4th t-shirt" which is a play on the WWJD idea, and communicates an anti-war message that I enjoy, and got some inspiration for when coming up with the name and theme of my website -- "Who would Jesus bomb?"


So, combined with my visceral reaction (after the laughter subsided) to the meme at the top of this post, we arrive at "Who Would Jesus Whip?"

The answer is the same answer to the question posed by my friend's shirt: no one.

The meme is funny, and -- if meant purely for chuckles -- is fine.  Unfortunately, I see MANY people use it as a humorous way to introduce an argument in favor of violence in certain circumstances -- in favor of righteous violence (we will discuss the difference between "righteousness" and "justification" in a later post) and that simply is an incorrect interpretation.

Let's dive right in!

Before we get to the meat and potatoes, lets get some housekeeping out of the way: The size of the area in question is far larger than traditional art leads us to believe -- a single man, especially one held in contempt by a large portion of the leadership of the Jews (the men who are in charge in part, among other things, of the goings on in the temple) would not have been able to clear the entire area, especially had He resorted to violent means. 

Jesus contended verbally with many who did far worse, so why would He have resorted to violence here?

Similarly, in other instances when Jesus simply spoke words people would try to stone Him, but here, if He ostensibly accosted people in the temple, why'd the Jews simply inquire after His authority to do it?

Not to mention the reaction of Temple guards and Roman soldiers had He been violent during a High Holy Day. "If Jesus had used the kind of weapon that Romans used to punish people, the temple guards and the Roman garrison stationed nearby would have acted swiftly. Throughout the Roman Empire, the military’s function was to suppress riots and rebellions. Anything resembling a riot would have called out the military garrison as happened in Acts 21 when worshippers dragged Paul out of the temple in Jerusalem. Moreover, unrest during Jewish festivals was so commonplace that the Roman authorities prepared for it by sending in extra soldiers to 'quell any uprising that might occur'." (1) 

For the first three centuries CE, almost no Christian writers addressed the whipping in John 2:15. However, the predominant attitude among them was one of pacifism -- both in personal conduct as well as a prohibition to joining with the militaries of the various nations. 

Here is an inexhaustive list of early Christian Fathers who rejected Jesus whipping people: 
Origen
Chrysostom
Comas
Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuestia
Petilian

It was in opposition to this last Father, Petilian, whom Augustine addressed his comments when, in the 4th Century CE, Augustine pulled a fast one on all of us by re-interpreting John 2:15, being one of the first prominent and influential individuals who asserted that Jesus whipped people.

Medieval writers in the 11th century began using Augustine's writing to justify violently enforcing certain rules and prohibitions (for example, those engaging in Simony). Medieval Christianity is not something to emulate, especially as a Restorationist faith.

Bernard of Clairvaux defended Knights Templar and the Crusades as a whole with John 2:15.

Calvin defended lethal force against those he had doctrinal disagreements with, including burning people alive, with John 2:15, concluding, heretically, that "Jesus’ meekness was not intended for the obstinate and evil."

So why were Augustine and his ilk mistaken?  Here is the promised Meat and Potatoes.  We will be focusing entirely on the second chapter of the Gospel of John, as the Synoptics unanimously are mute on the presence of any "whips".

Let's look at the verses in question as they are rendered in the King James Version (KJV):

13 And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting:

15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.

First, let's be clear: Jesus did not have a whip, cat o' nine tails, or other traditional tool of punishment or torture.  The Greek (we're going to spend a lot of time in the Greek) for "cords" is the same word, σχοινίων, used in Acts 27 to describe ropes on a boat.  Weapons weren't allowed in the temple -- walking sticks weren't even permitted.  He used what he found lying around to piece together something John 2 says He made the whip "ἐκ σχοινίων, from reeds" -- but the question is what did He use it for?

First hint that Jesus didn't whip people is that in verse 16 there are still vendors present to be addressed.  If Jesus drove them ALL out, then how were there some still present to receive His instructions?

Here is the full Greek for verse 15 (emphasis added):
Καὶ ποιήσας φραγέλλιον ἐκ σχοινίων πάντας ἐξέβαλεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τά τε πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας, καὶ τῶν κολλυβιστῶν ἐξέχεεν τὸ κέρμα καὶ τὰς τραπέζας ανέτρεψεν.
In the KJV of John 2:15, 'τε...καὶ' in the Greek are both translated as "and" which implies that the scourge was used to expel the money changers along with the livestock. But τε is, in this context, more correctly translated as "both" (which it is most often translated as "both" throughout most translations of the Bible, and is even most often translated as "both" even within the KJV), which grammatically implies the scourge was used on the sheep and oxen only as "both the sheep and oxen" is a clarifying sentence giving more information on who was driven out, not additional information adding "livestock" to "people" on a list of who was driven out.





Additionally, 'ἐξέβαλεν' -- which is translated as "drove" (as in what cattle DRIVERS do to motivate their livestock) -- is actually more correctly rendered as "cast out" and is most often used in instances where the Lord is *SPEAKING* words of power (such as when expelling demons and other undesirables or healing people of afflictions).

So, Jesus used a scourge to cast out livestock, and then spoke words of power, which motivated the money changers to leave, while allegedly tipping over their tables and money (I'd argue the livestock fleeing a whip could easily have knocked the tables over, which may have appeared to be the work of the Lord, or an uncharitable person might just attribute it to Him since He wielded the whip, but that's a conversation for another time).

The point being, of course, that we believe the Bible to be the word of God only as far as it is translated correctly, NOT the inerrant word of God. This proper understanding of the Greek, at a minimum, puts the "Jesus whipped people" narrative in doubt (if not outright disproves it), and cannot be blithely dismissed by honest seekers of truth.

What you should be asking yourself is why the various translators of certain editions of the Bible wanted so badly to keep physical violence on the table as acceptable Christian behavior, and why the vast majority of Christians (you, dear reader, may be among them) seem all too willing to buy it without critical thought or exploration.  This will not be a fun exercise in self-reflection (I speak from experience), but it absolutely is an essential step in turning our hearts to Christ.  

How much of what you assume is meant by things the Master says and does throughout His ministry is colored by your interpretation that "breaking out whips is a possibility"?


1. Violence, Nonviolence and the Temple Incident in John 2:13-15, Andy Alexis-Baker, Marquette University

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

History Lesson: Israel

I have a series of subjects I'd like to post on, and was planning on releasing the first one tonight, but have seen so much misinformation, bloodthirst, warmongering, and willful ignorance from ostensible Christians, that I felt my first REAL post had to address it.

This post is being thrown together from bits and pieces I have collected.  There will be very little proofreading or editing so that I can get the information out there as soon as possible.  I may go back and edit it if anything glaring is brought to my attention.

Good Christians support the Children of Israel.
Smart Christians understand there is significant difference between Jacob's descendants, and the nation-state of Israel.

Many Christians are blindly supporting the Israel, the state, even though they have committed atrocities and are far from blameless.

In the end, the important thing is this: Jesus is our Master, Exemplar, and Teacher.  He is the lens through which we should see EVERYTHING!  We must renounce war and proclaim peace.  Calling for anything else from either side is demonstrably unchristian.

What Hamas did was absolutely horrible, and it has done many horrible things over the decades, but it is no more horrible than the terrible things Israel has done.

Again, Israel is NOT the good guy. Israel is NOT a victim. Israel has, and always has had, a terrorist government that is no better than Hamas.

Link 1




Hundreds of thousands of people fled before Israeli aggression that killed them and made them homeless, and people are surprised that the Palestinians are pissed about it.

We really need to get our heads out of the sand and study the issue. Israel has been at least as culpable in the continuing fighting. 











Hamas said they were stopping militant tactics. Israel then assassinated its leader. It's almost as if Israel didn't want the violence to stop.


The Oslo Accords were a sham that Israel immediately violated.



Hamas leader says they wanted an agreement for the mutual reduction of attacks against civilians with Israel. Israel ignored him. He offered a 10 year peace treaty in exchange for a Palestinian State that would be far smaller than international treaties say the Palestinians should have. Israel then killed him. Again, it's almost as if they wanted the violence to continue.



The international community's response to the killing was surprise, disgust, and outrage.


Again an offer for a two-state treaty was extended, and ignored. Again, it's almost as if no one wants the violence to stop.


Israel wanted Hamas to win the election so they could further lock down Gaza. They wanted to further oppress the Palestinians. They were hoping that would be the result.


Again a two-state agreement was offered if Israel stopped building illegal settlements in the West Bank, which were condemned as an illegal occupation of Palestinian lands by the international community. Israel refused.









Ariel Sharon was a leader of the IDF and committed atrocities. Was he convicted? No, not at all. He became the prime minister of Israel. Again, Israel doesn't want to stop the fighting, and they support atrocities committed upon Palestinians.



Link 5











List of illegal Israeli settlements, most of which were authorized and funded by the Israeli government. These settlements are war crimes because they are illegal colonization of occupied territories: Link 6

This shows the expectation of committing war crimes in the IDF. Common soldiers are taught to massacre civilians.  Years later, they're still laughing about it: Link 7




Sunday, October 1, 2023

Introduction




Greetings!  Thanks for visiting my blog.  I am working on my website, WhoWouldJesusWhip, and honestly have no idea what I am doing.  So that I can scratch my itch to have something -- anything -- I am making this blog until my website is ready.  

My website, and therefore this blog, will be a place for me to collect my thoughts on the topic of Christian Pacifism.  They will allow me a venue for discussion, debate, apologetics, etc., and provide me with an easy way to link people to my thoughts/defenses of the principles of Christian Pacifism.

I hope you enjoy your visit.  I hope you learn something.  I pray the Spirit teaches you something while you're here, and that your conviction to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ, is strengthened by something you find here.

God Bless.

-J


Jesus > Old Testament

"Jesus is the lens. He is the prism. It is through the context and perspective of The Way and Truth that we must view ALL scripture. If...