Authors of the Old Testament portray Hebrews as the chosen people of their God, Yahweh. The chosen people value Yahweh in the same way they value the War Lords who invented him – he is their savior, their protector – as long as they are obedient. How then do authors explain the defeat of…
Yahweh is a deity within the religion of Militarism. He is the fictional War Lord deity invented by Hebrew War Lords. Yahweh sanctifies Old Testament rulers who dominate over the people. Yahweh cannot be compared to the historical peacemaker Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospel. Attempts to connect the two, however, are sometimes made.…
Jesus cleanses the Temple in today’s Gospel reading. The Temple represents a division instituted by religion, specifically the division between Divinity and the natural world. Gods were once believed synonymous with the forces of nature. Those forces could be deadly and were feared. So too the gods assigned to the forces were deadly and…
Jesus is more playful than we might think. We see his playfulness in his many parables. He told his parables for serious and enjoyable reflection, not to teach dogma. Dogma is not playful. Jesus’ stories and the metaphors within them enable us to play with them. He offered characters and events to help us…
The God presented for worship in the Old Testament simply does not match Jesus’ revelation of Divinity in the Gospel. The difference is the difference between the religion of Militarism and the spirituality of Jesus. One assurance of our evolution beyond Militarism’s religion and toward Jesus’ spirituality is the difference between a warrior and…
The longer version of this Sunday’s Gospel includes a reference Jesus made to the law. Jesus says he has not come to abolish the law and that not the smallest letter of the law would not pass away. He was not however referring to the Old Testament law of Moses. Jesus already abolished that…
John the Baptist twice says of Jesus in this Sunday’s Gospel: “I did not know him.” There are additional instances after Jesus’ baptism that shows John didn’t entirely understand Jesus, or His mission. (Matthew 11:2-6) Though John doesn’t know Jesus, John knows the old God and the old religion of the Old Testament. John…
Some diversions from the Way of Peace Jesus witnesses are obvious, others more subtle. Worshipping a golden calf, today’s first reading, would fit the obvious category. Losing ourselves to a life of greed, abuse, or various superficialities would as well. What about subtle diversions? Diversions so slight we are unaware of having gone astray.…