Category: Mythology
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That Christmas ‘Star’
One Christmas ‘tradition’ that continues to amuse me, is the annual attempt to cobble up credible ‘explanations’ of the nature and behaviour of the ‘Christmas Star’. It appears only in Matthew’s Gospel but (all credit to the writer’s imagination) it never fails to make an ‘other worldly’ impact on readers of his story. In the…
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A Boring Christmas Genealogy?
Why does the Bible contain lists of ancestors which are hardly enthralling? One, in 1st Chronicles, is 9 chapters long, making the book chronic-ally unappealing! Their purpose is establishing legitimacy. The king in Jerusalem, had to be a proven descendant of King David; a Temple priest had to be a descendant of Aaron, Moses’ brother. …
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Matthew’s Debatable Verse
There are just two ‘nativity’ accounts, at the beginning of the Gospels called Matthew and Luke. Neither is referred to again in the New Testament, which nowhere else says anything about Jesus’ birth. The word “virgin” occurs only in Matthew, in a quote from Isaiah 7:14. Here’s a literal rendering of that verse from the…
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The Three Nativity Stories
Have you realised that there are actually three Nativity Stories? The first is in Matthew’s Gospel, which includes a guiding star in the sky; an arrival of “wise men” from the east; King Herod’s slaughter of babies and toddlers; the escape of the ‘holy family’ to Egypt; their eventual attempted return to their “house” in…
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“The Combat” – a ‘Sacred’ Poem by Edwin Muir
What is this strange, moving, fascinating poem about? It’s about an ongoing fight to the death between very different creatures. It seems to be a decidedly “unequal battle”. One of the combatants looks like a ‘no-hoper’. There is a “crested animal” resembling the mythical griffin, with “eagle’s head” and “whetted beak”; “body of leopard” and…
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A Hand Shake across Thousands of Years
When caves are mentioned, some of us may still imagine unwashed, unshaven, grunting brutes lumbering about, dragging women behind them by the hair. These hand prints from the Cave of El Castillo, made at least 37 centuries ago, tell a different story. Let’s think about how movingly astounding they are. Early humans worshipped the Earth…
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Samson, a Hero and a Half (v)
What are we to say about the story of Samson? It’s morally outrageous. It has apparently divinely sanctioned mass murder, revenge killing, cruelty to animals, destruction of property, prostitution, theft, lies and deceit. It’s dramatically over-the-top with repeated displays of unbelievably super-human strength, and incredible instances of blind stupidity on the part of the hero…
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Samson, a Hero and a Half (iv)
In Judges 16, being ‘controlled by the Spirit of Yahweh’ seems to increase Samson’s sexual, as well as physical, prowess. While visiting Gaza “he saw a prostitute and went to her house to spend the night”. No moral censure appears in the text. Perhaps Yahweh was willing to let this go, since his aim (recalling…
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Samson, a Hero and a Half ! (iii)
Last time, we saw how, when Samson stomped off from his wedding day, the bride-not-to-be was married off by her father to someone else. Unaware of this, and having recovered his cool, Samson “went to visit the young woman he thought was still his wife.” He brought with him a gift which he clearly thought…
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Samson, a Hero and a Half ! (ii)
At the beginning of Judges 14, Samson sees a Philistine woman, and tells his parents, “I want to marry her”. In 1 Kings 11:2 it’s placed on record that “Yahweh had told the Israelites, ‘You must not marry people of other nations’”. Samson’s parents point this out to him – “Those Philistines are pagans. Why…
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