Оглавление
Группа авторов. The Bible as a detective story
Preface
Christmas
Mary and Joseph
John the Baptist
The Last Supper
Paul
Resurrection
The Empty Tomb
Separately, some unrealistic moments of the New Testament
Miracles
A few words about Christian dogma
Abraham. Father of Intelligence
Noah
Aaron's Golden Calf
Appendix 1. Some symbols of our era, or “all roads lead to Sumer.”
Appendix 2. Phases of Human Development, or “A Bedouin’s God is Always a Bedouin”
Appendix 3. The Lord of the Rings, or a bit of fun conspiracy theory
What else should I read on this topic?
Отрывок из книги
Chronologically, the earliest, as already stated, is the Gospel of Mark. For me, this isn't a matter of formal historical dating, but the result of a study of the four Gospels. This Gospel is placed second in the Bible after Matthew, and for an obvious reason: Mark doesn't yet have an account of Jesus's origin. Therefore, the compilers of the Biblical canon placed Matthew, who does have one, first. From here on, we will examine the Gospels in chronological order: Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John.
Gospel of Mark
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She might have been surprised if the angel had told her in the past tense, that is, that she had already conceived a child. Then her question would have been natural. But the author has the angel speak in the future tense! His prediction is astonishing because of the greatness of Mary's future son, not because of the fact that Mary would have a child.
To explain this paradox, theologians sometimes resort (and what else can they do? They have to come up with ‑something to make it all fit together) to this interpretation: supposedly, Mary and Joseph didn't plan to have children, because Mary intended to remain a virgin in marriage. But, ‑firstly, the author of the text doesn't say this—neither in his own words nor in Mary's reaction, which he himself has invented. On the contrary, Mary speaks in the present tense, "I know no man!" That is, speaking about the fact, about now. And not in the future—as if to say, "But I plan to remain a virgin in marriage."
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