A Good Friday essay for believers and non-believers alike.

by Matthew Kruebbe, 2015.

In Christianity, Easter week is a special time. Christians believe Jesus was a Jewish man but also the "son of God" [the Hebrew God Yahweh]. And many Christians say that Jesus himself was an incarnation of Yahweh, "God in the flesh." Christians believe Jesus traveled to Jerusalem around the time of the annual Jewish celebration of Passover, held a final meal with his disciples ("the Last Supper"), was then betrayed to local authorities, was executed by crucifixion on a Roman cross, was buried, and then on the third day rose from the dead (the Resurrection). This paper will examine some of the supposed details of Easter week by comparing and contrasting the stories presented in the four biblical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Let's jump right into some simple questions that reveal some not-so-simple problems with the Christian narrative about Easter week.

When was the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus held with his disciples?

• Was Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples a Passover meal on the first evening of Passover, a Thursday evening, as described in Mark 14.12-17 (and copied by Matthew & Luke)?

• Or did Jesus' Last Supper occur “before Passover,” as described in John 13.1-2?

When was Jesus crucified?

• Was Jesus crucified about 9 AM ( 3rd hour after sunrise) on the day after Passover, as described in Mark 14.12; 15.25 (copied by the authors of Matthew & Luke)?

• Or was Jesus crucified in the afternoon ( 6th hour after sunrise) on the day leading up to the Passover Meal, as described in John 18.28; 19.14-16?

Or is neither version trustworthy? 

Due to these discrepancies and other issues, an ironic situation exists in which no one honestly knows the year, the date, the time, or the details about when and how Jesus was crucified (if such an event actually did happen at all), yet possibly 2 billion "believers," a significant minority of the global population, celebrate the alleged event, which along with Easter is the focal point of the Christian religion, and they actually believe they gain forgiveness and eternal life by believing in the death and resurrection stories as part of the Christian message. We can, however, say something with certainty.  Since the gospel accounts contradict one another, it is impossible for both versions of the story to be factually, historically true (John vs. the synoptic gospels).  Since they contradict each other, at least one of the gospels must contain false/ fabricated details.  Which version, if any, is correct?

This is only an initial sampling. Once a person realizes that the gospels cannot possibly all be accurate or true, due to clear intertextual contradictions, many more questions arise.  Are any of the versions trustworthy, reliable?  Let's dive deeper. 

Passion Week Contradictions between John and the Other Gospels:

The Last Supper and the Crucifixion are on Different Days/Dates in John than in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke).

Not only is the last supper is on a different day of the Jewish month in John, but so is the very crucifixion itself.

In John, the last supper is “before Passover” (13.1-2)[1], and the crucifixion and burial occur on the day leading up to Passover, which itself was a Sabbath day (John 19.31, 42)[2].

In contrast, the synoptic gospels put the last supper on the first evening of Passover (Mark 14.12-17), a Thursday, and the crucifixion and burial are after the first evening of Passover, on Passover day itself.

To phrase this same information in another way, the synoptic gospels and John disagree on the date/time of both the last supper and the crucifixion. In John, the last supper is NOT a Passover meal at all, because the Passover has not yet arrived, and Jesus will actually be crucified on the day leading up to Passover evening. In John, the last supper is just a normal meal, and Jesus washes the disciples' feet (John 13.1-2) and talks a lot (John 13-17).  

In John 19, Jesus is crucified and dies in the afternoon on 14 Nisan (Hebrew calendar), during the sacrifice of Passover Lambs, before the Passover meal (John 19.31, 42).   But in Mark 14.12-16, as well as Matthew and Luke (which copy so much of Mark), the disciples are just preparing for the Last Supper – a Passover meal with Jesus – at that time, and Jesus is not crucified until 15 Nisan, the day after the Passover meal, from 9 AM ("the third hour") to 3 PM ("the ninth hour") with an imaginary 3 hours of world darkness in between.

John has Jesus being crucified at a time when the synoptics have Jesus still alive and eating a last supper (Passover meal) with his disciples!

Despite the fact that one or both must be historically false, the symbolism of both taken together is amazing: Jesus is being crucified right when the disciples are eating his body with him present!  Symbolically the two events are the same thing.  The story could be quite interesting, in a way, if not taken literally, but as a set of myths.  Just as with the resurrection (and the irreconcilable discrepancies in those accounts as well, https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/resurrection), no one should ever have accepted the Jesus myth as literally true or historically factual as written.  It all might have worked much better as (a)  a symbol/ allegory for the political death and expected resurrection of Judea/Israel [which may lie at the heart of Christian origins, with a combination of "Son of Man" (Daniel) and "suffering servant" (Isaiah) allegories for Israel], or (b) some series of gnostic tales symbolizing the person who dies to small-minded ego and the illusion of a permanent, separate self, and learns to live a 'resurrected' life in awareness of his/her interconnectedness with all in Nature's immortality.

What follows is a more detailed look at John's story of Jesus' death as compared with the other gospels' stories.

• John 13.1-2 (NIV):  "It was just before the Passover Festival ...  The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus." "Πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἑορτῆς τοῦ πάσχα ..." (Nestle GNT 1904).  This is the introduction to John's version of the last supper and the events leading to the crucifixion.  In John, the last supper is actually not a communion meal or a Passover meal, but a normal meal at which Jesus marks the occasion by washing his disciples' feet (a story only found in John).  At the meal, after the foot-washing, Jesus predicts his betrayal by Judas.

• John 13.30 (NIV):  "As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night."  After this, Jesus predicts Peter's denial also, then he talks a lot.  In John, chapters 14-17 are all Jesus talking at the last dinner with his disciples. 

• John 18.1 (NIV):  "When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it."  It is here that Judas comes along with soldiers and representatives of the chief priests and Pharisees.  It was still night. "They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons" (18.3).

• John differs from the synoptics by having Jesus identify himself in a powerful way to the soldiers and officials (causing them miraculously to fall down!), whereas in the earlier gospels Mark and Matthew, Judas is the one who identifies Jesus by going to him and kissing him, whereupon the soldiers arrest him.  In other words, this is another example of people buttering up the story over time.  If you compare the gospels side by side for each story, looking at Mark (the earliest), then Matthew, then Luke, then John, it is much easier to see how the story grew and changed over time.  (Try this tool: http://sites.utoronto.ca/religion/synopsis/meta-5g.htm)

o   John 18.4-12 (NIV):  "4. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5. “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.  “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6. When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.  7. Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”  “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.  8. Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” ...  [Then Simon Peter cuts off the right ear of the high priest's slave.) ... 12. Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus."

o   Mark 14.43 (NIV):  "43. Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.  44. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45. Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46. The men seized Jesus and arrested him." 

o   (Matthew 26.47-49 basically follows the plot of Mark, whereas Luke 22.47-48 suggests that Jesus stopped Judas before he could kiss him: "He drew near to Jesus to kiss him; but Jesus said to him, 'Judas, would you betray the Son of man with a kiss?'")

• In John, the soldiers take Jesus first to the high priest's father-in-law Annas for questioning, and only then to the high priest Caiaphas himself (John 18.12-13, 24).  However, in the synoptics, they take Jesus straight to the high priest).    In John, the high priest [apparently Annas, not Caiaphas] questions Jesus, and "Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest" (John 18.24).  Amid these events Peter denies him 3 times.  As with so many ancient myths and legends, the creators of the story made good use of the number 3 (esp. for betrayal, absence, darkness, or death), but the details of the story vary from author to author, and even when an author copiously copied a previous source (as the writers of 'Matthew' and 'Luke' did with 'Mark'), they felt free to change details.

o   In John 18.15-17, 25-27, Peter denies Jesus to a girl at the door, several anonymous persons, then one of the high priest's servants.

o   In Mark 14.66-71, the earliest version of the story, Peter denies Jesus to a servant girl, the same girl again, and then a crowd of people. 

o   In Matthew 26.69-73, Peter denies Jesus to servant girl, a different girl, and then a crowd of people.

o   In Luke 22.54-60, Peter denies Jesus to a servant girl, a man, and then another man. 

o   For more examples of the mythic use of numbers in the bible and ancient literature, see:

https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/numerology (compare the way Judeo-Christian myth uses 3s to the way other ancient myths both before and after the bible use 3s in similar ways).

https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/numerology/easter-fun--jesus-3-days-in-the-tomb (Jesus' 3 days in the tomb compared with similar older stories).

• According to John 18.20, Jesus tells the high priest that he always spoke openly and taught nothing in secret (ἐν κρυπτῷ ἐλάλησα οὐδέν), but according to the synoptic gospels, Jesus DID teach and reveal things in secret that he did not reveal openly (see Mark 4.10-12, Matthew 13.10-11, Luke 8.9-10).  And Mark 8.29-30 claims that Jesus warned Peter explicitly NOT to tell anyone that he was the messiah:  “'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?'  Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah.'  Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him."   In Mark, Jesus only allows 3 disciples to come with him to the mount of transfiguration, and Mark 9.9-10 relates, "As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead."  In Mark, Jesus regularly tells people not to reveal or talk about certain things or ideas to others.  For more information, see my summary of "The Messianic Secret," https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/mark-and-the-messianic-secret .

• John 18.28 (NIV):  "Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover."  

The mention of the approaching holiday confirms that in this version, the Passover has not yet occurred, whereas in the synoptic gospels, Jesus had already held a communion meal with his disciples on Passover itself.  

Interestingly, the writer of Luke avoids a night trial altogether (contrary to Mk, Mt, and Jn) and says the trial happened during the day.  Why? 

o   Luke 22.66:  "When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away to their council ..."

And the writer of John alone asserts that the night trial is before Annas, NOT the actual high priest Caiaphas.  Why?  Is the author of John trying to avoid a trial before Caiaphas altogether?  Was the author conscious of problems/ fictions within the Markan account of events?  It seems that the author of Mark most likely fabricated many elements of his story.

o   It turns out that there were strict rules guiding the procedures of the Sanhedrin, according to Jewish scholars: 

• • • • • Just as in modern courts of law, the council had a special meeting place called the Gazith (Chamber of Hewn Stone), which was part of the Temple. They did not meet anywhere else.

        • Its sessions started at 9am in the morning and closed at 4pm in the evening. The Sanhedrin also did not hold any meeting at night. 

        • An interval of 24 hours had to elapse before the conclusion of the testimony and the rendering of a verdict.

        • The Sanhedrin was never convened on Sabbaths, religious holidays and especially the Passover, which was the most important feast in the Jewish calendar. This is stated by the Misnah (Sanhedrin IV:1) and Maimonides (Hilkot Sanhedrin XI:2): "Trails involving capital punishment may not be held on the eve of the Sabbath or a festival."

o   Here are some potential Problems with the Night Trial in the Gospel of Mark, according to Jewish scholars:

1. The Sanhedrin allegedly convened at the high priest's house, contrary to procedure.

2. The Sanhedrin allegedly met at night, contrary to procedure.

3. The Sanhedrin allegedly convened on the Passover eve and Passover itself.  Eminent Jewish scholars have considered this to be inconceivable, given the strict ruling of no council meetings on the Sabbath, and on religious feast days, such as the Passover. The Mishnah says that capital cases may not be judged on the eve of a Sabbath or on the eve of a festival, lest there be delay should the case not be finished that day, since all trials were forbidden on a Sabbath or a festival.  Jews were notoriously scrupulous about Sabbath observance.

4. The Sanhedrin allegedly pronounced the death sentence immediately, whereas there would have been a 24-hour rule.

5. Leviticus 24:10-23 requires that blasphemers be stoned by the Israelite congregation, not executed by foreigners.

The authors of Luke and John each seem to be trying to make a more plausible account, but neither is any more reliable than the authors of Mark or Matthew, which only makes the entire set unreliable.

• Next, Pilate questions Jesus.  In John 18.33-38, Jesus is not silent during his "trial," but he responds to Pilate's questioning 3 times (notice the use of the number 3 again).  In contrast, Mark (with Matthew following) emphasized the silence of Jesus in face of repeated questioning.

o   Mark 15.1-5:  1. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2. “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied.  3.  The chief priests accused him of many things. 4. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”  5. But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

o   Matthew 27.12-14:  12. When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13. Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14. But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.

 Pilate finds no fault in Jesus, and repeatedly argues for Jesus' release, but he gives in to Jewish demands and turns him over for crucifixion.

• In Luke 23.6-7, when Pilate finds out Jesus is Galilean, he sends him to see Herod, who happens to be visiting Jerusalem.  In contrast, the authors of John (and Mark and Matthew) never show Jesus going to Herod at all.

• In John, Pilate's soldiers put a robe on Jesus and mock him, but in Luke, Herod's soldiers are the ones who do that and Jesus is already wearing the robe when he reaches Pilate. 

o   Luke 23.11 (NIV):  "Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate."

o   John 19.1-3 (NIV): "1. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.  2. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3. and went up to him again and again, saying, 'Hail, king of the Jews!' And they slapped him in the face."

o   Matthew 27.27-28:  "27. Then the governor’s [Pilate's] soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29. and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand."

o   Mark 15.15-17, also Pilate's soldiers in the Praetorium.

• In John, after Pilate condemns Jesus to crucifixion and hands him over to the soldiers, Jesus carries his own cross out to Golgotha.  In the synoptic gospels, however, Jesus does not carry his own cross; rather, Simon of Cyrene is made to carry it for him.

o   John 19.16-17: "So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)."

o   Mark 15.20-22:  "Then they led him out to crucify him.  21. A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. 22. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”)."

o   Matthew 27.31-33:  "31. Then they led him away to crucify him.  32. As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33. They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”)."

o   Luke 23.26:  "As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus."

• John 19.23-24 follows all three other gospels in claiming that the soldiers cast lots and divide Jesus' clothes among themselves, and the writer claims that this is a fulfillment of prophecy (alluding to Psalm  22.18).  The writer gets this plot element from the author of Mark, who seems to have deliberately constructed a narrative based upon Psalm 22.  Many of the details in the Markan crucifixion scene are based upon or related to Psalm 22, but was Psalm 22 really a prophecy of Jesus?  Traditionally, most Christians have considered sections/verses of this and certain other psalms to be prophecies of Jesus believed to have been written by king David.  Such is how they are presented by various New Testament authors and other ancient Christian writers.  Non-believers, Jewish scholars, and various Christian scholars have tended to see the picture the other way around, suggesting that early Christians used passages of the Jewish scriptures, often apart from considerations of original context, as the models for their developing stories about Jesus. 

o   John 19.23-24:   24. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.  24. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”  This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”  So this is what the soldiers did.

o   Psalm 22:  For the director of music. To [the tune of] 'The Doe of the Morning.' A psalm of David.  1. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?  2. O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.  3. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.[1]  4. In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.  5. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.  6. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.  7. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8. “He trusts in YHWH; let YHWH rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”  9. Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.  10. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.  11. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.  12. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan[2] encircle me.  13. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.  14. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.  My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.  15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me[3] in the dust of death.  16. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me.  Like a lion, [they are at] [NIV, "they pierce"] my hands and feet [4]; 17. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.  18. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.[5]  19. But you, O YHWH, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.  20. Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.  21. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save[6] me from the horns of the wild oxen.  22. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.  23. You who fear YHWH, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!  24. For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.  25. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you[7] will I fulfill my vows.  26. The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek YHWH will praise him—may your hearts live forever!  27. All the ends of the land will remember and turn to YHWH, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, 28. for dominion belongs to YHWH and he rules over the nations. 29. All the rich of the land will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—those who cannot keep themselves alive.  30. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.  31. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn—for he has done it.

• • • • • [1] 3 Or Yet you are holy, / enthroned on the praises of Israel.

        • [2] Ps 22.12, "Bashan was an area in Transjordan east of the Sea of Galilee, noted for producing good cattle." (Harper Collins Study Bible, Meeks, ed., p. 818)

        • [3] 22.15. Or / I am laid.

        • [4] 22.16. The NRSV reads, "For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles me. My hands and feet have shriveled; I can count all my bones."  The passage has long been debated.  The actual Hebrew word(s) translated "pierced" in NIV and "shriveled" in NRSV is  ka'ari.  It occurs (as is, with the ka before it) in only one other place in the Tanakh, Isaiah 38.13, and there ka'ari means "as a lion" (ari):  The clause is translated "but like a lion (ka'ari) he broke all my bones" (NIV).  If the word were translated the same way in Ps 22.16 as it is in Isaiah, then the verse would read something like, "For dogs are all around me; a company of evildoers encircles, like a lion, hands and feet."   The Jewish Publication Society Bible (1917) has:  "For dogs have encompassed me; a company of evil-doers have inclosed me; like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet."  In the context of Psalm 22, the lion (ari) metaphor does exist in verses 13 and 21, on both sides of verse 16., and would thus not be surprising here.  Those who take it as a verb, take it from karah, which means "to dig."  The Septuagint took it as "ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας" ("they dug [my] hands and feet"), and the New Testament authors relied mostly on the Septuagint, not on the Hebrew. 

        • [5] "The picture here is of one wasted away by illness and the taunters and persecutors already distributing the victim's clothing as death nears." (Harper Collins Study Bible, Meeks, ed., p. 818)

        • [6] 21 Or / you have heard.

        • [7] 25. Hebrew him.

Footnote 4 above is quite significant, as it shows that the original Hebrew psalm did not speak of "piercing" anyone's hands and feet at all.  The Jewish Publication Society Bible (1917), basing its translation on the Hebrew, reads, "For dogs have encompassed me; a company of evil-doers have inclosed me; like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet."  Likewise, NET Bible commentary notes that the actual Hebrew reads, “like a lion, my hands and my feet.”  

"This reading is often emended because it is grammatically awkward, but perhaps its awkwardness is by rhetorical design. Its broken syntax may be intended to convey the panic and terror felt by the psalmist. The psalmist may envision a lion pinning the hands and feet of its victim to the ground with its paws (a scene depicted in ancient Near Eastern art), or a lion biting the hands and feet."  http://classic.net.bible.org/bible.php?book=Psa&chapter=22#n38.

Yet because the writers of the New Testament relied mostly on the Greek Septuagint translation of Jewish scriptures, NOT upon the original Hebrew, it is not such a surprise that early Christian writers, setting out to create a story that seems to reflect and fulfill old texts, fabricated a fulfilled prophecy where there was none.  This is certainly not the first time NT authors have taken OT passages out of context of mistranslated them.  See "New Testament Misinterpretations of the Old Testament," https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/new-testament-misinterpretations-of-the-old-testament.

As you will see below, the author of John actually removes from his story any allusion to Psalm 22.1, "My God, why have you forsaken me?," apparently finding such a statement incongruous with his image of Jesus as divine and in control.

The claim that various elements of Jesus death are fulfilling Psalm 22 mistakenly assumes that the psalm is a prophecy, when it actually contains no such indication of future events whatsoever, and also relies upon taking isolated verses from a Greek translation of the psalm, instead of taking the whole psalm together as a unified composition in its original context.  If one reads the psalm as a whole, especially in a translation based more honestly on the Hebrew, one does not get the idea that it is a prophecy.  Consider all of the verses that are not quoted in the gospels and how they detract from an attempt to make the psalm "prophetic."

• • • 1. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" doesn't actually make sense as the last words of the very incarnation of God!  (Maybe that is why the author of John removed that allusion.)

    • 1-2. "Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?  O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent."  This indicates the repeatedly unanswered prayers of an ordinary man, yet that isn't what any of the gospels show or want to show for Jesus.

    • 9. "Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast.  10. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God."   --  These do not sound like the words of an incarnation of God himself, but of an ordinary, over-religious Jewish man.

    • 12. "Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me."  Were there people from east of Galilee at the crucifixion?  What role did they play?  None.  Furthermore, if this were prophetic, the allusions to bulls and lions surrounding the speaker would sound more like death in an arena than a crucifixion. And if one is liberal enough with one's interpretation, one could make this psalm apply to any religious person whatsoever who should find himself in a troubling situation.

    • 14.  "... all my bones are out of joint."  Obvious hyperbole, which couldn't be applied to the crucifixion of Jesus, even if the gospel accounts had turned out to be more true.

    • 14. "My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me."  More hyperbole not really deserving application to the Jesus story. 

    • 15-16. " ... you lay me in the dust of death.  Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me.  Like a lion, [they are at] my hands and feet."  This actually portrays the writer (again hyperbolically) as being in the dirt, surrounded by enemies, NOT as crucified.

    • 20. "Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs."  When the writer moves away from poetic exaggeration and back to reality briefly, he asks to be delivered from the sword, yet this also does not apply to the Jesus story.

    •  22. "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.  23. ... All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, ... before those who fear you[7] will I fulfill my vows."  These are the words of a normal human, a Jew/Israelite who has made vows to Yahweh.  Did Jesus make vows to his higher version of himself that he was about to fulfill?  Was he hoping soon to praise Yahweh in the Jewish/Israelite assembly?  Not likely.

In sum, it seems that the many allusions to Psalm 22 (and other passages) in the gospels were attempts by the writers to find isolated, out-of-context quotations from random parts of the Jewish scriptures (in Greek translation) and use them to create an impression that their Jesus character fulfilled "prophecies."  In reality, an exhaustive study of all the actual Jewish messianic prophecies will show very clearly that Christians twist Jewish scriptures to mean things they never really meant. https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/messiah.

• In John, three women named Mary, along with Jesus' mom's sister, are "standing nearby" at the cross, close enough for Jesus to have a conversation with Mary and "the disciple he loved."  In the other gospels, however, the women were "looking on from afar," and Mark and Matthew record no male disciples as present at the cross.

o   John 19.25-27 (NIV): "25. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, 'Woman, here is your son,' 27. and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.' From that time on, this disciple took her into his home."

o   Mark 15.40-41 (NIV):  "40. Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. 41. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there."

o   Matthew 27.55-56 (NIV):  "55. Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 56. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons."

o   Luke 23.49 (NIV):  "49. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things."

• In John, Jesus tells people he is thirsty, drinks some vinegar offered to him, says "It is finished," then bows his head calmly and dies.  The writer of John also never suggests that Jesus cried out asking God why God had forsaken him.  In the earliest gospel, Mark, it was Jesus' loud cry of “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” quoting Psalm 22) that led people to wonder if he was calling Elijah, and they offered him wine vinegar, and he cried out and died (Mark 15.33-37; copied by Matthew 27.45-50).  The later writers of Luke and John seem not to have cared for the idea of Jesus feeling agonized and abandoned, so they removed that.  Luke 23.46 has Jesus say something directly opposite of feeling forsaken, "Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!' And having said this he breathed his last." 

o   John 19.28-30:  "28. Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' 29. A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.'  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

o   Mark 15.34-37:  "34. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, 'Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?' (which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?').  35. When some of those standing near heard this, they said, 'Listen, he’s calling Elijah.'  36. Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 'Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,' he said.  37. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last."

o   Matthew 27.45-50 copied Mark closely.

o   Luke 23.46:  "Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.'  When he had said this, he breathed his last."

3 Hours of Darkness?

For some reason, the author of John decided not to include the synoptic story of the whole sky turning dark for 3 hours at Jesus' death.  Mark 15.33 claims, "And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour."  That is the moment in Mark and Matthew when Jesus cries out that he has been forsaken.  It is obviously highly symbolic.  The authors of both Matthew and Luke followed the Markan version in the detail of the 3 hours of darkness.  Some individuals who took the story seriously tried to suggest it could have been a real eclipse.  Even the author of Luke seems to suggest there was an eclipse (τοῦ ἡλίου ἐκλιπόντος, "the sun being eclipsed/darkened/obscured" 23.45).  However, a solar eclipse can never occur on or near the Passover, because the Passover is a full moon celebration, and a full moon is always, by necessity, in the opposite side of the sky from the sun.  Further, there are no original references to this alleged darkness outside of the New Testament, which is rather suspicious indeed.  A good analysis of ancient literature along with a knowledge of the faultiness of Christian sources and the demonstrable willingness of early Christians to fake and alter 'evidence,' leads inevitably to the conclusion that this 'darkness' was not an actual historical event, but was a common ancient literary motif in stories of a dying hero, king, or demigod.

• There were plenty of good historians around the Roman world at the time, and none of them recorded this.  Is that not odd?  Not Tacitus.  Not Suetonius.  Not Plutarch. It is most reasonable to expect that Josephus, the Jewish historian who recorded a history of Israel from ancient times through the end of the Jewish War in 70 CE (covering the time period in which Jesus allegedly lived) surely would have mentioned such things (along with other aspects of the gospel stories), IF they had actually happened.

• The Christian writer Origen, in his Commentary on Matthew, had no good evidence to offer in the face of criticisms that non-Christian sources contained no mention of this incident involving 3 hours of darkness over the land at Jesus' death.  The best rebuttal he could manage was to suggest that the darkness must have been local to Palestine and went unnoticed to outsiders.  In his work Against Celsus 2.33, he wrote differently, appealing to a book by Phlegon of Tralles (2nd century CE), called On Marvels.  It is full of stories about ghosts, prophecies, monstrous births, hermaphrodites, and giant skeletons, and it mentioned an eclipse accompanied by earthquakes during the reign of Tiberius.  But as discussed, an eclipse cannot occur during Passover, a full moon holiday, and the earthquake mentioned in Phlegon's work occurred in Bithynia (modern Turkey), not in Jerusalem (over 500 miles away).

• Before Christianity ever existed, Romans were telling stories that sounded very much like the story Christians would one day tell about their alleged savior god.

  • For example, consider the basic Roman story of their first king, Romulus.  His reign had been prophesied long before to his ancestor Aeneas (Vergil's Aeneid).  He was born to a Vestal virgin who had been impregnated by the divine Mars.  At the end of his life, Romulus was outside the city performing religious ceremonies, when the sun's light was obscured, sudden darkness came over the land out of a clear sky, and thunder and a storm burst.  Romulus was wrapped in the cloud, and when the sun shone again, Romulus was nowhere to be found.  Shortly thereafter, Julius Proculus, a righteous and honest nobleman, was walking into the city when suddenly Romulus descended from heaven in dazzling bright armor and spoke to him, explaining that it was the will of the Gods that he only be on earth a short time.  He said that he had risen to heaven and was now the God, Quirinus.  He commanded Proculus Julius to return to the city and tell the Roman people to honor him as the God Quirinus, and that if they pursued virtue, their city would one day rule the world.  Then Romulus Quirinus ascended again into heaven, and Julius continued to the city, where he gave sworn testimony to the events that transpired on the road.  All the people rejoiced at the news and honored Romulus as God with a temple, a priesthood, and regular prayer and sacrifice.

    • Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Greek historian writing in the 1st century B.C.E., said of Romulus, "Be that as it may, the incidents that occurred by the direction of God [ek tou theou] in connection with this man's conception and death would seem to give no small authority to the view of those who make gods of mortal men and place the souls of illustrious persons in heaven. For they say that at the time when his mother was violated, whether by some man or by a god, there was a total eclipse of the sun and a general darkness as in the night covered the earth, and that at his death the same thing happened. (2.56.6.)

    • Plutarch said likewise regarding Romulus, "... the light of the sun failed, and night came down upon them, not with peace and quiet, but with awful peals of thunder and furious blasts driving rain from every quarter, 7. during which the multitude dispersed and fled, ..." (Life of Romulus 27.6-7, 1st century C.E.)

    • For much more information along with primary source quotations, see my essay, "Caesar and Christ," https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/caesar-and-christ.

  • When Julius Caesar was assassinated, Romans applied to his death and ascension the same language they had used for Romulus, saying the sun had been darkened in the sky. 

    • The Roman writer Ovid, in his epic Metamorphoses (finished 8 CE), wrote about the death and ascension of Julius Caesar, saying that Venus foresaw what was going to happen to her descendent Julius, and she cried throughout heaven.  The Gods were moved, but nothing could alter Fate (15.779-81).  Still, the Gods gave sure signs of the grief to come on earth.  People heard trumpets in the sky and weapons clashed in black clouds.  The sad image of the sun offered only a lurid light to the worried lands (785-6).  Drops of blood fell among the clouds; the Morning Star was spattered with darkness; the Moon was spattered with blood; ivory statues cried in a thousand places (788-92).

    • The Jewish historian Josephus records a letter from Marc Antony to the Jewish high priest Hyrcanus, in which Antony writes, "we have taken vengeance on those who have been the authors of great injustice towards men, and of great wickedness towards the gods; for the sake of which we suppose it was that the sun turned away his light from us, (23) as unwilling to view the horrid crime they were guilty of in the case of Caesar." (Josephus, Antiquities 14.12.3, http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Book_XIV)

    • The Roman writer Servius, commenting on Vergil (Georg. 1.466.1–5), says that there was a failure/disappearance/weakness of the sun on the day before the Ides of March from the 6th hour until night: 

      •  "Ille etiam extincto miseratus C. R. bonum epilogi repperit locum, ut in Augusti gratiam defleat Caesaris mortem.  constat autem, occiso Caesare in senatu pridie iduum Martiarum solis fuisse defectum ab hora sexta usque ad noctem: quod quia multis tractum horis est, dicit ‘aeternam timuerunt saecula noctem.'"

    • This is obviously VERY suspiciously similar to and prior to the gospel claim (Matthew 27.45, 51-54; Mark 15.33; Luke 23.44-45) that there was darkness from the 6th to 9th hour during Christ's crucifixion.  In fact, if you changed only one small part of one word in the Latin, reading "ab hora sexta usque ad noctem" as "ab hora sexta usque ad nonem," you would end up with the gospel darkness from the 6th to 9th hour.

    • For much more information along with primary source quotations, see my essay, "Caesar and Christ," https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/caesar-and-christ.

  • The Romans said the same thing about the death of the emperor Augustus, who was also said to have been the son of Apollo, whose birth and great deeds had been prophesied long ago, and who rose up into heaven upon his death. 

    • Cassius Dio 56.29.2-3.  "Indeed, not a few omens had appeared, and these by no means difficult of interpretation, all pointing to this fate for him. 3. Thus, the sun suffered a total eclipse and most of the sky seemed to be on fire; glowing embers appeared to be falling from it and blood-red comets were seen. When a meeting of the senate had been appointed on account of the emperor's illness, in order that they might offer prayers, the senate-house was found closed and an owl sitting on it hooted." 

    • For much more information along with primary source quotations, see my essay, "Caesar and Christ," https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/caesar-and-christ.

  • In a great number of ancient cultures, heroes, kings, and saviors were associated with the sun and solar imagery.  This was the case even as far away as China, India, Korea, Japan, and South America.  The Jesus death-and-resurrection story is yet another myth made to resemble the annual solar and seasonal cycle.

  • In the Roman philosopher Seneca's play Thyestes, the sun goes dark in the sky when there is great wickedness upon the earth.  This likely reflects a belief in the interrelatedness among morality, spirituality, and nature.

  • Richard Carrier provides additional primary source references for ancient stories of eclipses associated with the deaths of kings:  "That a solar eclipse should mark the death of a king was common lore among Greeks and other Mediterranean peoples (Herodotus 7.37, Plutarch Pelopidas 31.3 and Aemilius Paulus 17.7-11, Dio Cassius 55.29.3, John Lydus De Ostentis 70.a), and that such events corresponded with earthquakes was also a scientific superstition (Aristotle Meteorology 367.b.2, Pliny Natural History 2.195, Virgil Georgics 2.47.478-80).  [Thallus: An Analysis (1999), Richard Carrier,  http://infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/thallus.html.]

  • Richard Carrier has also written a journal article addressing Christian claims that a pagan named Thallus corroborated the synoptic darkness story.  "Thallus and the Darkness at Christ’s Death," by Richard Carrier, JGRChJ 8 (2011–12) 185-91. http://www.jgrchj.net/volume8/JGRChJ8-8_Carrier.pdf .  That is the Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism.

  • Note also that the number 3 is used for the duration of the darkness, and the 3 hours of darkness prefigure the 3 days in the tomb for Jesus.  The use of the number 3 for this purpose makes the story appear to be a myth, constructed along the lines of similar, older myths.  For a longer list of symbolic literary examples of darkness and the number 3, see my essay, "Easter Fun: Jesus' 3 Days in the Tomb is a Mythic Symbol," https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/numerology/easter-fun--jesus-3-days-in-the-tomb.  The number 3 had been associated with death/darkness probably since prehistoric times, when people noticed that the moon 'dies'/disappears for 3 days out of every lunar cycle, but it always comes back to life eternal.  Eventually, 3 also came to be associated with the winter solstice and the gestation of the newborn sun. (e.g. Hercules, of 12-labors fame, was conceived on a night that lasted 3x the usual length; his 12 labors represent the 12 constellations through which the sun must pass in the course of a year; he, too, was born from a virgin, Alkmene; he, too, conquered death and rose into heaven for life eternal, as the sun does every year. See Apollodorus' Library, among other ancient sources.)

  • Hebrew myth also had darkness cover the earth in the Exodus story and other stories. Here are some of the more salient examples:

    • • Abraham travels 3 days to sacrifice Isaac. (Gen 22.4)

      • 3 days of darkness in Egypt before the Exodus.  (Ex 10.22-23)

      • 3 times Delilah fails to trick Samson (& his 7 braids of hair) (Jdg 16).

      • 3 times Elijah lies on top of the widow's son in order to bring him back from the dead (1 Kings 17.21)

      • After a chariot of fire and horses of fire separate Elijah and Elisha and Elijah goes up to the sky / heaven (shamayim) in a whirlwind, men search for the risen Elijah for 3 days, but they cannot find him.

      • 3 days Jonah is in the belly of the sea creature (Jonah).

        • • Christian literature used 3's for the same symbolic effects as Hebrew, Egyptian, Sumarian, Greek, and Roman literature.  This mythic use of the number 3 is so peculiar and consistent as to make it exceedingly difficult to believe such stories are history rather than myth.  Here are some of the more interesting parallel examples:

      • 3 days Jesus is lost from his parents at age 12 (Luke 2.39-52).

      • 3 hours of darkness "over the whole land" at the crucifixion (Mk 15.33).

      • 3 days Jesus in the tomb, dead, or "in the heart of the earth" (Mt 12.40).

      • 3 times Peter denies Jesus (Mk 14.30, 72; Mt 26.34, 75; Lk 22.34, 61).

      • 3 days Paul is blind and fasting after the Damascus incident, before scales fall from his eyes (Acts 9.9).

      • On the 3rd day, Jesus turns water into wine (John 2). [symbol of resurrection/transformation]

Earthquakes and Zombies?!

There is another story about Jesus' death that occurs only in Matthew, and it is peculiar, noteworthy, and quite suspicious.  Matthew says there was an earthquake when Jesus died (27.51), whereas the other gospels do not. It also says that tombs broke open, and that many dead bodies came to life and appeared to people in Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection (27:52-53). You would think that events of this magnitude would be important enough for Jews and Romans both to write about, yet not only do Jews and Romans not mention them at all, even the other Christian evangelists do not write about them.  To make matters more interesting, the Matthean account sounds suspiciously like Roman stories circulating about the death and ascension of Julius Caesar nearly a hundred years earlier! 

Ovid wrote in the Metamorphoses (finished 8 CE) concerning the death and ascension of Julius Caesar as well as the divinity of Augustus (15.745-870). 

• Venus foresaw what was going to happen to her descendent Julius, and she cried throughout heaven.  The Gods were moved, but nothing could alter Fate (15.779-81).  Still, the Gods gave sure signs of the grief to come on earth.  People heard trumpets in the sky and weapons clashed in black clouds.  The sad image of the sun offered only a lurid light to the worried lands (785-6).  Drops of blood fell among the clouds; the Morning Star was spattered with darkness; the Moon was spattered with blood; ivory statues cried in a thousand places (788-92).  "They say that ghosts of the silent dead wandered around and that the city was moved by earthquakes" (797-8, umbrasque silentum erravisse ferunt motamque tremoribus urbem).  Yet the forewarnings of the Gods could not stop the treachery or fated events.  Venus tried to hide Julius in a cloud, but Jove read her the fates and explained that Julius had completed the time and finished the years he owed to the earth (816-7, hic sua conplevit ... tempora, perfectis, quos terrae debuit, annis).  Venus and Julius' son Augustus will make it so that Julius will accede to heaven and be worshiped in temples (818-19, ut deus accedat caelo templisque colatur, tu facies natusque suus).  "Meanwhile, make this spirit, taken from its murdered body, into the heavenly brightness (iubar) of a star, so that from his exalted dwelling place the divine Julius may always look down upon our Capitol and Forum" (840-2, 'hanc animam interea caeso de corpore raptam / fac iubar, ut semper Capitolia nostra forumque  / divus ab excelsa prospectet Iulius aede!').  And immediately Venus came to earth unseen and took Julius' spirit from his body and bore him aloft to the celestial stars.  He rose as a comet and shone as a star (843-850).

It should be noted that the Christians basically copied and adapted Roman claims about Julius and Augustus Caesar (similar to earlier Greek and Roman stories too) and crafted them into a more Jewish version for their literary hero Jesus.  See my paper "Caesar and Christ" for many more details: https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/caesar-and-christ.

Summary:

Since the gospels disagree with one another in obvious and irreconcilable ways regarding many details, it is a necessary conclusion that at least one of the gospels must contain substantial amounts of false/ fabricated information.  But when we continue investigating, we find that none of the gospels is actually completely reliable.  They are not "the word of God," as so many Christians were taught and, therefore, claim. All of the gospels have largely fictitious accounts at one point or another, and the truth is that no one even knows who wrote them.  Only well after they were written did they come to be ascribed to the alleged disciples and men whose names now appear in their titles.  Untrustworthy sources written by unknown individuals with agendas 2,000 years ago are no decent basis upon which to build one's life philosophy.

How is it that people have for so long allowed the wool to be pulled over their eyes?

When you see these problems between John and the other gospels regarding the death of Jesus, you will have more than enough reason to investigate further and eventually to reject Christianity in total when you explore and realize the following:

• The resurrection stories of Jesus in the gospels are likewise contradictory, unreliable, and fictitious. https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/resurrection .

• The Old Testament, especially the Pentateuch (first 5 books), is far more myth and legend than history.  It does not even come close to matching real history or a scientific view of the past.  https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/otchrono .

• Jesus did not really even come close to fulfilling actual Jewish prophecies, but Christians merely wrote stories to make it appear that way to people who do not understand history or Jewish literature.  https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/messiah .

• The New Testament repeatedly twists, takes out of context, and misinterprets the Jewish scriptures, or the Old Testament, to mean things that the original authors never said, and that can be demonstrated.  https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/new-testament-misinterpretations-of-the-old-testament .

• The birth stories of Jesus in the gospels are likewise contradictory and fictitious.  https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/the-fictitious-birth-narratives-of-jesus .

• Christianity borrowed mythic themes from Roman religion and turned them against Roman religion. https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/caesar-and-christ .

• Christianity's death and resurrection story is a variation on a very old mythic theme.  https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/numerology/easter-fun--jesus-3-days-in-the-tomb .

• The Bible uses numbers in the same ways as other ancient myths.  https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/numerology .

To make this Good Friday essay even better, I should say something about why we should all be so very thankful that the old Christian stories of Jesus' death and resurrection are not actually true.

There is no Angry Sky God, no Hell,

and You Never Needed Anyone 

to "Die for your Sins."

A fundamental tenet of Christianity is that Jesus died on the cross as a deliberate sacrifice to Yahweh to take away the sins of humanity, but it is an absurd concept.  Why would bloodshed, especially of someone allegedly innocent, magically take away anyone's mistakes?!

Answer:  It does not, it would not, it could not!  The very idea is primitive nonsense.

The notion that torturing and killing an allegedly innocent character somehow magically makes up for the guilt of other people or "takes away" their "sins" is an outdated superstition used to manipulate people.  The good and honest way to atone for guilt or error is to deliberately and diligently change one's ways and ask forgiveness from the person one has wronged.  Most humans have not actually "wronged" any real god or done anything even remotely worthy of the vile threats of eternal torment contained in the bible, and the stipulations of the Mosaic law were certainly not from a real god anyway and are, thus, no decent measure for claiming that anyone has wronged God (https://sites.google.com/site/investigatingchristianity/home/otchrono#MosaicLaw).

• "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."  (Hebrews 9.22)  Give me blood or I will stay angry!" says the biblical Yahweh.

The Bible actually teaches that the Jewish god Yahweh enjoyed the smell of burning animal flesh as it wafted up into the sky from Hebrew sacrifices! (Gen 8.20-21: "Yahweh smelled the pleasing aroma.")  Thirty-nine times the Torah speaks of Yahweh smelling the "pleasing aroma" of burnt animal sacrifices: Gen 8:21; Ex 29:18,25,41; Lev 1:9,13,17; 2:2,9,12; 3:5,16; 4:31; 6:15,21; 8:21,28; 17:6; 23:13,18; 26:31; Num 15:3,7,10,13,14,24; 18:17; 28:2,6,8,13,24,27; 29:2,6,8,13,36. …

What kind of god is that?!  

And the New Testament is not any better by substituting a human for other animals! 

The world would be better off without the idea of a personal god who is so primitive and angry that he is incapable of forgiving even small mistakes unless there is blood sacrifice -- whether sheep/ goats ("Mosaic" law) or a human/ Jesus (e.g. Heb 9.22 in the Christian NT).  It is a shameful idea invented by ancient people.

I am merely human, yet I am sufficiently loving and kind that I can forgive people without demanding bloodshed.  It is not even that difficult.  You simply need a good brain, love, and some understanding/ sympathy.  If I, being a mere human, am capable of such love and benevolence, and nearly everyone I know is likewise capable of forgiving others without bloodshed, then so should any decent god who actually existed be capable and sufficiently enlightened/ loving.

Further, the Bible teaches that one gains this magical forgiveness through believing the story.  "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16.16).  This, too, is absurd.  The vast majority of all the people who have ever lived would be ruled out, not because they are/were unworthy or worse than others, but simply because they either have not heard this absurd story, or they are honestly unable to pretend to believe this story, given the immense mass of problems, myths, and illogical elements surrounding it.  Condemning people for their inability to believe in a set of stories would be irrational, shameful, and foolish -- certainly not a scenario devised by divinity.  It only makes things worse when those stories are unproven, problematic, contradictory, unhistorical, full of numerology, and strikingly similar to numerous other ancient myths!

If the god of Judeo-Christian fiction were real, he could simply have spoken to all people, teaching everyone the truth, and clearing up the thousands of years of misunderstandings promoted by religions that let men speak in place of an alleged divinity.  Any personal, loving, intelligent God/divinity could speak, appear, and show good love to everyone in an open, honest, straightforward manner, if one existed.

Christianity is a shameful fraud, a great lie, wasting the lives, time, and resources of millions upon millions of people, distracting them from reality, screwing up politics, perpetuating fears of an imaginary hell, and more.  Let us get rid of the old superstitions, seek and find what is real, and live for love, joy, learning, truth, and a better present and future in this world.

[1] John 13.1-2 (NIV):  "It was just before the Passover Festival ...  The evening meal was in progress, ..."  Later, confirming that the Passover had not yet occurred, the writer asserts, "Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover" (John 18.28).

[2] John 19.31 (NIV):  "Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

John 19.42 (NIV):  "Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there."