James Randi Speaks: Questioning the Bible - http://youtu.be/WSzQC1zKesU
...At 9:08 he mentions a passage from Luke. (4:16-30) I'm not going to reprint the entirety of the bollox, look it up if you need to but its roughly about Jesus rocking up at the synagogue, declaring all cocky and the great I am, that he knows better, and the elders getting somewhat pissed at him. Anyway, I read on a bit to refresh my memory of the section he was referencing and came to Luke 4:32
"And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power." (KJV)
Well that's an 'excellent' recommendation, eh? 'They' were astonished! Wow, 'they', the people who knew only a fraction of what we know today were astonished. They'd have been astonished by a 10p cigarette lighter! You know, the cheapest, disposable ones. They were primitive tribal people after all, I mean we cannot deny that can we, so it's only to be expected they'd be easily amazed, turning a walking cane into a bunch of fake flowers would have had 'em gob-smacked for weeks, I shouldn't wonder!
Anyway the thing I noticed about the whole Luke passage (4:16-32) was the lack of content. I mean, we know the dessert dwelling primitives were astonished but because of what?
"his doctrine."
But what doctrine? There's none recorded in this scene!
Luke in his wisdom sets the scene, explains how eveyone was amazed but then conveniently forgets the important 'words' of the doctrine itself.
Where's what Jesus is supposed to have said? Where's the record of this astonishing speech?
For Red Dwarf fans, this Luke passage reminds me of the "Better Than Life" episode where Rimmer is telling a 'witty' story at an Officers' dinner party...
“So I said to Hollister… well, I can’t actually remember exactly what I said to him. But it was one of the most enormously cruel and frighteningly witty put downs EVER!”
St. Luke, if he ever existed,
was clearly one of the Arnold Rimmers of this world!
And then there's "his words had power"
Does this refer to the quality of thought behind the words? His 'stage' presence? 'His' presentation skills? Or, a combination?
Or, though this is less likely because of the colon, does it refer to the 'healing' which the chapter goes on to describe?
The real Bible truth here is, no matter what answer instantly springs from your personal indoctrination, this passage is unclear.
I can add nothing to Mr Randi's closing words...
"St. Luke and thus the inerrrent Bible, was plainly demonstrably, dead wrong. Shall we also question the rest of the Holy Bible?
Hmmm. Yes, I think so."
PEACE
Crispy
Crispy
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The best communications are often,
THREE WORDS OR LESS
OR ONE OR MORE FINGERS!
The best communications are often,
THREE WORDS OR LESS
OR ONE OR MORE FINGERS!