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Sources of the Narratives in the Gospels and Book of Acts


A few years back, I earned the ire of a woman named Dorothy Murdoch, who styles herself Acharya S. She was the principle source for Part I of the internet film Zeitgeist, which went viral a few years ago. Essentially, the premise of Zietgeist was that everything you hold to be true and valid is, in fact, false and deceptive. It's classic conspiracy theory thinking. Parts II and III of the film dealt with, as I recall, the Federal Reserve Board and 9/11 "truther" theories. Part I of Zeitgeist asserted that Jesus never really existed and that every aspect of the gospel narratives was not only false but based entirely on astrologic myths and sun worship, i.e. the Christ myth was entirely pagan in origin. I panned Part I of the film, thereby earning a furious response from Acharya S and her devotees.

While I do agree that most of the gospel narratives were fictional, I believe that Jesus was a real person. Further, while there are some clearly pagan sources for material in the gospels and Acts, pagan myth is only one of four major sources in the New Testament narratives. Not surprisingly, one of these four sources is the body of Jewish scriptures we who came from a Christian background call the Old Testament. Another Jewish source for the gospel narratives is Jewish apocalyptic thought and how it related to the politics of the day.

There are also two pagan sources for the New Testament narratives. One of these is the whole body of pagan myth from diverse sources. These include Greek and Egyptian mythology, but, as well, also include universal concepts involving shamanic initiation, ritual meals, solar imagery and myths of death and rebirth. A second, more specific pagan source is the expression of mythic motifs in Greek literature. This latter source includes the Homeric epics and particularly The Bacchae by Euripides.

In future posts I will give specific examples of these varied sources.

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Re: Sources of the Narratives in the Gospels and Book of Acts


Why did Judas betray Jesus with a kiss, and why did he betray him for 30 pieces of silver? Why does Matthew say Judas hanged himself after throwing down the 30 pieces of silver in the temple, while the author of Luke says in Acts that Judas used the money to buy a potter's field, into which he fell headlong and his guts burst open? Was Paul, writing well before the gospels were written, even aware of any such betrayal? The answers to these questions are to be found in the Jewish Scriptures, except for the last, which has to with the how certain words were translated from the originally Greek text of 1 Corinthians.

For this post I'll deal with Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss. Remember that, according to the canonical gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke and John), Jesus has publicly entered Jerusalem, with crowds acclaiming him and crying out "Hosannah!" This word means roughly, "Save us!" or, by extension, "Free us!" According to the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) Jesus has also recently and publicly driven the money-changers out of the Temple John places this event early in ministry of Jesus; but in the Synoptic Gospels, it seems to be the proximate cause for the Temple authorities arresting Jesus. Thus, Jesus is a public figure, who should be easy to recognize.

So, why does Judas need to identify him to the authorities by greeting him with a kiss? In fact, he doesn't, nor do the authorities even need a betrayer to help them. What, then, is point of Judas' betrayal with a kiss? Of course, the treachery of his act is highlighted by his manner of betrayal. However, this motif was not invented by the author of Mark. Much of the development of the story of Judas' betrayal derives from the story, in 2 Samuel, of Absalom's revolt against his father, King David. The betrayal by the kiss is the only motif from this story that Mark uses. However, both Matthew and Luke expand on the story of the betrayal with other elements from 2 Samuel.

The betrayal by a kiss comes from the end of a cycle of stories involving Absalom's revolt. Contrary to David's wishes, that Absalom be spared, Joab, David's commander has had Absalom put to death. David replaces Joab as commander of his army, giving the job to Amasa, who had been Absalom's commander. Joab, ever the amoral pragmatist, resolves this problem brutally (2 Sam 20: 9 - 10a):

And Joab said to Amasa, "Is it well with you, my bother?" And Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. But Amasa did not observe the sword which was in Joab's hand; so Joab struck him with it in the body, and shed his bowels to the ground, without striking a second blow; and he died.

Here, then, is the origin of the motif of betrayal by a kiss. In my next post I'll deal with why Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and why, according to Matthew, he hanged himself.
3/31/2013, 3:29 pm Link to this post Send Email to Timothy Callahan   Send PM to Timothy Callahan Blog
 
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Re: Sources of the Narratives in the Gospels and Book of Acts


The story of Judas betraying Jesus is most fully developed in the Gospel of Matthew. The story begins in Mt. 26:14 - 16:

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

It has been estimated that 30 shekels of silver would equal four months pay for most people living in Judea at the time. While this might have amounted to a tidy bonus, it's scarcely sufficient for a disciple to betray the one he had been following as the Messiah.

The sum of 30 pieces of silver, like the kiss of betrayal, has its origin in the Jewish scriptures. In this case, the source is the Book of Zechariah. The prophet, acting as the shepherd who consigns the sheep (Israel) to slaughter asks for his wages (Zech. 11:12, 13):

Then I said to them, "If it seems right to you, give me my wages, but if not, keep them.' And they weighed out as my wages thirty shekels of silver. The the LORD said to me, "Cast it into the treasury [or "to the potter," see the thread on potter / treasury] - the lordly price at which I was paid off by them. So I took the thirty shekels of silver and cast them into the treasury [or "to the potter"] in the house of the LORD.

The reason Zechariah refers to the 30 shekels sarcastically as "the lordly price at which I was paid," is to be found in the Book of Exodus. Along with the grand epic of Israel's liberation from bondage in Egypt, Exodus contains a number of specific laws. Among these, a number deal with penalties levied against the owner of an ox that gores someone to death. If the ox was known to gore people and it kills a free person, the ox is to be stones and its owner put to death; but Ex. 21:32 lays out a lesser penalty for the death of a slave:

If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.

Thus, Zechariah sarcastically calls the 30 shekels of silver paid to him as the shepherd who consigns the flock to slaughter a "lordly price" is because it was price paid for the loss of a slave. As such, Judas betrays Jesus for the price of a slave. Thus, the 30 pieces of silver is highly symbolic, rather than literal.
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Re: Sources of the Narratives in the Gospels and Book of Acts


According to the Gospel of Matthew, Judas feels remorse for his betrayal, tries to give the back the 30 pieces of silver and, when the priests refuse to take back the money, throws it down in the temple. He then goes out and hangs himself. The priests, talking among themselves, say they can't put the money back into the treasury, since it's blood money. So, they use it to buy a potter's field, in which to bury strangers (i.e. unknowns and nonJews) who die in Jerusalem.

In Zechariah, God tells the prophet to cast the 30 shekels of silver he was paid either, depending on the particular translation one reads, "to the potter" or "into the treasury," and the prophet does cast the money, either "to the potter" or "treasury" in the house of the LORD. The confusion comes from the fact that the Hebrew word for Treasury, owtsar, is quite similar to te Hebrew word for potter, yatsar. It would seem that "potter" was substituted for "treasury" by a scribal error. Matthew takes advantage of this confusion to have Judas cast the coins down into the temple and having the priests then use the money to buy the potter's field (i.e. "cast it to the potter") rather than putting it into the treasury.

In the complex of stories in 2 Samuel, regarding Absalom's revolt and its aftermath, Ahithophel, Absalom's chief advisor, tells Absalom, after he has driven David out of Jerusalem, to pursue him and finish him off before he can recover. Hushai, who is actually on David's side, pretend to have Absalom's interests at heart, and tells him to wait, collect more of his forces, then attack David in strength. Absalom foolishly listens to Hushai, and Ahithophel, seeing that Absalom's cause is lost, goes home and hangs himself.

In all the Bible, Jewish and Christian scriptures combined, there are only two people who hang themselves: Ahithophel and Judas. Both are traitors. Ahithophel, in supporting Absalom, has betrayed his king, David. Judas has betrayed his king, Jesus, descendant of David.

Thus, the entire script of Judas' betrayal of Jesus - the kiss of betrayal, the 30 pieces of silver, Judas casting the money into the temple, the priests using it to buy a potter's field and Judas hanging himself - were all scripted in advance in the Jewish scriptures.

In my next post, I'll examine the alternate story of the death of Judas, found in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles.

 
4/4/2013, 1:49 pm Link to this post Send Email to Timothy Callahan   Send PM to Timothy Callahan Blog
 


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