Jesus Christ: Peace and Stupidity:
The next section takes direct aim at “Jesus Christ” the first subsection of which is “The Prince of Peace.” Making reference to Matthew 10:34-35 the text is quoted as “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother_” Interestingly, for unknown reasons Cliff Walker neglects to reference or quote verse 36, “And a man’s foes shall be those of his own household.” We are not talking about world wars here and as far as one’s foes being those of one’s own household sadly, many of us can personally attest to the accuracy of this statement.
Next is the section “Stupid Gospel Tricks” which presents “The Fig Tree Enigma” and is the section into which Cliff Walker placed the most amount of effort, if it may be referred to as such. The reference to Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 is quoted thusly:
“The next day…, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’…In the morning…, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter…said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree…has withered!’”
Cliff Walker then lists “Points to remember” which are:
“Jesus was hungry.””He looked for figs on a tree.”
“But it was not fig season.”
He then offers us “Questions to ponder” and writes:
“If it wasn’t fig season, why would even a moron look for figs? Is killing a tree for not bearing fruit out of season a reasonable response by any standard? Matthew 21:18-21 (written after and based upon Mark) says it withered at once. Mark says they saw it the next day and then marveled. Something’s terribly wrong, here. Was Matthew possibly dissatisfied with a Jesus who’d take an entire day to wither a damned fig tree?”
Apparently, no one noticed this or figured it out for 2,000 years. If it is so clear that “even a moron” would not look for figs out of season why would Jesus have done it and why would the apostles record the event? Perhaps they are all moronic. However, the issue is that Cliff Walker apparently fails to recognize that Jesus’ actions were parabolic. Someone familiar with the Bible will note that the fig tree is symbolic of Israel. Take particular note of Luke 13:6-9 where Jesus tells a parable about a fig-tree that is not producing fruit:
“He also spoke this parable: A certain man had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard. And he came and sought fruit on it, and found none. And he said to the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none. Cut it down, why does it encumber the ground? And answering, he said to him, Lord, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and throw manure. And if it bears fruit, well; and if not, then after that you shall cut it down.”
Moreover, Matthew 24:32-33 refers to the fig-tree as indicative of times and seasons,
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree. When its branch is still tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near. So you, likewise, when you see all these things, shall know that it is near, at the doors.”
In any case, it appears that the issue was not the irrationality of seeking fruit before its time but that the tree was not producing fruit when it was supposed to. But how can this be considering that Mark 11:13b states “He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs”?
There are at least two reasonable answers here: either the parabolic action was meant to demonstrate that we aught to “be prepared in season and out of season” (2nd Timothy 4:2) another thing that someone familiar with the Bible would know or the reference is to the lack of ripe figs since, from what I understand, green figs are produced along with the leaves in April and then ripen in June-ergo, figs should have been present even in an unripe form and “out of season.”
The remark about Matthew being based upon Mark appears to be a reference to the “Q” document hypothesis. It is asserted that Q was a document from which Mark was written from which Matthew was written etc., etc. Of course, Q is not a document, not a manuscript, not even a fraction of papyri. Q is an ethereal concept, a fantasy document that no one has ever, never ever, seen. Eta Linnemann’s well rounded discussion of the “Q” issues is found as Adobe or html. I wrote on this issue and the Old Testament document hypothesis here.
But what is the issue between Matthew and Mark? What is “terribly wrong”? Nothing. Even within Cliff Walker’s criticism we see that it is nothing. He states that in Matthew the tree “withered at once” while in Mark “they saw it the next day.” Mark states that the actual tree actually “withered at once” this was how long it took the tree to wither. Matthew refers to when “they saw it” which was “the next day.” It withered in one day and they saw it the next.
In Conclusion:
Overall, what is terribly wrong with the poster is Cliff Walker’s overeager [pseudo] skepticism combined with his lack of basic biblical, historical, cultural, grammatical knowledge and reasoning skills. In the end he discredits himself while leaving the Bible resting easy.
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