New Testament scholar and Christian atheist Bart Ehrman amusingly boils down authentic Christianity to selling everything and giving it to the poor

This isn't amusing because it's wrong. 

The evidence for it is all over the place in the New Testament and early Christianity, and we talk a lot about the primacy of that evidence in this blog.

Some notable texts include Luke 14:33, Luke 12:33, and the narratives about the rich man inquiring how to have eternal life in Luke 18:18ff, Matthew 19:16ff., and Mark 10:17ff., over which so many interpreters in rich, Western civilization stumble generation after generation. 

It is amusing because Ehrman imagines that a good follower of Jesus today would sell everything and give it to the poor. He thinks of this as an ethical ideal when it was the primary example of Jesus' negation of ethics. Jesus' eschatological imperative to repent to escape imminent judgment meant abandoning all social conventions, at the heart of which is economic life.

The implications of Jesus' message for the economy of Judea were devastating, and his opponents grasped them better than any of his followers since. He was crucified because if everyone followed him tribute to Caesar would dry up (Luke 23:2) and the Jewish elites would lose their place of preferment (John 11:48). His death was beneficial for the maintenance of the status quo. Whether it was really necessary is another question, given the difficulty of following Jesus quite apart from what might have happened when his predictions failed to materialize. Hope in what he predicted ironically was kept alive by his speedy demise. 

Schweitzer long ago taught us that Jesus' eschatology theologically meant the negation of ethics. In keeping with this Jesus' imperatives take a negative form involving renunciation of the world and all its ways. The world is passing away, and threatens to take you with it.

Therefore Jesus' imperatives are not a description of the way to lead a Christian life, because there is no such thing as a Christian life. The end of the world is coming so quickly that there won't be time to lead such a life, not even time enough, for example, properly to bury one's dead, or properly bid farewell to one's family. Jesus' "ethics" are if anything negative ethics. They are instruction in how to lose one's life, the life of this world, not save it.

The imminent eschaton makes the very idea of the Christian life beside the point, same as it does the resurrection. We must remember, as Ehrman helpfully does in the podcast, that Acts 1 tells us that the resurrected Jesus hangs around with the now-styled apostles for forty days but all they can seem to think about is not the astounding wonder of this resurrected man in their midst, but whether he will "at this time restore the kingdom to Israel". The coming of the kingdom is what the historical Jesus had drilled into their heads, not the Pharisees' (and Paul's) doctrine of the resurrection of the dead.

The eschatological theology of Jesus was proven wrong by history twice, once by Jesus' death and the failure of the kingdom to come, and a second time by the Jerusalem community when it mistakenly adopted the eschatological imperatives as a way of life, in particular when they had all things in common (Acts 2:44; 4:32).

Not long after the death of Jesus the Jerusalem community was plunged into such abject hunger and poverty by the famine of 44-48 AD that it had to compromise with Paul and accept his law free gospel to the Gentiles and ask him to remember their poor on his travels among them (Galatians 2:10), which inspired Paul's collection for the saints in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25f., 31). Much of earliest Christianity revolves around this collection as a remedy to the failure of so-called eschatological ethics.

You could say that the eschatology certainly failed also a third time in early Christianity, when its reinterpretation as the apocalyptic theology of the Parousia, the second coming, in Matthew 24 and in Paul, went unrealized before the death of the last of The Twelve (Mark 9:1). The kingdom did not come before they all died either, with power or otherwise, nor after the death of Paul.

All that eschatological energy then petered-out, so to speak, as the decades rolled on and Christianity reinvented itself on The Rock in compromise with the world, in compromise not so much because the Church wanted that but because reality is intractable.

 Did Jesus Rise From the Dead? A Debate. A ‘Christian Atheist’ joins Ross Douthat.

The podcast runs 1:24:23.

How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

 

 

The story about the rich man inquiring of Jesus how to have eternal life lives rent-free in the mind of today's man of West, who is the richest in the history of the world, and who turns himself into a pretzel to make the story say anything but what it actually says.

Just today: 

A Camel Through the Eye of a Needle

J.T. Young, RealClearReligion

 

... What Jesus was saying about the camel and the eye of the needle is not that riches prevent a person from entering heaven (as many who seek to twist the scriptures for secular purposes insist); it is that riches can prevent a person from seeking heaven. ... 

This is just laughable. 

In all three versions of this story from the gospels riches do not prevent the rich man from seeking at all.

In each version the rich man actively comes to Jesus to ask a question about eternal life. In Mark's the rich man actually runs to Jesus. Riches do not prevent him from seeking. 

But in all three versions of the story riches most certainly do prevent the man from following Jesus, who went away sorrowful because he was very rich and had great possessions. It's the whole point of the story. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Talk about scripture twisting.

The rich man has much to which to say goodbye in order to become a disciple. We find that very interesting. The poor man has little to which to say goodbye. But by now we just take it for granted that the Twelve also had to say goodbye and have lost sight of the fact that the cost of discipleship is the same for all, whether rich or poor:

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

-- Luke 14:33  

This is the easy yoke of Jesus! This is why his burden is light! You come to the strait gate with nothing in your hands and nothing on your back preventing your entry. 

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

-- Matthew 11:28ff. 

 

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

-- Matthew 19:16

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

-- Mark 10:17

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

-- Luke 18:18 

 

Lecturer in theology says Christians can learn existential gratitude from the spiritual but not religious, who are evidently the reincarnation of Augustine lol

 

The Critique of Religion

King-Ho Leung, Plough

 

... At the heart of “religion,” in Augustine’s portrayal, is what we might call existential gratitude: recognizing our existence as a gift given by God, that we are ourselves created as gifts of God, and that we are called to give to God “the gift of ourselves” – the gifts that we are – as an act of thanks-giving. 

... many who are “spiritual but not religious” or even atheistic may say they are grateful for their existence, as if their existence is a gift given to them, even though they may not believe in a divine gift-giver to whom they feel grateful.

This “spiritual but not religious” attitude of existential gratitude is not about following certain rules or cultural conventions, nor is it about identifying oneself with a particular tribe or social group. It is, rather, as Robert Bellah memorably put it, a “habit of the heart.” And from this kind of gratitude, Christians, perhaps, have something to learn. ...

Right, right, Jesus' message wasn't about doing something in relation to the world. It wasn't about leaving your life and family behind to follow him, or selling everything and giving it to the poor, or forgiving the debts owed to you or the wrongs done to you.

Nay, nay, it was about a feeling in relation to God! It was about thanking God for your beautiful wife and beautiful house, your large automobile, your successful career, and your secure retirement.

True religion is thanking God for the gift of you, the gift that you are.

 

 

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

 

-- Luke 18:11  

Imagine borrowing $200,000 to become an LCMS pastor lol

 Whatever happened to Romans 13:8? And have you ever listened to some of those numbskulls who come out of the seminaries? They take "This is my body" quite literally, but not this:

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 

Becoming a pastor was a lot easier in Jesus' day.

All you had to do was sell everything, give it to the poor, and follow.

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

-- Luke 14:33

The most expensive non-Catholic seminary educations in the country in 2022 were, drumroll please, in the church of my ancestors, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

  

 

It is amusing to read that The School of Salamanca shows that the teachings of the Bible are completely compatible with the notions of free markets

Martín de Azpilcueta (1492?-1586)

 

Completely compatible, except for the usury lol.

Studying in the School of Salamanca

Daniel Lacalle, The Acton Institute 

 

The School of Salamanca was key to the development of our understanding of the importance of human action and freedom as basic principles of prosperity and growth, but also the moral superiority of free trade, private property rights, and economic freedom. Salamanca also reminds us that the moral principles of Catholic doctrine and the teachings of the Bible are completely compatible with the notions of free markets, individual liberty, and small government. ...

The Salamanca scholars also highlighted the importance of interest rates, not as a measure of greed but as a measure of risk. In his writings, Azpilcueta asserted that “the lender may licitly demand something beyond the principal, because he loses the chance to profit from that money in some other way.” Any loan involving capital investment necessitates an interest rate to differentiate it from other loans that are either less risky or less vital for society.

Interest rates serve as a moral guideline to determine the most effective way to use capital, making it worthwhile for lenders to take risk and lend to those who will return it safely, quickly, and productively, thus making the virtuous credit cycle the most effective way to get capital to work. At the time, it was common to think that charging interest was immoral, and that speculators, bankers, and the financial sector in general existed only to exploit the most productive sectors of society. Scholars from the School of Salamanca took the counterintuitive position that charging interest played a crucial role in enhancing opportunities for business, traders, and ultimately the growth of the most productive sectors. ...

  

Gee, why was it common to think that usury was immoral and exploitative at the time? 

 

If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

-- Exodus 22:25

Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.

-- Exodus 25:36

Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.

-- Leviticus 25:37

Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:

-- Deuteronomy 23:19

Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

-- Deuteronomy 23:20

When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge.

-- Deuteronomy 24:10 

Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.

-- Ezekiel 18:13 

And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

-- Luke 6:34f.

 

As with the usurers who crept into Catholicism at Salamanca, they crept also into the Gospels, turning Jesus himself into a usurer.

Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

-- Matthew 25:27

Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?

-- Luke 19:23

The Jesuits crept into Salamanca not far behind the usurers, the ground already prepared there for such casuistry. 

Meanwhile a Jesus who teaches giving everything away to the poor to become a disciple (Luke 14:33) wouldn't have any money himself left over for "the exchangers" or "the bank" to increase it, let alone money for the taxman:

Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. 

-- Matthew 17:27

Jesus' followers are to be as poor as their master, and utterly rely on their father in heaven: 

The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

-- Luke 6:40

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

-- Luke 16:13 

Prodigality is a vice to today's stingy Calvinists, to Jesus a veritable necessity for discipleship

 

 

Calvinists: We can't be prodigal with our money. We need it to rule the world! You know, so that we can do away with heretics like Servetus. 

  

A Theology of Money

 ... it remains true that we all know plenty of people afflicted by Prodigality, and one of them is likely to look us in the mirror every morning. This is the vice of failing to recognize that wealth is a very important tool that God has given us to effectively rule the world as his stewards, and thus failing to take appropriate steps to manage it prudently, instead throwing it around loosely and thoughtlessly, whether out of bad motives or good. ...

What part of "all" do these people not understand? 

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 

-- Matthew 13:44

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 

-- Matthew 19:21 

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. 

-- Mark 10:21

For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. 

-- Mark 12:44

Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.

-- Luke 12:33

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. 

-- Luke 14:33 

Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. 

-- Luke 18:22

For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. 

-- Luke 21:4

 

Do the Calvinists even read the Gospels?

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

 -- Matthew 20:27

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 

-- Matthew 23:11

And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 

-- Mark 9:35

And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. 

-- Mark 10:44 

 

Meanwhile Paul mocked the arrogant Calvinists of his own time, who only imagined that they ruled anything: 

You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich. You have begun to reign in God's kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you. Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor's parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world—to people and angels alike. Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.

-- I Corinthians 4:8, 9, 10