The devout might snap out of it—if they faced these texts honestly
A primary example of the dishonesty of New Testament translators is printing the supposed real words of Jesus in red. Even conservative, evangelical translators know that there is no way at all to verify that Jesus spoke these words. They thrive on the delusion that the words in red were divinely inspired. But that is not how responsible historians operate; they want to know the sources, that is, where did the gospel authors find the contemporary documentation (e.g., letters, diaries and other archival records) by which to verify that these words were spoken by Jesus.
A further complication is that Jesus spoke Aramaic, but the gospels were written in Greek decades after Jesus had died, perhaps even by authors who lived far from the land where Jesus supposedly lived and preached. There are many competent scholars who have advanced the case that Jesus never existed, that he was a mythological figure from the get-go. On this, see especially Richard Carrier’s 2018 detailed essay, Dying-and-Rising Gods: It’s Pagan Guys. Get Over It. The early Christian cult decided to assign this ancient feature to its holy hero, but as Carrier has pointed out, “Jesus is just a late comer to the party.”
But putting that aside, it is quite legitimate to argue that all those red letters reflect Jesus-script that came out of the imaginations of the gospel authors.
For example, there are long Jesus monologues in John’s gospel—widely considered to be the last gospel written, many decades after the others—monologues not found in any of the three gospels that came before. How did it happen that the other gospel authors were not aware of these massive collections of Jesus-script? It is not unlikely that the author of John’s gospel—whoever he was—created them out of his supercharged theological imagination. Anyone can get a feel for this reality by reading Mark’s gospel straight through in one sitting, take a break, then do the same with John’s gospel. How is it possible that these gospels are so out of sync? The Jesuses presented are vastly different.
In my article published here last week, I identified ten examples of Jesus-script that can and should be ignored. Let’s take a close look at ten more today that are either too silly, destructive, or embody cult fanaticism/magical thinking.
One: Mark 4:11-12
In this text, Jesus assures his disciples: “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything comes in parables, in order that they may indeed look but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.”
In other words, the disciples are privileged to know the cult’s secrets, but those on the outside don’t have a clue, and the parables are designed to keep them in the dark, so that they won’t be forgiven! How does this possibly make any sense if Jesus was supposed to be a loving savior, alerting the world to the soon-to-arrive kingdom of God?
Two: Matthew 10:5-7 versus Mark 16:15
Matthew’s author seems to have believed that the new Jesus-sect was still very much a Jewish-cult—for his emphasis on this, see his warning in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:17-20). So it’s no surprise that when Jesus orders his disciples to go out preaching, he includes these instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near’”. Yet in Mark 16:15 we find Jesus saying just the opposite: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” It is the general consensus of New Testament scholars that Mark was written before Matthew, so this is evidence of differing agendas.
However, there is a complication here. It is now believed that Mark’s gospel ended at Mark 16:8, and that fake endings were added later because the ending at Mark 16:8 is so abrupt—and disappointing. Hence we have no way of knowing who added the command to “proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”
Three: Mark 16:16-18
In this fake ending, we read that true believers will be able to cast out demons, speak in tongues, handle snakes, drink poisons without being harmed, and heal people by touching them. On social media I’ve seen this bit of cult silliness used as a challenge to Christians: “Please show us you can do all these things!” But this seems to be yet another bit of Jesus-script that has come out of someone’s imagination.
Four: Matthew 5:27-30
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell,’”
A favorite maneuver of apologists is to argue that this is metaphor: Jesus couldn’t have meant this advice to be taken literally. But cult fanaticism is clearly on display here. Lust is equated with adultery. And it’s dangerous to speak of tearing out your eye, and cutting off your hand when you’re addressing gullible folks who want to satisfy the requirements of the cult.
Five: Matthew 10:14-15
“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”
This Jesus-script is addressed to the disciples when he sends them out on a preaching mission to villages in the vicinity. Put yourself in the position of residents who find Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses knocking on their doors. Do you welcome them, listen to them? In most cases, your response would be some version of get lost. But in the case of this holy hero’s agenda, if you do so, you are in for the same treatment as Sodom and Gomorrah, which were utterly destroyed. Is this truly the kind of Jesus that you worship and pray to?
Six: Matthew 12:31-32
“Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Just what is blasphemy against the spirit? Folks will be forgiven if they speak against the holy hero (here called the Son of Man), but speaking against the spirit is an unforgiveable sin—for ever and ever. Here again we get a taste of cult fanaticism.
Seven: Luke 9:27
“Indeed, truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
This idea that the kingdom of the god is soon to descend through the clouds probably derives from the apostle Paul’s delusion as stated in his first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4. The author of Mark’s gospel was especially devoted to this idea. But wherever it comes from, it is totally wrong. It’s a goofy idea, yet devout cult followers for centuries have predicted an exact date for their holy hero to return—and have always been disappointed.
Eight: Luke 14:33
“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.”
Maybe a way around this rule is to claim that you’re not a disciple, but just an ordinary follower, a devoted member of the church, congregation, or cult. But this Jesus-script reflects a core cult belief that the desire for possessions (in our world today that usually means a wide range of consumer goods) is contrary to the code of supreme devotion to the holy hero.
Nine: John 6:53-58
In this Jesus-script we find the promise of eternal life for those who eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood. Please read the whole text, but here are the crucial verses:
“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them.” (vv. 54-56)
Here the author has made the leap from exaggerated theology to magical thinking: that is, the flesh and blood of the holy hero are magic potions. How is this any different from what we find in Disney fantasies? Verse 58: “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
The Catholic church was thrilled with this idea—but wondered how to make it a reality, since Jesus was no longer present in the flesh. Hence the idea of transubstantiation. During the mass, the wafer and wine—by a holy miracle—become the actual body and blood of Jesus. The church makes a big deal out of First Communion—for young children—but omits to mention that it is promoting magical thinking. Truly, this is religion that has gone off the rails. A few years ago I attending a First Communion service at a suburban church in Rhode Island. The place was packed, and the priests put on a spectacular show. Even so, I wondered if very many people were fooled by the silly superstitions.
Ten: John 8:44
Let me wrap up this list with one of the worst Jesus-scripts in the gospels. This has caused so much damage, so much harm. Jesus is arguing with Jewish leaders, and tells them:
“You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Matthew had wanted the new Jesus sect to be considered a Jewish group, but the author of John’s gospel had moved beyond that concept. Hence this vicious condemnation of Jews. We can assume that this text played a role in boosting Martin Luther’s virulent anti-Semitism, which in turn fueled Nazi hatred of Jews, and their determination to exterminate as many Jews as possible. The Holocaust, the Final Solution, has its roots in the New Testament.
There are, in fact, many more examples of Jesus-script that are disappointing, even mediocre. It’s not hard at all for curious, careful readers to find them.
David Madison was a pastor in the Methodist Church for nine years, and has a PhD in Biblical Studies from Boston University. He is the author of Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief: a Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You Should Ditch the Faith, now being reissued in several volumes:
• Guessing About God (2023)
• Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn’t Taught: And Other Reasons to Question His Words (2021). The Spanish translation of this book is also available.
His YouTube channel is here. At the invitation of John Loftus, he has written for the Debunking Christianity Blog since 2016.
The Cure-for-Christianity Library©, now with more than 500 titles, is here. A brief video explanation of the Library is here.
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