FIREBLIND.COM

We’ve all heard the story of the apostle Judas, who’s treachery towards Christ paved the way for Christ’s eventual crucifixion. But, did you know that he died two different times in the Bible? That’s pretty cool!

In the book of Acts, Judas buys a field with the money he received for turning in Christ. While in that field, “he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out”. Ouch!

In Matthew, however, Judas feels bad about turning in Christ, so he returns the money (”throws” it into the temple). He then goes “away” and hangs himself.

So, not only did Judas take the money and buy a field, but he also did not take the money and didn’t buy the field. And in the field that he did and did not buy, he fell over and split his belly open. But, in the other field that he didn’t buy, he hanged himself.

This page, entitled “How did Judas Iscariot Die?”, argues that the death in which Judas falls over and bursts open is just a metaphor for his spiritual death. Even if this is the case, I’m not sure why one account describes Judas taking the money and the other says that he gave it back. Or, why a parable about a spiritual death would talk about Judas purchasing a field. Kind of an odd place for a real estate transaction, don’t you think?

On the other hand, this site argues that Judas hung himself, and then a few days after hanging from the rope, his bloated corpse fell to the ground and ruptured. Acts just forgets to mention the reason why his body would have fallen and exploded. Even if this is the case, it doesn’t clear up the issue of returning the money. Note, however, that even if this is a possibility, it’s equally likely that both accounts are meant to be true by their authors and could just as easily be contradictions. Just because the two scenarios may complement each other doesn’t mean that they have to. The Bible is ambiguous on the point.

Link of the day: Pat Robertson is a nutjob. Also, read some of his nutjob quotes here.

Isn’t it odd that the Bible is one big testament to unambiguous miracles happening, and yet, no such unambiguous miracles happen today? In the Old Testament, god frequently speaks obviously and unambiguously to his followers. In the New Testament, we have several clear examples of the clouds opening and god stating that he loves Jesus. After his death, Christ appears to hundreds of people to demonstrate his resurrection, even showing them his crucifixion wounds.

In the book of John, we learn that Jesus performed so many miracles that the world is not large enough to contain the books that could be written about them. Throughout his witness on earth, Jesus is asked to visit or heal sick people constantly, and many times he actually leaves where he is and goes to the person or people. He even brings someone back from the dead.

Upon Jesus’ death, the sky went dark, the ground shook, the curtain of the Tabernacle was torn in half, and dead people rose from their graves and walked around.

In more than one place, Christ states unambiguously that he will answer prayers. He does not restrict the type of prayer one can have answered, and he states that one’s faith can literally be strong enough to move a mountain.

Given all of this, why don’t Christians ask:

1) Why god doesn’t speak to people the way he used to, by physically manifesting himself as light, sound, or via angels? Why aren’t the commanders of Israel told to slaugher neighboring enemy states like they were in the OT?

2) Why Christ used to appear to people frequently after his resurrection, including more than 500 people at one such occasion, but hasn’t appeared to anyone else since?

3) Why, in both the OT and the NT, obvious miracles are performed as proof of god’s (or Christ’s) power, and yet, no such miracles happen today?

4) Why there is no pattern to prayer “answers” greater than that of random probability? If god really did engage people because of their prayer, shouldn’t the probability of obvious answers be higher than 50/50?

5) Why, if god exists and answers prayers, unambiguous miracles like healing amputees or curing someone of Down’s Syndrome never happen?

6) Why didn’t any of the miracles from the OT or the NT leave behind tangible evidence that we could see and feel today?

7) Why are there no sources other than the Bible that speak about dead people rising from the grave, Jesus healing people, the Tabernacle being damaged, and so on? Shouldn’t such unambiguous and amazing occurrences be apparent to other observers beyond one or two gospel writers? Or, why is it that only some of the gospels know about these events, while others exclude some or all of them?

It troubles me to no end that otherwise rational and intelligent human beings can be so delusional. Then again, I consider myself to be pretty smart, and I was this way for a long time. Any believer of any religion knows that the crazy miracle magic of every other religion is a mere delusion, and yet they can’t see that the crazy miracle magic of their own is no different. The brain is an amazing organ, but its ability to metaphorically hide its head in the sand so easily is pretty annoying. Now, if only there were some way I could write my thoughts on the subject and then post them to some sort of public forum to announce my opinion….

Link for the day: Did you know that the Transformers had occultic overtones?