Book Review: Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brian Pitre

 Subtitle: Unlocking the secrets of the Last Supper

 This deep dive into Jewish history and culture carefully links many different aspects of the Old Testament to the Passover Celebration by Jesus on the night He was betrayed, as well as the things Jesus said about it and Himself. This includes:

•      The first Passover and the ceremony Moses transmitted on God’s behalf to help the Israelites remember His deliverance of them;

•      The manna that God miraculously provided daily in the wilderness for forty years;

•      The table of showbread (bread of the Presence) in the tabernacle and temple, and the practices ordained for it;

•      Levitical laws regarding the eating of the blood of animals human flesh;

•      Jewish culture and writings (outside the Torah) regarding expectations of a coming Messiah to lead them to a new promised land, after the manner of Moses;

 

In the New Testament record of Jesus’ words and actions, this book cites the explanations that Jesus Himself gave for establishing the Christian practice of Holy Communion as a command for all believers.

•      In John 6:51, He discussed the topic of eating His flesh and drinking His blood to have eternal life, and linked bread to flesh.

•      In the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:11), He taught us to pray for daily bread daily, but the choice of Greek words suggests this was not just providential provision, but supernatural manna-like spiritual provision we are to seek each day.

•      At the Last Supper, when he commanded His disciples to “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25), He explicitly linked Passover to His death on the cross, and to His command to thusly remember Him.

•      As a seldom noted detail, He postponed drinking the fourth cup of the traditional Jewish Seder celebration until His death on the cross, to precisely fulfill the type.

 

The author, Brian Pitre, being Catholic, makes the case that these items, taken together, constitute compelling evidence for the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the elements of the Eucharist. I feel the discussion is incomplete. The difference between interpreting words as being a type, a metaphor, a symbol vs. the assertion of a genuine spiritual reality is at the heart of interpreting Scripture. So the meticulous tracing of Jewish roots for the Last Supper and the Lord’s Supper ends falling short.

Book Review - Living Fearless by Jamie Winship

Jamie Winship was a D.C. police officer for several years before beginning his career in foreign countries ministering to Muslims. It is hard to understand how his work helping unsettled people come to terms with their true identity and their fears and their situation could have been separated from his presentation of the gospel, because to him they were and are a single, integrated way of seeing life. But finding your true identity in God opened the door in approaching Muslims.

The author presents a few key principles.

•      If we don’t derive our identity from God, worldly or fleshly things (such as our job, finances, ambition, family, desires, etc.) will define who we are, and we will be perpetually afraid that we won’t measure up.

•      We have a false identity, which is based on false evidence appearing real (FEAR).

•      A step in evicting this false identity is truth-telling, being real about ourselves. Satan can’t stand truth-telling.

•      Fear is a reaction telling us to be alert, but we must not let fear dictate our decisions. Decisions must be based on what God says to us, personally and in His word.

•      If we ask God how He sees us, and act in accordance with His view of our identity, we have the assurance and security that He has our back.  Even if we fall short, He will make it right, so we need not fear. So we need to ask Him what He sees us as.

•      Finding our identity in God is an ongoing, continuous process, but has a starting point. Some people hear from God immediately and some need a few months to discern His voice.

•      Our understanding of our God-given identity continues to be refined all our lives, but the core of who He sees us as remains solid and unchanging.

•      We should ask God two questions on a daily basis, in every situation:

•      What do You want me to know?

•      What do You want me to do?

If we ask ponderous questions about theology or why things are the way they are, we are likely muddying the waters.

 There are also many podcasts and interviews in which Jamie expounds on one or more of these principles. In addition, he often tells stories that are not included in the book.

•      He explains how, as a new police officer, he found a kidnapped child by asking the Lord and then following his gut.

•      He talks about his son’s skateboard ministry that started in sixth grade, and continued through high school, through two tours in foreign countries.

•      He was in a remote part of some apparently God-forsaken wilderness with the leaders of a small tribe. He had a team of three, their hosts set a table for four. When they asked why, they were told that the fourth was for their bodyguard, who was standing outside, a very large man with a sword. They couldn’t see him but the natives could.

The total scope of Jamie’s ministry and worldview is far too complex to summarize quickly, or even be contained in a single book. The core message is that if we get our identity from God and pursue life based on who He says we are, we can overcome the lies of Satan and the world about who we are, to live the life God calls us to. And we need to ask God in every situation what He wants to tell us about the circumstances and what He wants us to do. The stories he tells should encourage believers of all ages to step out in faith when the Lord prompts them.

Book Review - The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

Translated by Victor Watts

Writing shortly before his death in 524 AD, Boethius summarized his worldview that integrated the classics and Christianity. In this dialog between a prisoner on death row (himself) and an old woman who embodied  the wisdom of Philosophy, they discuss five main themes.

I.          Why do the wicked enjoy power and happiness while the righteous suffer for crimes they are innocent of?

II.       What are the true blessings of fortune?

III.    How can power, fame, wealth compete with the good of knowing God in bringing true happiness?

IV.    How does God use what appears to be fate or fortune to train the good and (ultimately)  punish the wicked?

V.       How can we reconcile man having free will with God’s foreknowledge?

Boethius is not explicitly Christian in his philosophic discourses - no references to Jesus or the New Testament. History reports that he was a believer. He has philosophy say nothing inconsistent with Christian beliefs, but the content deals rather with how to reconcile a transcendent, loving, and holy God with life in this world as we experience.  The philosophical answers make sense from this perspective. There are many deep thoughts, such as trying to explain what God being eternal means, and why we can’t fully comprehend this from our perspective living in a space-time continuum. Discussion of how God uses tribulation to form and discipline His children follows biblical precepts from both old and new testaments. (Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:4-11)

Boethius was struggling with his imminent execution for crimes of which he was innocent. His consolation was that he was innocent and that he was true to his character of being good, and that God, who is good, sees and knows all. But for a man on death row this seems incomplete, without mentioning the redemption and eternal life that Jesus promised those who trust Him. What follows death in this life is not only promised, but demonstrated with power in the resurrection of Christ. On this issue, theology trumps philosophy because it is based on real, miraculous (supernatural) events, not just logic and reason based on precepts. And eternal life is offered to anyone, not just a consolation offered to a philosopher. The problems that Boethius struggled with are real problems, but they are resolved by the cross, not the philosophers’ discourse.

The ethnic fallacy and its kin

The presence of ethnic groups outside their homeland sometimes leads to claims that the homeland government should annex the territories where these emigres are a majority. This has been used as a pretext for Russia’s invasion of the Crimea and Ukraine, China’s claim to Taiwan, Hamas’ invasion of Israel, among others. But migration has been a fact of life for all of recorded history, and noted at least in Genesis 11:8-9, in which God was the author of spreading people across the earth, and it was directly linked to people speaking different languages. He also spells out His purpose in doing so, in Genesis 11:6-7, that He did not want the people of the earth to be one people with a single language, because nothing would be impossible for them. In other words, they would rebel against God, and He would have to complete what he almost did in Noah’s day (Genesis 6:5-7). So different languages and migration both stem directly from God’s action in the days of the Tower of Babel.

Modern wars to reunite separated ethnic groups appear to be of the same genre, that the rulers of large, relatively homogeneous groups want to magnify their power by bringing distant groups under their authority. And we know that in the last days, this effort will be completed, although more on the basis of enforced religious observance than language or ethnicity. (Revelation 13:16-17) I infer that the same spirit that will empower the antichrist and false prophet in the last days is goading contemporary rulers.

 Having this as the root cause of these wars, we can see the futility of trying to resolve these conflicts with human logic, reasoning, appeals to conscience or morality, etc. War is hell, and the people who instigate them know full well that is what they are creating, because the demons of hell are prodding them in this direction. Efforts to get resolution on a human level can at best achieve temporary cessations in hostilities. It’s like trying to steer a semi by pushing on the back of the trailer.

 Jesus told His disciples that there was one condition for His return to earth in the Great Commission. “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NASB) ‘All nations’ explicitly uses the Greek word ethnos, which refers variously to nations, tribes, gentiles, people-groups, and panta, the Greek word for all.

 The choice is stark. Language groups were separated because of the sinful aspirations of the builders of the Tower of Babel to become powerful so that they could operate without being subject to God (presumably to not be constrained by His nature and character) to make a name for themselves. That spirit continues to this day. Rulers of large nations want to do this, hence wars and threats of wars. Jesus told us that the good news of the forgiveness of sins through the acceptance of His sacrifice must be taken to every language and ethnic group, to overcome sin and enable humankind to live out the nature and character of God. Language groups were created as a mitigation for sin, not an incentive for it!

 And so, the conclusion is that we live in a world with wars and rumors of war, and must nonetheless work to spread the gospel. It is wrong to think that remote people of a certain ethnicity must be politically and militarily united; they must be evangelized!

Politics from a Different Dimension

Achieving a Governing Consensus in Congress to Oppose Evil

The inability of the House of Representatives to select a new speaker reflected a symptom of the collapse of the traditional two party structure and the one-dimensional spectrum that typified previous eras. Instead we now have a multi-faction governing structure, irrespective of the labels “Democratic” or “Republican”,  somewhat similar to England, which experiences periodic bouts of political chaos as the conservative, labor, and liberal parties have to negotiate a coalition government. This may be a temporary situation, or a permanent splintering in our political climate and a permanent change to how Congress operates. We will find out how this works out as it unfolds. That is not the primary issue.

The spiritual dimension of our nation’s governance is often discussed, but excluded by the first amendment to the Constitution from being formally recognized. That does not eliminate the reality of conflict in the heavenly realms, most clearly described in the book of Daniel. Satan, the author of lies, deceit, temptation, and rebellion, will mix just enough deception with the truth to create confusion, chaos, and dysfunction in humanity, for the purpose of separating people from God. The rejection of God’s Truth, at its most fundamental level, means that Satan has largely succeeded in the heavenly realms.  Politics that seem confused like an abstract art painting is really a fundamental binary choice: good or evil. White light is split by a prism into a rainbow of colors that can be used to create images, but black only darkens the hues. No single color contains all the wavelengths of white light, regardless of which colors we individually prefer. It is only when the Master artist puts them together according to His vision and plan that the masterwork is created. That results in the beauty of art.

And so political governance, the core of national identity and activity, is really the human attempt to weave together all of the colors of political ideology into the Master’s plan. No single color is the whole picture. A laser is a single wavelength and can do many useful things,  but not everything. A laser can also blind people, and a strong laser can be a weapon like a light saber, or a directed energy weapon. In the realm of the Spirit, God’s entire reality transcends man’s understanding, but He has revealed to us the parts He deems appropriate. We must accept, in humility, that while we hold onto what He has shown us, we don’t by ourselves, or even collectively as humans, have the entire eternal picture. There is great danger in taking Satan’s perspective that we have it all under our control, such is his deception.

As Daniel was shown, the princes of the powers in heavenly realms are opposed by the angels of God. (Daniel 10:12-13) We  participate in that conflict by prayer (as described in Daniel 9:1-19). God’s master plan of redemption does not mean that every person will choose to be saved; the purpose rather is that the eyes of those blinded by Satan’s lies and temptations will be opened so that they can be. It is no coincidence that the dysfunction of a Congress unable to organize itself to operate erupted at precisely the same time that evil was unleashed overseas.

What is the implication of this for political maneuvering in the Congress?

•      Evil is still the enemy, and our first priority must be to oppose it, both in the heavenlies and on earth. Those in Congress must find a way to.

•      Prayer is the strongest weapon for this conflict. Members of Congress should participate. Prayer can cross party lines, and even unite people who focus on different elements of Truth.

•      Different perspectives on ultimate values must be woven together into a tapestry of governing decisions that line up with Romans 13:3-4. Political compromise to achieve a consensus must not be a compromise between good and evil, but on priorities for varying aspects of good.

Of course, only believers have direct access to God and hear His voice and the privilege of doing what He says. God can reveal His power to save even the vilest sinner who repents, but finds difficulty in persuading nominal Christians who are focused on their own prerogatives to turn to Him. He calls politicians just like everyone else. We will find out how many are actually listening.

Book Review: Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West

Theology of the Body was first presented by John Paul II as a series of 129 talks between 1979 and 1984.

Christopher West presents an explanation of the main ideas, the main thesis of which is that the body, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and the divine. It was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden since time immemorial in God, and thus to be a sign of it. He delves into the creation, redemption, and resurrection of the body, as well as Eros in the context of marriage being both a divine gift and a human sign of divine love. He briefly discusses celibacy. His explanation of the Catholic position on birth control is the final chapter before concluding by summarizing how the divine creation of sexual love (Eros) within the context of marriage is God’s picture of the fulfillment of the love between Christ and the church.

I cannot evaluate whether this book accurately recounts the official position of the Catholic Church. Since it has been endorsed by Bishop Robert Barron among others, I infer that it has been reviewed, but that is not the primary point of this review. There is a minor problem and a major problem with this otherwise uplifting account of the Biblical view of sexuality.

The minor problem is that holding to the perpetual virginity of Mary (after Jesus’ birth, for the rest of her life) offers no explanation for the New Testament passages referring to Jesus’ brothers. (e.g.. Matthew 12:46-47; 13:55; Mark 3:31-32; Luke 18:19-20; John 2:12; 7:3-5; Acts 1:14;) Jesus’ comments after some of these verses state that faith is a stronger bond than natural family ties, but it is difficult to read His words as saying that the men that the crowd thought were his natural brothers were in fact not so, not even half- brothers (obviously having a different father, but the same mother). But this is not really germane to the key point of the book. Maybe Mary and Joseph adopted a bunch of kids after Jesus was born.

The major problem is that this doctrine elevates the act of sex within marriage to a sacrament. This is to elevate the significance of the intimate relationship between husband and wife so that is not looked down on as a concession to the flesh, or the mere satisfying of an animal appetite. It is the loving offering of each spouse to the other the most private and personal part of their being. This is consistent with Scriptures from both Old and New Testament that use marriage as a parable for the relationship of God to His people, as in the Song of Songs (which is Solomon’s), Hosea, various parables of Jesus, the epistles of Paul, and the Revelation of John. The problem arises in sacramentalizing the sexual act within marriage. That it should be an expression of love and respect, of self-giving does not provide a basis for making every occurrence a sacrament. Otherwise we would similarly make every meal the Lord’s supper, and every bath a baptism into new life. This seems extreme, but there is more support for the former, at least, in the Lord’s words (1 Corinthians 11:25-26), than for this book’s position on Eros. And so, I respectfully disagree with the book’s position that every sexual expression of love within marriage is a sacrament.

Loving and praying for tailgaters

 What is the biggest risk of tailgating?
1.         Collision if the car in front of me stops quickly
2.         Damage to my car or the other person’s car
3.         Personal injury or death, or injuring or killing someone else
4.         Being held liable legally for a collision
5.         Being morally culpable
6.         Being held responsible before a holy God
7.         Nothing. There is no risk as long as I pay attention to traffic.

What if this question was on the driver’s license exam? What do you, the reader, think is the best answer?

How do I respond to  tailgaters? In the spirit of Matthew 5:44-45, I try to love them the best way I can, which is to pray for them.

•      I pray that they be saved, and come to know Yeshua Hamashiach - Jesus.

•      I pray that Ruach Hakodesh - the divine breath, the Holy Spirit - will speak to him about his need for salvation. To bring conviction

•      Concerning sin, because he does not believe in Jesus;

•      Concerning righteousness, because Jesus has gone to be with YHWH AB - the Father - and we see Him no longer;

•      Concerning Judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

•      I pray that The Father will reveal to them the glory of His holiness and love

•      I pray the Holy Spirit will be the hound of heaven, and follow the driver relentlessly.

•      I ask the Lord to bless them

One other aspect of this prayer is that the Lord impressed on me that when I talk to Him, I can do that silently, but when I am interceding for others I need to speak aloud. It may be that some day He will call me to exercise authority over lying demonic spirits, although I don’t quite see how that would work if their victim can’t hear me. But He can hear me, and there is power in that.

Spiritually, when Jesus told us to love our enemies, and to pray for those who despitefully use us, He had far more than tailgaters in mind. We can practice on them, but the real challenge is how to love those craven, evil people who are truly enemies. Jesus did not command us to have warm, fuzzy feelings for Adolph Hitler or his modern counterparts. To love is to seek the best long-term outcome for the beloved. From the eternal perspective, that means to work towards reconciling the relationship between God and man. That is what Jesus did. (Luke 23:34) This is our challenge. The Prince of Peace can only bring peace between God and man when man is willing.