Holy Days or Holidays

Thought

          Have you ever wondered why Jesus said he would tell many who claimed to be following him that he never knew them? (See Matthew 7:22/23 with reference to Psalms 6:8) Consider the following: Mark and Luke were not Apostles or even disciples of Jesus; yet, many assign them authority as if they were. They were however close associates of someone else.

Mark is believed to have been a close associate of Paul; yet, Mark never once calls Paul an Apostle. Mark never mentions Paul at all. In fact, though many scholars believe Mark’s gospel account reflects a Pauline influence, not even Paul’s thoughts on the gospel are directly mentioned. There is certainly no mention of Jesus giving Paul any additional or new “good news”. Mark also fails to demonstrate any knowledge of, or make any mention or reference to, any writings done by Paul.

Luke too is believed to have been a close associate of Paul; yet he does not, in his gospel account, call Paul an Apostle or even mention Paul at all. Luke himself states his gospel account is more of an historical account of what was generally believed to be true at the time so it is puzzling that Luke’s gospel account also fails to make any mention or reference to Jesus giving Paul any additional or new “good news”. Luke is also believed to have been the author of Acts. It is even more puzzling, that while he does talk expansively about Paul, Luke also fails to demonstrate any knowledge of, or make any mention or reference to, any writings done by Paul.

None of the Apostles refer to Paul as an authority in any manner. In fact most of the writings of James* are as a direct rebuttal to most of Paul’s false teachings. Not even Paul’s close associates refer to him as having any authority - though oddly enough Mark and Luke’s writing may have gained a more widespread dissemination because of their affiliation with Paul.

The so called “fathers” in the early growth of the church had quite a varied reaction to Paul. Some ignored Paul’s writings entirely or considered them convoluted and useless. Many others considered him an anti-Christ and an Apostle of Satan. Obviously some also considered him worth listening to.

Listen to the so called “christians” today and compare how many are actually following the teachings of Jesus versus how many are following the teachings of Paul.

* Though not an Apostle James was selected by the Apostles to act as the senior elder of their council - what today would be the called the titular head of the group.

QUOTE

How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few his precepts! O! ’tis easier to keep holidays than commandments. -- Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1757

Comment: Things have not changed much since Franklin’s time in this regard. Few observe YHWH’s Holy Day - the Sabbath; but, man-made holy-days such as Christmas and Easter are fought for religiously by so called “christians”. Even fewer observe YHWH’s commandments - which is what the precepts Jesus taught are all based on.

Did You Know

The Puritans refused to celebrate any holidays besides the Lord's Day (Sunday).

Depending on what “church” you follow and where you live Easter is celebrated as early as May 10 and as late June 26.

Many “organized” religions follow the practice of “lex orandi, lex credendi” ("the rule of prayer is the rule of belief"). It is a religious version of Pavlovian conditioning.

The study of the “Church Fathers” is known as "Patristics".

I have not heard of a special name for the study of the “Desert Fathers”; yet, collections of their old sayings are called apophthegmata partum. These collections are often sorted in different manners and abbreviated as APalph, Apanon, APsys, etc. Note though that apophthegmatic material has been found to have a tendency toward more copying variants. For now*, here are a couple of excerpts from the apophthegmata partum:

Do not let your hands be open to gather in; let them rather be open to give.

. . . expect temptation to the last breath.

*I will have more on the apophthegmata partum in the future - including downloadable PDF’s.