Professor: These Are the Top 10 Zombie Scenes in the Bible
- Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:55am by
Billy Hallowell
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Here are two subjects one rarely hears mentioned in the same sentence: The Holy Bible and…Zombies. Yet, these were the subjects of a recent article by Michael Gilmour, a professor of English and biblical literature at Providence University College in Manitoba, Canada. At the beginning of his piece, Gilmour notes that zombies, animated corpses that creepily move about, have become a pop culture phenomenon — a fact that is hardly deniable.
From movies to books to video games, creatures that have lost total control over their inhibitions have become all the rage. Last year, even the federal government got in on the fun, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posting a spoof blog entry about an impending “zombie apocalypse.” And, bizarrely, over the past few months we’ve even seen some real life “zombie” action going on (must I remind you about the horrific, face-chewing incident?).
Gilmour, who describes himself as “an unabashed zombie fan,” also notes that he’s a scholar who teaches English literature and the New Testament — an intriguing mix, to say the least. These attributes considered, he felt compelled to share some of the Bible’s scenes and themes that he says are reminiscent of zombie activity (or that, at the least, remind him of epic zombie pop culture references).
While this may surprise some Christians and Bible readers who have never really considered such an odd correlation, in some of the passages Gilmour notes that “a zombie-Bible mashup requires very little editorial interference.”
In the end, he compiled a list of the top 10 “zombie” scenes from the holy book. And here they are:
1. The Gospel of Luke: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen” (Luke 24:5). Such a suggestive phrase. Note also that the angels asking the question and those they address are standing inside a tomb at the time (Luke 24:2-4).
2. The Book of Revelation: “the sea gave up the dead that were in it” (Revelation 20:13). John the Seer’s creepy statement reminds me of a scene in George A. Romero’s “Land of the Dead” (2005) that features slow-moving corpses walking out of the surf, and Max Brooks’ “World War Z” with its account of the boy returning from a swim with a bite mark on his foot. He also describes the zombie hoards roaming the world’s oceans: “They say there are still somewhere between twenty and thirty million of them, still washing up on beaches, or getting snagged in fisherman’s nets.”
3. Deuteronomy: “Your corpses shall be food for every bird of the air and animal of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away” (Deuteronomy 28:25-26; cf. 2 Samuel 21:10; Psalm 79:1-2; Isaiah 34:2-3; Jeremiah 7:33). The ancients worried about the exposure of their body after death. Improper care of one’s corpse was a terrifying prospect, so it is no wonder it features in prophetic warnings of divine wrath. Qoheleth insists that even though a man lives a long life and has many children, if he “has no burial … a stillborn child is better off than he” (Ecclesiastes 6:3). The indignity of non-burial presumably accounts for the honor bestowed on the poor man Lazarus in Jesus’ parable; the rich man receives proper burial but Lazarus “was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham” (Luke 16:22) because there was no one to care for his remains.
4. The Book of Job: “Why is light given to one in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, who long for death, but it does not come, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures…?” (Job 3:20-21). Job is angry he did not die at birth (3:11), adding that he loathes his life and does not want to live forever (7:16). Others prefer death to life out of principled anger against God, like the prophet Jonah (4:3; cf. 4:8). Physical death eludes a surprising number of people in the Christian Bible, and this is not always a welcome thing. The prophet John refers to some who “seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them” (Revelation 9:6). The prospect of an elusive death, as every zombie fan knows, terrorizes the living. The “stricken” Charlotte Lucas in “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” agrees to marry the tedious and obsequious minister Mr. Collins because she wants “a husband who will see to [her] proper Christian beheading and burial.” This is no small task for most survivors left with such a grim assignment, as Shaun well knows: “I don’t think I got it in me to shoot my flat mate, my mom, and my girlfriend all in the same evening” (”Shaun of the Dead,” 2004).
5. The Gospel of Matthew: “The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After [Jesus'] resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:52-53). Unwanted persistent life is a recurring image in biblical literature and so too is language referring to the impermanence of bodily death. The dead do not stay dead. The psalmist is confident he will not “see decay” (Psalm 16:10 New International Version; cf. Acts 2:27; 13:35). We read of the physical resurrections of specific individuals (e.g., 1 Kings 17:17-24; Luke 8:49-56; maybe Acts 20:7-12) and expected mass revivals (e.g., 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Some of these accounts of un-dying involve reference to un-burying. Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus walks out of his tomb when “they took away the stone” (John 11:41). On Easter morning, mourners find “the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back” (Mark 16:4). A second century writer describes further the events preceding Jesus’ emergence from the tomb: “That stone which had been laid against the entrance to the sepulchre started of itself to roll and gave way to the side, and the sepulchre was opened” (Gospel of Peter9.35).
6. Ezekiel: Ezekiel receives a vision promising the restoration of Israel (37:11). Seeing a valley full of bones, the Lord instructs him to speak to them, saying, “O dry bones … I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live” (37:4-6). When Ezekiel does so, “there was a noise, a rattling” as bones come together and sinew and skin appears and the breath of life returns. The dry bones “lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude” (37:7-10).
7. Zechariah: “their flesh shall rot while they are still on their feet; their eyes shall rot in their sockets, and their tongues shall rot in their mouths” (Zechariah 14:12). They seem to resemble extras in a George A. Romero film.
8. The Gospel of Mark: “hell, where their worm never dies” (Mark 9:48; alluding here to Isaiah 66:24).Gehenna (here symbolically representing “hell,” and usually translated so, as in Mark 9:44, 45, 47) refers to the Valley of Hinnom located to the south and southwest of Jerusalem. Following the reign of Israel’s righteous King Josiah (see 2 Kings 23:10-14), it became Jerusalem’s garbage heap, a place with maggots and rotting corpses. Jesus refers to this burning garbage in Mark 9:48, a place where residents of the city would leave the rotting corpses of humans and animals to the worms that do not die, to maggots. The image suggests the corpses of the damned rot in gehenna/hell — maggot ridden — in perpetuity.
9. 2 Maccabees: “[Antiochus IV Epiphanes] was seized with a pain in his bowels, for which there was no relief, and with sharp internal tortures — and that very justly, for he had tortured the bowels of others with many and strange inflictions … he fell out of his chariot as it was rushing along, and the fall was so hard as to torture every limb of his body. … the ungodly man’s body swarmed with worms, and while he was still living in anguish and pain, his flesh rotted away, and because of the stench the whole army felt revulsion at his decay. Because of his intolerable stench no one was able to carry the man who a little while before had thought that he could touch the stars of heaven” (2 Maccabees 9:5-6, 7, 9-10). The Syrian ruler’s physical body rots away zombie-like while he still lives. The cause is divine, as the God of Israel strikes this enemy of the Jews with “an incurable and invisible blow” (2 Maccabees 9:5).
10. Genesis with the Book of Revelation: “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep”; “the first heaven and the first earth has passed away, and the sea was no more” (Genesis 1:2; Revelation 21:1). With the disappearance of chaos, Eden returns: “On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit” (Revelation 22:2; cf. Genesis 2:9). Horrors stories often wander back and forth between forms of paradise (ordered society) and chaos (some variant of an apocalyptic hellscape) thus recalling biblical stories with similar alternations. Zombie stories typically depict the disintegration of the modern world, and often hint at a return from the wilderness to the paradisiacal garden for survivors (cf. Genesis 3:23-24). Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later” (2002), for one, ends with a developing romance between Jim and Salina, happy in the cultivated lands around a cottage that echoes Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The sequel “28 Weeks Later” (2007), however, depicts a failed attempt to restore Eden. After the spread of the disastrous infection in the first film, the sequel documents efforts to repopulate the United Kingdom. Survivors return to their homeland, to what the director’s commentary refers to as “a new world” and a “Garden of Eden.” Naturally, mayhem ensues and the infection spreads as the movie unfolds. It wouldn’t be much of a horror movie otherwise.
So, there you have it. Gilmour’s 10 “zombie” scenes from the Bible. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, below.
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Comments (153)
Bronco II
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:09amCommunion is for us in rememberance of what CHRIST did for us HE gave his body,blood for our sins so we wouldn’t have to do what HE did willingly because HE loves us.No greater love hath a man then to lay down his life for his brethern.When I take communion I use a very small piece of Matza and a very small type of shot glass with grape juice.The Matza represents JESUS body and the Grape Juice represents HIS blood it is symbolic of my belief that HE lived,died and rose again and defeated DEATH who is Satan.So let the them spew their garbage I don‘t pay attention to them because I have the SEAL of GODS WORD in my heart and mind they can’t change that.
Report Post »Redwood Elf
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:29amOn the Ezekiel quote, I have just one thing to say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQwgOHyv4TE
Report Post »teaisstronger
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:44pmRemember the other prophesy. AND THE DEAD SHALL VOTE IN YOUR MIDST…
Report Post »teaisstronger
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:45pmDemocrats are spreading these stories to explain away the vast numbers of unexplanable votes that will be cast for Obama in November.
Report Post »Leopold
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 1:39pmThe authors of the different books in the Bible must have seen real zombies, then. That’s how it must have happened. How else could they have written about them?
Yes, yes….., it must have been like that.
Or, here is a silly idea. Zombies have been created in someones mind. Just like Frankenstein.
Or is he also in the Bible?
I wonder………………are all professors this ignorant?
Report Post »stage9
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 2:13pmJust when you thought the secular community couldn’t become any more dumb…here we have it.
A zombie: “is an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means, such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli.” –wiki
1) Witchcraft is evil and satanic (regardless of what wiccans suggest), so to ascribe an evil manifestation like zombies to God is both ignorant and ridiculous.
2) Zombies are known for cannibally eating the flesh of human beings who are still alive! Nowhere does the Bible encourage such behavior and especially not in the taking of Communion. Christians do not eat literal flesh nor drink literal blood. The use of wine and bread are simply REMINDERS of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
3) Neither Jesus, nor those risen from the dead are in a “hypnotized” state or devoid of a conscience. They are quite intellectually aware.
4) Other than the idea of coming back to life, there are no similarities between zombiism and Christianity. When Jesus was resurrected, His physical body was perfected and glorified. Jesus lives today in His resurrection body which does not decay, does not appear dead, and is forever immune from death, injury, and sickness.
Report Post »Hollywood
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 12:26pmBunch of garbage by the Prof[and he knows it]. Spiritual Death, and Physical death are two different things. Of course, if one is an RC, the host and the wine become LITERALLY the real Body and Blood of Christ. Therefore, if one wants to become a vampire, or cannibal, the RC Church is the way to go. HOW DISGUSTING can it get. When Christ said, so this in memory of ME, He ate the bread, and drank the wine. Does the RC Church claim Jesus was a vampire, and cannibal, when EATING of Blood was forbidden in Leviticus? What a fraud the RC Church is. I pray for those, who are thevictims of this Devilish theology.
Report Post »Simple Catholic
Posted on July 8, 2012 at 8:32am@HOLLYWOOD: “Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life within you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by my Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live forever.” John 6:54-59
So again, Hollywood, tell us which Church is on firmer scriptural ground?
Report Post »Bronco II
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:00amIt’s sad people cherry pick and twist GODS WORD to fit their agenda.If they would read it the way GOD said to they would know those passages are speaking in a spiritual term but the anti-GOD think in the flesh that’s where many go wrong including many uninformed christians.Please start reading the whole book or at least the chapter to know what the SUBJECT MATTER IS.The who,when,where,what,why.It might get your brain in geer and start making you think and if you don’t understand it ask GOD for wisdom.Stop listening to mans teachings and read and learn GODS TEACHINGS from HIS WORD.
Report Post »caveman74
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:09amGod allows all things for the benefit of those who love him. This story I take as tongue in cheek as I am a christian and a fan of zombie stories. Of course I don’t believe the bible is spelling out an impending zombie plague. But perhaps writings like these will bring non christian zombie fans just one step closer to opening a bible. It is through man that Gods word is brought to us. We have to endure the teachings of man to get the full benefit of Gods word. It is up to us to pray that our hearts and minds are open to gods word and will every time we attend a church, a bible study, or even just read the bible on our own. Each source of Gods word is going to be skewed by the bias of our teachers or our own heart. We have to actively seek God in all things that we engage in
Report Post »edmundburk
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 5:01pm@bronco II & stage 9- I guess you must be good little evangelicals, because when christanity first started, the roman leaders called christians caninalibals because the christains literally believed that the bread and wine were Jesus’s flesh and blood.
Report Post »SLOWBIDEN
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 7:45pmfirst off what the f@#k is a caninalibals. Second- you are a blithering idiot.
Report Post »Ivehadenoughtofthisgovenmentcrap
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:36amThis is really reaching…..anything to justify what the current cultcure wants…..Lord help us all!!!
Report Post »Iron_Wyll
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:41amI agree. Following this educator’s logic, then Jesus was also a zombie, having been raised from the dead.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:03am…
Report Post »IVE….. I agree!
NEAF
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:36amNo more question; Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Report Post »Hora
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 12:37pmLiberalism is not only a mental disorder,is evil peoples,Zombie is not real,until who believe in a evil and use black magic with a evil power can create zombie,but many thing are proffesor when is not.God Give a jew a ten commander or rules and law,that is order,who are with evil who represent disorden,confucion,caos,teach doing what you like doing,ignore all rules and Laws,or liberals.But a Camarada Nobama can’t win,dark can’t win to ligth.Protect and said anormal homosexual are alike who hetereosexsual is a prove how big mental sick are,but now Nobama no have a support need for win,see how desesperate is,only I not sure is a evil is will accept a crazy blaky in a hell.
Report Post »puravida56
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:12amI always thought of jesus more as a vampire than a zombie. He did drink blood, rose from the dead, healed others and raised lazarus from the dead. Just like they do on true blood. However, he did tell people to eat his body….that is kind of ‘zombieish’. But zombies are all brain dead- vampires can think…so I am sticking with jesus is a vampire.
Now catholics believe they are really eating christs body and drinking his blood- that is ‘zombieish’ for sure!
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:34amYes, Catholic do believe we consume the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus
But only because He said so.
Report Post »sawbuck
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:55ampuravida56
As long as a Atheist….Is a Atheist ..Their the walking dead (zombie) .
And if that person dies a Atheist…their eternally damned ..! (vampire)
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:33amIt is symbolic.It does not turn into the actual flesh and blood of Christ. Also, Jesus was just explaining the Passover meal which they were observing at the time.You missed that episode of “Myth Busters.”
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:41amThat makes since, Myth Busters is your source for the Catholic Faith
Do we really “eat Jesus”? Don‘t the words of consecration call only for a symbolic interpretation of eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood instead of a literal one?
Not according to the understanding of the Catholic or Orthodox Churches, and not according to the practice of Christianity for 1,500 years.
Report Post »The New Testament Greek in Mark 14:22, Matthew 26:26, and Luke 22:19 reads this way—transliterated, of course, into English characters: ” Touto estin to soma mou. ” (The very earliest account of the words of consecration in 1 Corinthians 11:24 is slightly different. Paul has it as: ” Touto mou estin to soma. ” In either case, the translation (as opposed to transliteration) is “This is my body.”
Philologists tell us that the verb estin can mean “is really” or “is figuratively.” But Paul’s discussion of the Last Supper clearly reflects his belief that the Presence is real, not figurative. Paul’s discourse may antedate the earliest Gospels by as much as eight years. It is hardly likely, in view of that, that Matthew or Mark meant estin to be taken figuratively. Furthermore, the Greek word for body used in John 6:52-58 is sarx, which means quite specifically and only “physical flesh.” The Aramaic scholars I have spoken to tell me that sarx is as close as you can get in Greek to the Aramaic bisra, which Jesus himself used.
by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:45amEven more evidence from the very earliest Church comes from Ignatius of Antioch. I had to go back to my Greek version of him. Ignatius wrote about A.D. 110, 10 years or so after the death of John. He’s speaking here about “certain people” who were beginning to hold to “heterodox opinions” that he deemed “contrary to the mind of God”—strong language for the personal disciple of the last apostle. Ignatius says: “These people abstain from the Eucharist as well as from prayer because they do not admit that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness, raised up again from the dead” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 6:2).
Report Post »Ignatius was taught by John himself, and the apostolic succession in this case extends to more than the laying on of hands. I find it unlikely to the point of impossibility to believe that Ignatius would hold to a doctrine antithetical to what he had been taught by the Beloved Disciple.
The_Doors_Of_Perception
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:46amHaha that was awesome Puvida. Oh and Sawbuck once again you have no proof for what you said.
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:46amMass in 155AD
Description of the mass as it was celebrated in his day.
Report Post »“All who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place. The memoir of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits. When the reader is finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things. Then we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves…and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation. When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss [of peace]. Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren. He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks that we have been judged worthy of these gifts. When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: Amen.” When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the ‘eucharisted’ bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.” Quoting Justin Martyr “First Apology” pages: 65-67 written: 155AD
Sound like a Catholic Mass to me.
by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:57amBiblical evidence for the Real Presence
http://youtu.be/xOpJ_lGze0o
overwhelming evidence for the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/the_eucharist.html
John 6:66-71
“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Jesus didn’t say “I was just kidding” He said the truth and those who would not accept it He let walk away. Do you choose to walk away?
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:13pmProtestant attacks on the Catholic Church often focus on the Eucharist. This demonstrates that opponents of the Church—mainly Evangelicals and Fundamentalists—recognize one of Catholicism’s core doctrines. What’s more, the attacks show that Fundamentalists are not always literalists. This is seen in their interpretation of the key biblical passage, chapter six of John’s Gospel, in which Christ speaks about the sacrament that will be instituted at the Last Supper.
Report Post »John 6:30 begins in the synagogue at Capernaum. The Jews asked Jesus what sign he could perform so that they might believe in him. As a challenge, they noted that “our ancestors ate manna in the desert.” Could Jesus top that? He told them the real bread from heaven comes from the Father. “Give us this bread always,” they said. Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” At this point the Jews understood him to be speaking metaphorically.
Jesus first repeated what he said, then summarized: “‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” (John 6:51–52).
by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:14pmHis listeners were stupefied because now they understood Jesus literally—and correctly. He again repeated his words, but with even greater emphasis, and introduced the statement about drinking his blood: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:53–56).
Report Post »Notice that Jesus made no attempt to soften what he said, no attempt to correct “misunderstandings,” for there were none. Our Lord’s listeners understood him perfectly well. They no longer thought he was speaking metaphorically. If they had, if they mistook what he said, why no correction?
On other occasions when there was confusion, Christ explained just what he meant (cf. Matt. 16:5–12). Here, where any misunderstanding would be fatal, there was no effort by Jesus to correct. Instead, he repeated himself for greater emphasis.
In John 6:60 we read: “Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” These were his disciples, people used to his remarkable ways. He warned them not to think carnally, but spiritually: “It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63; cf. 1 Co
by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:16pmBut he knew some did not believe. (It is here, in the rejection of the Eucharist, that Judas fell away; look at John 6:64.) “After this, many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him” (John 6:66).
Report Post »This is the only record we have of any of Christ’s followers forsaking him for purely doctrinal reasons. If it had all been a misunderstanding, if they erred in taking a metaphor in a literal sense, why didn’t he call them back and straighten things out? Both the Jews, who were suspicious of him, and his disciples, who had accepted everything up to this point, would have remained with him had he said he was speaking only symbolically.
But he did not correct these protesters. Twelve times he said he was the bread that came down from heaven; four times he said they would have “to eat my flesh and drink my blood.” John 6 was an extended promise of what would be instituted at the Last Supper—and it was a promise that could not be more explicit. Or so it would seem to a Catholic. But what do Fundamentalists say?
They say that in John 6 Jesus was not talking about physical food and drink, but about spiritual food and drink. They quote John 6:35: “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.’” They claim that coming to him is bread, having faith in him is drink. Thus, eating his flesh and blood merely means believing in Christ.
by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:16pmBut there is a problem with that interpretation. As Fr. John A. O’Brien explains, “The phrase ‘to eat the flesh and drink the blood,’ when used figuratively among the Jews, as among the Arabs of today, meant to inflict upon a person some serious injury, especially by calumny or by false accusation. To interpret the phrase figuratively then would be to make our Lord promise life everlasting to the culprit for slandering and hating him, which would reduce the whole passage to utter nonsense” (O’Brien, The Faith of Millions, 215). For an example of this use, see Micah 3:3.
Report Post »Fundamentalist writers who comment on John 6 also assert that one can show Christ was speaking only metaphorically by comparing verses like John 10:9 (“I am the door”) and John 15:1 (“I am the true vine”). The problem is that there is not a connection to John 6:35, “I am the bread of life.“ ”I am the door“ and ”I am the vine” make sense as metaphors because Christ is like a door—we go to heaven through him—and he is also like a vine—we get our spiritual sap through him. But Christ takes John 6:35 far beyond symbolism by saying, “For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (John 6:55).
He continues: “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me” (John 6:57). The Greek word used for “eats” (trogon) is very blunt and has the sense of “chewing” or “gnawing.” This is not the language of metaphor.
The_Doors_Of_Perception
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:24pmBy faith you have an odd sense of the word evidence. How much creedence would give me if I used The Odyssey as my reference for evidence?
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:37pmI give you Bible quotes, historical quotes and 2,000+ years of Catholic teaching.
The best argument you have is: How much creedence would give me if I used The Odyssey as my reference for evidence? What would it be evidence of? Your childish reasoning skills?
You believe the Bible is a work of fiction? Well good for you.
Report Post »You obviously must also believe extra-Biblical writings from the same time period are fiction.
You are so smart and all Christians are so dumb.
There, does that make you feel better?
trolltrainer
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 2:15pmBy Faith,
Relax…I am not even going to argue with you… :-)
I just wanted to say, your intensity is commendable. There is no doubt you really believe. Good.
You are not going to persuade anyone else, I hope you understand that. I also hope you understand that everything you wrote is arguable.
But it is not worth my time and I have to respect that you are set in your beliefs as I am in mine.
So I just leave you with my admiration.
God bless.
Report Post »SLOWBIDEN
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 7:47pm@doors of perception. I could give two stinky turds if you believe in God or not.
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:08pmTroll
Report Post »Look how you’ve grown
First you insult my faith. Then you call me a liar. Then you call me names
Now you change your tone completely.
You can argue with all my statements. Yes, yes you can. You can even argue with a rock but that won’t mean you are right.
by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:16pmOh yea and I have no intention of persuading anyone. Like I’ve said before just defending my faith from lies half truths and misinformation.
Your powers of perseption are no so good. You keep assuming I am angry or upset. Ignorance does not upset me, it gives me a chance to share the truth.
Your opinion of me will not keep me up at night
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:46pmNaw, you are angry By Faith. You are on a mission to defend your corrupt religion and you will lie and twist facts to do it. How much time do you spend writing your posts?
You cannot help yourself.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:15pmGlad that god called me out of the RCC church and showed me the true way to salvation……Obey Acts 2:38.
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:43pmPlease tell me o great and powerful Troll what else do I feel. You do realize how arrogant and foolish you sound. Because I have a lot of information to share that makes me angry? Wow, libraries must terrify you. Do you wet your pants when you drive by university?
Crawl back under your bridge now, you’ll frighten the children
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:49pmBO
Yes in the face of all the free education I gave you, you respond with the entelectual equivalent of burying your head in the sand. I can‘t deal with it so I’ll just claim victory and run away.
I pray every day for you and troll and people just like you. Confused close minded souls who on accept there on truth over everything else.
Report Post »The “don’t confuse me with the facts” crowd
holy ghostbuster
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:14pm@ BOMUSTGO – you are wrong in your assertion and correct in reality. That is one of many things that turned this former Catholic into a non-believer. Look into transubstantiation. It is a belief that is alive and well in the Catholic church. I would wager that most Catholics don’t really believe in it, which says alot about the religion.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 12:31amNow now By Faith, you just light a candle or twiddle some beads or something, it will be okay. If you want to believe you are eating Jesus then have at it. No need to get your panties in a wad.
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 3:50amDid the Passover meal turn into the body and blood the night it was celebrated with the Disciples? Before his death? No, and it never turns into the body and blood. It is symbolic as all the feast days represent God’s plan for man.The early Church kept the Passover feast on the proper day Nisan 14.
Report Post »Resaerch “Quartodecimean.” *The Quartodeciman disputes were seen as pivotal to the determination of the Christian Faith. They were the second series of innovations to occur in the Christian church and perhaps the most fundamental. After Sunday worship had been introduced from Rome in the middle of the second century, the Roman system then set about introducing the pagan Easter system over the Passover. They finally succeeded in Britain in 664 at Whitby by force of arms in having the British or Celtic Church accept Easter.( It was The Roman church that brought Paganism into the body of believers.)
BOMUSTGO
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 4:53amhttp://www.bible.ca/catholic-doctrine.htm
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 10:47amBO
Ideas your little web site. It is filled with more lIes and half truths. You and the website are basically calling Jesus a liar and a fraud.
Now I will challenge you with a website: Catholic.com
There are several tracts on transubstantiation and Marian devotion and many other things.
I wouldn’t expect Troll to visit the site. It is full of knowledge. That is a very scaryplace to Troll.
Pour little guy he thinks everyone is so angry.
My last question to all. I believe all that I have posted. Jesus is my savior. Everything else I do is “works” so when I die if I am write then all will be good. But if I am wrong and you are right then I will have wasted my time on earth with my actions but my faith will have saved me.
Report Post »I am really happy and content with my life right now. Daily mass extraordinary minister of Holy Communion a famIly that loves me good health and a god job. I think I will keep my life and you keep yours. If the Lord wants me he already has me. As for you live your life as you see fit. You were given free willl I will not question that. You are free to lie about me and my Church. No one is attacking your faith but you 3 live on this site and do nothing but attack others.
When the good Shepard calls you will bend your knee or he.will break your legs.
I will continue to pray for you
by faith
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 11:01amIt always comes own to one question
Who’s authority do you follow?
Is it Jesus and the church He said he would institute? The church lead by the Holy Spirit and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
Or do you believe the church is corrupt which would make Jesus a liar
Or do you believe chick publication with all it’s proven falsehoods
Or do you follow the Bible only. No where in the Bible a book given to you by the Catholic church does it say bible only
Or do you follow your own faith? The man made faith of the church of me.
Where is your authority come from?
Jesus said he would build his church. Catholics at least can trace there authority to tis quote. No other church In existance today can do so. Where does your authority come from?
I fully expect more lies about my church from the likes of you but like my previous post says if I am wrong and you are right so what I am saved either way. But what if I am right
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 7, 2012 at 8:57pmAre you saved By Faith? Were you ever born again? Not sprinkled as a baby, but have you repented and surrendered to Christ? Do you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
You certainly seem to know about Catholic theology, though much of what you say is wrong. But either way, the truth is we are ALL wrong with at least some things, there are many questions that cannot be answered definitively. I wonder if you accept that? I think you believe your Pope and church is infallible. You…and your church…are wrong. Most of what your church believes is not biblical, no matter how hard you try to make it so. Like Peter being some kind of Pope. Yet nowhere is he given any special treatment over any other disciple anywhere in Scripture. In fact, nowhere would you be led to believe that any man has any position over another. He who is first is last, and he who is least is greatest. Yet you will argue this ad-nauseum.
Ah well…I spent more time on you here than I intended. You hate me, I understand that. That is just further proof you might not be saved. But that is between you and God. I really do not care what the name above the door of your church says, it is meaningless. It is all about the relationship YOU have with Christ. I just wonder if you understand that? I will pray that you do.
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 8, 2012 at 3:15pmWow Troll could you try to sound a little bit more like a 12 year old girl?
You hate me, you are mean blah blah blah.
Your reading comprehension skils are serverly lacking. Everything the church does can be backed up by using the bible. Have you not read all the quote I provided you?
You keep saying you are done with me yet you keep comming back. Are you a glutton for punishment or just a liar?
You can refute NOTHING of what I have posted. All though you claim you can. Still nothing more than your words. You still havnt answeered my question as to where your infalabilty comes from.
Go away Troll you are beginning to bore me
I thought you would provide a rational debate. But no. Just name calling and accusations. Intersperced amongst hollow comments of admiration
I told you you could argue with a rock. That would be a better use of time
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:06amThe Blaze is hard up for news and someone had a Stephen King nightmare and wrote it down … just like Stephen King does. Guess I’ll go play with the lint in my belly button.
Report Post »edmundburk
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 5:16pm@trolltrainer- relax, i’m not here to attack, i just wanted to let you know that you and your evengelical and fundmentalists friends are not going to convert or find agreement with the catholics on the blaze.
Report Post »BTW, why do you even bother?
trolltrainer
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 7:15pmOh, look Edmundburk, you are lost! I was up there and you are like all down here and stuff…
I don’t want to convert you or have you agree with me. Really…Couldn’t care less. If you are born again, like Scripture instructs, then I will see you in heaven one day no matter how flawed and ridiculous your theology is here.
Report Post »LameLiberals
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:00amOFF Topic:
Anyone watch “The Walking Dead” zombie tv series? It was great until they killed off Dale and Shane. I quit watching after that. The main characters are supposed to be that sheriff and his wife and son – none of them are likable or worth watching. Pass.
http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead
Report Post »v15
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:23amDaryl is the only character I ever cared about. The Walking Dead is so over-hyped.
Report Post »Bruce P.
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:52amI would suggest you keep watching. It will only get better. Both Dale and Shane die in the comics the show is based on (though in different ways than on the show). In fact, Shane died a couple of issues in.
Report Post »woodyl1011fl
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:00amThis guy actually is a professor? This is modern education and educators displaying their willful ignorant mind concept of who the Creator God of everything is. . You now see why western civilization is destroying itself.
Report Post »LameLiberals
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:58amWhere are the Muslim zombies? Too scared huh?
Christians are WIMPS. They do NOT fight back and they will lose in a ONE ON ONE fight with Muslims.
Romney will lose to Obama for the SAME REASON. Romney is a WIMP running another McCain “gentleman’s campaign” while Obama is practicing lying, scorch earth Chicago methods against Romney.
GOD… what did conservatives do to keep getting barely conservative WIMPS like
Bush 1 (who gave us the Supreme Court judge that gave gov‘t right to take PRIVATE property and give it to a PRIVATE developer because the gov’t would get more property taxes as our GOP nominees?
Bush 2 (who gave us the Supreme Court judge that cares about Snooki ratings than the Constition and gave us ObamaCare.
McCain aka McLame and Juan McShame because he is a short POS who never saw a war he didn’t like, ran a pxx ant campaign, trashed Palin more than Obama and is pro illegal aliens, etc.
Now we have Romney – who is NOT looking good. He is weak and ineffective on ObamaCare precisely because RomneyCare is ObamaCare. And he needs to FIRE his staff and bring in Chicago thugs to fight FIRE WITH FIRE but I don’t think he has it in him. Too much RINO there – just like McCain.
God Help The USA. We are going down.
Report Post »jcldwl
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:57amWhat a joke of a person.
Report Post »myptofvu
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:53am# 5 is an error and shouldn’t be in the Bible. That was translated from the Stephens Critical Greek text which is one of four…the other three Critical Greek texts make no mention of this account.
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:30am#5 is an error?
All 10 are mis-reading of what the Bible actually says.
This is not to be taken seriously. The guy is just having a little fun, tying together today’s cultural infatuation with zombies and vampires with the Bible.
Report Post »Should he be concerned about mocking the Bible, now that is a separate issue.
WhiteFang
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:30amSo down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; – Revelation 12:9
Report Post »TCP_Radio
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:45amWow… That is horribly applied logic. Reminds me of a blog entry I wrote about not too long ago.
http://benumnus.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/becoming-a-zombie-vs-being-resurrected/
Report Post »TROLLMONGER
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:42amJust more religeous fodder for Becks zombies…LOL!
Report Post »Jive Mickey
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:37amWhattaBunchaCrap. Where does it talk about armies of dead bodies attacking people and eating their flesh? The walking dead, being shot to pieces, limbs hacked off, but continuing to attack until you blow their heads off? That sounds like a Hollywood stretch of scripture to me.
Report Post »CaptMickeyd
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:34amI guess these could be zombie references if they are taken wildly out of context, which is something that liberals do with the Bible all the time. What’s one more moron making stupid claims against the Bible?
Report Post »Ailene Wright
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:34amZombies are something that liberals can really relate to. They are both brain dead and eventually will run out of other peoples brains to consume.
Report Post »v15
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:27amYes, Jesus bit the apostles who became infected and they became flesh-eaters of men.
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:26amHow did he miss the resurrection of Lazarus? Or Elijah raising the woman’s son from the dead? Or Jesus raising the ceturions daughter? If you were looking for a “zombie” story.
I don’t know about “zombies” in the Bible but just to stir the pot, the Bible says there are no women in heaven.
“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”
-Revelation 8:1
Have at it. lol
Report Post »brntout
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:56amOk ,how long is a half hour in heaven?
Report Post »cornfed440
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:57amIt took me a minute, but that is funny..
Report Post »brntout
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:58amSorry, in Earth time?
Report Post »jado1981
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:02amHumor me, and give your reference to no women in Heaven please. Then, give the verse before and after. Context is key.
Report Post »Wool-Free Vision
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:03amLLOL. I Literally Laughed Out Loud. Nice.
Report Post »brntout
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:22am@ SQUID Is that half hour because there are no women in Heaven?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:22amOnce again a self serving hater of the bible makes fun of prophecies of the return of Christ; or of historic examples of seiges and plague and such just due to it being ‘biblical.’ May God have mercy on his sould when he comes before Him for judgement.
Report Post »contkmi
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:22amGotta love it when a no-talent hack tries to make himself relevant. Oh, those 15 minutes!
Report Post »Rohawk
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 12:25pmThat’s ll you need to do to come out of obscurity. Attack someone or something that is considered a piller and you get the ear of the haters. Write against the Bible, Billy Graham, Sarah Palin, Tim Tebow, or mom’s apple pie and everyone who hates their/its gravitas in society comes out of the woodwork. Its too bad liberals are their own parody. The last dems that stood for anything were Zell Miller and Lieberman and the dems can’t stand them!
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:21amI thought it was entertaining. It was tongue-in-cheek. Just to point out, #9 is a catholic zombie scene.
Report Post »by faith
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:22amI get it, that is funny-ish
Because it was Martin Luther who tossed out 2 Maccabees and six other books considered canonical since the beginning of Church history.
He also rejected the epistle to the Hebrews and the book of Revelation. And called the epistle of James “an epistle of straw” because James 2:14–26 conflicted with his personal theology on good works. He added the word (in his German translation) only in Romans 3:20 and Romans 4:15, and he inserted the word alone in Romans 3:28.
The joke about no women in heaven was better
Report Post »brntout
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:15amAaaaarrggghhh! No wonder this site is becoming nothing but fluff.I hardly look forward to visiting so even though I liked the different versions, they boiled down to one thing,destroy the brain…. Oh wait,they already did. We still have them around…Now we have to figure out a new strategy….
Report Post »Steelhead
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:37amyes this is stupid-Every day Billy shuffles through stacks of articles hoping to find one that will anger the sentimens of the zealots here at the Blaze, but hey it’s a job and he gets a paycheck
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:52amI am well past my last straw with this site. Billy is the “religious editor”…I get it…But instead of finding these stupid, irrelevant articles, why not post stuff that is relative to the Christian life. Why not theological articles, there are many great peer reviewed Christian journals. There are more than enough Christians in here to create stimulating discussions and maybe we can learn something.
Instead, you just waste your time with this? How much do you get paid to re-post this crap?
Report Post »Steelhead
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 9:09amtrolltrainer – I agree with you. Billy has lost his way.
Report Post »WhiteFang
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 10:08amTrolltrainer,
Best comment so far.
The problem with this kind of nonsense is that people like this silly author, they fail to understand where all this is zombie teaching is coming from.
Report Post »Revelation 12:9 – So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, who is misleading the entire inhabited earth;
RRFlyer
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:08amAre you kidding me? WHy would anyone even listen to this crap?
Report Post »ShawnB
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 8:00amThis is stupid and all of this is taken out of context.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 7:57amDear GOD.
Report Post »NancyBee
Posted on July 6, 2012 at 11:09amI agree!
Report Post »