Mark: A Very Different Jesus!, Transcript, Problematic Passages

Problematic Passages

Main Points: Problematic Passages

1. Jesus Casting Demons into Pigs (Mark 5:1-20) | This passage is seen as problematic because Jesus favors demons over human livelihoods and the lives of 2,000 pigs. It also suggests a lack of understanding of mental or physical illness, implying these were related to demons or sin.
2. Jesus's Teaching on Divorce (Mark 10) | The teaching is criticized for not allowing exceptions for situations like sexual immorality or abuse, and for labeling remarriage a "permanent sin." This contradicts Mosaic law and Christian divorce rates, highlighting a double standard compared to views on other Old Testament laws (e.g., against homosexuality) that Christians often uphold.
3. Speaking in Parables to Hide Truth (Mark 4:10-12) | This passage is considered highly problematic because Jesus explicitly states he speaks in parables to outsiders so they will not understand and be forgiven. This is viewed as unfair and antithetical to Jesus's supposed purpose of offering salvation to all.
4. Extreme Teachings on Sin (Mark 9:42-47) | The "millstone around the neck" for causing sin and the instruction to "cut off a hand/eye" to avoid hell are seen as extreme. Whether literal or hyperbolic, these teachings have caused fear and led Christians to isolate themselves from others for fear of losing "eternal reward."
5. "For Us or Against Us" Mentality (Mark 9:38-41) | Jesus's acceptance of those performing mighty works in his name, even if they aren't directly following him, is interpreted as an "ingroup/outgroup" mentality. This suggests that salvation is tied to alignment with Jesus rather than objective morality.
6. Rebuke of Peter (Mark 8:33) | When Peter suggests Jesus could avoid suffering and death, Jesus harshly rebukes him with "Get Behind Me, Satan." This is seen as establishing a Christian "persecution complex" where suffering and dying for Christ are paramount, and any thought of avoiding it is deemed "the devil."
7. Prediction of Peter's Denial (Mark 14) | Jesus predicts Peter will deny him three times, and despite Peter's protests, it still happens. This raises philosophical questions about free will if future actions are predetermined and unavoidable.
8. Chastisement for Lack of Faith (Mark 9:19, 44:25) | Jesus chastises his disciples as a "faithless generation" for not being able to cast out a demon. However, when asked privately, he explains it was a "special kind of demon" that only responds to prayer, implying he had knowledge they lacked. This is seen as inconsistent, portraying Jesus as having a "weird temper" and being "tired of dealing with them" rather than being a perfect mentor.
9. Inability to Perform Miracles Due to Lack of Faith (Mark 6:5-6) | In his hometown, Jesus "could do no mighty work there" due to the people's lack of faith. This is seen as a limitation on God's omnipotence and a "collective punishment," where some suffer because others don't believe, portraying Jesus as "sensitive" and his power affected by "haters."
10. The Unpardonable Sin (Mark 3:28) |Jesus refers to the "unforgivable sin" of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, but the text is vague about its exact meaning. This ambiguity, combined with the concept of an unforgivable sin, is problematic as it suggests Jesus's sacrifice isn't powerful enough to cover all transgressions.

Transcript

So, we've already covered a lot, actually. You know, for instance, Matthew also had the Gentile woman that Jesus called a dog. We don't need to cover that again. We've covered the Messianic secret and the issues that pertain to that. We've talked about the Fig Tree, the ending of Mark that was added in, and why the Great Commission, which comes with all those great powers, is problematic. But let's go to Mark 5.

(34:34) 1-20: This is where Jesus casts out the demons into the pigs. First of all, what a weird thing. The demons are essentially asking for mercy, which Jesus gives them by sending them into these pigs. It says 2,000 pigs then run off and die. Now, many Christians, and even many non-believers, just won't care that Jesus killed 2,000 pigs for no reason. In fact, not just for no reason, but at the request of the demons. So even if you can't get on board with that issue, how about the livelihood of the people who relied on those 2,000 pigs? There's no follow-up there. Why? Because it doesn't happen.

(35:12) Because it's just a story anyway. The authors don't have to concern themselves with this. But if we're supposed to take it as literal truth, this is Jesus essentially favoring demons over people's livelihood and the lives of these 2,000 creatures, let alone the fact that this person clearly wasn't demon-possessed. The Jesus of the Bible, if he did indeed go around thinking he was doing exorcisms, didn't have an understanding of mental or physical illness and that it is not related to demons, bad spirits, or sin.

(35:43) It's just such proof that Jesus, if he really did say and do these things or try to do these things, was a product of his time and place and not the creator of everything. Jesus's teaching on divorce, I think, is pretty sad. Here we get no acceptance or understanding of people who are put in tough marital situations like sexual immorality or abuse. Not that Matthew even gives us an abuse out. And even after divorce has happened, essentially making it a permanent sin, a lifestyle sin to remarry, is something that is still talked about and a source of contention for Christians today. Because guess what? Christians still divorce at the exact same rate as non-believers. Isn't that hilarious?

Can we just also talk about that for a second? Moses actually gave outs: here's how you get divorced, this is how you do it. Jesus said, "What God brought together, let no man take apart." And here in Mark, there's not even an exception for sexual immorality. And yet Christians have no problem divorcing at the same rate as non-believers. Meanwhile, many of those same Christians will tell you why gay people shouldn't be allowed to get married because there are verses in the Old Testament that call it an abomination. You know, the Old Testament where divorce is permitted, which they like, even though it's in direct contradiction to what Jesus teaches here. There's another contradiction for you and a problematic passage all wrapped up in one.

Okay, next up we have something from Mark 4, and I want you to pay attention because this might be the worst thing in the entire book. Mark 4, and we'll go to verse 10. And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked about the parables. And he said to them, "To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven." I'm sorry, what? I mean, how crystal clear do you need this to be? In secrecy, Jesus, amongst his friends whom he has let into the inner circle, yeah, he's going to give them the real truth. But he speaks in parables supposedly to those on the outside so that they won't understand, so that they'll be confused, so that they'll have some access but not enough, lest what? They turn and be forgiven.

(37:58) And I've heard the apologetics on it. I think it's nonsense. I think that what we got was an unfortunate saying of Jesus that made it into the Bible that is the antithesis of how people like to claim Jesus. And so we just don't preach on this, and if it does come up, we have these horrific excuses for it. The first thing that Christians try to say is, "So you have to do some work. It tests your faith, and for those that want to see, they'll be able to see. But that way, Jesus can disseminate his truth among the masses, and he doesn't have to worry about..." About what? Like, where do you even go from here? It doesn't have to worry about people who don't want to see, people with hard hearts, people with deceived spirits learning the truth. It doesn't even make sense at all to try to come at it from this angle. Isn't the whole point of Jesus as a man, as a human being on Earth, to give us clear directives from God, to help us understand who he is, who God is, what salvation is, and why we need it? To what purpose could it ever be beneficial to hide information, to purposely confuse? The only good justification I've heard is that it is in reference to a prophecy in Isaiah 6, and so Jesus was just using this to show his divinity. But still, then what a disgusting way to have to prove that you are who the Old Testament talked about, just to follow up on something that was bad back then and make it worse now. I don't understand how people can excuse this kind of thing. This is clear unfairness, just like how he treated the Gentile woman, calling her a dog, and only because of her sharp wit and quick quip did he decide he would wave his magic finger at her. We know what he really thought. Here again, we get that insight into the mind of Jesus, and it's not good, it's not fair, and it's not for everyone.

But moving on, let's see. A lot of people might bring up Jesus's anger in the temple. I don't actually have a problem with that. I totally get the justifications for righteous anger. I get what the temple had turned into and what Jesus's view of it should have been, and that not all anger is bad. Except that isn't it Jesus himself who says if you have anger in your heart for a brother, it's the same as murder? It's a little problematic. So is there such a thing as justified anger? I think so. Did Jesus think so? Not clear.

Let's go to Mark 9. I know we're jumping all over the place, I apologize. Mark 9:42: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go into hell, to the unquenchable fire." So this is problematic for a few reasons, but mainly it's because it's so extreme. And if Jesus were real and his teachings were real, I guess you might expect that kind of extremism, that if Earth is temporary at best 120 years and eternity in heaven is possible, or eternity in hell, or whatever he's alluding to here, because I know all of the ways that people try to make this about annihilation. Either way, and even if it's hyperbolic, this has still caused so many Christians to cut things out of their life, people out of their life, for fear that they are going to get in the way of their eternal reward. It's just a horrendous place to come from. I see it as completely disbeneficial, especially in light of the fact that this isn't real.

Right before that, we have something also highly problematic. Mark 9:38: John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward." More in-group out-group, that's all I see here. It doesn't matter if he's not part of our group; if he's doing stuff in my name, that's good enough. If someone is helping you because you're helping me, that's going to equal some kind of salvation for them. I mean, it really flips the whole morality concept as something that is objective to, no, it's whoever falls in line. It truly is just coming down to divine command theory, even with the Jesus of the New Testament. We obviously see that about the God of the Old Testament, but Jesus was supposed to be different. Jesus was supposed to bridge the gap, to break religion, and here we just see more of the same.

In Mark 8:33, we get the rebuke of Peter. During my time as a Christian and even as a non-believer, I've gone back and forth on how I feel about this verse. I'll kind of just share those thoughts with you. We have Jesus predicting his death and Peter saying, "No, it can't be." And of course, Peter is saying that for two reasons: one, he deeply loves and cares about Jesus, and two, he expects Jesus to be the Messiah, and he hasn't done all the Messianic things yet. And so how can he go off and now die? And Jesus has this very harsh rebuke for Peter, and he says, "Get behind me, Satan," as if Peter's advice or like, "Can we figure something else out here? How do we get you to avoid this suffering?" is wrong. Because again, as Jesus is establishing for us the Christian persecution complex, it is better to suffer and die for Christ. To live is Christ, to die is gain, and anyone who thinks differently, you're the devil.

Next, going to Mark 14, this is just fun for me because I am a determinist, and I think that issues with free will in the Bible are fascinating in and of themselves. Jesus's prediction or prophecy or whatever you want to call it of Peter denying Jesus three times, telling Peter that that's going to happen, and then Peter still fulfilling that even though he knows about it, is trying to avoid it, and doesn't want it. That, to me, has always been so strange and such a fun philosophical idea on, is there free will then? I mean, you get told by a man that you supposedly trust with all your heart that you will do something. You say, "No, I won't. I don't want to do that. To do that would be wrong." And you do that something that isn't just a slip of the tongue once, but a purposeful action three times. That's a fascinating thought experiment all around to me, but kind of off course here.

So getting back on course, let's go to 9:19. 9 has a lot of issues for us, but let me read you 9:19: "And he answered them, 'O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear you? Bring him to me.'" This is in response to his followers not being able to cast out demons. And what's funny is after he gets the demon out, his disciples ask him in private, like, "Why couldn't we?" And he goes, "Oh, it was a special kind of demon. It's the kind that only comes out through prayer." So Jesus has this chastisement of his disciples for their lack of faith, but when asked privately again what the issue was, he doesn't say it was their lack of faith. He says he just had certain knowledge of this particular kind of demon and how it only responds to a particular kind of incantation that the disciples at the time had no way of knowing about. Jesus is just now teaching them about it. His weird temper and being tired of dealing with them when it's his job to teach them. He called them. This isn't something they've messed up. This was like their first try at it, and obviously, he had knowledge they didn't have that allowed him to do it and them not to do it. This just goes to show again, in any comparison you make about Jesus being the perfect father, the perfect friend, the perfect mentor, same thing with God, Yahweh, no.

Speaking of his harshness and his judgment, let's go to Mark 6. He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things? What is this wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? Are these not his sisters here with us?" Of course, the sisters don't get names, by the way. And they all took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household." And he could do no mighty work there except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

So this is fascinating and something that people love to talk and debate about. I get it. Let's say Jesus is really the Messiah, and he has grown up in this area, and here are his friends and family from before, and he has now become this great man and supposedly the Messiah. People who knew him as the carpenter's son from probably that sketchy marriage situation are like, "What? This guy?" Which begs the question, what was Jesus like during his first 30 years? Was he not showing any of these signs of being the Son of God that now all these people would be like, "Oh, that makes sense. Remember how he was as a kid?" No, they're taken aback by him. But the biggest issue here is that he could not do these same signs and wonders among them because of their faith. Is God's power dependent on our faith? I get if he chooses to want to bless an individual based on their level of faith and adoration, but simply it's saying that he could do no things because some, not all, were around who didn't believe in him. This is a limitation that does not equal omnipotence. And once again, even if you make excuses that it's a judgment, it's collective judgment, it's a collective punishment among the people. There were people there that needed Jesus's special works that now Jesus just couldn't perform because some other people there didn't like it, didn't believe him, thought it was weird. How sensitive is this Jesus? How insecure? His power was literally affected by his haters. That's not what I picture when I think about the God of the universe. It's also not what is depicted elsewhere in the Bible. Can you imagine if Yahweh and Elijah just couldn't get their altar to catch on fire back, you know, when God liked being tested amongst all of those people that didn't believe in Yahweh? And a billion other examples like that where the story just breaks down completely.

And let's end with one more, a real doozy: the unpardonable sin. This is from Mark 3:28. We get Jesus talking about the unforgivable sin, blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which to this day, despite all believers having the witness of the Holy Spirit and anyone that asks for wisdom being granted it, cannot be agreed upon by Christians about what it actually means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. Halfway because Jesus is so vague about it here, and you would think if there is one sin and only one sin that cannot be forgiven, you might want to be a little more specific with that. And then also, why do we have a sin that can't be forgiven? All that says to me is Jesus's sacrifice, his atonement, wasn't quite powerful enough to actually cover all transgressions. This fails every way to Sunday.

So I hope that this was entertaining, educational, and interesting, and that you've gotten a better understanding of at least two of the gospels so far. Stick around, though. More to come with Luke and John for sure. I appreciate everyone that is helping drive forth the popularity of the secular Bible study series. Matthew was our best episode by far in terms of kind of an opening Sunday, and I really believe in this resource. I put this together for a reason. It's not perfect. I'm not a scholar. I'm sure I've made mistakes. I'm sure I've gotten a few things out of context. I do not claim perfection, but in the 41 episodes we have done thus far, I really believe that I am able to put things in front of Christians, in front of doubters, in front of those deconstructing their faith that they simply cannot get from the believers in their life, that they are simply not hearing from those in spiritual authority over them, that are in this Bible, that are issues that are clear, that do change the nature of this God and the potential possibility of its truth.

So that's all I have to say for today. Thanks for being here. I'll see you Sunday with another video, lots of mini mind shifts in between, and until then, keep thinking. I wanted to personally thank my top tiers of support: my conic list and Boris, Gvi, Jacob, Joe, Martin, Oliver, Perry, Rocket, and Sha, my humanist heroes Jared, James, and Christie, my atheist advocates Caleb, Imposter, Jeff, Jeffrey, Karen, Sparky, and Todd, as well as all of my secular scholar patrons. If you believe in the mission of the channel or you just enjoy the content, please consider joining these fine people. Thanks and have a great day.