Is the book of Matthew a joke? Kyle Williams seems to think so and I must admit it does sound like a interesting theory as the book of Matthew is the most outlandish of the gospel tales.
It is the gospel of Matthew that gives us the detail of the slaughter of the children when Jesus was born, the rending of the temple veil, the earthquake and the rising of the dead at the moment of Jesus’ execution. The author of Matthew certainly took creative license with their version of events.
But, what if the whole thing is a work of fiction, meant to mock the new sect? According to Kyle’s theory there are several clues that mark Matthew as a satirical work of fiction.
A brief summary of Kyle’s major points:
- The Genealogy – a miscount, a screw-up & some questionable ancestors in the line.
- The Miracles – Matthew was either cross-sided or flunked math in a major way.
- The Prophecies – Read in a certain light, the prophecies aren’t what they seem to be.
The part that gets me & makes me wonder is the prophecies. I’ll discuss one of them here.
It is well-known that Matthew was most likely written by a Jew and that it was for Jews as Matthew makes use of the Torah which would have been unfamiliar to Gentiles at the time. One of Matthew’s contributions to the Jesus story is his escape to Eygpt and return to Israel so that a prophecy could be fulfilled (Matt 2:15).
Kyle hunted down the verse Matthew is referring to and finds it in Hosea 11:1. The speaker in that verse is none other than Yahweh and he is speaking of calling his son Israel (aka the Jews) home. But, that’s not the only thing he says. Reading further into the chapter reveals that the more Yahweh called, the more his son turned away from him, taking up the worship of other gods.
So, exactly what is Matthew saying here? As Kyle points out, it seems that Jesus is being called an idolator (at least) if the verse is put into context with the verses around it.
And with that, here’s part of Kyle’s summary:
These apparent “blunders” cannot be satisfactorily explained by drunkenness or stupidity; they were intentional. If archeologists could unearth the grave of Matthew, they wouldsurely find him petrified, thumbing his nose, and in an attitude of wild laughter at the expense of those credulous readers who refuse to recognize the marks of his satire.
Kyle’s site also addresses several of the Torah prophets and judges them all as false prophets. Definitely worth a look-see.
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