Atheist Debates: The Bible, Part 1 - The Sermon on the Mount
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ต.ค. 2015
- Part of the Atheist Debates Patreon project: / atheistdebates
The first in a series of videos covering different Biblical topics. In 2007 I finished a verse-by-verse deconstruction of the Sermon on the Mount (hosted at wiki.ironchariots.org). This video covers most of the content in that article with a few additional remarks.
You don't have to know a lot about the Bible to have a conversation about it, because you're free to ask questions of the person advocating for it. But if you're going to have a discussion about whether or not their doctrine makes sense, it's good to have a basic grounding in the topic.
Hopefully, this video will provide food for thought and some objections and concerns that will allow more productive conversations, exposing the weaknesses of appeals to scripture.
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Matt should have opened the video with: "Oh, hello, I didn't see you there".
That would have been boss as hell
You are a treasure... did you ever see "The Oh, Hello Show" with John Mulaney and Nick Kroll? I'm not sure it this was uploaded before their time on Broadway.
🤣
Or Saturday afternoon...about tea time.
😂😂😂
Sye Ten Bruggencate: "I don't do bible studies with professed atheists!"
Matt: "Hold my beer and watch this!"
Hahaha
@Winning Grinn why?
And yet here you are
@Grinning Winn how do you justify your reasoning?
@Grinning Winn ikr
I've been waiting for you to make a video about this subject! Thanks, Matt!
Wow did you guys see Matt materialize on the side of that mountain. He must be holy!
+John Klein
Holy Adobe Premiere Pro! You're right!
Does this count as evidence for the supernatural?
He was already there
I for one welcome our new atheist overlord.
John Klein No, he didn’t materialize, he simply played a “Jedi mind trick”
"Who are you to question God?"
Well who is it that you call God if he's someone to be making questionable advice?
6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.[a]
We have a thousand denominations because people still have to lean on their own understanding on how to best submit. Questioning seems like the only path out of that mess
Wahaha
@Nic Sanchez , Those people are effectively saying, ”I am speaking for or interpreting God, and *who are you to question me?”* They come across as extremely arrogant to me.
@@scienceexplains302 "Could've been prevented if the god you're claiming to be real would've just appeared right in front of us, wouldn't it?"
To my understanding, the 'turn the other cheek', 'give them thy cloak', and 'walk the extra mile' are all specific resistance to Roman laws. Turning the other cheek makes them slap you again or risk breaking slapping rules, giving them your cloak means they force you to commit public nudity, and walk the extra mile makes their order to carry your things illegal. Not trying to defend them as permanent and divine, just thought I'd share what I had heard about why they are there.
13:00 When folks use the "a fool has said in his heart there is no god" line. (Calling atheists fools)...
Mathew 5:22 "but whosoever shall say 'thou fool' shall be in danger of hellfire"... is a mighty useful parry.
Refute them with a science book? Meh. Refute them with another part of their book... Presumably that should give them pause. Probably should. Might not.
I might use that next time. Has it worked well for you?
CrimsonVoid
Just discovered it myself. This (and a few responses to posts) are my only shots yet. So far, zero success. But I can dream...that something in their own book...may register. Or at least give them pause.
Hey...The bible says call a man a fool, ;you risk hellfire. And the bible also calls non-belivers fools. So the bible is at risk of hellfire. Being judged by Yahweh as deserving, as unbelievers are, of burning forever.
Bruce Baker Well, I guess we'll have to see how it works going forward.
CrimsonVoid
Ah. Just scrolled up & noted vid and my OP. It was in this vid that I first noted it. Matt talks about the passage. But I don't think he connected it to the other "fool" verse.
Bruce Baker
marvelous.
I think the Python 'Life of Brian' account of the sermon on the mount was probably much closer to how it might have been, with people at the back of the crowd mis hearing what Jesus was saying,.. "Blessed are the Peacemakers" is misheard as " blessed are the cheesemakers ". We humans are renowned for getting things wrong !
+bonnie43uk
"What did he say? Blessed are the cheese makers?"
"No, I think it's a reference to the entire dairy industry."
BlackEpyon "What's so special about the cheesemakers"? ... "Obviously, he's referring to all manufacturers of dairy products"!! .."See, if you hadn't been going on, we'd have heard that, Bignose"!! ..then they move on to the blasphemy trial .. hilarious :-)
+bonnie43uk Hi bonnie, interestingly enough, I didn't know there were peacemakers, a new word on me. Brings to mind two other words, wishful thinking.
Wishing you all the best of course.
belaireguy411 A peacemaker is exactly what is purports to say, someone who wants to make peace, as opposed to a cheesemaker, someone who makes cheese. from a distance you may get them mixed up.
bonnie43uk
Especially with Big-Nose chattering away.
I really like these videos recorded out in nature, Matt. Much better than those recorded indoors.
He disappeared. Matt has the ring of power. :)
+nitehawk86 Matt is Satan, not Sauron!
+Bill Bouma six of one, half a dozen of the other ... both fictitious characters from literature, albeit one incredibly well written and the other ... well ... ends up killing less people than the "good guy"
LMFAO
+nitehawk86 LOOL
nitehawk86 Or he has Harry Potter's Cloak of Invisibility. ...Or both! :O
Sweet
I love this. I actually like the idea of bible study; getting to connect with others while talking about a work, usually over tea and scones. But such a great thing that us atheists can now do it too! Thanks so much Matt for all your work.
What Matt is doing is a start, and it is the easy part. Still, he has made a start, even if it is attempt to debunk (as if one can debunk w a 30 min ute video). ..... My very liberal English teacher said that if he were in prison for life and could choose only one book, he would choose the Bible, bc it is that complex. And then consider end of the gospel of Mathew - what is in the New Testament is only a small portion and the rest in sacred Tradition. :).
Matt. you are a hoot. you actually say that anytime a Christian is persecuted for saying beliefs , he or she it is justified, according to the Bible. Do you actually believe that that is what it means to portray? . And you correctly point out the many obvious, apparent contradictions in the Bible. And lots of other stuff. Of course there are REAL answers for all of the points that you raise. I wish I had the time to explain it all to you. You are right to question these things, bc there is a lot to TRUTH and biblical teachings. Jesus is WAY ahead of you! You do not understand the reasons behind "thought crimes'. There is MUCH to it, much more than your human mind, and the secular world recognizes. You are pre-judging. I don't fault you at all for not understanding, but you are in naive error in calling certain things "silly" as you compare things to secular paradigm.
you don't understand about a lot of it. And sexist?? You are not in the know, and in order to understand it, you mUST do your homework.
What this tells me is that you are in for. a MAJOR learning curve. You simply cannot debunk with your uninformed, highly limited, secular human lens.
Do your homework ... SEEK truth and you will find the answers. You seem to only want to justify how you want things to be. ... Do your homework and it will be the very best thing you will ever do, but NOT by secular standards. I know you don't relate, but that is bc you have not yet done your REAL homework. These questions are the First Step. Pray for grace and sincerely seek, and you WILL find!
Matt. you are a hoot. you actually say that anytime a Christian is persecuted for saying beliefs , he or she it is justified, according to the Bible. Do you actually believe that that is what it means to portray? . And you correctly point out the many obvious, apparent contradictions in the Bible. And lots of other stuff. Of course there are REAL answers for all of the points that you raise. I wish I had the time to explain it all to you. You are right to question these things, bc there is a lot to TRUTH and biblical teachings. Jesus is WAY ahead of you! You do not understand the reasons behind "thought crimes'. There is MUCH to it, much more than your human mind, and the secular world recognizes. You are pre-judging. I don't fault you at all for not understanding, but you are in naive error in calling certain things "silly" as you compare things to secular paradigm.
you don't understand about a lot of it. And sexist?? You are not in the know, and in order to understand it, you mUST do your homework.
What this tells me is that you are in for. a MAJOR learning curve. You simply cannot debunk with your uninformed, highly limited, secular human lens.
Do your homework ... SEEK truth and you will find the answers. You seem to only want to justify how you want things to be. ... Do your homework and it will be the very best thing you will ever do, but NOT by secular standards. I know you don't relate, but that is bc you have not yet done your REAL homework. These questions are the First Step. Pray for grace and sincerely seek, and you WILL find!
@@finallythere100 Instead of writing this lame-ass comment TWICE, what you're saying is the problem... You think this is something beyond human mind. It's not. This just an illiterate dude posing as a wise man that can't be consistent with what he is saying.
And we can think critically about his teachings. You in the other hand, are behaving as a preacher... And as such, you over analyze stuff that is simple. Your beliefs clout your reasoning.
These are human teachings, not divine bullshit.
that was fantastic! And gentle enough that I can actually show religious family members this video. which is depressingly rare from atheist TH-cam channels.
+Ian G It's really difficult to tell people that everything they know is wrong.
BlackEpyon agreed, it's a pretty hard sell.
"Remember how you were told you would live forever and see all your loved ones again? Yeah... About that... Got some bad news..."
Ian G
I think that Weird Al wrote a song about it...
+BlackEpyon Well, maybe you should start off by telling people that there is nothing they "know". It´s merely everything they believed that is wrong, and that´s something which happens on a daily basis to all of us, I believed my keys are in the pocket of my coat, yet they weren´t. I believed I still had more than 100 bucks in my purse, yet there were only 80...
They believe everything someone told them the bible says, as most of them never read it, is true, so as a first step, make it clear, that´s not something they "know" it´s only something they believe, and it is as true as what they believe about thousands of other things they do not actually know about. It´s way easier to let something you believe go, then something you know.
Shato Nyruami
Whether or not you think you know something, if you can't show how you know it, then you don't really know it.
Thank you!! How refreshing to question rather than to ignore doubts. That is freedom, rather than being bound to agree with things that don't make sense.
"For God so hates reason that He gave His favorite Angel the boot,that whosoever dare question Him shall be deemed smart-ass, and have everlasting torment." -Jen 3:16 (New Thinker's Version )
Spoken like a true spawn.
@@daniawania huh?
@@daniawania Spoken like somebody who is trying to help others break free from the lifelong brainwashing of the cult of Christianity.
Where did God say satan was His favorite angel and where does it say the reason for kicking out satan was because he questioned God?
I like Jen and Generations
Thanks so much for doing this, Matt! I've been looking for something like this for a long time.
One of the benefits of being raised as an Orthodox Jew is that I learned how to read, write and speak modern Hebrew and more importantly as it relates to this video, biblical Hebrew (the two languages are significantly different although if one speaks modern Hebrew they can obviously read the Old Testament and could likely do a decent job translating it). I can read the Old Testament and understand it nearly as well as I do English although I'm out of practice and would be much slower now.
Matt opened the video discussing how one concludes that they know the Bible given the multiple translations and the lake of historical context. I think I reject the premise because, at least on some level, it presumes that the Bible is difficult to understand, alluding to the idea that it's a book unlike others even if one rejects it's divine origin. To me, the Bible is like any other ancient literature and while historical context CBS be important, unless one cares to understand it for theological purposes, understanding it on some meaningful level is unnecessary and ultimately meaningless.
I read the Old Testament in its original Hebrew and always get a good laugh when people claim that it makes more sense in the original language or that it's beautiful literature. While that is truly the case for some books (e.g. Song of Songs, Job), most of them are nonsensical garbage. It's a hodgepodge of stories by many authors and it really shows in Hebrew but it fairly obvious in English as well. Read Genesis and then read Deuteronomy and you'll see how incredibly different through writing is. It isn't possible that it's the same author or even the same century. I recognized this when I was ten and read Deuteronomy in Hebrew for the first time in summer camp. The differences leaped off the pages at me and it was blatantly obvious that it was a different author than the one who had written earlier books. While I was too young to understand the ramifications of that, it quickly became clear as I got older and it's not possible that true believers who read this don't see it.
Ultimately, interpreting the Bible is a pointless exercise since I reject the whole idea that there's something to interpret. It's an ancient book of stories that may have some additional contextual meaning but unless one is a scholar, being privy to the inside meaning wouldn't make much sense given we aren't contemporaries. It's like when my kids don't understand why I find a particular joke about an historical figure from when I was a teenager funny. They didn't live through that era and there's a maximum level to which they can understand it and even if they could learn the context of the joke and understand why I found it funny, the joke would never have the same meaning to them. The same with the Bible. Unless one cares on a theological level then there's just nothing to get.
Some people do deconvert, and works like this can help break down the pedestal on which they place the bible.
+Ed Gloss I studied biblical Hebrew in college for 3 years. Predominantly, independent study with the department chair who's concentration was the Torah. I absolutely agree with you, especially your excellent example of GEN/DEUT; spot on. While there is a great deal of literary color that comes from the exercise of reading the Hebrew Bible in Hebrew and likely the New Testament in 1st century Greek; that exercise doesn't fundamentally alter the character of the work. Being armed with this ability CAN give you more ammunition when either perpetrating eisegesis or identifying blatant fabrications AND also deconstructing same; the narrative as it has been formed in the many ways over millennia is still what you will get from a well researched study bible, say like the Oxford Annotated, et cetera along with a concordance.
I'm not sure that this contradicts what Matt said however. I don't want to speak for him but I think the very point he was trying to make IS that the onus is on the shoulders of those who call out the book as exceptional beyond all others, to make their case. To me it is not unlike the Odyssey - in that it never happened, we have no original, it is creatively written (sung even, early on and still today as you would know) and while there are things to be learned from it, it is by no means - exclusive in that regard.
+Ed Gloss I understand the Old testament is just as boring and stupid in Hebrew as it is in English.
This was great to know, thank you and God bless.
+Nicholas Finnegan which god? Surely not the vile, wicked god of the bible? If you are not afraid to prove all things as you are instructed to do, Google, jesusneverexisted
Look at 3:54! Matt is appearing out of nothing. OUT OF NOTHING! It's a miracle!
+NeedsEvidence And then he disappears at 4:33! HOW DID HE DO THAT?
Yeah
Thank you Matt, this is really appreciated :)
thanks a lot Matt! I've heard you talk about your deconstruction of the sermon on the mount for quite a while now, and for the last few days, I have been looking for videos where you break it down...nothing. I've been thinking, I would really love to see a video of that. I open up youtube today and bam! first video on my feed!!! It must be a sign from god! ;) Thanks again for all you do, you are doing a real service!
Excellent, Matt. A great listen.
Did anybody else get the implied "class structure" written in Mathew 5-19, with the words "be called the least in the kingdom of heaven".
I'm no biblical scholar, but even the notion of a class structure in the after life, leads to the same problems in real life, no matter what class your in. Not a very "godly" concept. Just makes NO sense.
Wow! I was a Christian for 44 years. I've read that verse so many times and never caught that. Thanks man!
Karen Davis
I got no problem with religious folks, only the "religions" and those who take the words literally. Mathew 5-19 is just one of hundreds that contradict the other passages and prove, for me anyway, the bible expresses the concepts and laws of men/kings, not a god. Even, Exodus 20:3, seemingly god admits there are other gods, but you must bow and worship only him, just more "king" obedience and "class" structure. I have never understood, from childhood, WHY a god would DEMAND worship or make law?. Then it hit me, "god" wouldn't need to, kings and those controlling the masses would.
One more question, why would a god , as described in any "religions" writings, allow a baby to be born with a terminal condition? Again, not very "godly", more like a sad fact of nature.
It's part of the whole reversal of fortunes expected at the eschaton.
Jesus is attempting to reverse the expectations of the listener. The rich and powerful people we see everyday might not be "rich" and "powerful" in God's eyes. You've probably read 1 Samuel 16:7 where God says, "Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Jesus isn't making a political commentary here (about Earth or Heaven); he is simply stating that everyone has value, poor and rich alike.
'Godly' depends on God.. 'Youly' depends on you and your own idea of what is good and bad, right and wrong etc. Lol.
Thank you for these Matt. Extra treat showing the beauty of the Texas Hill Country.
This is amazing, thank you for doing this!
Matt -- I hope you wore a safety belt. We need your voice around as long as possible.
a safety belt? for what?
@SansDeity Who needs a safety belt when you have Jesus? Lmao, just kidding.
This was an awesome video. I searched "deconstructing the sermon on the mount" and found this video.
Thank you for all you do for the atheist community. You and countless others have truly helped me in my deconversion. I sent this video to a few former friends of mine who are still theists blindly subscribed to mythological dogmas.
Very good therapy, I was a Chistian most of my life, Matt you have opened my eyes. Chistianity Scrabled my brain like a egg in a frying pan.
define christian
Let the truth be told I smell a fallacy coming
Daniel I noticed you didn’t define it
@@gladiator8325 you'll figure it out i'm sure
Daniel You made the claim
You converted me to Christianity with that font choice. It looks too divine to not be the word of Yahweh.
+SeftR What makes you think it was a choice? How do you know it could have been any other way? :p
+SeftR What would comic sans have converted you to?
+Tach
Scientology.
Is not that what Arthur Fontzarreli used to say, on "Happy Days." "Yahwaaaaaayyyy!" No, it was "Sit on my Grits." sorry
XD
Matt on the Mount
Time to finally sit back and study up on this mount business.
Thank you for your work, and tireless effort!
Brilliantly done matt! Thank you
8:23 Crucial part of Matt's discourse here. I now understand where the American Christian's obsession with the idea that he/she is facing persecution at the hands of atheists comes from.
you are delusional, there are no christians with any obsession with an idea they are facing persecution from athiests. lol, you are insane.
Let the truth be told That’s a blatant lie. Evangelicals think they are being persecuted by everyone. When they are told they can’t use their dogmatic bigotry they claim religious persecution. They cry about the war on Xmas every year.
Thank you, Matt. It's often more of an eyeopener to point out the weak morals of the NT than to discuss the OT when speaking with christians I find.
As opossed to the „Original Trilogy”?
(New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi)
@@guciowitomski3825 Well, give it some time and that will probably be a pretty big religion too... "Gospel of Luke" will suddenly have a totally new meaning...
Matt I love these videos...Good job buddy.
Excellent job! Kudos & thanks!
Love the way this guy presents himself...always a gentlmen when hes debates etc...
You look like you are preaching a sermon on the mount. Right location.
Matt, I always thought that you should do these videos since so many theist callers to the show give the same tired arguments that could be refuted by an in-depth video. Person to person argumentation is always good but these videos are great tools.
As usual, Matt's presentation is very carefully prepared and for a so called non-expert, his analysis is admirable.
His tone is natural, unlike the holy sounding voices we get with "professional" sermons.
Instead of a second-hand car salesman, we get an independent engineer who advises us not to buy that lemon.
Doesn't the "take no thought for tomorrow" thing suggest, as some have said, that Jesus and his disciples really believed that the world was about to end -- in days or weeks, perhaps; certainly in their lifetimes? A lot of his teachings ("sell everything, give the money to the poor, and follow me", etc.) make a lot more sense from that perspective, I think.
+Pedro Timóteo i always thought that jesus was teaching his disciples to not worry about the future, focus on the present. Live in the moment, enjoy the simple things.
soemthing like that
Christians always seem to be convinced Jesus is coming to kill everybody sometime in their own lifetime
Jesus is making the point that worry is of no value because you can't improve or predict tomorrow by worrying about it. Trusting that God will take care of you and living your life with that trust is more beneficial.
+Charles Moss Doesn't appear that you thought about it at all. There is a huge difference between enjoying the moment, and destroying your future, abandoning any semblance of forethought. Jesus was just as deluded as any street corner doomsday prophet.
This appears to be so. It's quite clear from reading the gospels that Jesus believed the Kingdom of God was coming very soon, as did all apocalyptic prophets. He was quite clearly wrong (as prophets are), and Christians have, and do, jump through all kinds of hoops to try and do away with the obvious. They'll give you the preposterous line: "Well, that's not what he meant." How on earth do they know what a figure 2,000 years ago meant or what they thought? Just read the words; the words do Christians very little favours.
"Blessed are the cheese-makers"?!
Shmeh Fleh
Cheeses Christ!
Shmeh Fleh The baby cheeses
Cheez-Its of Nazareth.
The Judean peoples front?
Or the peoples front of Judea?
Yes, but it's not meant to be taken literally as *only* the cheese makers!
That editing is EVERYTHING
Very informative. Thank you 😁
Fasting is a practice not always associated with Religion. It can be a way of ridding the body of food derived materials unwanted in order to more effectively enforce a coming diet. I've done it many times, though never to the point of starvation. I don't disagree with you, just wanted to put that out there.
Wow
Fun fact: The church had to make suicide a sin because people kept killing themselves in order to go to the supposedly better life.
Now Christians are afraid to die and go to ' heaven' go figure!
Have you... I don't know, ever thought about the fact that these people wouldn't go to the better life because "don't kill" is mandatory and the church knows it?
@@dalidareginathe church made it a sin...
The fact that you did this on a mountainside is just great.
When Matt's not yelling, his voice is actually quite calming lol
So Jesus will be the least in heaven? :D
+Deconverted Man Yeah man! He just condemned himself in heaven. What is he? Stupid? lol
***** yep :D
"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28). "The greatest among you shall be your servant." (Matthew 23:11)
He who has even 1 ear let him hear. He who has no ears will remain deaf. But at the last day all will see and all will know. Every knee shall bow and every mouth will declare him as King... Whether you get to partake in that kingdom or not.
Now, be nonbelievers in peace... I really have no problem with it, (I kinda feel bad for you but bigger fish to fry!) but do not be evil. You can be a non believer and be a good person! Essentially, the devil has stolen your salvation, but you didn't sell your soul...
@@daniawania
I sold my soul. Praise Satan!
13:10 Good lesson for Ray Comfort lol
Matt is an atheist wizard passing down forbidden knowledge from his mountain cove
i liked this format :D
+matt dillahunty
I'm a bit jealous of your brain.
Don’t be jealous of his brain be envious of his study ethic
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth.
So the meek will not be part of the rapture?
As Mordred said in the musical Camelot: "It's not the earth the meek inherit; it's the dirt."
the inheritance of the earth occurs after the rapture, bible 101
You know that the whole rapture nonesense is an American innovation, right?
Thank You Matt for all the work that you do, you have brought me from a confused Christian with a shallow understanding of the scripture to a atheist and then to a Christian minister. I love you as a brother. I believe in the separation of church and state and the work you are doing is extremely important.
Matt you sure are one of a kind 😊
I’m not an atheist, but agnostic! I truly love this video and will watch more!! Thank you!!
So you are an agnostic theist. Cool!
All agnostics are atheist, not all atheists are agnostic.
Are you an atheist yet?
Matt, mostly I cover the OT. But there's one of the NT, I like, Matt 5:18. when christians give me the BS that they don't have to obey the OT. I demand they prove to me that I'm not standing on earth. OH, the tap dancing. Fred Astaire would be jealous.
I've had christians get so mixed up, that I've asked them if they're a plant or a fungus & have them tell me they're a fungus. LOL
I'm afraid my autism is really not helpful in being kind. I speak out exactly what's in my mind. I've even made guys cry. It's not like I try, my mother tried to get me to lie for her. I'd tell her I was no good. She'd say, "Oh, just don't mention her unfortunate incarceration." I'd say, "Why'd you tell me that?!!! I didn't need to know that." Sure enough when the woman showed up, I'd say something stupid like, "Who paid for your release?"
You've been talking to the wrong Christians. Jesus is speaking of the moral law, and instructing people to do better than what Moses' law says, he gets to this point in verse 20. Paul discusses the "law" in both the book of Galatians and Romans, where he expands on the same idea, law versus grace. There is all kinds of controversy over these ideas, mainly because it is not clear in the English language what Paul means by "law" since sometimes he is referring to moral and sometimes to ritual law. It is much clearer in Greek, but doesn't translate into English well. Bottom line, the ritual law is yesterday's news and the moral law gets an upgrade, because the Holy Spirit has been sent to empower the believer to raise the bar and be more like Jesus.
You're doing fine man, don't buy into something that's an obvious con. You must be a blast at party's, lol!
You have me cracking up with the incarceration story. I have a friend with Asperger's and he has said some very memorable things.
@@weeperman6659 where did Moses get his Law from ?
@@weeperman6659 The No True Christian Fallacy
I hope you get around to actually doing more bible study videos. I loved this. Maybe do one discussing the bibles resurrection accounts, pointing out the contradictions between each gospel account.
Nice kicks Matt!
Are we still talking about this..you either believe in Santa Claus or you don't... end of discussion
What? No discussion,...So now we twiddle our thumbs until....
~ Thank you, Matt, for intellect and truth and critical thinking as always!! I still want my life back (Catholic), my foreskin back, and my innocence also returned intact. Wordplay and word salad indeed from the religious delusional folks! Cheers, DAVEDJ ~
Take it back. In fact you never gave it away.
Excellent video Matt. Every christion and non christian should see this video
Bravo! I, too, thought it was gentle enough to share with an old friend who is delving into a bible study class for answers (AAARRRGGG!).
No mere human could have deconstructed the sermon on the mount like this. Hail Lord Dillahunty.
run_gavagai_run That picture is disturbing. Is that a pedo thing?
If God were a perfect, loving being, the Bible would be clear and consistent to everyone to the point that experts in human cognition would declare it supernatural.
great video so far. quick question Matt. have you heard of Anthony Magnabosco? he is also an atheist on TH-cam who asks questions. if so, what do you think of him?
I've been looking forward to hearing this. While it is a bit dry, the issues Mr. Delahunty brings up are important for discussions on the clarity and meaning behind the verses of the Sermon, alleged words from the Messiah Himself.
There is no way someone could listen to jesus, obey him, and end up with capitalism. And i before I'm declared a commie, i fully support capitalism.
Is that a mount you are on?
It's a mini-mount. It's almost a mount. Good enough for a mini-sermon for sure.
+Baka 0ppai Matt's Mini Mount...
+Baka 0ppai If you don't mind explaining, I'd be very interested to know how you changed the font of your username?
MH Aurora I'm sorry I can't do that. Then I won't be special anymore.
John Scardina eh he eh hehe. You said mount
Great. Beautiful location as well
its a good encapsulation of the sermon on the mount ty
What I've always thought was funny with regards to Jesus telling his followers to 'love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you' is that within Christian belief, as a Christian, your biggest enemies and those who will persecute you the most will be Satan and his demons.....go figure Lol
+John Cashin Why is that funny? One of the surprises of Christian dogma is the strategy of being nice to your enemies, offering to carry their burdens the extra mile when you don't have to. I don't think Christians would have much problem praying even for Satan or demons, hoping for them to recognize their evil ways and repent. Giving food and comfort to your enemies is central to christian dogma, potentially even for Satan and demons.
Proverbs 25:21-22
21 If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.
sarabellumm Well when I said it's 'funny', I didn't quite mean 'funny' in the ha ha sense although I do find it funny in that way too inasmuch as it's ridiculous, the point I was getting at was that what Jesus told his followers in the Sermon On The Mount to do when confronted with their enemies is irreconcilable with how you're supposed to think of Satan and his minions who are their enemies, I used to be a Christian myself, I went to a Pentecostal Church back in the early 1980's so I'm just telling you what I was taught which is what I'm quite sure most Christian denominations teach because I have been to others, namely, you're actually supposed to hate Satan and his Demons, you're supposed to rebuke them, curse them and cast them out and definitely NOT love them, give them your coat or go an extra mile with them, there should be no compromising with them.......see the conflict?
+John Cashin "you're actually supposed to hate Satan"
Wow. No. No. No. That isn't in the Bible and isn't Christian dogma at all. Have you never heard the oft used Christian phrase: "hate the sin and love the sinner"? You seem to be equating rebuking Satan for his bad actions and opposing the evils he tries to do here with "hating" Satan and that is not the case. Christians are never told to hate anyone in the Bible. The whole concept of "hate" is a sin. Even in the Pentecostal church I am pretty sure they considered hate to be a sin. Opposition to Satan is not hatred. We do what we do out of love for Jesus and God, not out of hatred of Satan. We oppose evil actions, we don't hate the sinners doing them. Even the worst of the worst can change, Paul helped stone Phillip, but later became an apostle. We hold out hope for their repentance. Satan and demons seem unlikely to repent, but we treat them the same way. This is very consistent, so I don't know why you think it ridiculous. If you don't believe in god, fine I can understand that, but this part of Christian dogma, as reflected in the Sermon on the Mount, is remarkably consistent and loving. A nice thing whether God exists or not.
+sarabellumm Well that kinda sounds nice but I think even many Christians would have a big problem with what you are saying here, certainly the church and it's members I used to go to would be shocked by what you said and it is unimplementable anyway, as a Christian/Biblical concept, Satan is evil and sin incarnate, you couldn't love him or pray for him like Jesus has commanded you to love your enemy, the best you can say which is how I got around it when I was a Christian was to presume that when Jesus said 'love your enemy', he was talking about our fellow human beings, not demons, what I said in my initial post was actually meant to be a joke anyway Lol but I was making a serious point within it and it's this, when Jesus was supposed to have said these things, he was never specific, specifics are very important because he of all people being supposedly the son of the supreme all knowing being should have realized that things we come across in life won't always be as simple as he laid them out, in fact, 9 times out of 10 they will not be.
Even back in those days things wouldn't have been all that straightforward although I would guess they were somewhat simpler than today's world, eg, in Jesus's time there were no televisions, telephones, internet, texting, posting online Lol, so when he said 'whosoever looks at a woman and lusts after her has committed adultery in his heart', putting to one side the fact that this was very sexist, one sided and may have only been meant for the married, does that include any woman we see on TV or online?, if so, does that mean that when I see some woman on TV or on a website that is not my wife and because I like her I have now committed adultery?....errrrrr....I have committed adultery with some computer generated image? Lol, or would Jesus have said it is okay because it's not a real person just an image?, can you not see the problem, it just gets ridiculous Lol.
There are endless different variations of the case scenarios Jesus mentioned that will come up and there will be no way of being able to apply what he said in a 'one size fits all' way with all of them, for example, he said in Matthew 5:39 'do not resist an evil person' and he goes on to say 'if someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also', now that might be okay but that's just one example of many that someone might tell you to do, what if someone evil tells you to join with them and worship Satan or go to a strip club with them?, do you go?, well as a Christian I presume you shouldn't be worshipping Satan or going into strip clubs right? but you have also been told by Jesus not to resist evil and whatever some evil person tells you to do you go along with it rather than fight it, so there's a conflict there, now I know you will probably say Jesus didn't mean it like that and that's fine but then we're into interpretation and context which brings me to the next problem.
Because as many Christians themselves will tell you, what Jesus was supposed to have said has to be looked at in context, eg, who he was talking to, when and why he was saying it to them, which then unfortunately means that we end up with many different interpretations of what exactly he meant and who he was talking to, in other words, we have to guess, which considering he is supposed to be a divine being who came to give us information that we needed to know it seems rather careless of him, I mean, he was supposed to have come to Earth with this very important message right?, probably 'the' most important message that we all would need to understand and what does he do?, make it vague, make it non-specific, leave it open to interpretation and don't tell me Jesus made it very easy and clear to understand because if it was easy you wouldn't have so many different churches and you wouldn't have had the infighting within the early Christian church when they were trying to establish which Christianity was that one that would dominate and who were the so called 'Heretics', this took 100's of years to sort out, now, you would never have had that problem if the things Jesus was supposed to have said were clear, it's obvious that he didn't make himself clear.
+John Cashin Surely even Pentecostal churches did a better job of teaching what lust is than thinking it amounts to just liking how someone looks or noticing the TV weathergirl is attractive. To be a sin it is more about being consumed with desire for and letting yourself dwell on your sexual desire for someone or some image. Both sexes can be guilty of lust.
"what if someone evil tells you to join with them and worship Satan or go to a strip club with them?, do you go"
No. Do not resist an evil person hardly means to actively do evil with or for them. This is really not interpretation or context, you have extended "do not resist" to absurdity.
'Because as many Christians themselves will tell you, what Jesus was supposed to have said has to be looked at in context, eg, who he was talking to, when and why he was saying it to them"
Isn't that true of all communications?
'"which then unfortunately means that we end up with many different interpretations of what exactly he meant "
We are human, we do things like that. But you are responsible for how reasonable you are about it. If you want to look God in the eye at judgment and explain that you spent most of your life at strip clubs because some lowlife acquaintance told you to and you thought the "do not resist evil" sentence was enough to give you the okay, then that is on you.
" make it vague, make it non-specific"
The old law was much more specific and humans tended to become like the Pharisees and honor the letter of the law and not the spirit. The new covenant with Jesus is more about intentions than specific black letter laws. As long as you try to follow him and sincerely do your best to, his sacrifice will cover you. The old law was extremely specific, but yet you still had the Sadducces vs the Esseenes vs the Pharisees. Nothing about being laws more specific would take away our human nature about infighting, particularly when our vanity is egged on by Satan and his temptations. None of that has anything to do with clarity of Jesus message.
Lets not forget you shouldn't be having a religion to tell you what's good and what's bad.
If you need a religion to tell you to be kind to strangers or show love to the poor and the needy, and that somehow you couldn't figure this out by yourself...then well...you're already fucked.
In regards to the healthiness of fasting. As a Type 2 Diabetic I have found it immensely helpful to do a short fast (noon to breakfast the next day).
You are incredibly brilliant, Matt. I wish to have just a 10th of your knowledge.
That was 4 years ago. How's it going? Are you close to your goal?
Don't stop trying, and good luck!! 😊
I enjoy much of what you say, but there are proven medical benefits of fasting.
Citation needed, unless you mean certain medical tests require fasting beforehand.
Maybe intermittent fasting, but only if done properly with a specific diet.
@@Noromdiputs yes
Part 2 please!
very, very interesting. much thought has gone into this vid, more than most good religious types.
I was listening to this in the background like a podcast and I got so confused why there is so much silence at 3:53 and I look over and see Matt just materializing into existence 😂😂😂
I enjoyed this video, but didn't find any other parts to this series; were they just not numbered?
Is the link that you quote in the beginning is broke, Matt.
Were can I find your email to send responses to ?
WHOA! How did you just appear like that on the second scene???? Your magic is really paying off!
Logic and reason. Thanks Matt.
Who's doing your editing? I need a job and I'm certain I can improve some of these cuts.
Another great essay, thank you as always. One thing to note about the 'deepity' at 28:00: when Jeebus is giving the crap advice to not worry about anything and just trust the god provide like the birds and flowers do, he's speaking directly to his band of merry men, the disciples, not the everyday folks like us. The clue is in Matt 5, 1-2 (as posted at 5:00): "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his DISCIPLES came to him. He opened his mouth, and taught THEM..."
A millenia of control freaks tried to convince us that this was his blueprint for life, given to a giant multitude, and therefore we should consider ourselves schmucks for not being able to follow it. But it wasn't meant for us, at least not in this case.
And yet you ignore that it was published for us... and that he was teaching them to teach us.... and that if the model were correct he would KNOW that it would be interpreted that way... and that he intentionally told things to the disciples privately, many times, with the intent of it applying to all. And more.
@@SansDeity I'm not ignoring anything. Just reading the text as it's written, and being skeptical that church fathers, or Paul, or whomever, was accurately relaying his real message -- if we even know what it really was, and, as you say, if he even existed. Wasn't attacking, just trying add a pov.
Anyone know if there’s a part 2 and on? Can’t find them.
From the stratosphere for us mere mortals to Earthly, I like that, Mr. Dillahunty! Please, please keep doing what you do. And maybe we will all catch up. A little lag from you to us is perfectly acceptable, IMHO.
The bit about persecution. A tell tale sign of it being written very late. After the initial persecutions, real or otherwise. It should by any means not be put in the first three decades without question.
Can you, or have you done a video on the different versions of the biblical hell? It would be very interesting.
Was there ever a part 2 of this?
Is it just me or does Mathew 5:26 sound like Old English? It uses the word Farthing, and I have only heard that used in Old English. Am I wrong here? Was that a common term during this timeframe?
+Lone Wolf Farthing is very much an English term; penny, halfpenny and farthing - a quarter of a penny. As far as I know, it is not known outside the UK.
When the Bible was first printed in English, the authorities were afraid it would lead to heresy.
William Tyndale was burnt for this crime, which was OK then, but horrifies us today.
Matt's detailed analysis is the ultimate scary result of the free availability of the holy book in English.
This was very interesting.
I'm a huge fan Matt! I agree with an earlier comment about this video being calm and thoughtful so that Christians will not do quickly dismiss is as being attacked. Many other TH-cam'ers come across too harsh and that doesn't help the cause at all.
+Jeff Bates It takes every sort of approach Jeff
What works for one, may bounce off another
hey matt did you read the book "manual for creating atheist"? & are you using this method on the show? & do you think its good?
+0cards0 Is that an alternative title for The Holy Bible?
j/k
+Philosophical Mind The Goat Herder's Guide to the Universe
"Avoid chants and structures prayers"
literally one sentence later
"Here's a prewritten structured prayer you should use." WELCOME TO RELIGION
Lel
Nice job.
Some limited fasting can indeed be healthy. But this isn’t fasting for days but for hours, as a way to control overeating.
To be fair, you can go the rest of your life without eating.
I came here worried and having questions about my faith but after listening to the video I felt more reassurance my faith in Jesus is not misplaced, appreciate the critique though, I think more Christians need to been challenged in their faith, I agree with you completely when you say most Christians have hardly read or read their bibles, that is something I have seen myself people talk high and mighty when at church or amongst Christians but when non belivers ask difficult questions about the world and life and God, most Christians have no convincing answers.
How the hell is your audio not picking up that wind? A miracle 😂
lmao that fade into existence at 4 min. That was epic.
27:00 I’ve heard from people who cite studies claiming that fasting can be a valuable tool for weight loss and health regulation. I’m fairly certain Socrates fasted for better brain function. Excessive starvation periods hit the body pretty hard though.