Intertestamental Period

The Surprising Story of the Skeptical Sadducees, Part 2

The Surprising Story of the Skeptical Sadducees, Part 2

I grew up surrounded by puns. Why did the old man fall down the well? He couldn’t see that well! What’s blue and not very heavy? Light blue. What do you call a can opener that doesn’t work? A can’t opener. And then there was this one: “Why did they call themselves the Sadducees?” Because they didn’t believe in the resurrection and that made them sad, you see. Yes, I know that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection, but I’m pretty sure that did not make them sad. In fact, several things suggest that they may have been quite happy with their lives. They were rich and aristocratic. They controlled the temple, and all the high priests were Sadducees. Outside of the religious sphere, they were successful merchants and found that the best way to get ahead is to go along with the Romans. They believed strongly in

The Surprising Story of the Skeptical Sadducees

The Surprising Story of the Skeptical Sadducees

Francois de La Rochefoucauld once said: “The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us.” The fun thing about the gap years is that they reintroduce surprise into reading the New Testament. Take Mark 12, for instance. In this chapter, we find Jesus engaging in conversations with various Jewish leaders. That’s not so surprising, but it is telling. Jesus tells a parable that gets the chief priests and the elders very angry. He gets into it with the Pharisees and the Herodians about the imperial tax. He engages with a teacher of the law about the greatest commandment. And surprisingly, he has a discussion with the Sadducees. Why is that surprising? Because while the Sadducees are frequently mentioned in the Synoptic gospels (nine times!), this is the only time Jesus has a conversation with any of their members. Even more surprising

Books in the Gap

Books in the Gap

Let’s start off with a quiz. There are five questions. Name five books that were written in the 19th century. (This one is easy. There are a ton of great books from the 1800’s. Do you have your five in mind?) Here a handful that you could have chosen: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and, last, Les Misérables by Victor Hugo All those books from the 19th century! How about naming five great books from the 18th century? This is a little more difficult, but still very doable. You could have listed. . . . Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift Tom Jones by Henry Fielding Candide by Voltaire The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The

History in the Gap

History in the Gap

Everyone needs a little history. And if the history you need is a bit wacky, then may I suggest you read any of Leland Gregory’s books on “Stupid History.” My favorite story that he includes in his first volume is the story of the famous Greek playwright, Aeschylus. Aeschylus lived a great life until he didn’t, but to understand his demise you have to understand the hunting practices of eagles. Apparently, eagles found tortoise meat a real delicacy. However, there was an obvious problem: that meat was covered by a hard shell. But eagles are incredibly smart. They figured out that if they dropped a tortoise on a rock from a sufficient enough height, it would crack open and provide a great feast for the working eagle. Now, eagles have great eyesight, but on one tragic day, an eagle mistook Aeschylus’ bald head for a shiny rock and dropped a

Intro to the Gap

Intro to the Gap

We love going to New York City. We go there for the US Open. We go there for Broadway plays. We go there for pizza (we absolutely go there for the pizza). And we go there for the people-watching (I’m not sure there is anywhere better). And we go there to ride the subway. That’s not completely true. We don’t go to NYC for the subway, but when we are in New York, we take the subway everywhere. And we love the subway. Sure, it is old and “well-used,” but it gets you there on tim, and you don’t have to pay for parking. However, if there is one thing I want from my subway, it is for that invisible conductor in the sky to warn me upon my departure to “mind the gap.” I’ll even settle for “watch out for the gap” or “don’t nap on the gap,” but