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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
@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.
"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 )
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.
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 !
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
+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.
+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
that was fantastic! And gentle enough that I can actually show religious family members this video. which is depressingly rare from atheist RUclips channels.
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..."
+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.
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.
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.
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.
+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
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
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.
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?
@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.
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.
Matthew 5:19..the concept of ranking in heaven seems odd. isn't heaven heaven? isn't it the paradise of no worries and infinite happiness for anyone who goes there? how would you then benefit from being on the platinum pass? you get to hang out directly with Einstein or Marilyn Monroe? so I might be excluded from hanging out with Einstein? as soon as you start thinking about this shit it all starts to fall apart.
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.
32:00 - It's also a great out. If a prophet does wrong, they're not a true prophet. You can't point out any bad priests/prophets. If you do, they weren't a true prophet.
It feels as if the author of this dismisses a lot of what Jesus says throughout his teachings. For example, in response to observations on Matt. 5:1-6 and 6:20, 24-25. Jesus does give advice on how to live on this earth (the old testament is his pretext, and he teaches many ways to live throughout the parrables). Here he is teaching about those who live in such ways on earth saying that the rich will struggle and the poor will be blessed. This might seem like he is merely chastising the rich and praising the poor for being in these states, but if we take this with the context of Jesus' encounter with the young rich man (Mark 10: 17-27), we see that he is merely saying the rich will have a harder time letting go of the earth and the things on it. This is unbenaficial for him because it is not the place that he will live for eternity. Yes we should care about how we live now, and we should especially care how we will accept eternity with God since it is eternity as apposed to maybe one-hundred years if your lucky.
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.
@@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...
Believers say that they think this Sermon on the Mount is super inspiring or something beyond great but I find it extremely mundane and lacking considering it is said to be coming from a so-called God? There is nothing life changing or other worldly being said in it.
Lust is different from simple sexual attraction. Lust is sexual attraction that is by nature possessive. What Jesus is saying is that it's good to have sexual desires but fixating on them is bad for the mind.
"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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
~ 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 ~
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.
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.
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.
👍 but a small disagreement: Matt 5:14-16 doesn’t explicitly say anything about doing good. It just says “Shine your light.” Maybe by Light, it meant Faith. So it doesn’t explicitly contradict Matthew 6:1. The problem with 6:1 is that it focuses too much on the witness. Is it always wrong to give alms so others can see? What if that inspires them to give, too?
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.
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'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.
12 minutes into this video, and as a theist who believes in Jesus, all the points made are painfully, EASILY refutable. Appreciate your attempt Matt, but, at least thus far, you have no idea what you are taking about. In fact, most of your points thus far can easily be cleared up with context alone. This sounds exactly like what an atheist THINKS would stump a Jesus-follower, and I’m not surprised, without a knowledge of the Bible these point WOULD sound convincing. Was expecting more difficult, thought-provoking challenges honestly. All of this so far is extremely basic
Weirdly, you rebutted NOTHING and of the two of us, I'm the only one who has demonstrated any understanding here, as both a theist and as an atheist. But keep thinking you won, it's cute.
@@SansDeity Just to clarify 1. I don't mean any offense in my comment. You are totally and absolutely free to express your opinion and interpretation of the text. Any frustration is actually misdirected by me, and more frustration towards people in the comments writing along the lines of "I can't wait to show this to my religious friends and family to shut them up" acting as if this is some once-and-for-all comprehensive refutation of Christianity (and sadly the average Christian's scriptural knowledge is so incredibly poor it might actually be successful in convincing them in many cases unfortunately. 2. I am not attempting to come off as an expert on theology or the scriptures. I think I have an above average understanding of them due to the time I've dedicated to reading and understanding them, due to my time, although somewhat brief, in Bible school as well as time spent debating with many friends and roomates with their masters in theology. But again, I am far from an expert. Im also happy to address my interpretation of your critique, so here goes. Starting off with the beattitudes. You interpret the "Woe to rich/full,etc." as Jesus stressing poverty as a virtue. Is Jesus really denouncing laughing here? I think that interpretation is totally missing the context. Here Jesus is introducing the way the Kingdom of God works. When you are at your most destitute is when the presence of God is closest and most comforting. Conversely, when you are rich and satisfied (full) with the fruits of a bountiful life is when your heart, this is just human nature and is mentioned throughout the Bible, is most prone to wander from God and be captivated by the things of this world. All of Israelite history is a testament to this very fact, and Jesus' Jewish audience would have been very aware of this. Jesus isn't denouncing anythign here, this is a lament (woe) not a denounciation. A lament because he knows the heart of man and its proneness to wander from God the minute our lives aren't in dire circumstances and desperately need him. Jesus absolutely DID NOT denounce wealth WHATSOEVER, its a total misinterpretation. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were 3 of Jesus' closest friends on earth, all 3 were extremely wealthy, Jesus never attacked them for their wealth, never asked them to sell all and give to the poor. Why? Because He knew that they hadn't stored up the treasures of their heart in their material wealth, but rather held it with an open hand. As one pastor puts it so well: "How much money is too much money? Whatever amount replaces your trust in God. For some people thats $20 million for others thats $2,000." The "don't worry it gets better in the next life ... this life is meaningless, focusing instead on the life to come" again is a completely false interpretation, sadly it is an interpretation that even mainstream conservative christian denominations have taken up, and its perhaps one of the BIGGEST lies in the Church today. This idea that Jesus' teachings, such as the sermon on the mount, are some kind of appeal only to "yes this life is hard, but dont worry the next one will be better if you follow me" is total falshood and heresy and a total misinterpertation of Jesus' entire ministry. Jesus declared "repent for the Kingdom of God is AT HAND." The Kingdom of God isn't referring to Heaven. Jesus came to establish the Kindgom of God on Earth right now. This has nothing to do with dying and going to heaven. Jesus literally taught his disciples to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven." The entire mission of Christians is to continue Jesus' work in bringing this kingdom down to Earth and establishing it here and now, so any spirit that is even remotely similar to a "just hold on during this life and you will be rewarded in the next" is an absolute abomonation and heresy that has sadly crept into the mainstream church yet is the exact antithesis of Jesus' message and ministry. When Jesus says "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" He is talking about TODAY. Yes we will be comforted in heaven as well, but in THIS life we will be comforted when we mourn. In THIS life the poor in spirit will inherit the Kindgom of God. This is absolutely advice on how to live THIS life, in fact it is specifically FOR this very life, although it is also true regarding the afterlife. Regarding the persecution bit: you say it discourages cooperation with nonbelievers. Again you are just grasping at one verse. Read Paul's letters, this man constantly URGED cooperation and compliance with the cutlural norms and practices of the surrounding socieites. Its all throughout his work. He encourages Christians to withold from certain freedoms, from eating food sacrificed to idols to women keeping their heads covered during services to even advizing slaves not to cause an uprising in clamouring for their freedom from their masters all for the goal to cooperate with surrounding culture and keep cultural practices from being a stumbling block for outsiders to come to Jesus. Obviously these practices must still adhere to Jesus' moral code, but outside of that Paul was all for cooperation. He implores Christians constantly to lay down their rights and freedoms for the sake of Christ and Christ's message. Jesus is speaking in an entirely different context in the verse you are interpreting. Jesus is simply saying that the Truth is often controversial and sometimes downright offensive, and people have been rebelling against it since the days of Eden, don't be surprised when people attack you for speaking the truth. Stand up for what you believe is right and stick to it, regardless of how people see you and treat you. We need MORE of that in todays world if you ask me, not less. Regarding the "good works" contradiction: the key phrase is in Matthew 6 "to be seen by them." These are two seperate postures and mindsets in doing good works. The first mindset is the Matt 5 mindset where the good works are done out of love for your Father in heaven and brothers and sisters on Earth. The Matt 6 mindset is done "to be seen by men." In the very next verse Jesus reveals that He is specifically referring to the actions of the Pharisees who announce their works with trumpets everytime they give to the needy. This is Jesus' point: Do your good works in private, in public, do them in crowds, do them all alone, but make sure your HEART is in the right place. If you're doing it to gain favor and approval from others then you have already recieved your reward, but if you are doing it simply out of the generosity of your heart simply because you want to share what God has blessed you with, then you are doing it truly unselfishly the way God intended and will be rewarded by Him. The emphasis in that verse isn't "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others" the emphasis is "so as to be seen by them." It totally changes the meaning of the verse. Also remember, Jesus isn't saying this is sinful or wrong to give with somewhat selfish intentions, He is just pointing towards what the TRUE spirit of generosity should be. "Any God would avoid any ambiguity so as to avoid confusion" That's not how God operates. In fact in Matthew 13 Jesus reveals that he spoke in parables specifically so that those who weren't ready WOULDN'T understand or percieve His message. Sounds confusing, but its actually beautiful. He spoke to them in parables so that "Though seeing they would not percieve, and though hearing they would not understand." Why? Because "whoever has will be given more and will have in abundance, but whoever does not have, even what little they have will be taken away." To those who had been faithfully following a path of loving and seeking mercy, justice, truth, righteousness, generosity with what little they had been given, more would be added and they would be able to understand the teachings and parables of Jesus, for, just like the good soil in the parable Jesus had just told, their hearts would be prepared to understand and recieve the message. But to those who had been given a small revelation of truth and even a small understanding of right and wrong and what it means to truly live life seeking after truth, mercy, justice, peace, etc. (which everyone is given at least a small understanding of) but had decided to live a life opposing those things and heading down another path, even what little revelation of the truth they had been given would be taken away, and they would leave confused by the teachings and sayings of Jesus. It's actually a beautiful act of mercy. The word for glory in Hebrew actually translates to "wieght." The weight of revelation and the weight of seeing and understanding God's glory is so heavy that it will crush someone who isn't prepared, whose soil of the heart isn't right. To give someone a greater, deeper revelation of truth when they aren't even following the little truth they have been given isn't loving its cruelty and will crush them. Jesus spoke in truth and in love. In every single interaction He had with people, then, there was the opportunity for people to either react to the love and take a step towards Jesus or to react to a sometimes abrasive truth that left them saddened (in the case of the rich young ruler) or downright offended (in the case of the pharisees and sadducees). Jesus was okay with being misunderstood and maligned, but He always left the door opened for anyone truly seeking to come in and recieve the truth. Anyway, I would love to keep going, as I really enjoy this, but I need to take a break for a bit!
@@micahmartens7770 so you purposely ignored the part about “”not until heaven and earth pass away NOT one jot of the law will be changed”” part of the sermon 😒
The old fall back when loosing the argument "Don't question my god" could just as easily be met with "Don't question my ability to question your god". But who wants to go down that futile path?
23:59 I should use that next time some Christian complains about prayer being taken out of schools. Even under their own doctrine (never mind the Constitution) it is wrong to pray in public places. And considering it is not illegal to pray in schools anyway (the prohibition is on mandatory prayer lead by tax-payer funded officials), there is no reason for that subject to be such a sore spot for Christians. And yet it comes up all the damn time.
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.
Hi Matt, Regarding Matthew 5:16 vs Matt 6:1: I believe the first (Matt 5:16) is about letting others see your good works - in order they mimic those good works (i.e. - not for the purpose of simply “showing off”, etc) The second (Matt 6:1) is regarding this very idea of “showing off” (i.e. - look at ME, as opposed to doing good works solely for the sake of others). I see much problems with the bible, but I see no problem here…unless I missed smoothing else?
26:00 you mention fasting. I was always under them impression as a child that fasting was for days (40 days, 40 nights) nly when I was older did I make friends with people from Muslim backgrounds who ritually fast, but is just days, not nights. It's not clear what they mean by fasting in Mathew. 24 hour fasting for more than one day is clearly nuts, but the fasting during the hours of the sun is essentially what the fitness industry cal intermittent fasting. Is there anywhere in the bible that clarifies the form of fasting, as it seems daylight fasting culd be the ritual.
It seems more obvious in the NIV than KJV, but I suggest a different understanding of the exception expressed in Matthew 5:32. I don't think the exception of "saving the cause of fornication" means to allow an exception for divorce under that circumstance. Rather, it's an exception to the following statement that it "causeth her to commit adultery". In other words: If you divorce her, you make her an adulteress, unless she's made herself one already.
Wow... almost 160 000 views, plenty of comments, and nobody pointed out the obvious mistake he makes, when interpreting Mathew 5: 10-12 at 7:58 His claims could be at best case characterized as "cherry picking", since he completely ignored millions of Christians, who have been persecuted throughout history. But since not even he thinks, the people he refers to are actually persecuted, he talks about "perceived persecution". Thus, what he talks about has nothing to do with the part he cited from the Bible. The fact, that people completely missed this, is actually very scary for me, since it shows, they didn't actually pay attention.
The full verse by verse deconstruction doesn't seem to exist anymore? Did you take it down for some reason? It's unfortunate that the only version is just you "pick[ing] out some highlights and low-lights" 4:40 ... especially after your criticism of how people "take out the bits and pieces that are important to them" 1:08 . Perhaps you would provide a link to the full verse by verse critique as this video is rather poor and it would be much easier to debate/respond if you provided a complete and cohesive critique of Matthew 5-7.
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 RUclips'ers come across too harsh and that doesn't help the cause at all.
Many times people around me mention the Sermon on the Mount as a beautiful thing, and I learned that I _must_ avert my eyes, grimace in disagreement, and change the subject as quickly as possible. This is because every time I yielded to the temptation and started analyzing the contents of the sermon it got really ugly, really fast. The nuclear arsenal of modern atheism is all packed in there.
My wife's grandfather, an Orthodox Jew, lent millions of dollars throughout his life to hundreds of members of his community, all interest free, all on a handshake. It appears that most were paid back but many were not. In his will he forgave all debts and asked that his children not collect money owed and not accept money from anyone who tried to pay them being unable to pay him. He was a Holocaust survivor and was a huge believer in a close community and viewed Jews and non-Jews as brothers. Countless people nearly two decades after his death still come up to my wife telling her how amazing her grandfather was. He was wealthy and lived as though he had barely made it to the middle-class. He didn't want to show off and strongly believed that god had made him wealthy so that he could help others. Despite his reasons for doing it he was the type of person who likely would have done it anyway. But he took the interest free doctrine extremely seriously.
Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Matthew 13:13.
7:00-8:00 Matt is calling for something more concrete and useful, the problem is that anyone who is familiar with human nature knows that humans can be quite irrational and if there is a book called "how to be moral" that was actually quite straightforward no one would read it or very few would at least. We have to remember that the Bible is one of the most popular books with people and just like other popular series such as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones it contains lots of stuff that people like to read about: Drama, Kings, Violence, Sex, talking animals, magic, good stories where the good guys win and the bad guys get their come-uppence. In addition you have this savior character called Jesus who goes through terrible ordeals just for you. Now, if there ever was a book called "the book of morals" and was very straightforward, practical and didn't contain too many talking snakes but lots of wisdom about how to act in an ethical manner toward your fellow living beings, well I'm pretty sure it would not end up on the bestseller list because that's just the way people are.
24:12 6 years later and we are been told if we do not partake in other people's beliefs we are the evil ones. His comments are quite dishonest especially in his closing remark he dismissed Jesus advice as not useful but it is actually more useful than any advice for humankind. He talks about the Sermon on the Mount not given any help for the human condition, but what he wants is what suits his own moral views of life. Thereby he presupposes his moral view on the text. Many more could be said on his take but all round it is generally not correct.
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.
😂😂😂
I've been waiting for you to make a video about this subject! Thanks, Matt!
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
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”
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.
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.
"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?"
Because he never makes questionable advice
"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
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.
I really like these videos recorded out in nature, Matt. Much better than those recorded indoors.
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 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.
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.
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!
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
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
that was fantastic! And gentle enough that I can actually show religious family members this video. which is depressingly rare from atheist RUclips 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 Matt, this is really appreciated :)
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.
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.
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
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.
Thank you for these Matt. Extra treat showing the beauty of the Texas Hill Country.
Excellent, Matt. A great listen.
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...
Matt on the Mount
Time to finally sit back and study up on this mount business.
Thank you for your work, and tireless effort!
Love the way this guy presents himself...always a gentlmen when hes debates etc...
Just love the clip where u "appear" sitting on the mount Matt. It was just random and very funny. Thanks from South-Africa.
You look like you are preaching a sermon on the mount. Right location.
The fact that you did this on a mountainside is just great.
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.
This is amazing, thank you for doing this!
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
Matthew 5:19..the concept of ranking in heaven seems odd. isn't heaven heaven? isn't it the paradise of no worries and infinite happiness for anyone who goes there? how would you then benefit from being on the platinum pass? you get to hang out directly with Einstein or Marilyn Monroe? so I might be excluded from hanging out with Einstein? as soon as you start thinking about this shit it all starts to fall apart.
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
32:00 - It's also a great out. If a prophet does wrong, they're not a true prophet. You can't point out any bad priests/prophets. If you do, they weren't a true prophet.
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
It feels as if the author of this dismisses a lot of what Jesus says throughout his teachings.
For example, in response to observations on Matt. 5:1-6 and 6:20, 24-25. Jesus does give advice on how to live on this earth (the old testament is his pretext, and he teaches many ways to live throughout the parrables). Here he is teaching about those who live in such ways on earth saying that the rich will struggle and the poor will be blessed. This might seem like he is merely chastising the rich and praising the poor for being in these states, but if we take this with the context of Jesus' encounter with the young rich man (Mark 10: 17-27), we see that he is merely saying the rich will have a harder time letting go of the earth and the things on it.
This is unbenaficial for him because it is not the place that he will live for eternity. Yes we should care about how we live now, and we should especially care how we will accept eternity with God since it is eternity as apposed to maybe one-hundred years if your lucky.
"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!
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.
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...
Believers say that they think this Sermon on the Mount is super inspiring or something beyond great but I find it extremely mundane and lacking considering it is said to be coming from a so-called God? There is nothing life changing or other worldly being said in it.
+matt dillahunty
I'm a bit jealous of your brain.
Don’t be jealous of his brain be envious of his study ethic
Lust is different from simple sexual attraction. Lust is sexual attraction that is by nature possessive. What Jesus is saying is that it's good to have sexual desires but fixating on them is bad for the mind.
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?
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.
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!
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.
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.
That editing is EVERYTHING
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.
17:45 Men are all that matters in these books. God was so divine that only men matter. Clearly the most moral.
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?
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.
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....
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.
~ 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 job! Kudos & thanks!
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.
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.
13:10 Good lesson for Ray Comfort lol
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.
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?
😁That was good ! My compliments !
Excellent video Matt. Every christion and non christian should see this video
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
👍 but a small disagreement: Matt 5:14-16 doesn’t explicitly say anything about doing good. It just says “Shine your light.” Maybe by Light, it meant Faith.
So it doesn’t explicitly contradict Matthew 6:1. The problem with 6:1 is that it focuses too much on the witness. Is it always wrong to give alms so others can see? What if that inspires them to give, too?
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.
When Matt's not yelling, his voice is actually quite calming lol
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
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 😂😂😂
Matt I love these videos...Good job buddy.
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!).
i liked this format :D
Matthew 5:28-30 you didn't read the entire thing. He clearly said to Mutilate your body as well
Matt is an atheist wizard passing down forbidden knowledge from his mountain cove
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.
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!! 😊
12 minutes into this video, and as a theist who believes in Jesus, all the points made are painfully, EASILY refutable. Appreciate your attempt Matt, but, at least thus far, you have no idea what you are taking about. In fact, most of your points thus far can easily be cleared up with context alone. This sounds exactly like what an atheist THINKS would stump a Jesus-follower, and I’m not surprised, without a knowledge of the Bible these point WOULD sound convincing.
Was expecting more difficult, thought-provoking challenges honestly. All of this so far is extremely basic
Weirdly, you rebutted NOTHING and of the two of us, I'm the only one who has demonstrated any understanding here, as both a theist and as an atheist.
But keep thinking you won, it's cute.
@@SansDeity Just to clarify
1. I don't mean any offense in my comment. You are totally and absolutely free to express your opinion and interpretation of the text. Any frustration is actually misdirected by me, and more frustration towards people in the comments writing along the lines of "I can't wait to show this to my religious friends and family to shut them up" acting as if this is some once-and-for-all comprehensive refutation of Christianity (and sadly the average Christian's scriptural knowledge is so incredibly poor it might actually be successful in convincing them in many cases unfortunately.
2. I am not attempting to come off as an expert on theology or the scriptures. I think I have an above average understanding of them due to the time I've dedicated to reading and understanding them, due to my time, although somewhat brief, in Bible school as well as time spent debating with many friends and roomates with their masters in theology. But again, I am far from an expert.
Im also happy to address my interpretation of your critique, so here goes.
Starting off with the beattitudes. You interpret the "Woe to rich/full,etc." as Jesus stressing poverty as a virtue. Is Jesus really denouncing laughing here? I think that interpretation is totally missing the context. Here Jesus is introducing the way the Kingdom of God works. When you are at your most destitute is when the presence of God is closest and most comforting. Conversely, when you are rich and satisfied (full) with the fruits of a bountiful life is when your heart, this is just human nature and is mentioned throughout the Bible, is most prone to wander from God and be captivated by the things of this world. All of Israelite history is a testament to this very fact, and Jesus' Jewish audience would have been very aware of this. Jesus isn't denouncing anythign here, this is a lament (woe) not a denounciation. A lament because he knows the heart of man and its proneness to wander from God the minute our lives aren't in dire circumstances and desperately need him. Jesus absolutely DID NOT denounce wealth WHATSOEVER, its a total misinterpretation. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were 3 of Jesus' closest friends on earth, all 3 were extremely wealthy, Jesus never attacked them for their wealth, never asked them to sell all and give to the poor. Why? Because He knew that they hadn't stored up the treasures of their heart in their material wealth, but rather held it with an open hand. As one pastor puts it so well: "How much money is too much money? Whatever amount replaces your trust in God. For some people thats $20 million for others thats $2,000."
The "don't worry it gets better in the next life ... this life is meaningless, focusing instead on the life to come" again is a completely false interpretation, sadly it is an interpretation that even mainstream conservative christian denominations have taken up, and its perhaps one of the BIGGEST lies in the Church today. This idea that Jesus' teachings, such as the sermon on the mount, are some kind of appeal only to "yes this life is hard, but dont worry the next one will be better if you follow me" is total falshood and heresy and a total misinterpertation of Jesus' entire ministry.
Jesus declared "repent for the Kingdom of God is AT HAND." The Kingdom of God isn't referring to Heaven. Jesus came to establish the Kindgom of God on Earth right now. This has nothing to do with dying and going to heaven. Jesus literally taught his disciples to pray "Your kingdom come, Your will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven." The entire mission of Christians is to continue Jesus' work in bringing this kingdom down to Earth and establishing it here and now, so any spirit that is even remotely similar to a "just hold on during this life and you will be rewarded in the next" is an absolute abomonation and heresy that has sadly crept into the mainstream church yet is the exact antithesis of Jesus' message and ministry. When Jesus says "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" He is talking about TODAY. Yes we will be comforted in heaven as well, but in THIS life we will be comforted when we mourn. In THIS life the poor in spirit will inherit the Kindgom of God. This is absolutely advice on how to live THIS life, in fact it is specifically FOR this very life, although it is also true regarding the afterlife.
Regarding the persecution bit: you say it discourages cooperation with nonbelievers. Again you are just grasping at one verse. Read Paul's letters, this man constantly URGED cooperation and compliance with the cutlural norms and practices of the surrounding socieites. Its all throughout his work. He encourages Christians to withold from certain freedoms, from eating food sacrificed to idols to women keeping their heads covered during services to even advizing slaves not to cause an uprising in clamouring for their freedom from their masters all for the goal to cooperate with surrounding culture and keep cultural practices from being a stumbling block for outsiders to come to Jesus. Obviously these practices must still adhere to Jesus' moral code, but outside of that Paul was all for cooperation. He implores Christians constantly to lay down their rights and freedoms for the sake of Christ and Christ's message.
Jesus is speaking in an entirely different context in the verse you are interpreting. Jesus is simply saying that the Truth is often controversial and sometimes downright offensive, and people have been rebelling against it since the days of Eden, don't be surprised when people attack you for speaking the truth. Stand up for what you believe is right and stick to it, regardless of how people see you and treat you. We need MORE of that in todays world if you ask me, not less.
Regarding the "good works" contradiction: the key phrase is in Matthew 6 "to be seen by them." These are two seperate postures and mindsets in doing good works. The first mindset is the Matt 5 mindset where the good works are done out of love for your Father in heaven and brothers and sisters on Earth. The Matt 6 mindset is done "to be seen by men." In the very next verse Jesus reveals that He is specifically referring to the actions of the Pharisees who announce their works with trumpets everytime they give to the needy.
This is Jesus' point: Do your good works in private, in public, do them in crowds, do them all alone, but make sure your HEART is in the right place. If you're doing it to gain favor and approval from others then you have already recieved your reward, but if you are doing it simply out of the generosity of your heart simply because you want to share what God has blessed you with, then you are doing it truly unselfishly the way God intended and will be rewarded by Him.
The emphasis in that verse isn't "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others" the emphasis is "so as to be seen by them." It totally changes the meaning of the verse.
Also remember, Jesus isn't saying this is sinful or wrong to give with somewhat selfish intentions, He is just pointing towards what the TRUE spirit of generosity should be.
"Any God would avoid any ambiguity so as to avoid confusion"
That's not how God operates. In fact in Matthew 13 Jesus reveals that he spoke in parables specifically so that those who weren't ready WOULDN'T understand or percieve His message. Sounds confusing, but its actually beautiful. He spoke to them in parables so that "Though seeing they would not percieve, and though hearing they would not understand." Why? Because "whoever has will be given more and will have in abundance, but whoever does not have, even what little they have will be taken away." To those who had been faithfully following a path of loving and seeking mercy, justice, truth, righteousness, generosity with what little they had been given, more would be added and they would be able to understand the teachings and parables of Jesus, for, just like the good soil in the parable Jesus had just told, their hearts would be prepared to understand and recieve the message. But to those who had been given a small revelation of truth and even a small understanding of right and wrong and what it means to truly live life seeking after truth, mercy, justice, peace, etc. (which everyone is given at least a small understanding of) but had decided to live a life opposing those things and heading down another path, even what little revelation of the truth they had been given would be taken away, and they would leave confused by the teachings and sayings of Jesus.
It's actually a beautiful act of mercy. The word for glory in Hebrew actually translates to "wieght." The weight of revelation and the weight of seeing and understanding God's glory is so heavy that it will crush someone who isn't prepared, whose soil of the heart isn't right. To give someone a greater, deeper revelation of truth when they aren't even following the little truth they have been given isn't loving its cruelty and will crush them. Jesus spoke in truth and in love. In every single interaction He had with people, then, there was the opportunity for people to either react to the love and take a step towards Jesus or to react to a sometimes abrasive truth that left them saddened (in the case of the rich young ruler) or downright offended (in the case of the pharisees and sadducees). Jesus was okay with being misunderstood and maligned, but He always left the door opened for anyone truly seeking to come in and recieve the truth.
Anyway, I would love to keep going, as I really enjoy this, but I need to take a break for a bit!
@@micahmartens7770 so you purposely ignored the part about “”not until heaven and earth pass away NOT one jot of the law will be changed”” part of the sermon 😒
@@micahmartens7770great comment
Matt you sure are one of a kind 😊
The old fall back when loosing the argument "Don't question my god" could just as easily be met with "Don't question my ability to question your god". But who wants to go down that futile path?
Holy fucking shit. I died laughing at 3:54
23:59 I should use that next time some Christian complains about prayer being taken out of schools. Even under their own doctrine (never mind the Constitution) it is wrong to pray in public places. And considering it is not illegal to pray in schools anyway (the prohibition is on mandatory prayer lead by tax-payer funded officials), there is no reason for that subject to be such a sore spot for Christians. And yet it comes up all the damn time.
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.
Hi Matt,
Regarding Matthew 5:16 vs Matt 6:1:
I believe the first (Matt 5:16) is about letting others see your good works - in order they mimic those good works (i.e. - not for the purpose of simply “showing off”, etc)
The second (Matt 6:1) is regarding this very idea of “showing off” (i.e. - look at ME, as opposed to doing good works solely for the sake of others).
I see much problems with the bible, but I see no problem here…unless I missed smoothing else?
26:00 you mention fasting. I was always under them impression as a child that fasting was for days (40 days, 40 nights) nly when I was older did I make friends with people from Muslim backgrounds who ritually fast, but is just days, not nights. It's not clear what they mean by fasting in Mathew. 24 hour fasting for more than one day is clearly nuts, but the fasting during the hours of the sun is essentially what the fitness industry cal intermittent fasting. Is there anywhere in the bible that clarifies the form of fasting, as it seems daylight fasting culd be the ritual.
It seems more obvious in the NIV than KJV, but I suggest a different understanding of the exception expressed in Matthew 5:32. I don't think the exception of "saving the cause of fornication" means to allow an exception for divorce under that circumstance. Rather, it's an exception to the following statement that it "causeth her to commit adultery". In other words: If you divorce her, you make her an adulteress, unless she's made herself one already.
Wow... almost 160 000 views, plenty of comments, and nobody pointed out the obvious mistake he makes, when interpreting Mathew 5: 10-12 at 7:58
His claims could be at best case characterized as "cherry picking", since he completely ignored millions of Christians, who have been persecuted throughout history. But since not even he thinks, the people he refers to are actually persecuted, he talks about "perceived persecution". Thus, what he talks about has nothing to do with the part he cited from the Bible.
The fact, that people completely missed this, is actually very scary for me, since it shows, they didn't actually pay attention.
The full verse by verse deconstruction doesn't seem to exist anymore? Did you take it down for some reason? It's unfortunate that the only version is just you "pick[ing] out some highlights and low-lights" 4:40 ... especially after your criticism of how people "take out the bits and pieces that are important to them" 1:08 . Perhaps you would provide a link to the full verse by verse critique as this video is rather poor and it would be much easier to debate/respond if you provided a complete and cohesive critique of Matthew 5-7.
"Avoid chants and structures prayers"
literally one sentence later
"Here's a prewritten structured prayer you should use." WELCOME TO RELIGION
Lel
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 RUclips'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
Many times people around me mention the Sermon on the Mount as a beautiful thing, and I learned that I _must_ avert my eyes, grimace in disagreement, and change the subject as quickly as possible. This is because every time I yielded to the temptation and started analyzing the contents of the sermon it got really ugly, really fast. The nuclear arsenal of modern atheism is all packed in there.
Matt, your arguments are frivolous. I thought you had something to ponder about. But didn't hear any.
Point out the issue, don't just be a cry baby
My wife's grandfather, an Orthodox Jew, lent millions of dollars throughout his life to hundreds of members of his community, all interest free, all on a handshake. It appears that most were paid back but many were not. In his will he forgave all debts and asked that his children not collect money owed and not accept money from anyone who tried to pay them being unable to pay him. He was a Holocaust survivor and was a huge believer in a close community and viewed Jews and non-Jews as brothers. Countless people nearly two decades after his death still come up to my wife telling her how amazing her grandfather was. He was wealthy and lived as though he had barely made it to the middle-class. He didn't want to show off and strongly believed that god had made him wealthy so that he could help others. Despite his reasons for doing it he was the type of person who likely would have done it anyway. But he took the interest free doctrine extremely seriously.
Fasting is especially dangerous for someone with diabetes and many other diseases.
Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Matthew 13:13.
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. - thats so obvious, right? Who will comfort for someone who is happy?
7:00-8:00 Matt is calling for something more concrete and useful, the problem is that anyone who is familiar with human nature knows that humans can be quite irrational and if there is a book called "how to be moral" that was actually quite straightforward no one would read it or very few would at least. We have to remember that the Bible is one of the most popular books with people and just like other popular series such as Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones it contains lots of stuff that people like to read about: Drama, Kings, Violence, Sex, talking animals, magic, good stories where the good guys win and the bad guys get their come-uppence. In addition you have this savior character called Jesus who goes through terrible ordeals just for you. Now, if there ever was a book called "the book of morals" and was very straightforward, practical and didn't contain too many talking snakes but lots of wisdom about how to act in an ethical manner toward your fellow living beings, well I'm pretty sure it would not end up on the bestseller list because that's just the way people are.
24:12 6 years later and we are been told if we do not partake in other people's beliefs we are the evil ones.
His comments are quite dishonest especially in his closing remark he dismissed Jesus advice as not useful but it is actually more useful than any advice for humankind. He talks about the Sermon on the Mount not given any help for the human condition, but what he wants is what suits his own moral views of life. Thereby he presupposes his moral view on the text. Many more could be said on his take but all round it is generally not correct.