Food for Thought about the harmfulness of the book of Acts

[@Locust244]

I was wondering if you will do a video about the book of Revelation as well as your thoughts and beliefs on it?

[@JenniferBirdPhD]

@@Locust244 Happy to do that!

[@Locust244]

@ thank you! I’m trying to figure out my personal beliefs on religion and I like asking other peoples perspectives.

[@TimTheEnchanter170]

Brilliant!

[@TheDanEdwards]

Luke-Acts and the gospel of John have some very anti-Jewish elements in them. All of which suggests to me they were written (or are redactions of earlier works) in light of what was happening in the so-called Kitos uprising ("Diaspora Revolt"), or two decades later in the Bar Kochba revolt.

[@JenniferBirdPhD]

Thanks for commenting! I am not sure if you were looking for some engagement on this idea, so I'll make this brief. 🙂 I see what you are saying. I happen to think that the demonizing and anti-Judaic content started much earlier than ~115 CE. We see it building in the gospels; we see it quite powerfully in Hebrews and small but impactful bits in 1 Peter. Food for thought.

[@tsemayekekema2918]

​​@@JenniferBirdPhD I think the theory he references might imply that some of the early material you reference is in fact late (not that I agree with it) Any American can criticize fellow Americans (or the state of America) in terms that are very much identical with people who are enemies of America - it would be methodologically misguided to claim "an American could not possibly say this", when it is really INTERNAL CRITIQUE-there is absolutely no reason why a Jewish Peter would not criticize the specific members (crowds) of the Jewish populace which he understood as OUTSIDE the Jesus movement & say that they killed Jesus. The Dead Sea Scrolls also say a lot of sectarian stuff that can be incompetently classified as antisemitic - using the exact same criteria based on which New Testament & patristic passages get classified as "antisemitic"

[@dougevans9975]

Just curious about your thoughts on Judaism. Do you think that Judaism should be every one's faith since it was first? I'd really love to hear your take on the subject. Thanks

[@aprylvanryn5898]

That's an interesting question. Judaism wasn't actually here first. It isn't even the oldest one that is practiced. At what point would you be able to say, "This religion is the oldest"? I think you would just end up searching endlessly for the thing that came before. Also, it's a bad idea to force anyone to believe in something without evidence in general, but worse if it's against their will. Maybe it's just the North American in me, but I feel like religion or lack thereof is deeply personal and shouldn't be forced upon anyone.

[@JenniferBirdPhD]

Hi! I have many thoughts about Judaism that go beyond your specific question (just for the record!😉) My short answer is no. I do not think that everyone should practice one faith. Perhaps you ask about this line of thinking in light of trying to find peace or unity in the larger framework? In fact, I think that many faiths are forced on people &/or have done a great deal of harm and I regularly advocate for people's wellbeing instead of insisting on staying in a religious space/. Many of the traditional beliefs of the monotheistic traditions are actually holding people back. It is a challenging thing, though, since for so many people that faith community is an important community of people in the everyday living of life. But the group think that happens, especially in more conservative spaces, is really troubling to me. I am about inclusion not exclusion; I am about multiple meanings not insisting on one "right" one, and so forth.