Friday Frivolity: Jacob and Esau
Tag: Jacob
The Zodiac and The Apostles
One of my friends recently shared a video on Facebook which is an excerpt from the notorious movie Zeitgeist. The narrator in the opening frames rather nicely summarizes its main argument:
“Now, probably the most obvious of all the astrological symbolism around Jesus regards the 12 disciples. They are simply the 12 constellations of the Zodiac, which Jesus, being the Sun, travels about with. In fact, the number 12 is replete throughout the Bible:
12 Tribes of Israel
12 Brothers of Joseph
12 Judges of Israel
12 Great Patriarchs
12 Old Testament Prophets
12 Princes of Israel
Jesus in Temple at 12This text (the Bible) has more to do with astrology than anything else”
Like most things in the Zeitgeist movie, the claims can initially appear convincing until you do a little bit of thinking and a smidgen of research.
Quick Apology: You can’t pray to dead people
Continuing in my series of brief apologetic responses, today I would like to look at the subject of Saintly intercession. As I mentioned last time, these will not be thorough, nuanced rebuttals, but simply how I typically would reply when I only have a brief window of opportunity to respond to objections to my Faith.
Objection
I often see on internet forums the following common objection to Saintly intercession:
“You can’t pray to dead people”
Response
In response to this objection I point out that the Saints are not dead:
“…have you not read what was said to you by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” – Matthew 22:32
If Jesus says that the Saints (“Abraham…Isaac….Jacob”) are alive and well, then I think it’s pretty safe to assume that they are indeed alive. Last week we had the Feast of the Transfiguration when Jesus speaks with Moses…a “dead” man (Matthew 17:1-4). Therefore, it is incorrect to call those Christians who have passed away “dead”. They are more alive in God than they have ever been!
The Two Josephs
As I mentioned before, I’m currently working my way through St. Matthew’s Gospel. I was reading a commentary the other day where it noted the parallels between the two main Josephs in the Bible:
Joseph #1
The first Joseph is the Joseph of the Old Testament.
This Joseph was the one who had dreams and was sold into slavery by his own brothers (Genesis 37:28). When he resisted the advances of his master’s wife he was falsely accused and thrown into prison. Fortunately, because he could interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 41:1-36) he later ascended to the role of Prime Minister (Genesis 41:39-40).
Later, during a great famine, Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt to buy grain. After testing their hearts (Genesis 44), Joseph responds with mercy and brings his whole family to live with him (Genesis 47:11-12)
Joseph #2
The second Joseph is the Joseph of the New Testament.
This is St. Joseph, the man who was betrothed to Mary (Matthew 1:19). When he found out that Mary was pregnant, he considered divorcing her. However, after an angel appeared to him in a dream, he resolved to take her as his wife and become the foster father of Jesus (Matthew 1:20-25).
After Jesus’ birth, St. Joseph receives another dream warning him of Herod’s plan to kill Jesus so he takes his wife and son to Egypt. Eventually he brings his family back and settles them in Galilee (Matthew 2:20-23).
Most people assume that St. Joseph died prior to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry since he is not mentioned during that time.
Now, the parallels…