Little reminder, also in view of the upcoming Easter celebrations, for all those who like to write/wrote Bible fan fiction of the 'Jesus in the Gaza Strip 2023/2024' (1) variety. Or try to back up their anti-Semitic pro Palestinian arguments with biblical facts. :
THE BIBLE IS NOT GRIMM'S DAMN COLLECTION OF FAIRY TALES!
I know many of you think that, but the Bible is not the same or ever comparable in its nature and meaning to the Grimm's collection of fairy tales!
The Grimm's collection of fairy tales contains different, self-contained stories, many of which originate from the French and some of which have been passed down orally. The Brothers Grimm are not their authors! They merely collected them and polished them up for German domestic use, i.e. no foreign words and less sex and violence, but more Christianity and anti-Semitism. Each fairy tale stands on its own and has its own message and meaning. To understand the events in “Aschenputtel”, you don't need to know “Der treue Johannes” or “Das Mädchen ohne Hände”. Although the motif of the “wicked stepmother” plays a significant role, it speaks for itself and does not require an understanding of the fact that it also appears in the fairy tale “Die wahre Braut”. The story of the poor girl who has to endure many trials only to be rewarded for her steadfastness and kindness of heart by marrying the prince also loses none of its meaning. If, as in the French version “Cendrillon ou La petite pantoufle de verre”, the doves and the hazel branch are omitted.
The Bible, on the other hand, is a religious text whose purpose is to convey and pass on a doctrine of faith. It does not serve as entertainment literature for adults so that they can pass the boredom in the late evening hours. It consists of various religious scriptures. The various books and writings were created over thousand of years and were written in different languages — Hebrew, Aramaic and ancient Greek. The oldest books of the Bible originate from the Holy Scriptures of the Jews, including the Torah, while the most recent books were penned by members of the early Christian church.
The Bible is made up of two parts — the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament bears witness to the Old Covenant between God and the Israelites, while the New Testament bears witness to the New Covenant between God, the Jews, and the Gentiles.
The core of the Christian faith is the belief that Jesus' death and resurrection created a new covenant between God and mankind, replacing the old covenant between God and the Israelites.
Jesus Christ is the saviour and bringer of salvation promised to the Israelites by God. He came from and appeared to the Israelite Jews, who, as God's chosen people, naturally had the privilege of hearing his message first. It was only after his ministry, death, and resurrection that God also turned to the Gentiles and offered them the new covenant.
In the years that followed, the early Christian church increasingly separated itself from Judaism by placing the message of the Christian resurrection at the centre of their faith. The Jews, who did not confess Jesus as their Messiah, continued to hold on to the old covenant. (2) The Acts of the Apostles, which describes the process of separation, ends with the Church and Judaism facing each other as two different entities. Long story short — the faith message of the New Testament does not work without that of the Old Testament. Both are interrelated, refer to each other and are mutually dependent. It is not possible to take one part of the Bible without recognising the other. Because one cannot exist without the other!
And for all those who are not mentally capable of understanding the above explanations, here is a quick run-through:
→ Without the Old Covenant between God and Israel, no Messiah and Redeemer promised to the Israelites.
→ Without the Messiah and Saviour promised to the Israelites, no need for Jesus' mission as Messiah for the people.
→ Without the necessity of Jesus' mission as Messiah to the people, no birth of Jesus as Son of Man (in Bethlehem).
→ Without the birth of Jesus as the Son of Man (in Bethlehem), no ministry of Jesus, death and resurrection.
→ Without the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, no emergence of a new covenant between God, Jews, and Gentiles.
→ Without the emergence of a new covenant between God, Jews and Gentiles, no emergence of the early Christian church.
→ Without the emergence of the early Christian church, no (religious) biblical testimonies (3) about the life and work of Jesus as the Messiah promised to the Israelites, who replaced the old covenant between God and Israel.
→ Without the Old Covenant between God and Israel, no Messiah and Saviour promised to the Israelites.
→ Without the Messiah and Saviour promised to the Israelites, no …
You see, the snake is biting its own tail. And anyone who still hasn't realised it by now has either voluntarily surrendered their brain and left themselves to the incompetent thinking of others. Or they are deliberately ignorant, hoping that if they just shout their lies loud enough, the truth will change. (Spoiler, it doesn't.)
What does that mean in concrete terms?
Well, I'll explain it to you using the example of anti-Semitic propaganda from the year 2023, in December, especially around the Christmas holidays (24/25 and 26 December):
“Jesus, who is suddenly of any descent, just not Jewish, would have been bombed to death if he had been born in Bethlehem in 2023, because all Jews are evil and something to do with genocide.”
(All statements summarised and “slightly” paraphrased, of course.)
Apart from all the nonsensical morally degenerate genocidal ramblings, this kind of “reasoning” is nothing but pure hypocrisy and double standards and disqualifies you from any factual argumentation from the outset. You cannot cite a biblical fact to lend legitimacy to your despicable human argumentation just because it benefits your self-imposed mission, since Bethlehem is on Palestinian territory. While at the same time denying the identity of the man without whom the source from which you cite this fact would not exist!
The only source that cites the fact “Jesus was born in Bethlehem” is the New Testament of the Bible itself. There is not a single proven and verified historically correct independent third source that confirms this fact! Historians and biblical scholars assume that the historical Jesus was probably born in Nazareth, and the evangelists added Bethlehem in reference to the birthplace of King David in order to substantiate Jesus' descent from Abraham and King David.
And for all those who are confused again:
You cannot cite the biblical fact of Bethlehem as Jesus' birthplace to fuel your point of view of your genocidal fantasies, but at the same time ignorantly deny all self and other statements about Jesus'! Be it his self-definition and understanding or his social recognition as an Israelite Jew who actively practised the Jewish faith in the four gospels, by declaring that he was anything but that!
Therefore, as long as you do not recognise the biblical Jesus' as an Israelite Jew, hands off any biblical evidence! Otherwise, you will expose yourselves in the simplest possible way as what you are, hypocrites and double-moralists!
(And before we misunderstand each other here, unbelieving Thomas' who can not see the miracle of Jesus' resurrection are not my problem. Only people who have the understanding of morality, empathy, and sense of justice of a rotting corpse and feel the urgent need to justify their lies, distortions of facts and hypocrisies with biblical arguments. Or anti-Semites for short).
(1) Of course, this also applies to the coming years 2025, 2026, 2027 and beyond.
(2) Expressed in a very simplified way so that this text, which is already very long, doesn't explode even more.
(3) (New Testament + addition to the Jewish holy scriptures (Old Testament) = Bible)
Edit: How angry was I when I wrote that? Very! Could I put it more diplomatically? Yes. Is that what I want? No, just come to terms with the fact that I have no patience (any more) for people with the morals of a rotting corpse.
Source:
The mentioned Bible passages:
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, […]
(Matthäus 2,1)
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
(Lukas 2,4-5)
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them,“ Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
(Johannes, 20,24-25)
If you want to look up these Bible passages but don't have the English Standard Version (ESV) or a similar edition to hand, you can find the online edition here: https://www.esv.org/
As a source for the explanations and descriptions of the composition of the Bible (Old and New Testament) as well as the distinction between Jewish and Christian beliefs, I refer without further ado to my Bible lit. As a German Roman Catholic, I use the German-language “Einheitsübersetzung”, which is supplemented with biblical, historical and theological notes and has already been used in my religious education lessons, first communion preparation and confirmation preparation, among other things.
(If anyone would like to have the individual proof of this, please contact me. I will do my best to scan and translate the relevant passages. Otherwise, the search engine of your choice is still your best friend.)
The biblical explanation about Bethlehem can be found here: https://www.bibelwissenschaft.de/ressourcen/wibilex/altes-testament/bethlehem And the information about Grimm's Fairy Tales here: https://www.maerchenatlas.de/category/deutsche-maerchen/grimms-marchen/
(The two links are only in German, however, as I don't feel like looking for an English-language source at the moment. It's late and I have to get up early tomorrow morning. Either use the translation tool you trust (I like to recommend DeepL, because of its accuracy) or simply search yourself for “Bethlehem Jesus Birthplace”, "Grimm's Fairy Tales" or similar word combinations.
If you don't want to believe my "slightly" paraphrased example of anti-Semitic propaganda, just enter "Christmas 2023 Gaza" in the Tumblr search bar and you'll find plenty of material.
