Posted on 09/21/2013 10:14:52 AM PDT by rhema
“I’m researching Killing Jesus, do you know why Jesus was killed, by the Romans? … You don’t know and you shouldn’t know because it was about taxes, taxes!” – Bill O’Reilly, The O’Reilly Factor, March 2013 (see here: Jesus killed over taxes)
Now, I am no expert on Jesus Christ or the Roman occupation of Judea in the first century A.D., but I am a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ and once, on the way to visit my in-laws, I slept in a Holiday Inn Express. But it wasn’t until that statement, from the renowned theologian Bill O’Reilly of Fox News, that I realized the true reason that Jesus Christ was killed was not atonement, redemption, propitiation or reconciliation, but “Taxes! It was taxes!”
I know, right! Those Romans are brutal! I mean, the IRS raided Willie Nelson and jailed Wesley Snipes, but crucifixion? That’s just medieval!
On Tuesday, the 24th of September, Killing Jesus: A History by BILL O’REILLY (in big bold all caps and the same font size as the words “KILLING JESUS”) and Martin Dugard (you better be wearing your bi-focals to see his name, but he’s the guy who does all the work and gets none of the credit; well, in this case – none of the blame) will arrive in bookstores and on e-shelves.
And according to the prophet of the “No spin zone,” the guy who said, “render unto Caesar” and who miraculously summoned a fish with a silver coin to pay, not only his own taxes but also that of his servant Peter, was somehow the spearhead of a tax revolt against the Romans.
The history of the Greeks, the Romans, the Christians and the Jews deny this, as does Christ himself, who, in a less than Simon bar Kokhba moment, told Pilate to the face that his kingdom was not of this world else his servants would fight. But then again maybe Fox’s own Ron Burgundy and his ghostwriter have discovered something that thousands of scholars, billions of words, and history itself have overlooked?
The write-up of the book promises to “take readers inside Jesus’s life, recounting the seismic political and historical events that made his death inevitable – and changed the world forever.” Now, I’m all for tax revolts, but has the death of any tax revolutionary really “changed the world forever?”
And I’m pretty confident that the death of Jesus was inevitable because God decreed it and prophecy declared it:
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. (Acts 2:23)
The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. (Acts 4:26-28)
After all, wasn’t Pontius Pilate reluctant to the last minute? Do you really think that a Roman Procurator would pause for reflection in the face of a tax revolt? A man renowned for his cruelty?
As a student with intellectual curiosity and somewhere around 3,000 theological volumes in my library, I appreciate the diversity among the scholars that appear there. I have the early church fathers, the great minds of the Reformation, Catholics, Calvinists, skeptics, scoffers and even atheists; though I must admit that O’Reilly will be the first theologian to grace my shelves that has been sued by a former producer for offering to introduce a falafel into her nether regions. But as a Christian who believes in redemption, I was excited to hear that the trouble-making Roman Catholic kid who was the bane of his Catholic school had grown up to write a book about Jesus. What an opportunity for a man who has truly been blessed with a magnificent platform and millions of viewers. How sad that he wasted such a golden opportunity. How truly tragic.
As nutty as Louis Farrakhan sounds when he claims that a Jew of the house of David and the tribe of Judah was black, as loopy as those in Queer Nation who claim that Jesus was “a gay man, extraordinarily gay, steeped in gayness,” nothing quite compares to the complete denial of thousands of years of Jewish prophecy and two millennia of Christian tradition. Not even Dan Brown had the chutzpah to write his anti-Christian screed as a work of non-fiction. That’s right “folks,” you don’t see this kind of pride and prejudice outside of the major cults or the halls of Pandemonium.
The fresh, bold piece of humanity has revealed himself as the hot steaming pile of vanity that both Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh have warned us about by implication for years. O’Reilly’s wacky, unhinged conjectures promise to make Oliver Stone seem like St. Augustine. Imagine the ego that went into his decision to straighten out God, history, tradition and even the skeptics about the life and death of Jesus Christ? Imagine the arrogant naiveté to suggest that a history of the death of Jesus belongs on the same shelf as Lincoln’s and JFK’s?
And the irony of a man who boasts, “The Factor has stood up for Christmas for fifteen years, defending the holiday from secular progressives.” I guess it’s all right to have Christ in Christmas but let’s revisit that whole Easter Sunday thing. So, we have been wrong all along with the “Christ died for your sins” confession; actually we should revise that to “Jesus died for your deductions!”
But will the Factor-heads bail him out on this one? You betcha! O’Reilly could “ralph” into the Holy Grail and there would be a bidding war on ebay. He still lives off the fumes of the average person’s middle finger to the media in their disdain of mainstream propaganda and their appreciation of Fox as a reliable news source. As for me, I would rather have him sign my loofah than toss him thirty pieces of silver like the Fox lemmings that will buy anything that bears his name and visage. How’s that for pithy?
The question that we must ask, that even fans of The Factor must demand, is why? Why would he write this book and why should we continue to pretend that Bill O’Reilly hasn’t morphed into the media version of the perpetual thumb in the eye that is John McCain? If I’m wrong about his following, and I hope that I am, then the title of his next book will be, “KILLING RATINGS”!
I leave you, my dear reader, to your own better discretion on whether to buy this book or support this man but let me just point out a question that should make “the folks” uncomfortable. “When is MSNBC more reliable than Fox News?” The answer is when Martin Bashir has to correct Bill O’Reilly about the true reason for the death of Christ.
Martin Bashir,
You don’t know and you shouldn’t know because it was about taxes?’ Well, as anyone with a modicum of Biblical history will tell you, the death of Christ was an act of substitutionary atonement for the sins of the world. He neither lived nor died for taxes, in fact he simply said that one should discharge one’s responsibilities to the state by rendering unto Caesar that which was Caesar’s. But the purpose and meaning of his death is spelled out by the prophet Isaiah: He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5
“He died for the sins of the world,” continued Bashir, “including the lies and the misappropriation of his life by those whose sole purpose is to make money at his expense.”
Watch Martin Bashir’s Commentary here: Bashir on O’Reilly’s Killing Jesus
The only thing I can think of with his taxes angle is that he’s expressing the earthly reason why the Romans wanted to kill Jesus, and it fit into God’s plan of His Son dying for our sins and for our salvation. But I always thought that Jesus was killed by the Romans because they feared Him as He was proclaiming that He was a king, and the Roman king felt threatened.
I don’t know of any scripture that supports a claim that the Romans killed Jesus over taxes. That’s what O’Reilly is claiming.
There certainly must have been many motivations involved, both worldly and spiritual, in Christ’s death. However, nowhere does it state or imply the Romans killed Jesus over taxes, and even if so, it misses the far larger and more important spiritual reason for Christ’s sacrifice, propitiation for our sins.
Well that’s where I’d need to see more details to say more about the book, but ultimately if we see Bill in person making out the Cross ministry of Christ to be less than it really was, we need to firmly correct that. Book or no book. Because God’s grace is awesome and God will not brook us treating it lightly.
To be fair, O’Reilly only claimed (on his show) the Romans killed Jesus over taxes, and the online excerpt from his upcoming book doesn’t cover that portion of history. Nevertheless, O’Reilly’s claim has no founding in scripture that I know of. It definitely does NOT fit the Biblical characterization of Pontius Pilate, the governor and supreme Roman judge over Judea at the time of Christ’s death.
” “When is MSNBC more reliable than Fox News?” The answer is when Martin Bashir has to correct Bill O’Reilly about the true reason for the death of Christ.”
O’reilly is an idiot, always was and always will be, but so is anyone that thinks the brainless blob of flesh that is Martin Bashir could correct anyone about anything.
I stopped watching this jerk quite some time ago. My wife liked to watch him but finally she realized that he is a complete blowhard. In my opinion, he is an egotistical twit, besides being a total a**hole. Have I made myself clear enough!!!
Elsiejay: “The immediate cause of Jesus’ crucifixion was the Jews, although Christians know the fundamental, existential cause, why He had to die.”
That’s my understanding—based on scripture—too. The most immediate, worldly cause was due to Jewish leaders. They likely wanted Jesus killed because He threatened their leadership, and they claimed Jesus was usurping Caesar’s authority by claiming to be King of the Jews. They did that because the Romans had no reason to execute Jesus on religious grounds. That’s not the reason why the Jews themselves wanted Christ killed.
Of course all of this misses the much more important reason for Christ’s crucification. It was done, as prophesied, as propitiation for our sins.
He is owned by the Elite. He is very selective on what he says or goes after. When the real true is exposed, BOR is in league with the liberals.
WHY?... It’s an old story.. 30 pieces of silver... and negative attention..
He may call it journalism and truth seeking but it’s Not..
It’s secular Religio-SPIN... worldly paranormal activity..
Holy Ghosting by those that do not believe in ghosts...
Agnosticism clothed in robes... Journalism Kabuki.. with bad guys and good guys.. Goth O’Reily-lore..
“...the love of money is the root of all [kinds of] evil.”
Thank you for getting the quote right. It is amazing how many people leave off the first three words.
bill o’bloviator could not stand to take the pointed criticism that he would surely endure in the Manhattan parties that he attends... and directly from the left wing liberal dim party (New Yawk) societal elites... if he even dared to to quote scripture in any way. He spurns GOD’s words to be cool and his soul will pay in eternal heat for it... unless he repents.
I love CHRIST and THE FATHER. To doubt EITHER is to hurt the ONE that made you from nothing. How can anyone do that... anyone that believes in the Trinity? I understand sinning... I am a sinner. I try not to be but sometimes my language gets rough or I let anger flash over common sense but I still endeavor to be a better man. Only those that hate GOD or do not believe in HIM could doubt HIM. There is just no other way to explain it... at least none that I can think of.
When you look at the Gospels in their historical context this makes a lot of sense. The Romans existed in that place and time outside of the ongoing relationship between the Chosen People and God (with all of its ups and downs through history), and as such they were far more likely to look upon someone like Jesus Christ in a very objective manner and react to Him the way an ordinary person would.
For example ... I cannot imagine how someone in those times could watch Christ cure a leper or make a blind man see and not be shaken to his core by what he's witnessed. And yet an awful lot of people stood there and rationalized such a remarkable turn of events away.
I like it... precise, skewering and the absolute truth!
When I read through the Gospels one of the things that really stands out to me is what seems like a complete sense of detachment by Pontius Pilate in his conversation with Christ. It's like he just got out of bed that morning and did his job like he did any other day.
They haven't failed O'Reilly. Unfortunately, he has avoided telling the truth with them in this book.
O'Blowhard has finally jumped the shark and is spreading false teachings and doctrine - and I can confidently say that not even having read his book, which I don't plan on wasting my time doing. All one needs to do is listen to what he says about it.
He is either a false prophet or an incredibly stupid one. I choose "all of the above", Alex.
murron: “But I always thought that Jesus was killed by the Romans because they feared Him as He was proclaiming that He was a king, and the Roman king felt threatened.”
Pontius Pilate was Roman governor of Judea. Pilate’s wife dreamed that Jesus was an innocent and righteous man and sent a message to Pilate to have Jesus released. If Pilate feared anything about Christ, it was fear of executing Him.
Here’s the relevant scripture:
Matthew 27:11-26
“11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” 12 And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. 13 Then Pilate *said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” 14 And He did not answer him with regard to even a single [e]charge, so the governor was quite amazed.
15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the [f]people any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.
19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for [g]last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. 21 But the governor [h]said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” 22 Pilate *said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all *said, “[i]Crucify Him!” 23 And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “[j]Crucify Him!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” 25 And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas [k]for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.”
Christ represented zero threat to Pilate’s secular power or authority.
>>How can a Catholic not understand Jesus’ death.<<
Very simple and in two words - Jesuit taught.
I am looking forward to having a glorified body and a sinless mind.
Luke 23.2 has Pilate being told that Jesus tried to prevent the payment of taxes to Caesar.
Bill Eeee-go-reilly writes books the same way he “drives” himself to work on the Long Island Expressway. One of the biggest frauds ever. He’s nothing more than a glorified Entertainment Tonight “Beyonce” reporter.
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