{"id":221,"date":"2018-12-25T17:10:59","date_gmt":"2018-12-25T17:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/?p=221"},"modified":"2018-12-25T17:10:59","modified_gmt":"2018-12-25T17:10:59","slug":"bible-blockchain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html","title":{"rendered":"Bible Blockchain"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Baby<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merry Christmas everyone. \u00a0What a comfort it is to celebrate Christmas this year.<\/p>\n

It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise to see so many opinion pieces about Christmas and Christianity in prominent media outlets online over the past few days \u2013 tis the season — but the number and the tone has surprised me.<\/p>\n

These articles seem to fall into two camps:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Earnest apologia<\/li>\n
  2. Grievance<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I think Christmas needs no apology. Rank commercialism — particularly the runaway commercialization of the pagan aspects of the Christmas season: the winter solstice, Christmas tree, yule logs, Santa, the north pole, eggnog, etc. — can do with a big apology.\u00a0 I love it in moderate doses, but the spirit of Christmas as it is understood by modest Christians requires no apology. You can take it or leave it. I urge all to take it. Begin with Luke 2, verses 1-20. Then, like Mary, treasure these words and ponder them in your heart.<\/p>\n

    Still, some writers feel compelled to issue vigorous defenses of the precepts of the Christian faith as represented in the narrative of the nativity at this time. A surge in apologia may be the result of a wave of grievances also published at this time of year.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    A Christmas grievance<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    So many writers \u2013 maybe it\u2019s a function of some of the blogs I follow \u2013 seem to have hearts filled with grievance against the church and religion in general. They love to provide witness and evidence in the form of lists of reasons why the Bible is NOT TRUE.\u00a0 These articles make me sad.<\/p>\n

    I realize that many have had bad experiences with organized religion. Not just bad experiences.\u00a0 Many have been the victims of criminal behavior and actual crimes. They have been betrayed by the vilest pretenders. These writers have legitimate grievances and I would not deny their right to be heard.<\/p>\n

    Others in this camp are — for the most part — apostles of the scientific method.\u00a0 They have placed their faith in science and in holding their limited understanding of Christianity in particular and religion in general up to an often similarly limited understanding of the first principles of modern science, they find religion grievously wanting. They write with the zeal of the Grand Inquisitor and would excise religion \u2013 as painfully and shamefully as possible — entirely from the human experience.<\/p>\n

    For the most part, they have my sympathy. I love science \u2013 you should my bookshelf of cosmology, quantum physics, and biology books — but I believe that science is only part of the story \u2013 the part most obviously accessible to us — not the entire story. I would hate to miss the rest of the story by restricting myself to only that which can be proved by science as we understand it, like an ascetic.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    A Christmas apology <\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Ross Douthat wrote an interesting article on Sunday in the NYTs.\u00a0 Staying Catholic at Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Full disclosure, I\u2019m not Catholic. But I enjoyed and appreciated his article.<\/p>\n

    He begins with the problem of the Gospel of Matthew opening with a list of 39 progenitors. \u00a0How are we to read and interpret this long (and perceived to be tedious) list of persons who we, for the most part, are not familiar with (Abraham, Isaac, David and Solomon, maybe\u2026) \u00a0Most of us would rather \u201cskip the begats.\u201d<\/p>\n

    He goes right to meaning, in true apologist fashion, relying on the work of Rev. Herbert McCabe, a 20th<\/sup>-century Dominican priest. He proposes that the list is not to claim\/prove relationship to royalty like a dispossessed Romanov, but to demonstrate Jesus\u2019 humanness.\u00a0 That is, he enters the world \u201cthrough this line\u201d that includes reprobate sinners (who also happen to be patriarchs and royalty) as well as \u201ca few decent men.\u201d<\/p>\n

    But for us as lay readers this requires too much scholarship: to separate Abraham and Solomon from Judah is awkward; and then there\u2019s David.<\/p>\n

    And Jesus doesn\u2019t enter the world \u201cthrough this line\u201d. This is not the genealogy of Jesus. His father is the father in heaven, none of these men. This earthly lineage is the lineage of Joseph, not Mary. But none of this really matters.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The Bible blockchain<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Here\u2019s what matters most to me as a reader. And read this passage we should.<\/p>\n

    First, what this passage illustrates to me is the Bible blockchain. This blockchain links Jesus to Abraham \u2013 the original covenant with God – and validates Jesus\u2019 relationship to God and addition to the chain. The blockchain can\u2019t be hacked. The order of transactions is inviolate. \u00a0Matthew invokes the blockchain to legitimize what he is about to tell us. That this is important and uncorrupted.<\/p>\n

    The second, is the richness and evocative nature of the names. We don\u2019t need to know who they are, we just need to know that they are real \u2013 legitimate — people with names; not just some nameless guy who road in on a camel and then disappeared into the desert. Eleazar and Zerubbabel. You have to love it. Every name is critical in the chain and the order is locked.<\/p>\n

    The fact that we can then extend a similar chain from Jesus through Peter and all the Popes (and anti-Popes) who followed over the last 2,000 years creates a similar blockchain.\u00a0 It makes it possible for us living today (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) to conceive of actual degrees of separation from Jesus.\u00a0 There is a man living today, who actually knew a man, who knew a man\u2026. who knew Peter, who walked and broke bread with Jesus of Nazareth.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s not what it means<\/strong> that\u2019s important.\u00a0 It\u2019s what it does<\/strong>. \u00a0The blockchain makes the transaction\/covenant possible.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Decoding the chain
    \n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    It\u2019s important not to read this passage from Matthew in a dry and dutiful way; as a slow march through time.\u00a0 The chain is strong and vigorous. We can break it up into the two groups of 14 generations. Each group can be broken into triads of three names each, with the last triad of each group composed of two names and an event: \u201cthe deportation to Babylon\u201d and \u201cwho is called the Messiah\u201d. \u00a0Each triad is spoken quickly with a slight pause between each one.\u00a0 The momentum builds with each link added to the chain. Each name is a proof and must be fully articulated. \u00a0Once the chain has been invoked, we can get on to the real business at hand: \u201cNow, the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.\u201d Adding the next link in the chain.<\/p>\n

    This is not what it means <\/strong>to be Christian. It\u2019s what it\u2019s like <\/strong>to be a Christian. To be part of something much bigger than any one of us alone.\u00a0 Merry Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u00a0 Merry Christmas everyone. \u00a0What a comfort it is to celebrate Christmas this year. It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise to see so many opinion pieces about Christmas and Christianity in prominent media outlets online over the past few days \u2013 tis the season — but the number and the tone has surprised me. These articles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":621,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBible Blockchain - Hear the Gospel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bible Blockchain - Hear the Gospel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0 Merry Christmas everyone. \u00a0What a comfort it is to celebrate Christmas this year. It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise to see so many opinion pieces about Christmas and Christianity in prominent media outlets online over the past few days \u2013 tis the season — but the number and the tone has surprised me. These articles…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hear the Gospel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-25T17:10:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/12\/Baby-Jesus.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Theodore May\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bible Blockchain - Hear the Gospel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bible Blockchain - Hear the Gospel","og_description":"\u00a0 Merry Christmas everyone. \u00a0What a comfort it is to celebrate Christmas this year. It shouldn\u2019t be a surprise to see so many opinion pieces about Christmas and Christianity in prominent media outlets online over the past few days \u2013 tis the season — but the number and the tone has surprised me. These articles…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html","og_site_name":"Hear the Gospel","article_published_time":"2018-12-25T17:10:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/12\/Baby-Jesus.png"}],"author":"Theodore May","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html","name":"Bible Blockchain - Hear the Gospel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/12\/Baby-Jesus.png","datePublished":"2018-12-25T17:10:59+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-25T17:10:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#\/schema\/person\/c9e5892a8128aa67c63807b1c7d6b181"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/12\/Baby-Jesus.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/files\/2018\/12\/Baby-Jesus.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/2018\/12\/bible-blockchain.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bible Blockchain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/","name":"Hear the Gospel","description":"What it means to really live in a world inhabited by the living God","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/#\/schema\/person\/c9e5892a8128aa67c63807b1c7d6b181","name":"Theodore May","description":"Ted May speaks with no authority other than the fact that he has served as a lay reader for more than 50 years in multiple churches, spanning multiple denominations, and feels the call to share what he has learned from that experience with others. After a successful corporate career, he\u2019s now an executive presentation coach who works with business professionals and students in the greater Washington, D.C. area. He and his wife live in Northern Virginia, where they raised three children.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/author\/tmay"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/621"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions\/223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/hearthegospel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}