Promises Pt. 02

"Then someone cuts off someone else's ear. Matthew says it is one of Jesus' companions and the person who lost the ear was a servant of the High Priest. Mark has someone standing near doing the slicing, Luke specifies that it was one of the disciples who did it, while John identifies that person as Peter. Now it could have been Peter in all four Gospels but that would beg the question; why didn't Matthew, Mark and Luke identify him?"

"I don't know."

"Then an amazing thing happened in Luke but nowhere else, Jesus healed him, the ear was put back on! That would have been amazing to see, don't you think Pastor Mayotte?"

"Yes, but it isn't beyond the powers of Jesus."

"I agree entirely. And it surely would have been a demonstration to those present of Jesus' amazing healing powers and confirming to them that he was something special, and that just maybe he was who it was claimed he was, don't you agree?"

"I would have to agree with that."

"But why didn't the other three Gospels mention it if it was so amazing, can you tell me that?"

"No! You keep asking these questions knowing that there is no answer for them!"

"Have you even thought that you should look for an answer rather than just accepting that it was true? What I am trying to ascertain is if you have given any thought to why these variations have happened?"

"No."

"So you just accept it, warts and all?"

"A colourful way of putting it, but yes."

"Could it be that to acknowledge that there are differences is also to acknowledge that the Bible cannot be the inerrant Word of God?" There was no response from Mayotte.

"Now Pastor Mayotte, when Jesus was arrested, where was he taken?"

"To the High Priest."

"That would be Caiaphas, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."

"Well you are a quarter right, that's what Matthew tells us, but Mark has him being taken before the Sanhedrin, Chief Priests, elders and teachers of the Law, maybe Caiaphas was there but Mark doesn't mention that. Luke doesn't exactly say where he was taken at first but has soldiers mocking him and asking him to prophecy which one of them was hitting him while he was blindfolded, then taking him to the council of Elders. John on the other hand, has him going to Annas first where he is questioned about his disciples and his teaching, only then is he taken to Caiaphas. A little confusing wouldn't you think?"

"If you say so."

"I am glad you answered my question that way because that is how Matthew and Luke say that Jesus answered when he was asked if he was the Son of God. Mark's recording of the answer was slightly different while John does not have Jesus being asked that question at all. It is somewhere around here that Matthew and only Matthew mentions that Judas kills himself by hanging, why is this Pastor Mayotte? I would have thought it an important enough event for all to mention, but no, just Matthew."

"I don't know why the others didn't mention that."

"On that subject, Luke, the writer of Acts has Judas falling down and his guts spilling out. A somewhat different death, wouldn't you say?"

"It would seem so."

"But you haven't questioned the difference, why haven't you? Again I will tell you why. It's because, to question the difference you would have to acknowledge that there is a difference, a discrepancy, a contradiction, and acknowledge that the Bible cannot be the inerrant word of God that you claim it to be."

"The Bible is the true word of God! I believe that, I have faith in that! There is nothing that you can say that will change that!"

"I feel sorry for you and your lack of interest in anything other than Pentecostal teaching, because you are missing out on so much. We come now to the questioning of Jesus at his trial. Pilate asks him if he was the 'king of the Jews' Matthew, Mark and Luke have him answer with 'If you say so.' He doesn't actually claim to be the king of the Jews, he is saying to his questioners that, 'if you say that it's true, it must be true.' But John heads down a completely different path. Were you aware of that?"

"Does it matter?"

"You place a great deal of store in the inerrancy of the Bible, I would have assumed that you would make yourself aware of these discrepancies in case you had to answer questions like this."

"My answer is as it always is, I believe in the Bible and the Bible is the truth."

"Speaking of truth; according to John, when Pilate asked him if he were the King of the Jews he replied 'You are right in saying that I am a king', notice he didn't confirm he was actually the king of the Jews, and then, 'Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.' Pilate's response is significant in the context of all of this, he asks, 'What is truth?' What is truth, Pastor Mayotte?"

There was no response.

"Don't you have an interest in the truth Pastor Mayotte? Have you never, during your extensive Bible study asked yourself 'What is the truth?'."

"The Bible is the truth!" Mayotte's face was flushed, his voice strained. "Why can't you accept that!"

"Because there are so many examples of inconsistencies in the narratives for all of the Gospels to be the literal truth. They could all be true in spirit, but they cannot, just cannot, all be the literal truth and you insist on literal truth. Why can't you accept that recognition of man's input into the gospels in no way diminishes their importance, they are after all a chronology of Jesus life as an illustration of the person of Jesus, of his humanness, his humanity and his humility."

"Pilate tells the Chief Priests according to Luke, and the crowd according to John, that he can find no basis for any charges laid against Jesus. Then Luke, the only one of the Gospel writers to do this, brings Herod into the equation. When Pilate hears that Jesus is a Galilean he realizes that he has no jurisdiction over him and sends him off to Herod. Now Pastor Mayotte, I would have thought that this would have been significant enough for all of the Gospel writers to mention, wouldn't you?"

"I don't know." His voice was becoming increasingly exasperated. "And I don't really know why you are bringing all this up."

"I am bringing this up to demonstrate to you and your ilk that the Bible, while it is still the most significant document in the life of the Christian church, is not without the influence of man. Now, Pastor Mayotte, one or two of the Gospel writers must have been colour blind."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because they couldn't tell the difference between scarlet and purple. Matthew has Jesus being dressed in a scarlet robe while Mark and John have its colour as purple, Luke on the other hand just has him dressed in an elegant robe. A bit of a difference wouldn't you say?"

"Not Earth shattering enough to make a big deal about."

"I found it interesting some time back while I was watching a television broadcast from the US, one of your Pentecostal colleagues, John Avanzini I think it was but don't quote me on that, anyway he used that bit of Scripture to justify his expensive clothing, he said, 'John 19 tells us that Jesus wore designer clothes, I mean, you didn't get that stuff He wore off the rack. No, this was custom stuff. It was the kind of garment that kings and rich merchants wore.' or words to that effect. He made no mention of the fact that those 'designer' robes that he wore were not his everyday attire, but not his everyday attire, but were those placed on him by the soldiers at his trial so that they could mock him. That is so typical of the 'instant coffee theology' practiced by the Pentecostal church and its 'Prosperity' Ministries. Are you a part of that, Pastor Mayotte?"

"I believe that the 'Word of God' is the truth, and should not be questioned."

"But it says in John that he wore a purple robe so it must be true, and purple robes were worn by kings and rich merchants so Jesus was wearing clothes fit for a king or rich merchant. He was after all a descendent of King David who was the King of the Jews, so he must have been rich, so why shouldn't Pastors wear designer clothes? You can see how easy it is to twist the truth? Can't you Pastor Mayotte?"

"The Bible is the 'word of God' and everything in it is the truth!"

"We're getting near the home stretch. Pastor Mayotte, who carried Jesus' cross to Calvary?"

"Everyone knows that it was Simon the Cyrene."

"John didn't know that! He had Jesus carry his own cross. On the way Jesus is offered a drink, do you know what it was?"

When Mayotte didn't answer straight away Henderson looked at him, "Well Pastor Mayotte, what was in the drink?"

"I'm sorry I didn't answer straight away, I was waiting for you to call my name in that derisive tone you have taken to using. It was wine laced with something."

"Near enough, it was wine or wine vinegar depending on whether you believe Matthew or Mark and it was laced with either gall or myrrh, also depending on whether you believed Matthew or Mark. Pastor Mayotte, it must have been pretty scary around the time that Jesus died, what with the earthquake and the temple curtain tearing, and the tombs breaking open and the bodies of the holy people raised to life to hang around for three days before going into the Holy City and being seen by many people, and the sun stops shining, the people around there must have been scared out of their wits, wouldn't you think?"

"I would have been. I would certainly have been afraid if the wrath of God manifested itself in that way."

"Are you saying that God was angry that Jesus was crucified? Now why would God have been angry if He could so easily have prevented it? Why would He be angry because mankind did something that you tell me was pre-ordained by God?"

"I don't know!"

Henderson lowered his voice to barely more than a whisper. "But not all the Gospel writers were scared by some or all of those events, John certainly wasn't because he didn't mention them and Mark only mentions the torn curtain. Odd wouldn't you say, Pastor Mayotte?"

"No."

"Is that it? Just 'no?' You're not a tad curious about the discrepancies? I suppose not. One of your fellow evangelists, Joyce Meyer, came up with an amazing statement about the death of Jesus, I had to listen to it several times to make sure that I didn't mis-hear her. She said, 'With his death Jesus was no longer the Son of God, by taking on our sins he became sin itself so that we could be free of sin', or words to that effect. Where did she come up with that? I don't know, do you Pastor Mayotte?"

Mayotte remained silent.

"Now we know that Jesus was taken by Joseph of Aramathea and placed in a tomb, but who anointed the body, and when was it done?"

"Jesus' mother and Mary Magdalene. There may have been more. It was done straight away and they would have used normal embalming practices."

"This is another area of confusion, Matthew and Mark just have him being placed in a tomb, and we have to assume that he would have been embalmed in the usual way because they didn't see it as important enough to note any variation of normal practices. Luke has him being anointed with spices and perfume but it wasn't done until the next day (the Sabbath) and John, well he specifies that the body was anointed in 75 pounds of myrrh and aloe, something of an overkill I would have thought, and he was wrapped in strips of linen before being laid in the tomb."

"These are only minor differences, certainly not enough to make a big deal of.

"But it is a small part of a much bigger picture isn't it, and that is that the Christian Bible is so full of errors, contradictions, inconsistencies, and confusion that it couldn't possibly be the 'inerrant word of God' as claimed by your church. Pastor Mayotte you've had a hard day today, what with your 'heart attack' and all, I'm feeling a touch of sympathy here, so I might just request an adjournment until tomorrow to allow you to recover from today's efforts."

"Mister Johansson?"

"No objections your Honour." The court was adjourned.

"Why did you let up on him? You were on a roll." Frank asked Michael as he pushed his papers back into the folder.

"Because I want him to stew some more, because tomorrow I am really going to make him squirm and all the high powered Penties from America are not going to save him."

The latest news of the trial dominated the evening news and current affairs programs with opinions polarized. Phone-ins conducted by the commercial television channels were loaded in favour of Frank and there was a fair amount of 'Penty bashing' and the more this occurred the more sympathy was generated for the Pentecostal cause. The friends of the Shining Light Christian Church were rallying to the cause, SMS thumbs worked overtime, phones ran hot and the telephone carriers made a fortune.

The arguments for the church centred on the inerrancy line; the Bible is the inerrant 'Word of God' and as such should never be questioned. The other side maintained that even 'Blind Freddie' could see that there were errors and inconsistencies in the Bible but that it still remained an important, if not the most important, document in the life of the Christian church.

Mayotte had been 'relieved' twice before he called the troops together. "We are going to have to develop a 'fall back' strategy. We are going into full damage control here. This man Henderson is like a terrier, he is not going to let go now that he can smell my blood. I don't know how to stop him, but we must find a way."

"Maybe we should look into his background to see if there isn't something that we can use against him." Fenton suggested. "He is making all of the running here, but if there is something in his past that we can use, then maybe we can get him to back off, after all none of us are squeaky clean." His gaze lit briefly on Janine who lowered her head. Mayotte caught the exchange, it disturbed him. He had an uneasy feeling that someone within his organization was feeding information to the enemy, could it be his most trusted servant?

Many of the assembled Pastors and Administrative staff were advocating radical action that involved physical violence and destruction of property. Mayotte told them that he couldn't condone acts of this nature but inwardly applauded their loyalty to him and part of him wished them well in such endeavours.

Mayotte arrived home at around 7.30pm. "Sorry I'm late, the strategy meeting went on a little longer than expected, some of the guys were getting a little carried away, wanting to blow up the enemy." He bent to kiss his wife.

"I wanted to be there, I want to stand beside you through this whole mess, I am after all your wife." She didn't quite succeed in hiding the hurt in her voice. Mayotte missed it nonetheless. "I watched the news on TV and the consensus was that Henderson had the edge over you, that you were struggling to answer his questions and were in danger of losing your composure at times."

"I'm not concerned at what the media think, they have already made up their minds what the outcome of this will be and they couldn't be happier little heathens." He ate his meal in silence.

Chapter 6

Trial Day 4

"Are you trying to tell me that the Bible is lying, that this event didn't happen at all?"

The day started in sensational fashion. The news services were full of the events of the night before which saw the firebombing of the offices of Michael Henderson & Associates, Solicitors, which resulted in significant damage to the building and its contents.

Henderson called a press conference to be held in the court house foyer at 8:30am, a time and place for maximum impact. Those entering the court house could not avoid the melee, and it was early enough to make the late morning TV news services.

Microphones were shoved in front of his face and questions were flying at him one on top of the other. He held up his hands and silence overtook them. "At around 11:00pm last night an incendiary device was thrown through the front door of my offices. It caused considerable damage to the inside of my offices but the damage will have no effect on this trial. While filing cabinets suffered superficial damage, none of the contents were destroyed, sensitive material pertaining to this matter and all other matters, were located in another part of the office in secure fireproof vaults, as well as that, all files have been backed up onto external hard drives and these are also kept in a separate secure environment. What I can say is that the apprehension of the culprit or culprits will only be a matter of time as the police are, right this very minute, viewing the wealth of CCTV material that I have given them. I had an idea that something like this might happen, and it only strengthens my resolve in this matter. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, come inside for the fun, I promise you that it will be an interesting day." He turned and walked into the court building followed by the media.

"Mister Henderson, are you ready to proceed?"

"Yes your Honour." He glanced briefly at an unhappy Mayotte. "Pastor Mayotte, today we are going to spend some time looking at the Pentecostal ideology and how well it fits in with your assertion of total obedience to the 'Word of God'. Tell me Pastor Mayotte, your church practices full immersion baptism, is that correct?"

"That is correct."

"Where in the Bible does it tell you to do it that way?"

"In the Gospels, they tell us that after Jesus was baptized he 'came up out of the water."

"But the Gospels tell us that John the Baptist was baptizing with water, not in water. That he was baptizing with water in the River Jordan. I repeat, it does not say that he was baptizing in water. In any case not all of the Gospels have Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist at all."

"Yes they do."

"I beg to differ. In Luke for instance, if you were to follow his chronology, Jesus couldn't have been baptized by John the Baptist because John was in jail at the time. And John's Gospel doesn't have Jesus being baptized at all. He has Jesus walking past where John was baptizing people and John identifying him as the one who will baptize in the Spirit, but he never baptizes Jesus. The next question I have is; why? Why was John baptizing, after all it wasn't standard practice of that time?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that baptism is a practice exclusive to the Christian church, but the Christian church didn't exist when John the Baptist was baptizing with water in the River Jordan, did it?" Henderson place a heavy emphasis on the words 'with' and 'in'. "While we are on this subject; according to the Gospel of John, Jesus was going to baptize with the Spirit, is this not so Pastor Mayotte?"

"Yes that is what the Bible tells us."

"Then why doesn't he?"

"What?"

"Why doesn't Jesus baptize people in the Spirit?"

"He must have, surely."

"Pastor Mayotte you obviously haven't researched this in any depth, your knowledge of baptism is confined to a few scraps of Scripture that you believe support your baptism practice, and what has become accepted by your church, purely because it is in common usage, not because it is a scripturally valid practice. There is absolutely no record in the Gospels, any of the Gospels, of Jesus having baptized anyone in the Spirit or using any other method, not even his own disciples."

Mayotte sat in stunned silence.

"If baptism is such an important part of Christian liturgy one would have expected that Jesus would, at the very least, have baptized his own disciples, wouldn't one Pastor Mayotte? In fact it says in the Gospel of John, and I quote," Henderson picked up his Bible and opened it at a marked page, "'The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.' It can't get much clearer than that, Jesus was not baptizing, now why would that be so?"