Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9

Deuteronomy frequently reminds the reader to remember things; remember you were a slave, remember the journey out of Egypt, remember God's wrath. I have heard Jews today say that the truth of these of stories is not important, but they are to be told and remembered. The telling is supposed to invoke something and open up dialog. It's a nice idea. It's very different than that of the literalist Christian who doesn't seem concerned about what gets invoked with you, just that you get their flat reading of it. But then there are verses like this, about not adding or subtracting from the word and keeping the commandments. Not much room for interpretation there. Ironically, this book is known to be added later and was claimed to be "found" as if it was somehow "lost" for 800 years.

This book wants to be a search for wisdom and does avoid some of the politics but often just degrades into a list of rules that aren't always that wise. Here, it makes its claim for wisdom based on it having a great god and some statutes. Pretty much presupposing it's great before it has demonstrated it.

James 1:17-27

This is not actually from James but let's not worry about that. It does seem to be directed against Paul, which makes it quite unique in the Bible. We get hints that Paul and Peter argued and that James was on Peter's side, but we don't get the whole story. We have been handed down a Christianity that was developed in later centuries and based more on Paul than the other players. Here we get a pretty strong statement on doing as opposed to just having faith, although the actions need to be guided by faith.

The cosmology is that there is the option of desire and sin or the truth of God's living way. We can give in to those emotions or be humble and make room for God's word to express itself in us. He sees some cosmic origins that we can live in harmony with. I can't find exactly what all the laws are that he wants us to live by, but a few are mentioned here that I can't argue with; be quick to listen, slow to anger, be doers not just hearers, care for orphans and widows. Fortunately, some Christians take those to heart.

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

This is a good example of why not to use the Bible as a history book. There is no historical certainty about what the Pharisees were doing at this time. Hand washing is discussed in the Mishnah but barely mentioned in the Torah. In Acts and Romans, we can see discussion of schisms regarding purity laws. Perhaps most significant is the question, would the Pharisees travel all the way from Jerusalem to Galilee just to check that people were washing their hands before eating?

Instead, this looks like a setup to differentiate this new people from the old cult. He talks of the heart and what comes from within. He turns around the idea that impurity is outside of us and shouldn't be let in. Instead, we have to be careful about what is in us and not let it defile us. Frankly, I was caught off guard by this. Taken in isolation it appears Jesus is saying we are horrible beings with yucky stuff in us. And certainly some of what Paul says would support that. Keep in mind, there was no awareness of our brain as a place responsible for our thoughts in the 1st century, not in any philosophy or science. In many other parts of the Bible, good things come from the heart, even earlier in this passage it's a place that holds honor and commitment. It's where they thought all emotions were centered.