The New Testament Deconstructed

There are places in the New Testament where characters fill the need of the moment and are never heard of again. In Mark’s Gospel Joseph of Arimathea is such a character. Fitzgerald said he searched the ancient maps for that location and could find zilch, nothing, nada. Joseph of Arimathea, Mark tells the reader, asked Pilate for the body of Jesus after the crucifixion, and buried the body in his own tomb, indicating that he was a follower of Jesus. He also said that Joseph is a respected member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish rulers. But Mark forgot that he had said the vote to condemn Jesus to death was unanimous in the Sanhedrin. Matthew deals with this error in Mark by changing Joseph to a disciple of Jesus, no one special (Matt 27:57). Luke changes the unanimous vote in the Sanhedrin to Joseph, “who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action” (Luke 23:50). John only says, “Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus because of the Jews” (John 19:38). The consensus among Fitzgerald and other atheist historians is that Joseph of Arimathea, like Judas, is a fictional character. “He exists only as a literary device, instantly put on the stage as needed, without explanation or introduction, and then instantly removed when his role is done” (Richard Carrier).

Frankly, I don’t know what to believe. I know Jesus exists, and I’ve read enough to suspect the Gospel writers are playing with us, but I don’t how to reconcile these realities. I read somewhere that Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene went to Britain and took the Chalice with them. Arimathea, according to Carrier, is a play on words. It’s a pun in Greek: ari(best) +math (disciple) +aia (town/place). So Joseph comes from “Bestdiscipleville.” Also, Dennis MacDonald shows parallels between Mark’s Gospel and Homer’s Iliad, maintaining that Joseph is based on Hector’s father, King Priam, who begs Achilles for the body of his son. Also, Luke, at the crucifixion, has one of theives say, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (23:39-43). These words are taken verbatim from the “Bibliotheca Historica” by Diodorus Siculus.

There is other word play in the New Testament. Nicodemus is another example. His name means ‘ruler of the people’ and he is indeed a ruler, being a member of the Sanhedrin. He came to Jesus under cover of night ironically because he was afraid of the rulers. When Jesus told him he would have to be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven, Nicodemus did not understand how he could go through his mother’s womb again. He annoyed Jesus and was treated to a long lecture about how to be born again. He appears later in John when he helps Joseph prepare Jesus’ body for burial. He again serves no function in moving the plot forward.

Fitzgerald has a box set outside the main narrative called the “Name Game.” The second example is Jairus, a name which means awaken or enlighten ( from yair-to bring light in Hebrew). Jairus’ daughter is dead or dying and he begs Jesus to come and heal her or bring her back. Jesus brings her back to life, but he tells Jairus that she was only sleeping. Jesus always tries to play down his miracles. Martha, a friend of Jesus, means ‘Lady of the house.‘ She, her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus were friends of Jesus. When he came to visit them, Martha ran around cleaning and preparing a big meal for Jesus and his disciples. Meanwhile, her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and listened to him talk. Martha saw this and ran out complaining that Mary wasn’t doing any work. Jesus told her that Mary made the better choice. I’ll never forget Jesus’ reply because my sympathy was with Martha. How many family dinners have I been though where the females are in the kitchen preparing and then cleaning up afterwards and the men are relaxing in the living room. Can’t count the number.

In Luke’s Introduction he is writing to an imaginary character named Theophilus, which means ‘lover of God’ in Greek. In Luke 10:8 Zacchaeus gives half of all he owns as alms to the poor. But his name comes from the Aramaic zakki, which means to give alms. Is Luke playing with his readers as the other Gospel writers are doing? One variant of Judas Iscariot’s surname is Ishqarya, meaning son of falsehood or betrayer (Mark 3:19). Judas itself means Jews, in fact almost literally Judea. The last example comes from the Odyssey by Homer. Odysseus takes a long time reaching home after the Trojan War. There are shifty men after his wife Penelope. So he disguises himself and plans a trick. But he can’t trick his old servant, who recognizes him. The servant’s name is Eumaeus. Now, the village of Emmaus is a few miles from Jerusalem. Jesus, after his Resurrection, disguises himself and walks with two disciples to Emmaus and they don’t recognize him. They invite him to have a meal with them , and when he breaks the bread and holds it in his hands, they finally recognize him. This pun is complicated, being on the names as well as the disguises.