Author Archives: Ron Goetz

About Ron Goetz

My first wife used to say, "There's nothing so sacred that Ron won't pick it apart." My desire to be a pastor -- that was a temperamental mismatch. She was so patient. If my birth mother had lived somewhere else, maybe I would've become a cold case detective. But I would have had to be J instead of a P, I think. And that mid-life reevaluation, starting adolescence as a GARB fundamentalist and transitioning to a non-theist, that gave me an unusual skill set.

Two Couples, Two Cities, Two Trials

Now about the two trials I mentioned., the ones in Chorazin and Bethsaida. Please remember these two trials were basically lost to history. There are details written down over here, some details are down there, there are a few details … Continue reading

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Surviving this Upheaval

I wrote this to a comrade of mine: What you said is important: “I realized at that moment that the kind of finesse and [indistinct] I normally have been known for was just not going to work anymore.” They say … Continue reading

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It’s Our Turn

I have read and enjoyed much of Bonhoeffer and SK. Both of them were inspirations for me for decades. For me, the reality of our species as mammals, as many vast herds of hairless large-brained primates with vocal boxes and … Continue reading

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What’s the Difference between Individuals in Luke 17:34-35? Why were Two Seized and Two Let Go?

These two verses have puzzled both casual Bible readers and serious Bible scholars for centuries. Because of how the passage was edited and amended, we’re supposed to believe that it refers to the last judgment, ang God is the judge. … Continue reading

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A List of Posts on the Trial of the Gay Jew Jesus

This is a list of what I have published on the trial of the Gay Jew Jesus. Quest for the Historical Jesus, or Discovery of an Unknown Trial? What are “Zakkai’s Formularies”? ySanhedrin 7:5 Massekhet Semahot 8:7 Mishnah Sanhedrin 1:2 … Continue reading

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“Jesus was a Gay Jew. Evidence Please.”

Recently someone left a simple, reasonable FB comment: “Jesus was a gay Jew. Evidence please.” In this post I am providing that evidence in one place. I will provide a brief introduction, as brief as possible. The evidence I found … Continue reading

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The Guilty Species

Christendom did not invent irrational guilt. I have my ideas about it’s evolutionary survival value, but we are “the guilty species.” Every successful ideology has embedded within it some element of guilt. Any elements of “what we owe to our … Continue reading

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Sanhedrin 7.5

The following passage is from the Talmud, and is attributed to Yohanan b. Zakkai (ca. 1-80 C.E., Galilee, Jerusalem, Yavneh). ___________________________ And so too, if a woman approaches any beast and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and … Continue reading

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What Are “Zakkai’s Formularies”?

Zakkai’s Formularies are what I call three legal documents in the Talmud that I am convinced were used by Yohanan b. Zakkai to prosecute gay and lesbian couples in first-century Galilee. According to this conjecture, two trials were adjudicated (judged) … Continue reading

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Believing in Hell

Before Xanax and Valium, before 12 years of compulsory desk-sitting, before stun guns, before “delayed gratification” awareness, scaring some primates into behaving with the threat of hell was an effective, if imperfect, herd management tool.

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