Ben Holman

Truth before tribe. In order to be more compassionate, we often must be less empathetic

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@glennbutner Do you think each text should need to show indications its content is (in whole or in part) from a higher than human intelligence? Rather than being merely human in origin?

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@SolomonsaysN @charlesmurray See Logan Williams's 2024 paper 'the Stomach Purifies all foods' on Mark 7. Free access. Jesus is likely referring to the digestive process purifies all food (i.e., human excrement is not impure), not declaring food pure by fiat. cf. Sloan's 'Jesus and the Law of Moses' pp115-121

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@SidneyG41629545 @charlesmurray Of course, I’m not claiming it’s some super power needed. Josephus tells us that Jesus ben Ananias predicted it too. I’m making about the narrative story world of the gospels. The temple already destroyed is presupposed by their themes

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@charlesmurray 2/ the temple's destruction is also structurally thematic and central to the story. Jesus's fate presupposes the temple's fate in the story world. For the readers, the message of the story doesn't make sense unless the temple has been destroyed.

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@charlesmurray 1/ one problem (of many) w pre-70 date is 3 early writers (Mk,Mt,Lk) write stories of the protagonist where his credibility is based on fulfillment this event. From the POV of authors/readers, if it still hadn’t happened, it would be odd to include (bc they’d all be like, "um?")

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@Nude_Gunray Would’ve loved to see his return in the Obi series. “Dex, you’re alive?!”
“You bet I am. I was only ever good at two things. Flipping burgers, and killing fascists. And I’m all out of burgers.”

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@YourAvgBellman Luke throwing away a lightsaber & rejecting combat is totally in character (he did this the last time we saw him in ROTJ). I think the issue in Ep 8 is it’s just played as a cheap gag, rather than keeping the emotional tone of the end of Ep 7. Rejecting the sword could’ve worked

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@mightydudbolt The point of Sidious isn’t to fool the audience. He’s intentionally obvious to us. The prequels are a tragedy about institutions failing to recognize authoritarianism in their own system. I interpret Sidious as a symbolic aside showing the audience what the characters can’t see

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@chrisryankugler I mean it seems most scholars still think Jesus was historically a carpenter lol or that the first apostles were uneducated bumpkins. The moral of the story is New Testament scholars are a surprisingly credulous group who formalize gullibility into their methods

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@WyattDuncan Watching the first film in theaters with people eating nachos and popcorn while Jesus was being flogged was quite an interesting experience

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@MatthewHartke I totally think science/human inquiry could establish the supernatural as real. I mean, we've already discovered invisible beings who affect our lives (i.e., germs; microorganisms). So, it's not inherently implausible to me. It just requires WAY more evidence than Paul haha

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@MatthewHartke Or even as simple as what we know to be physically possible. Like had Paul claimed he witnessed machines that fly across the oceans. We would just expect entire fields of inquiry and history to have developed differently if that were true. Not just him quoting a creed lol

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

Buckle up. Here’s the real list:

Andor.

[Travis @BeeGuyTravis]

Unlike my boss, I will actually rank all the Star Wars movies:

The Phantom Menace
Revenge of the Sith
Attack of the Clones

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@TheCinesthetic Right. Who could forget all those applause moments on opening night 🙄

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@ShamebyJames2 @isaac_montano @gncgalactus @InvinciCanon Yes. On a narrative level, having Yoda w a lightsaber undercuts “size matters not”, the force as his ally, etc. The reason Yoda is old and small is to highlight he wouldn’t win a fight by speed or strength. Jumping around swinging a sword misses the entire point of his character

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@itsashotgunbaby 😶

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@kwsargent @SwipeWright There is a vast literature on the ancient Israelite, Canaanite/Ugaritic, and broader Mesopotamian beliefs and texts that establish Noah and the patriarchal narratives are very likely fiction. Check out Ronald Hendel’s 2024 Anchor commentary on Genesis 1-11 to get started

[Ben Holman @BenSHolman]

@DisneyParks @Disneyland When can we meet Jabba?

[Yonatan Adler @AdlerYonatan]

An independent Jewish state under Hasmonean rule lasted for a continuous period of 77 years.

According to 1 Macc 14:44–45, Simon Thassi the Hasmonean was confirmed as the Jews' political, military, and religious leader on the 18th of Elul in 140 BCE.

Pompey the Great put an end to this Jewish independence 77 years later, in 63 BCE.
________________________

This evening, Israel celebrates its 78th anniversary of independence.

Happy Yom Ha‘atzmaut to all who celebrate! 🇮🇱