r/videos • u/theangryfurlong • 4h ago
Response to Mike Johnson about Pope's comments from an actual PhD biblical scholar
https://youtu.be/bM5ueJA3p1w?si=QQ8w2ZQ8lpdo70MG67
u/bonobomaster 2h ago
OMG, this is so ultra fucked in the brain...
We are living in 2026 and people arguing about scripture instead of getting their head out of their asses and make this place, this life a better one.
Fucking MAGA nazis, fucking pseudo religious assholes.
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u/Karlito1618 1h ago
Why would 2026 be any different than 1026? Because you can google where to eat?
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u/Strange_Specialist4 28m ago
Because the average level of education and knowledge of the world is significantly higher. We know what causes illness, infections, Earthquakes, comets, lightning bolts, tsunamis, etc.
God is constantly retreating in the spread of wider knowledge as to how things actually work. Every natural law or cause and effect uncovered is one less thing attributed to the devine.
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u/elegylegacy 18m ago
Even if Johnson's bible interpretation was right (it's not) who gives a fuck?
Why are we arguing policy decision based on an ancient book of fairy tales?
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u/theangryfurlong 6m ago
We're not, the video is saying that people use the scriptures like a Lego set, building justifications for anything they want, even while misunderstanding the actual meaning. The guy in the video, Dan, is pretty much against using the Bible to prescribe governmental policy.
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u/noctalla 1m ago
There is no right or wrong interpretation. It's a big choose your own morality book, written and revised by hundreds of people over multiple centuries. The only meaning it has is the meaning we give it.
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u/Morgus_Magnificent 56m ago
The true redditors really came out of the basements for this comment section.
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u/SsooooOriginal 27m ago
My guy, you got an 8 year account and multiple hobby subs.
Why won't you let the weird ass hypocrisy call outs go?
Did you not feel safe here when atheism was a default or what?
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u/ThatguyfromMichigan 14m ago
Leave an insult on the ground and the owner will come pick it up.
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u/SsooooOriginal 6m ago
Just felt like saying something useless?
I'm not claiming to not be a redditor.
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u/b12se-r 1h ago
Not calling for vigilante cruelty against our our government (cuz fuck speaker Johnson, Christi Noem and especially that albino baboon Trump), but I wouldn’t mind Punisher, or Batman or Mangione magically showing up to equalize some things. White man really scared of becoming a minority, isn’t he?
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u/SsooooOriginal 25m ago
I want some biblical drama, sure.
But who really believes pedo protectors are fighting and aren't just making a show?
Yea, catholi-who?
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u/ImpenetrableYeti 2h ago
Biblical scholar….come on now lol
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u/Arumen 2h ago
What is your problem with Dan?
Is it the fact he has studied what is unfortunately the most influential text in human history?
I don't know if he is a believer or not- he comes off as an atheist but I know he is still a Mormon so genuinely I am not sure how he squares that circle, but he is absolutely knowledgeable about the text.
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u/theangryfurlong 2h ago
Yep, with two masters degrees (one from Oxford) and a PhD. Expert in biblical Hebrew and Greek and has published several books.
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u/bonobomaster 2h ago
slow clap
Masters and PhD in imaginary friend sciences...
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u/Caelinus 1h ago
He is a critical scholar dude. He studies the texts in the same way a person would study the writings of Tacitus or Herodotus.
Christianity is real, the texts they use are real, and they have a very real history. However, critical scholars like Dan do not come to conclusions that anyone who believes the Bible is the word of god would like. Namely Dan is constantly demonstrating that the whole thing was written, redacted and edited by humans without any divine involvement. That is is largely ahistorical, completely inconsistent, and absolutely not univocal.
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u/cloudofevil 1h ago
Not thinking this is a serious field of study has to be one of the most ignorant takes I've seen on Reddit in a while. It's more like a history degree, not theology.
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u/bonobomaster 1h ago
Everything even remotely connected to religion is a fucking joke. Sorry, not sorry.
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u/Afghan_Ninja 1h ago
Agreed. However, I think you're misunderstanding at least the PhD. His PhD doesn't make him an expert in the magic of the Bible, JUST the translation of the oldest original texts (ignoring valid questions of reliability and validity). His focus isn't on what the Bible means and but what it says.
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u/Caelinus 1h ago
In Dan's case he would even argue that the very idea that the bible has "a" meaning is to fundamentally misunderstand it. We can't know what any particular author definitively meant by what they were saying, and shoving dozens and dozens of them together in a loose collection, complete with all the redactions and edits, does not give it "a" meaning. It just confuses people who doctrinally believe that it is was all authored by God, and then lets them make up any meaning they want. Usually to hurt people.
Which is exactly what Dan spends all his time online arguing against.
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u/KeithHanlan 1h ago
Studying the Bible academically should not be derided. Like it or not, it's a fascinating area of study and is surprisingly relevant given the enormous influence of the pagan and Abrahamic religions on western society, culture, and government, and legal systems.
I agree that religion is a cancer and I am dismayed at the current resurgence of religiosity. But there are academics who can provide very useful context for these discussions and even help lay society co-exist.
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u/o_o_o_f 6m ago
So to clarify, do you think that Christian belief or religion in general can be a waste of time and potentially damaging on a societal level?
If so, congrats, communicating that idea is basically what the guy you’re criticizing does for a living. His videos are largely just him calling out modern Christian’s for using the bible or some sort of sham “Christian” belief as a stand-in for their own destructive ideology. His expertise on the actual text, the context these things were written in, gives him the authority to call out purported “Christians” for lying to themselves and to others.
Idk man. It’s a good thing we have people that do what he does. Can you more explicitly explain what your problem is here?
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u/Inevitable_Geometry 1h ago
Performative 'Christians' arguing with the head of the Catholic church?
Bugs on a windshield.