On Paranoid Culture, Part One: An Apocalyptic Jewish Sect Goes Mainstream
The only way to read “The Gospel According to Matthew” today is not to read it.
The law is pretty good. Don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t adulter—all make good sense if we’re going to make it in this life, despite the instinctual renunciation involved.
When Jesus came telling people to give up their money and their families and follow him, he knew well that he would be understood as wishing to undermine the fragile social bonds that …
