The Straight Dope

Go Back   Straight Dope Message Board > Main > Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #51  
Old 06-12-2012, 08:24 AM
Living Well Is Best Revenge Living Well Is Best Revenge is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nava View Post
First time I hear that version, I always got the "they weren't his brothers, they were his manitos" explanation.

Well, ok, since this wasn't Mexico, the actual expression used was parientes al estilo ribero, but that means "cousins of any known degree and people he grew up with going into and out of each other's houses all the time". Sort of like my youngest brother has three brothers who are not related to us by blood at all, but they were all born in the same apartments building in the same year, they were always classmates, and they still know things about each other some of their blood relatives don't.
Exactly. I believe BigT is mistaken on the Catholic school of thought.
Reply With Quote
Advertisements  
  #52  
Old 06-12-2012, 11:16 AM
scrumpert scrumpert is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
I think he was mad because he was ripped off on a dime bag.
Reply With Quote
  #53  
Old 06-12-2012, 03:19 PM
Annie-Xmas Annie-Xmas is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 28,502
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3waygeek View Post
I can't believe no one's mentioned Jesus's asking "My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" during the Crucifixion. Jesus may not have been full-on angry then, but he was definitely a bit cross.
Being nailed to a cross would make anyone more than a bit cross.
Reply With Quote
  #54  
Old 06-12-2012, 05:54 PM
Mangosteen Mangosteen is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Second Stone View Post
The moneychangers in the temple got him mad. He smashed up their stuff and "threw" them from the temple. So the story goes. I don't know that he beat them up, or ordered them to leave or what.

So when having a church bake sale, remember not to charge retail. That and Jesus isn't keen on bankers. My recollection is that moneychangers charged full retail plus for animals to be sacrificed and that they charged a premium for converting unclean money into temple money. There are others who post on the boards, Tomndebb and Polycarp (he still here?) who know a heck of a lot more about this stuff.
Never got the "money changer" thing. Why would the temple care if someone put a Syrian "dollar" or an Egyptian "Peso", etc. in the offering box? The priests were only interested in money and why would they care what form it was in. All the coins were accepted locally for any goods you wanted to buy. There was no reason to change one kind of money for another.

When I was in southern Indian a few years back. There were lots of money changers in front of the temples, especially on Holy Days. However these moneychangers were not exchanging one type of currency for another. They were giving change.

Hundreds of beggars lined the entrance way to the temples. And worshipers needed lots of small coins so they could offer alms to as many of these beggars as possible. Worshipers would hand a 100 Repee note to the money changer and get 95 (or something less than 100) back and the money changer would make a small profit on every transaction for his trouble.

I always wondered if the money changers during Jesus' time were only giving maybe only the equivalent of "88cents for each $1.00" they changed for the worshipers and this is what pissed Christ off so much.
Reply With Quote
  #55  
Old 06-12-2012, 06:00 PM
Lobohan Lobohan is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
There was the time he palm striked a leper and all that was left was a screaming bloody skeleton.

I'm sure I read that in the bible.
Reply With Quote
  #56  
Old 06-13-2012, 11:41 AM
ftg ftg is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mangosteen View Post
Never got the "money changer" thing. Why would the temple care if someone put a Syrian "dollar" or an Egyptian "Peso", etc. in the offering box? The priests were only interested in money and why would they care what form it was in. All the coins were accepted locally for any goods you wanted to buy. There was no reason to change one kind of money for another.
People were not donating money, they were buying items for sacrifice from merchants outside the Temple.

There were too many coins of varying quality for a simple merchant to keep track. It required a bit of specialized knowledge to ascertain if that Persian drachma was mostly or very little silver and how much of the coin was left after people had sliced off bits of it.

Also, prices for a lot of stuff were frequently fixed in the local coin. The authorities would not be happy if you did your own currency exchange for goods, dancing around on the worth of the coins involved, as that would open the doors to people selling at higher/lower cost than the mandated amount.

Once you had a money-changing business going, then you basically become a banker of sorts and then things get really interesting. And bankers were just as despised back then as they are today.
Reply With Quote
  #57  
Old 07-05-2012, 08:50 AM
kambria kambria is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Quote:
Originally Posted by Living Well Is Best Revenge View Post
Exactly. I believe BigT is mistaken on the Catholic school of thought.
That's right--the Catholic "position" on a given Scripture verse is that, with the exception of the very few verses on which the Pope/Magisterium has spoken authoritatively, there is no Catholic position. In this case, Catholics are free to believe whatever they like about who those "brothers" may be, provided that they aren't taken as Mary's biological children. They could be Joseph's sons from a previous marriage, cousins (consistent with the Aramaic language interpretation of "brothers"), etc.
Reply With Quote
  #58  
Old 07-05-2012, 09:42 AM
elbows elbows is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 7,838
He was pissed because all those merchants were eating into the collection plate profits. Gold chalices don't grow on trees, y'know. We'll never get a bigger church if someone else fleeces the gullible before we get a shot at them, damn!
Reply With Quote
  #59  
Old 07-06-2012, 10:07 AM
Chronos Chronos is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: The Land of Cleves
Posts: 47,896
The other reason moneychangers were needed was that most secular coins had graven images on them, and thus weren't allowed in the Temple itself.
Reply With Quote
  #60  
Old 07-06-2012, 10:17 AM
MyFootsZZZ MyFootsZZZ is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
If you ask my wacky neighbor, she'll tell you god and Jesus are pretty pissed off now... and Jesus's mom is basically the one holding them back from clocking us in the face.
Reply With Quote
  #61  
Old 07-06-2012, 10:25 AM
Loach Loach is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynn Bodoni View Post
If there were a loving and kind god, we would not have blister packs. Or if there were a righteous god, he would do some serious smiting (blister pack designers, telemarketers, etc.).
I agree. My girlfriend's ex is a packaging engineer. Now you know how to blame.
Reply With Quote
  #62  
Old 07-06-2012, 10:45 AM
elbows elbows is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 7,838
I feel your hate for blister packs but please be aware, currently drugs, perfectly good expensive prescriptions drugs, get destroyed, rather than reused. They cannot be recycled, to Africa say, out of a fear that they may have been contaminated. Blister packs mean left over drugs can be recycled.

I cared for someone till their death, they took a lot of meds. And during their final months, the meds were often changed, switched out etc, at quite a speed. By the time it was over, I had enough meds to open a pharmacy. I spent a full year trying to find a way to get them into the hands of someone who could use them. There was absolutely nothing wrong with them, they were all destroyed! It broke my heart, and is a shameful waste in a world of need. The law requires they be destroyed - unless - wait for it - they are in blister packs!

Just something to think about, not scolding, I promise!
Reply With Quote
  #63  
Old 07-11-2012, 12:05 PM
CC CC is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: not elsewhere
Posts: 3,521
and wouldn't THAT be something for a deity to be pissed about? Man, where are these guys when you need them?
Reply With Quote
  #64  
Old 07-14-2012, 07:27 PM
Passion of the Shrubber Passion of the Shrubber is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Quote:
"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
This passage in the Bible was edited to make it acceptable to the more sensitive religious folk. IRL, Jesus actually said:

"Get those muthafuckin' snakes out of my muthafuckin' temple!"

Last edited by Passion of the Shrubber; 07-14-2012 at 07:30 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #65  
Old 07-15-2012, 08:27 AM
legalsnugs legalsnugs is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Greenwich, London, UK
Posts: 973
Quote:
Originally Posted by kambria View Post
That's right--the Catholic "position" on a given Scripture verse is that, with the exception of the very few verses on which the Pope/Magisterium has spoken authoritatively, there is no Catholic position. In this case, Catholics are free to believe whatever they like about who those "brothers" may be, provided that they aren't taken as Mary's biological children. They could be Joseph's sons from a previous marriage, cousins (consistent with the Aramaic language interpretation of "brothers"), etc.
So, per the Catholic Church, despite what the Bible actually says, they could be pretty much anything except actual brothers.

Last edited by legalsnugs; 07-15-2012 at 08:28 AM. Reason: It's Sunday.
Reply With Quote
  #66  
Old 07-15-2012, 09:12 AM
FoieGrasIsEvil FoieGrasIsEvil is online now
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Nasty Nati
Posts: 13,370
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhyNot View Post
What's the buzz?
Apparently a pretty good one. I'm going with bath salts. Don't eat me, bro!
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:22 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2013, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.

Send questions for Cecil Adams to: cecil@chicagoreader.com

Send comments about this website to: webmaster@straightdope.com

Terms of Use / Privacy Policy

Advertise on the Straight Dope!
(Your direct line to thousands of the smartest, hippest people on the planet, plus a few total dipsticks.)

Publishers - interested in subscribing to the Straight Dope?
Write to: sdsubscriptions@chicagoreader.com.

Copyright © 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC.