America (Almost Never) Reads the Bible  🔗 **Source:** [America (Almost Never) Reads the Bible](https://share.snipd.com/episode/ab2c9c28-ef81-4e94-9edc-9d42d2ee4c4c) ## Highlights - **Public Bible Reading As Performative Politics** - America Reads the Bible was a highly staged performance rather than a thoughtful scriptural engagement. - Dan McClellan and Dan Beecher note the event's cast of political and media figures made it feel like Christian nationalist theater, not exegesis. Transcript: Dan McClellan We're going to start with, we're going to get topical and talk about America Reads the Bible. Yes. Is a marathon event in which a whole bunch of mostly smiling white folks read the Bible straight the way through. Sort of 9 a.m. To 9 p.m. Over at the, what do they call it? The Museum of the Bible. Dan Beecher Yes. In Washington, D.C. It was a marathon reading of the Bible Fun for everybody. We're actually still in the middle of it as we record. Dan McClellan As we record. It is happening probably as we speak. Yes. It will have been entirely forgotten by the time this episode airs. Dan Beecher So we're filling you in on recent events in the recent past. Dan McClellan So there's that. And then in the latter half of the show, we've got a chapter and verse. And we're going to be talking about the death of Saul, which happened in a very specific way and has implications beyond ([Time 0:04:51](https://share.snipd.com/snip/78c2c350-20d6-420d-ba4a-1a9eb45d637d)) - **Trump's Edited Bible Segment Looked Disconnected** - Dan Beecher describes watching Donald J. Trump read 2 Chronicles poorly and being visibly edited together. - Beecher highlights mispronunciations and awkward cuts proving the segment was stitched and that Trump seemed not to understand the passage. Transcript: Dan McClellan Yes. What we're building to is that president of the united states donald john trump uh reading uh which is never a good idea more like more like grimacing at um he definitely uh i want i did Watch the video of him uh and here's the thing so yes they released his video he he didn't he didn't go to the event and read it from there no and part of the reason becomes very clear when You watch the video and they have these weird cuts back and forth from one camera angle to another very making it very clear that these are edit points. They had to stitch it together, yeah. And there were still a couple of places where you can hear that they've done something digitally to fix what he said. And he still got a lot of things wrong. He got it wildly wrong a bunch of times. Dan Beecher My favorite is in the very first verse that he read. So he was responsible for 2 Chronicles 7, verses 11 through 22. 12 verses is all he had to read. And the very first word, very first verse, he got out prosperiously. Because, cause I think he was, he, he started thinking the word was prosperous or prosperity or something like that. And then it was, it was prosperously and he went prosperously and, um, through his clenched teeth. And yeah, it was, it was a struggle to hear him struggle to read these passages. And I think the main parts of the whole passage that was chosen for him is that this is the part that says, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and Turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. And that's from the NRSVUE. He read from the King James Version. Obviously, he's trying to hawk his— He read from the New King James Version. Dan McClellan Was it the New King James Version? Indeed it was. That is the version that the entire event is focused on. Oh. But he didn't even get that right. Dan Beecher Yeah. Oof. ([Time 0:11:14](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1579ad34-92ae-4dba-88b1-693174daaeb1)) - **Scripture Used To Legitimize Power Not Mercy** - The hosts argue the event's use of scripture is a tool to reinforce power, not humility or justice. - They point out speakers advocating punitive policies were showcased while the scriptural call to mercy was ignored. Transcript: Dan Beecher And it's one of the most pathetic brands of Christian nationalism I've ever seen. And in no small part, because the list of people who are reading is a who's who of not just hatred, but just of degeneracy as well. Like the guy who, who, uh, read the main passage is a serial sexual predator is a serial adulterer. Not only that, you know, there are a bunch of people that God can forgive people. God forgives people. These, we can't blame him for past sense. Trump has never once owned up to doing those things, said he was sorry for doing those things. He's even said he has no need for repentance. Like this, this is not a... Dan McClellan He was asked if he had ever repented for anything and he was like, no, not that I can think of. Yeah. Dan Beecher He says he doesn't do anything wrong. So why does he need repentance? And on multiple occasions said that so this is this is your guy right this is your guy the guy we all heard this is this is the guy i mean the heal the land part is nice but if you go back just Dan McClellan A few words as you pointed out uh it says humble themselves and pray to and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Yeah. And I don't see humbling of self happening. Dan Beecher No. Whatsoever. No. And when they, when they say wicked ways here, they obviously mean being a woman or being black or being trans or being an immigrant. Yeah. Being an immigrant, wanting health care that you can afford. These are the iterations, the manifestations of wickedness that this public reading of the Bible is supposed to magically purge from the land. Who are responsible for most of the social ills that plague our land today. ([Time 0:16:18](https://share.snipd.com/snip/94b20b86-3fa9-4027-8c4e-78e93baf8abb)) - **Sermon On The Mount Irony In A Public Piety Event** - The Sermon on the Mount passages invited irony because the event spotlighted public displays of religiosity. - Dan McClellan and Dan Beecher note organizers gave those passages to people invested in political intercession, undermining their message. Transcript: Dan Beecher Yeah. So that's Matthew 6. That's the Sermon on the Mount. Yeah. Let me see if the – where is the – because I've got the website open, but they make it such a pain to find this stuff. So it's not happening yet. Because right now, I think we're still in, we're in the middle, we're in the late Jeremiah chapters. I don't recognize any of the names there. But if you give me a second, I'll look that up. Because I remember somebody was reading Matthew 5. Mike Pompeo's reading Matthew 5. And I was like, woof, Mike Pompeo. He gets the beatitudes. Yeah. That's, um, so, uh, I, and I remember thinking, okay, who gets the rest of the, uh, sermon on the Mount? Dan McClellan And I, I think I didn't recognize the name but um yeah look it up real quick I mean it's just one of those things where uh that's actually you know that is so pertinent to this I would say I Don't know you you tell me because you you know that verse better than I do you know I uh I'd so I I don't know uh if that would apply. It feels like it would apply. It feels like this whole thing is such a performative display. It feels like that particular bit of the Sermon on the Mount is apropos. Dan Beecher But am I reading too much into it is part of my question. I think it would be apropos. I think when we think about what kind of stuff is God asking for in order to, according to 2 Chronicles, heal the land. Well, what does everybody around 2 Chronicles have to say? Basically generate a just and a righteous society. Have mercy, do justice, all those kinds of things. Some dude named Chris Kubal is reading the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. And Chris is the chief program officer at Intercessors for America, a national network of state leaders who are mobilizing intercessors to pray for and engage with state legislators. So I'm not hopeful that Chris really is concerned for what is actually being advocated for in the Sermon on the Mount. ([Time 0:29:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a743b6fa-dfb5-42f3-88c9-c24b5c2dc265)) - **Saul's Suicide Is Narrated Without Condemnation** - 1 Samuel 31 recounts Saul's self-inflicted death without moral condemnation in the text. - Dan McClellan explains the armor-bearer refused, Saul fell on his sword, and the narrative treats it as an honorable, shame-avoiding act. Transcript: Dan McClellan We're in 1 Samuel chapter 31. It is the last chapter of 1 Sam. And maybe give us some background leading into this chapter. There's a battle. We are in media res in a battle. Well, there's always a battle. There's always a battle. What are these guys doing? As long as you've got Philistines, you've got a battle somewhere. Yeah. Dan Beecher And right now, Saul and David are at odds with each other. They're on the outs. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, Saul has been trying to kill David for a while now. Dan McClellan Which will harm a friendship, I've got to say. Dan Beecher It is hard to come back from that. But and David has and this is important, David has refused to kill Saul. He has had the opportunity and he has turned it down and he has even made it clear why. And that's because Saul is the Lord's anointed and David is not going to harm the Lloyd's anointed. No, the Lord's anointed. That's a different guy. And this is some hagiography. This is later authors who are responsible for curating the David tradition who are trying to make it seem like, no, David would never have killed his rival. No, no. There's no evidence of that anywhere else in the book. Yeah, he had the chance, but he turned it down, and that made Saul upset. So we have Philistines doing their thing, and that's how chapter 31 starts off. The Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel fled, and many fell on Mount Gilboa. And then the Philistines overtake Saul and his sons. They killed Jonathan. So that's David's boy. Abinadab and Malkishua, the sons of Saul. And then Saul's not dead. He's been hit by some archers. He's got kind of a Boromir vibe going here. They have wounded him badly. And then in verse four, Saul said to his armor bearer, draw your sword and thrust me through with it so that these uncircumcised may not come and thrust me through and make sport of me. The idea seems to be that, you know, they're going to abuse my body. They're going to, this is going to be a big problem. Dan McClellan Which, that's going to happen anyway. Yes. But he didn't want them to have the satisfaction of killing him. Dan Beecher Yes. But his armor bearer was unwilling, for he was terrified. And the narrative kind of makes it sound like the armor bearer himself is scared to kill the Lord's anointed. He doesn't want to have that on his hands. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. ([Time 0:37:03](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b9ab59d0-017e-4203-8759-b24475b2606d)) - **Biblical Texts Don't Define Suicide As Sin** - Biblical instances of self-inflicted death (Saul, Samson, Ahithophel) are described neutrally or honorably, not labeled sinful. - The hosts stress there's no explicit biblical prohibition classifying suicide as a sin; later theology introduced that interpretation. Transcript: Dan Beecher And so you just fall on your own sword. Dan McClellan Help me out. When was this written? Do we have a sense of the timing of the authorship? Dan Beecher So there are a few different layers in here, but this is probably written somewhere around the 8th or 7th centuries BCE. So I think it is probably pre-exilic. There may be some post-exilic layers in here, but I think the story here is pre-exilic. Dan McClellan Yeah, I guess I just flashed on a line from Shakespeare where I believe it is Macbeth who says, why should I play the Roman fool to die upon my own sword? And when I was in that play many moons ago, I did some research and just sort of figured out that that was at very least to an Elizabethan author that was attributed to Romans. It was a Roman idea, this idea of falling on one's own sword as a noble thing rather than be captured. Dan Beecher Yeah, well, by the time of Shakespeare, I think that would have taken on a pretty negative stigma. But yeah, certainly within Rome as well, that would have been seen as an honorable death. You have that with, they're a very military people. The military is kind of in charge of so much. Dan McClellan So yeah, that doesn't surprise me. I was just wondering if that was influential on this, but it seems like the timing would be wrong on that. Dan Beecher Way off. Yeah. Well, at least in terms of Rome's influence. Yeah. Is that, yeah, no. I think Rome felt that way. Rome didn't invent that basically is what I'm trying to say. We do have some other prominent self-inflicted deaths in the Hebrew Bible. Probably the most prominent would be Judges 16 verses 28 through 30, which is Samson. Oh, yeah. I want to talk to Samson. Okay. Fly me to the moon and have a temple fall on you. That's where he is between the two pillars that are load bearing pillars in this temple. And, uh, he knocks them down, bringing down the whole temple upon himself. And so this is a, a way for him to take out as many Philistines as he can along with himself, which is treated as, you know, the, the, the, the judges are sometimes represented as kind of Antiheroes. They are kind of amoral. They do some odd stuff. And we've talked, for instance, about Jephthah and how they were probably looking a little sideways at Jephthah. But Samson, yeah, did a lot of stupid stuff, did some heroic stuff, and then brings down a temple on top of himself to take out as many Philistines as he can. Dan McClellan Which seems to be approved of in the story of Samson. It seems to be, it's his final heroic act. Dan Beecher Yeah, there's not really, he is kind of represented as a bit of a tragic figure. So it's not really clear that there's no moral point being made, I think, by the author. Certainly they don't comment on the morality of it. But yeah, there's certainly no condemnation. ([Time 0:41:23](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2b65ccaf-50f8-4ebb-b11f-d985c879b58b)) - **Suicide Condemnation Emerged From Later Philosophy** - The moral condemnation of suicide arises in Greco-Roman Jewish and Christian thought, especially Augustine and later scholasticism. - Dan Beecher traces the shift from honor-shame cultural norms to philosophical natural-law reasoning that labeled suicide sinful. Transcript: Dan Beecher I think Josephus talks about Saul and talks about it as understandable yet regrettable. It was a bad thing. And Augustine is one of the ones who comes out hard against suicide as explicitly sinful. So it's not until we get deep into the period when Jewish folks and then followers of Jesus are incorporating philosophical, ethical philosophy, incorporating all these frameworks That they begin to wonder about the ethics of these kinds of things. And so it's within Greco-Roman period Judaism, late Greco-Roman period Judaism, almost into rabbinic and then early Christianity, that we see the idea pop up, oh, this is a bad thing, Where philosophy overtakes the honor and shame impulse. So I think that's probably where it originates yet. But yeah, it's certainly not in the Bible. I have people reach out to me every now and then and ask about this, that they've had a parent, a brother, a child, or something like that, and their pastor or whatever, or they're worried About whether or not someone has told them that this is sinful and they're in hell. Yeah. Dan McClellan It's such a cruel thing to say to a grieving person who's lost a loved one. Yeah. Dan Beecher And I think it's people feel like they need to toe the line. People feel like they need to advocate for the socially costly position that, yeah, they're in hell. And you get that in all kinds of different... There will be some brands of Calvinism where somebody will be like, oh, so-and you know, was part of a community that hadn't really been churched, hadn't really been witnessed to, and So so-and never heard of Jesus and never had an opportunity. And they're like, yep, hell. And some people seem to relish in being able to do that precisely because of how offensive it is to the people on the other side. But I think there are also people who feel awful about it, but still feel like it's their responsibility to tell that line. Even though, again, it's not biblical. Dan McClellan It's not something they're getting from the Bible. That's an amazing, you know, it's such an interesting thing. I mean, the innovations in terms of philosophical thought are just basically that A, it's killing and thou shalt not kill, and B, that something to do with the idea that it takes away God's prerogative of life, like somehow the natural law, God has authority over what isn't. Dan Beecher Yeah, your life is not your own. Dan McClellan Yeah, which, you know, these are things that, like you said, Augustine and, Aquinas and stuff came up with these a fair bit after the Bible came out. ([Time 0:52:11](https://share.snipd.com/snip/52a87204-937c-4066-ae59-8446dbe8186d)) - **Avoid Saying Suicide Condemns A Loved One To Hell** - Do not tell grieving people that a loved one who killed themselves is in hell; the hosts say that claim lacks biblical basis and causes harm. - Dan McClellan emphasizes compassion and warns against theological assertions that compound grief. Transcript: Dan Beecher I have people reach out to me every now and then and ask about this, that they've had a parent, a brother, a child, or something like that, and their pastor or whatever, or they're worried About whether or not someone has told them that this is sinful and they're in hell. Yeah. Dan McClellan It's such a cruel thing to say to a grieving person who's lost a loved one. Yeah. Dan Beecher And I think it's people feel like they need to toe the line. People feel like they need to advocate for the socially costly position that, yeah, they're in hell. And you get that in all kinds of different... There will be some brands of Calvinism where somebody will be like, oh, so-and you know, was part of a community that hadn't really been churched, hadn't really been witnessed to, and So so-and never heard of Jesus and never had an opportunity. And they're like, yep, hell. And some people seem to relish in being able to do that precisely because of how offensive it is to the people on the other side. But I think there are also people who feel awful about it, but still feel like it's their responsibility to tell that line. Even though, again, it's not biblical. Dan McClellan It's not something they're getting from the Bible. That's an amazing, you know, it's such an interesting thing. I mean, the innovations in terms of philosophical thought are just basically that A, it's killing and thou shalt not kill, and B, that something to do with the idea that it takes away God's prerogative of life, like somehow the natural law, God has authority over what isn't. Dan Beecher Yeah, your life is not your own. Dan McClellan Yeah, which, you know, these are things that, like you said, Augustine and, Aquinas and stuff came up with these a fair bit after the Bible came out. And I guess I think about how this is a particularly sticky thing. People like, as you say, people love to condemn other people to hell. They do it all the time. They love to say, oh, you're going to hell to me because I'm an atheist or oh you're going to like they do relish it but there's something especially difficult or problematic about doing It about uh suicide because it is a final act there's no you know if you say to me as an atheist you're're going to hell, there's a redemptive path. You're at least saying you're going to hell if you don't, dot, dot, dot. But yeah, it is a particularly intractable problem with this because there's no redemptive path. There's nothing to follow where the person can redeem themselves. Dan Beecher Yeah. And these days, it is less often a question of someone, you know, in battle, having no way out and falling on their sword. There's not really much honorable taking of one's own life these days, at least in our culture. Certainly there are cultures where this kind of stuff does happen. But these days, the usually, when someone takes their own life, it's because they are so despondent, because there is such an acute episode of despair and depression, it outweighs Their ability to endure it. And they have access to means. So there's a particularly heinous aspect of taking that approach when so much of suicide these days is an outcome of depression and mental health issues and circumstances that frequently Are not within the control, not within the conscious control of the individual. So I think that's a big flaw in this notion, which again is something that is a post-biblical moral development rather than something that is commanded anywhere in the Bible. ([Time 0:53:09](https://share.snipd.com/snip/63375934-98c5-4703-bed7-292246fa09d0)) - **Personal Experience With Medical Assistance In Dying** - Dan McClellan shares that his mother used medical assistance in dying in Canada and describes it as a merciful, well-regulated process. - He notes multiple safeguards and the family's ability to be present, framing it as compassion rather than moral failure. Transcript: Dan McClellan On the show, but just a few months ago, my mother, who was terminally ill, opted to have medical assistance in dying in Canada. And it was a mercy. It was a beautiful mercy for her to have that option. And my sister and I were able to be present for it. She was surrounded by people that she loved. And then I went and spoke to the people at the funeral home that was handling the disposition of her remains. And this woman talked about how so many people who are religious get into huge battles, huge family fights about this. And, you know, especially if the family is Catholic or whatever, suddenly it becomes this roaring battle. And nowhere in that conversation is the person's pain. You know what I mean? Nowhere in that conversation is the mercy of that moment. And I think that, you know people don't choose to take their lives uh lightly lightly that is not something that you enter into uh you know sort of in a flippant manner so uh you know i i definitely I was grateful that you know canada has lots of different hoops you got to jump through and lots of, you know, you have to, you have to be able to affirm that you are of sound mind and you, That you're not being coerced into it. You have to have multiple meetings with multiple people and all this sort of thing. But, uh, but yeah, it's nice. ([Time 1:04:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9f6e065d-3e62-48f7-8f0d-30c8778be593))