I’ve written for Reason over the years and keep up with Nick. But I myself was surprised and delighted by the question. It’s an insightful question and reveals the shame of being so quick to disregard 1 Maccabees for its portrayal of prayers for the dead—and even more to the point: making an offering for the dead. The reason is that same passage is one of the very few explicit mentions of the resurrection in the entire Old Testament. Cut out 1 Maccabees and you also lose that.
Wow, pretty surprised that Nick Gillespie of Reason listens to this podcast and would love to know why!
I’ve written for Reason over the years and keep up with Nick. But I myself was surprised and delighted by the question. It’s an insightful question and reveals the shame of being so quick to disregard 1 Maccabees for its portrayal of prayers for the dead—and even more to the point: making an offering for the dead. The reason is that same passage is one of the very few explicit mentions of the resurrection in the entire Old Testament. Cut out 1 Maccabees and you also lose that.
My worlds collided yesterday when Nick Gillespie was quoted on Bad Books of the Bible :)
It’s a small world after all.