I've been quiet for a while, being mildly amused at Robert's almost daily publishing of scripture that no doubt has been fed to him via the Catholic Church's publicity department - read propaganda - but happy to leave him to it as long as he doesn't get too silly.
Over the last few days he made a name change to his blog which has probably shagged him out.
His last blog was named Robert of Bob's discombobulate Bobadilish I think but he changes it so often it's hard to remember. Anyway yesterday he'd changed it to Robert's Daily Discourse which I suggested would be better named 'Robert's Daily Disconnect' and, lo and behold I see that he has just taken my advice and changed it again:
""The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many". Mat 20:28. Nothing wrong with that; some might wonder who the Son of Man is. "I thought Jesus is the Son of God". I guess He is both. Did you know that Sirach is written by someone called Jesus? Son of Eleazar, son of Sirach. What's going on there? Maybe Jesus wrote what his granddad used to say."
"The last thing Sirach said is "Work at your tasks in due season, and in his own time God will give you your reward". Sirach 51:30. Hence the saying "He has gone to his reward" (when someone dies). I do usually read Rob's blog, though I must admit that the majority of what he writes doesn't make much sense to me. Also, his grammar takes some interesting turns. It seems that another Jesus (Jesus son of Eleazar, son of Sirach) has shown up. I assume that one of those two people is his mother. I guess that Rob will have more praying to do and will perhaps have to add to his rosary time."
While not as wobbly and confusing as Robert's post I still don't understand what Richard means about Sirach and must confess that, even though I go by the moniker of The Religious Curmudgeon (name unchanged since November 2017) I haven't read much of the Bible and never really listened to the nuns, brothers and priests blathering on about The Catechism and Religious Doctrine. I decided to go to the new temple known as Google and asked "Who was Sirach?"
Wikipedia goes on a lot about the Book of Sirach and it's too much of a fankle to cut and paste it just so you lazy readers can skip over it so I'll just provide you with some highlights as hairdressers say to the old dames.
- Although the Book of Sirach is not included in the Hebrew Bible, and therefore not considered scripture in Judaism, it is included in the Septuagint and the Old Testament of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East. In the Protestant traditions, historically, and still in continuation today in Lutheranism and Anglicanism, the Book of Sirach is an intertestamental text found in the Apocrypha, though it is regarded as noncanonical.
- Authorship. This is the latest image of Sirach. He liked this one as it features his favourite hat. Sirach liked hats kind of like Richard of RBB in that regard - in fact, there is some similarity. We won't go into what's on his finger though. You'd be best to ask Richard about that.
- The Book of Sirach is a collection of ethical teachings that closely resembles Proverbs, except that—unlike the latter—it is presented as the work of a single author and not as an anthology of maxims or aphorisms drawn from various sources. The teachings of the Book of Sirach are intended to apply to all people regardless of circumstances, although commentator Verna Holyhead suggests that Sirach can be read as "a collection of wisdom for the "middle classes". Many of its teachings are rules of courtesy and politeness, and they contain advice and instruction as to the duties of man toward himself and others, especially the poor and the oppressed, as well as toward society and the state and, most of all, toward God. Wisdom, in Ben Sira's view, is synonymous with fear of God and sometimes is identified in the text with adherence to the Law of Moses. The question of which sayings originated with the Book of Sirach is open to debate, although scholars tend to regard Ben Sira as a compiler or anthologist.
- By contrast, the author exhibits little compassion for women and slaves. He advocates distrust of and possessiveness over women, and the harsh treatment of slaves (which presupposes the validity of slavery as an institution).
- The Book of Sirach contains the only instance in a biblical text of explicit praise for physicians, though other biblical passages take for granted that medical treatment should be used when necessary. This is a direct challenge against the idea that illness and disease were seen as penalties for sin, to be cured only by repentance.
