Dr. Mendez's response here to Dr. Anderson was very interesting and informative. I have long thought Jesus apparently lying when he told his family that he wasn’t going to the feast, but then went “in secret.” (John 7:8-10), is a literary clue to the inner circle reader that liberties are being taken by the author. This can be conceived within the broader context of justified lies and deception in the ancient Greco-Roman-Jewish world. And Pious Fraud is a real possibility, since the deceivers may have thought they were doing God's will. After all, even God lies by putting lying spirits in the mouths of his prophets. (1 Kings 22:21-22)
Dr. Mendez's response here to Dr. Anderson was very interesting and informative. I have long thought Jesus apparently lying when he told his family that he wasn’t going to the feast, but then went “in secret.” (John 7:8-10), is a literary clue to the inner circle reader that liberties are being taken by the author. This can be conceived within the broader context of justified lies and deception in the ancient Greco-Roman-Jewish world. And Pious Fraud is a real possibility, since the deceivers may have thought they were doing God's will. After all, even God lies by putting lying spirits in the mouths of his prophets. (1 Kings 22:21-22)