B is for BLASPHEMY!

[This is the MILLERWRITES contribution to the 2012 Blogging A to Z April Challenge  Here is my INTRODUCTION to this particular series, and an opportunity for you to influence which alphabetically aligned weird words I will comment on this month.  THANK YOU for stopping by!]

While it is true that saying almost anything contemptuous or irreverent about God fits into the first dictionary definition of BLASPHEMY, I prefer the harder, more specific, and easier to pin down second definition:  Claiming to be God.  Satan was kicked out of heaven after he sought to be treated equally with God.  His pride led him to crave the same honor which only God deserves.  Over time many others have suffered under similarly grand delusions and claimed to be God.  Jesus even warned that many would come claiming to be the Messiah, and we have seen that prophesy fulfilled even in our day.

If anyone was ever outright guilty of BLASPHEMY, it was Jesus Christ!  Here we see that in each of the Gospels, Jesus' claim to BE God was recognized by the religious leaders of the time, as BLASPHEMY.


Matthew 26:65
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.

Mark 14:64
“You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death.

Luke 5:21
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

John 10:33
“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

(Quotes taken from Biblegateway.com)

And to think that some argue Jesus was just a good man!  No, because a good man would not claim to be God.  Others suggest that Jesus must then have been somewhat insane to make such a claim, as we discern in most of our modern BLASPHEMOUS messiahs; but the recorded words of wisdom and super-human references Jesus revealed to us were not capable of anyone but the ultra sane!

The word BLASPHEMY is thrown about more readily than it should be today.  Yes, there are some who go so far as to claim to be God, and we easily recognize that....they are not, but we should be careful.  In the first dictionary sense, a regular day to day BLASPHEMER who simply refers to all things Godly in a contemptuous manner may actually be crossing the line and "claiming to be God" because he has set his opinion of God above God's opinion of him.

As far as Jesus being 'guilty' of BLASPHEMY goes; the definition should be tweaked a bit.  A BLASPHEMER is someone claiming to be God, unless he actually IS God.  In that case, we should allow Him to make His truth claim freely, and worship Him.

By the way; here is my introduction to this series, and an opportunity for you to influence which alphabetically  aligned weird words I comment on this month.