Bill Cork has great further details on Sungenis-palooza Bob Sungenis (whom I’ll start referring to by his all-too-fitting initials, “BS”) has come out with his latest diatribe against the Talmud and, by extension, the Jewish people. As for me, with each passing day I become yet more glad that I contacted my bishop, entreating him to intervene with BS’ bishop. I don’t know whether my bishop will find the time to do so, or even choose to do so, but I know that I’ve done some small part in trying to remedy this horrible sickness in the body of Christ.

I mentioned in a post below that in the wake of 9/11/01 I became consumed with rage at the perpetrators and those who celebrated their actions – and that this rage prevented me from effective prayer and led directly to my participation in several sinful acts that weren’t directly related to that rage and which needn’t be described in detail here. Of course I’m reminded of St. James’ admonition that the anger of man does not lead to the righteousness of God. Of course anger that stews too long can congeal into hatred. Some discussion at Mark Shea’s site seems to fit in well here too – on hate and on the appropriateness of the Pope’s prayer for forgiveness of the barbarians who murdered so many innocent people on that fateful day.

In I John 1:5, we’re reminded that “Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” In I John 2:8b-11 we read: “the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” We continue with I John 3:14-15a: “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer“. Hatred is, then, the darkness that is the antithesis of the God Who is love (I John 4:8). (I see this as a dispositive answer to the comment at Mark’s site regarding God having hatred for some of His children.)

While I don’t presume to know with certainty what’s in BS’ heart, I can’t see how anyone could BS’ latest comments and not see them as strongly indicative of hatred for the Jewish people. (I’d be glad to be proven wrong.)

The “brothers” mentioned in I John must include all people – not just those we like, not just those who share our faith.. (After all, Christ hasn’t been stingy with His love to people whose lives are characterized by sin and even “disgusting practices” (to use a favorite BS term).

At the risk of promoting speculation that I might be Nihil Obstat, I must point out that BS’ comments are riddled with factual errors. His “quotes” from the Talmud have been shown to be fabrications (a fact he refuses to address). His “expert sources” are notorious for their bias and falsity (ditto). In a great touch, he attributes a quote about Christians to Julius Caesar (must have been quite a prescient moment on behalf of a man who was murdered 40 years before Jesus’ birth!)

What makes this all the more sad, is that there’s no evident benefit to BS’ comments on the Talmud. Just as in his comments on geocentrism , he’s publicly stating as fact, in his capacity as a self-appointed expert on Catholic teaching no less, items that are not demonstrably true and that do nothing to promote the credibility of the Church or to demonstrate that any of her members is capable of anything other than stubbornness and hatred.

Bob Sungenis, may the Lord have mercy on your soul.