I'm not particularly impressed by an author who has the hubris to correct The Son of God when his own pet interpretation doesn't fit the Gospel. Like so:
"But Jesus said , &c.
One stone shall not be left upon another. This is a hyperbole, meaning,"
Since sections of the Temple still stand (The Wailing Wall), Lapide's interpretation of Christ is incorrect. So, he simply claims Jesus
exaggerated,
"This is a hyperbole, meaning,..."An exaggeration is, by definition, a falsehood.. The author is accusing Christ of being false simply to suit his own "take" on what Christ said..
What Christ
said and what Lapide claims Christ
meant are two different things.
"The Romans did not spend so much time upon the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple as not to leave a stone upon a stone; but..."...BUT...that means, since Christ said,
"One stone shall not be left upon another." and Lapide concedes this was not the case, then his interpretation of Christ's statement wass incorrect. Unfortunately for Christ, Lapide has the advantage of getting in the last word and tries reconciling the two with his fatuous
"; but..." But
nothing. Christ was omniscient, Lapide was not.
If that wasn't bad enough, the man even has the nerve to put words in the Son of God's mouth via his interpretation,
"And this is what Christ here indicates." That isn't what Christ indicates. What Christ
said is not supported by Lapide's
interpretation, nor even by the history the author cites.
"
Listen to Josephus ( l. 7, Bell. c. 18), "Titus bid them utterly destroy the city and the Temple. But there was left standing the three towers."And that flatly contradicts
"One stone shall not be left upon another."So either
Christ was wrong, which naturally He was not. Or Lapide's
interpretation of Christ was wrong.
"The Syriac has, between themselves and Him. For it was a matter full of danger to prophesy, indeed even to speak about the destruction of the Temple, on account of the Scribes and the Magistrates."...and we all know how terrified Jesus was of offending Scribes and Magistrates, eh? :P HOW many times did He antagonize those groups during His ministry? Lapide's claim is directly contradicted by Jesus who used the destruction of the temple as a metaphor right in front of them in
John 2 18-20"Tell us : the Disciples here ask two things; the first, that Christ would tell them when Jerusalem was to be destroyed;"...except that's not what the disciples asked in Matthew 24:1 and neither they nor Christ mention Jersualem. This guy... He's doing what all agenda-peddlers do: re-writing what was
said into what was
NOT said to suit his position.
I'm not going to fact-check the rest of his nonsense commentary.