The context is in Gal 1:14 “I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age”
Don’t think its fair to say Christianity today is opposed to Judaism. Maybe some sections of it and more so in the past.
Both christianity and judaism have changed since Paul’s day.
But Paul certainly saw himself as persecuting and then joining a faith in which the teaching and death/resurrection of Jesus were now all that mattered.
@Stephen
I think viewing the historical Jesus as a reformist is a fair way to phrase it. He’s definitely shedding certain parts of 2nd Temple Judaism by forgoing the traditions of the elders/fathers (later renamed the oral Torah), but he does appear to be observant of the written Torah.
Concerning the traditions of the elders, the Matthean Jesus’ position appears to be:
In Matthew 15, the scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread” (Matthew 15:1). Mark clarifies, “The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.” (Mark 7:1-4)
Jesus responds to their accusations with “you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'”(Matthew 15:6-9).
“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart (mind), and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Concerning the written Torah, as the Jewish Christian author of the early Christian Clementine literature pointed out (I didn’t notice it on my own), the Matthean Jesus’ position appears to be:
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore keep and observe all things whatsoever they might tell you. But do not do according to their works, for they preach and do not act.”(Matthew 23:2)
This does match the philosophy of Matthew 5:17 “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” (Matthew 23:23)
You can make the argument, Jesus is trying to say, yes you should be tithing mint and anise and cumin in whatever quantities ascribed by the Law, but you can’t neglect other more important aspects of the Law.
Isn’t that really important?
It depends for whom. It depends on what one wants to achieve. It depends on what he will be able to sacrifice for what he considers important. Arians switching to the orthodox side sacrificed their important views for a more important cause. Half of the bishops did not recognize the resurrection of the body after the Council of Nicaea and yet they decided not to leave the church. Their importance was not that important.
The meaning of the same concept may or may not be critically important to different people with different goals.
Had Marcion and his future opponents been uncompromising in Rome, their discussion would have lasted an hour or two and they would have parted ways. And yet they put aside what was important to them and continued negotiations on a more important matter. There would be no financial donations, no transfer of books and letters between uncompromising people. And there would be no subsequent mess of lies and false accusations when they finally broke up.
Where is the Shepherd of Hermas so important in the first 400 years of Christian literature now? His teachings survived but he himself was abandoned
Wasn’t the prefiguration of Jesus as a Panther important? It was important, as evidenced by Eusebius. At the same time, it was funny to the Jews because it was based on a mistranslation in the LXX. And so Jesus ben Panthera, the son of the important and funny, was born.
@Robert *- I agree that Christianity should not be opposed to Judaism, but in fact it is for most people, don’t you think? -*
It should never be opposed to the practice of Judaism, certainly Paul never was.
He was just opposed to the necessity of it. For him it was no longer necessary after christ – a view which he probably persecuted the church for before he joined it.
I think he would have found that a ridiculous/laughable proposition rather than something to be opposed. Its the meaning of the crucifixion and its consequences for sin and adherence to the law that needs to be opposed.
Paul says he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers.
Josephus says James was convicted for breaking the law.
Both implying it was the actions of the early christians rather than their beliefs that got them into trouble.
It took about 80 years after his death to resolve the conflicts with Paul, whom no one knew anything about for 40 years after his death. And we learned about Paul’s death in Rome from a reliable source also written 80 years after this event. Paper will accept anything but to believe it all right away..
I understand that the same problems are postulated for other ancient religions that broke ethnic ties and emerged from North Africa spilling over the Greco-Roman world. The followers of Isis, Serapis, Mithra also spent their time in barren discussions with the age-old question: To cut or not to cut? To eat or not to eat?
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
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Robert
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