Jews, Christians, Peter-Paul-and-Mary

Yes, I can see the outcome being the same. One of my shticks is that I don’t buy the belief “If only women ruled the world, there would be no more wars.” I believe the Garden of Eden story is allegorically powerful and true because it shows women nudging men in the ribs to do their bidding. And I think very often men do stupid and reckless things at the bidding of women or in trying to impress women.

A lot of metaphysical lines can be blurred here as we sift through this. Again, Dennis Prager posits that the Torah is the revealed world of God — an instruction manual for the human race, if you will — regardless of whether the Garden of Eden story is real or allegorical. (He thinks it is real.)

I don’t deny the possibility of the Torah being real (although I think the Garden of Eden story is allegorical). No other book comes close to being an instruction manual for the human race, not even Dr. Spock’s books on child care.

So with the Christian idea of “The Fall,” we suppose there was a real rift-in-the-cosmic-order, that something got torn, that by human action we broke something that shouldn’t have been broken — otherwise it would have been paradise eternal. This I find harder to believe than Prager’s (and not just Prager's) idea that the whole fruit episode showed that there were consequences in having free will and that man preferred freedom rather than bland comfort.

And if you look at the people who climb mountains, you can see that spirit unvarnished and undiminished. People on their nice, soft couches (like mine) might look at them on The Discovery Channel and think of them as foolish. And, yes, there is more than a bit of foolhardiness in some of the “extreme” sports.

But that choices have consequences and that, even so, we prefer to have choice makes more sense than believing there is pain and injustice in the world simply because of one decision made long ago by one person.

Here’s another good bit from Prager’s book, “The Rational Bible: Genesis.” God has just called out to Adam, “Where are you?” Adam and Eve had meanwhile covered themselves in fig leaves and were cowering behind the trees. God asks Adam if he ate from the tree:

The biblical quote is:

Matthew 5: 17

Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law and the prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo, but to complete and fulfill them.

Many interpret, wrongly in my opinion, this statement as Jesus confirming Judaic law. To my mind, he is expanding and perfecting the Law. I believe this was a major point of contention between the Jerusalem Christian-Jews and Paul and Peter.

However, if one reads Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7, one will see how Christ views the Law as imperfect and that it needs to be completed and perfected. This is very different from what contemporary Jews meant by the Law.

All one has to do to see this is so is continue reading. 

In Matthew 5:20 Christ says,

For I tell you, unless your righteousness is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Here Christ is attacking those who in his time were considered experts in the law. They were something like lawyers who defined the Law. But like our lawyers today, they were more interested in the technicalities of the law and letter of the law than the spirit of the law. Their interpretations encouraged outward show, not inward holiness. They couldn't even get right that which had been handed down to them for generations.

Christ then goes on to lay out examples of the difference between the corrupted Law of contemporary men and God's true, perfect law.

Matthew 5

21 You have heard that our forefathers were told, "Do not commit murder; anyone who commits murder must be brought to justice.

22 But I tell you this; Anyone who nurses anger against his brother must be brought to justice. Whoever calls him "fool" deserves hellfire.

23 So if you if you are presenting your gift at the altar and suddenly remember that your brother has a grievance against you,

24 Leave you gift where it is before the altar. First go and make your peace with your brother; then come back and offer your gift.

27 Your have heard that they were told, "do not commit adultery."

28 But what I tell you is this; If a man looks at a woman with a lustful eye, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

31 "They were told, "A man who divorces his wife must giver a certificate of dismissal."

32 "But what I tell you is this: If a man divorces his wife for any cause other than unchastity he involves her in adultery; and whoever marries her commits adultery."

and possibly the most difficult instruction of us to follow

43 "You have heard that they were told, "Love your neighbor and hater your enemy."

44 But what I tell you is this: Lover your enemies and pray for your persecutors.;

45 only so can you be children of your heavenly Father, who causes the sun to rise on the good and bad alike, and sends the rain on the innocent and the wicked.

46 If you love only those who love you, what reward can you expect? Even the tax-collectors do as much as that.

47 If you greet only your brothers, what is there extraordinary about that? Even the heathen do as much.

48 There must be no limit to your goodness, as your heavenly Father's goodness knows no bounds.

There are many of these commandments, which are almost impossible for a human to follow. And do not be fooled into thinking that Christ does not understand this. He is now completing and perfecting God's Law. He is not mincing words, he is not cutting corners. He is showing everyone exactly what the perfect law is.

But being all-loving, Christ understands that mankind cannot live up to the Law. It is a fallen race. As such, Christ takes mankind's burden and sins upon himself. He sacrifices himself to redeem those who cannot redeem themselves.

This does not mean that human worms should not try to live up to the Law. It only means that Christ has their back as long as they believe in him, and try to follow his guidance.

It’s never going to set well when a man calls himself a God, no matter how careful and coached the language is. But if Jesus is God, then indeed, it is logical that he could “complete and fulfill” the laws.

If not, if you deny that possibility (although you might not believe a particular person’s claim of divinity), then “God” is just an esoteric thing so far removed from reality (from disproof or proof) that he is little but a cultural affectation. But Jews believe the Torah speaks of the real God. I believe that is the real God as well. Who really knows if Jesus was the fulfillment of all that is written in the Torah?

Oh, my favorite part of the New Testament is Jesus’ eloquent head-butting of the legalistic Pharisees and scribes. What politicians in our day doesn’t note the equivalent of Pharisees and scribes infecting Washington DC.

You bring up a good point about law. Who gets to interpret it? If the bureaucracy does, the interpretations might certainly tend to be favorable to the power brokers — just like scientific institutions aren’t likely to have models that say “The earth is just fine. It’s the sunspots causing all that warming.”



You mean Jesus wasn’t for those temporary divorces that Muslims have so that they can dance around with prostitutes?



That’s a great point. If one *were* of God, then that’s the kind of thing he might say. Makes you think.

So maybe an Old Testament giant could be J. R Richard (6 feet 8 inches) or Randy Johnson (the Big Unit at 6 feet 10 inches).  We don't even need the tallest basketball players.  Fine with me.