Go to Part 8...
Both Jewish and Christian religious authorities
branded the gnostics as heretics, yet their comprehensive critiques of gnostic
teachings belie the pervasiveness of gnostic ideas within the leadership of
their own communities. Just as the 2nd-century Church Father Irenaeus must have
been familiar with Christian gnostic teachings in order to refute them in Against Heresies,
the rabbis indicated their familiarity with Jewish gnosticism in their polemics
against it. In the Talmudic tractate Hagigah, the rabbis
laid out the parameters for acceptable cosmological speculation, and in the
process shed light on the very mystical schools they set out to debunk.
In response, the Karaites only increased their
polemics against the "Rabbanites" by criticizing their promotion of
worship outside of Jerusalem, arguing that all Jews must come to Jerusalem to
publically mourn the destruction of the Temple and exchange any material
prosperity they have gained in exile for a life of asceticism there.
Ultimately, while the rabbis were able to suppress the Jewish gnostics until
the 13th-century emergence of Kabbalah, the schism between the Karaites and
Rabbanites was irreparable and produced permanent Karaite communities, some of
which still exist today…”[7]
…Worship
and Encountering the Divine…
Part
Seven
“But you, who do you
say that I am?”
Matthew 16:13-18 (HCSB)
13 When Jesus
came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, n o He asked
His disciples, “Who do people say that the •Son of Man is?” p
14 And they
said, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one
of the prophets.” q
15 “But you,”
He asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
17 And Jesus
responded, “Simon son of Jonah, s t you are
blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in
heaven. u 18 And I also say to you that you are
Peter, v and on this
rock w I will
build My church, x and the
forces y of •Hades will
not overpower it. [1]
In our last
segment, I made the statement:
“…It begins here:
“..I am the LORD your God, who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery..”
The
LORD is ONE…” [2]
The development of the Jewish belief of
monotheism was not a onetime thing, despite the adherence to the legends and
stories of the Jews that the oral transmission of the knowledge of one God was
handed down from Adam through the subsequent patriarchs. The truth is a bit
more complicated:
“…Robertson
Smith has summed up the matter with the statement that “what is often described
as a natural tendency of Semitic religion toward ethical monotheism is in the
main nothing more than a consequence of the alliance of religion with monarchy
” (“Rel. of Sem.” p. 74; Montefiore, “Hibbert Lectures,” p. 24; Schreiner, “Die
Jungsten Urtheile über das Judenthum,” p. 7). The Hebrews alone of all the
Semitic peoples reached the stage of pure monotheism, through the teachings of
their prophets; however, it required centuries of development before every
trace of idolatry disappeared even from among them, and before they stood forth
as a “unique people on earth,” worshipers of the one God and of Him alone.
In Hebrew
tradition the origin of the belief in the one God is connected with the
religious awakening
of the
patriarch Abraham…
…Though the
tradition contains without doubt the kernel of the truth, modern criticism
holds that the Hebrew tribes were brought to a clear realization of the difference
between their God and the gods of monotheistic
belief by the whole people was a slow process at best; how slow, many
statements in the
historical
and prophetical books of the Bible prove amply. Throughout the period of the
first commonwealth there was constant
reversion to idolatry on the part of the people (comp. Judges ii. 11–13, 17,
19; iii. 7; viii. 33; x. 6, 10, 13; I Sam. viii. 8, xii. 10; I Kings ix. 9,
xiv, 9, xvi. 31; II Kings xvii. 7, xxii. 17; Isa. ii. 8, x. 11, xxxi. 7; Jer.
i. 16; vii. 9, 18; ix. 13; xi. 10, 13, 17; xii. 16; xiii. 10; xvi. 11; xix.
4–5, 23; xxii. 9; xxii. 29, 35; xliv. 3, 5, 15; Hos. ii. 7, iii. 1, iv. 17,
viii. 4, xi. 2; Ps. cvi. 36; II Chron. vii. 22; xxiv. 18; xxviii. 2, 25;
xxxiii. 7; xxxiv. 25). Forgetful of their obligation to worship YHWH and Him
alone, the people followed after the
“ba’alim”; the “bamot” and the “asherot” dotted the land; frequently, too, the
Israelites confounded the worship of YHWH with the worship of Baal…”[3]
And the idea
of a monotheistic God (one God, one hypostasis [4])
was not without dispute among Jewish theologians and scholars also. The
substance of God was debated as to whether or not the godhead was a composite
unity or a singularity. This is seen in the differences groups had to the
approach of the study of who God is. While not yet developed as a “religion” so
to speak, the Messianic writings are full of the early believers attempts to
delve into the same problem that was infecting early Judaism as a whole –
Gnosticism. Marc A. Krell, who teaches Judaic Studies at The Dr. Miriam
and Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Campus in Las Vegas, NV said this:
“…In both early Judaism and Christianity, we see attempts
by the religious authorities to construct theological boundaries around a
common enemy, gnosticism. This Hellenistic school of thought was based on the
Greek word gnosis or esoteric knowledge of the cosmos
that was only available to a select group of spiritual seekers. The gnostics
sought to attribute the origins of evil in the material world to the wicked
creator god Yaldabaoth that emanated from the mother goddess Sophia when she
went against the wishes of the transcendent "Spirit."
There
was clearly a tension between the dualistic, polytheistic beliefs of the
gnostics and the early rabbinic and Christian mystical seekers. In the
Christian version of this myth, The Apocryphon of John, Christ is
sent down from the transcendent realm of heaven to remind people of their
heavenly origin, yet only his followers who possess this gnosis and separate
themselves from the evil material world can be saved from darkness. They can
only return to the divine light of the transcendent God by following Christ
back up through the different heavenly regions to the infinite realm. In the
rabbinic community, Jewish mystics drew upon elements of the gnostic myth to
describe divine characteristics, the ongoing revelation of God to humanity, and
the path on which humans may ascend to God, while attempting to remain within
monotheistic parameters.
Both Jewish and Christian religious authorities
branded the gnostics as heretics, yet their comprehensive critiques of gnostic
teachings belie the pervasiveness of gnostic ideas within the leadership of
their own communities. Just as the 2nd-century Church Father Irenaeus must have
been familiar with Christian gnostic teachings in order to refute them in Against Heresies,
the rabbis indicated their familiarity with Jewish gnosticism in their polemics
against it. In the Talmudic tractate Hagigah, the rabbis
laid out the parameters for acceptable cosmological speculation, and in the
process shed light on the very mystical schools they set out to debunk.
In both of these sources, the rabbis set out to
circumscribe the mystical study of Maaseh Bereshit, "The Work of
Creation" in the first chapter of Genesis, that involved speculation of
the universe. They restricted not only the subject of study but limited who may
study it by arguing that one must not study with more than two people the
heavens above, the demonic
world below, the origins of the cosmos before the world was
created, and the messianic destiny of the universe after the period of this-worldly existence
is over. Yet they went even
further when addressing the mystical study of the Maaseh Merkavah,
"The Work of the Chariot," 
based on the vision of God's chariot or
throne in Ezekiel chapter 1. Because it involved delving into the very essence
of God, the rabbis argued that one can only study it with one other person, and
that person must be a sage who is old and wise enough to understand such
mysteries…”[5]
based on the vision of God's chariot or
throne in Ezekiel chapter 1. Because it involved delving into the very essence
of God, the rabbis argued that one can only study it with one other person, and
that person must be a sage who is old and wise enough to understand such
mysteries…”[5]
He goes on:
“…Yet these polemical texts actually reveal the emergence
of divergent mystical schools of thought dating back to the Second Temple
period. Certain pharisaic circles taught Maaseh Bereshit andMaaseh Merkavah in which they referred to the living
creatures in Ezekiel's vision as a hierarchy of angels in the Celestial Court
of God. The next stage of Jewish mystical development occurred during the
period of the Mishnah with the hekhalot or throne mysticism based on Ezekiel's
vision of the divine throne and the larger realm of the "throne
world." This corresponds directly with the gnostic pleroma or
"fullness" of divine light, a sphere of divinity consisting of semi-divine
powers or archons in different aeons or heavenly realms.
This
literature, referred to as the "Hekhalot Books,"
displayed the different heavenly halls or divine palaces that the mystic, like
the gnostic visionary, passed through until he reached the seventh heaven, and
encountered the divine throne. The hekhalotliterature was attributed
to a late 1st-century circle of rabbis who were disciples of Rabban Yochanan
ben Zakkai: Eliezer ben Hyrkanus, Akiba ben Joseph, and Ishmael the "High
Priest." What makes this school of thought so countercultural is that
these texts did not consist of traditional midrashim or interpretations of biblical
passages, but a completely unique set of religious experiences not found in the
Hebrew scriptures. Ultimately, this subterranean sect of rabbinic Jews could
not share its gnosis for fear of opposing the rabbinic establishment and
widening the schism within Judaism. Jewish gnosticism would remain underground
until the end of the 13th century when the study of Kabbalah, the
secret tradition of mystical teachings, would become popularized, and the Sefer Ha-Zohar, or
"Book of Enlightenment," would become part of the canon of Jewish literature.
In
10th-century Muslim-ruled Babylonia, the Karaite sect emerged in opposition to
the rabbinic establishment by rejecting the Talmud as a human creation set up
to deceive and alienate the individual Jew from the Torah while strengthening
rabbinic power. Influenced by Greek and Arabic philosophy, the Karaites argued
that each individual must rely on one's own intelligence to understand the
Hebrew Bible and not depend upon any outside human authority. However, Rabbi
Saadiah Gaon, one of the rabbinic sages who directed the Babylonian Talmudic
academy in Sura and produced his own philosophical work, countered that while
the human intellect is the most essential foundation of faith, the Written and
Oral Torah are also necessary sources for understanding divine revelation and
must be reconciled with human knowledge…[6]”
Finishing,
Marc adds this:
Karaites
|
Rabbinic
tradition
|
reject the Talmud as human creation
only Hebrew Bible is necessary |
accept
the Talmud as authoritative
Written and Oral Torah are needed |
In response, the Karaites only increased their
polemics against the "Rabbanites" by criticizing their promotion of
worship outside of Jerusalem, arguing that all Jews must come to Jerusalem to
publically mourn the destruction of the Temple and exchange any material
prosperity they have gained in exile for a life of asceticism there.
Ultimately, while the rabbis were able to suppress the Jewish gnostics until
the 13th-century emergence of Kabbalah, the schism between the Karaites and
Rabbanites was irreparable and produced permanent Karaite communities, some of
which still exist today…”[7]
So it is clearly not the case that the Jews were unified at all in
their theologies and in the nature of God. While the monotheistic tendency was
there, the various sects and groups that comprised the Jewish community had
different approaches to the subject, and some of these differences led to the separation
of the various groups from the Jewish community at large: so it was even so for
the followers of Yeshua, who were denigrated by the term “Minim”. The Jewish leaders, because of the rise of
the followers of Yeshua, inserted into the Amidah[8]
an additional “blessing” called the Birkat
HaMinim ("the sectarians, heretics")that asks God to
destroy those in heretical sects (Minuth), who slander Jews and who act as informers against
Jews. While there are textural variations to this “blessing” it reads in
essence as this:
"For the
apostates let there be no hope. And let the arrogant government be speedily
uprooted in our days. Let the noẓerim
and the minim be destroyed in a
moment. And let them be blotted out of the Book of Life and not be inscribed
together with the righteous. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who humblest the
arrogant" (Schechter)." [9]
Two medieval
Cairo
Genizah copies equate Minim and Notzrim, "Nazarenes", i.e.
"Christians. [10]
While there has been in recent years the attempt by some Jewish scholars to
down play a connection to this “blessing” to the early sect of believers (i.e.
what they call “Christian”), it none-the-less has to be seen that the main
focus in any of its contexts this "blessing" may also be a euphemism
for a curse. The benediction is thus seen as related to the Pharisees,
the Development of the Hebrew Bible
canon, the split of early Christianity and
Judaism as heresy in Judaism, the origins of Rabbinic Judaism, Origins of Christianity, Christianity in the 1st century,
and history of early Christianity. [11]
In Hilchot Teshuva Chapter 3 Halacha 7[12]
there is a list of who are considered “heretics”. Among these are: minim,
epicorsim[13]
and those who deny Torah.
Minim are
said to be those who:
·
Who denies
the existence of God or the ruler of the world
·
Who says
there are two or more rulers of the world
·
Who accepts
there is one Master of the world but maintains He has a body or a form
·
Who denies
that He is the sole First Being and Creator of all existence
·
Who serves
entities that serve as intermediary between him and the eternal Lord such as
stars, constellations or any other entity
According to
Hilchot Teshuva
3:6 Minim do not have a portion in the world
to come. Their souls are cut off and they are judged for their sins.[14]
The Birkat
haMinim is a malediction
on heretics. The belief that the curse was directed at Christians was sometimes
cause for persecution of Jews. Modern scholarship has
generally evaluated that the Birkat haMinim probably did originally
include Jewish Christians before Christianity became
markedly a gentile religion. ([15])([16])
As the
persecution arose from all sides, the followers of Yeshua became squeezed all
the more. Messianic Judaism, which was initially strengthened despite persecution by Jerusalem
Temple officials, soon fell into decline during the Jewish-Roman
wars (66-135) and by the growing anti-Judaism
within the Gentile community, perhaps best personified by Marcion (c. 150).[17]
The Messianic Jewish community differed from the growing Gentile influence in
the fledling religion of “Christianity; they were mainly characterized by
combining the confession of Yeshua as Messiah with continued
adherence to Jewish practices such as Sabbath observance, observance of the Jewish
calendar, observance of Jewish laws and customs, circumcision, and synagogue
attendance.
For the
early believers, there was dissension from all sides. They weren’t “Jewish
enough” for the Jews and were “too Jewish” for the Gentile church.
Yet through
it all, they maintained the belief in One God and His Messiah, Yeshua. Alister
McGrath, former Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford
University, claims that the 1st century "Jewish
Christians" were totally faithful religious Jews. They differed from other
contemporary Jews only in their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah. [18]
What
conclusions can we draw from this?
Daniel
Boyarin, a professor of Talmud at the University of California in Berkeley has
written a book called The Jewish Gospels and in it he contends that in ancient
times, the borders between what Judaism and Christianity were far more porous
than we conceive today: it was not until
the fourth century that the doctrinal differences were clarified, not least
because of the desire of the Roman-backed church to put clear water between the
spreading new faith and those it considered Jews. In his introduction Boyarin
states:
:…If only
things were this simple. In this book, I’m going to tell a very different
historical story, a story of a time when Jews and Christians were much more
mixed up with each other than they are now, when there were many Jews who
believed in something quite like the Father and the Son and even in something
quite like the incarnation of the Son in the Messiah, and when followers of
Jesus kept kosher as Jews, and accordingly a time in which the question of the
difference between Judaism and Christianity just didn’t exist as it does now.
Jesus, when he came, came in a form that many, many Jews were expecting: a
second divine figure incarnated in a human. The question was not “Is a divine
Messiah coming?” but only “Is this carpenter from Nazareth the One we are
expecting?” Not surprisingly, some Jews said yes and some said no…”[19]
Judaism did
not exist in the time of Messiah Yeshua – the “religion of the Jews didn’t even
have a name for itself until the 18th or 19th century.
The term “Judaism” up until that time was only used by non-Jews to describe the
religion that had formed out of Sinai. [20] What “Judaism” was (and is), was not a
religion; it was and is a way of life, one formed around obedience, worship and
belief in God.
Boyarin
continues:
“…So being
religiously Jewish then was a much more complicated affair than it is even now.
There were no Rabbis yet, and even the priests in Jerusalem and around the
countryside were divided among themselves. Not only that, but there were many
Jews both in Palestine and outside of it, in places such as Alexandria in
Egypt, who had very different ideas about what being a good, devout Jew meant.
Some believed that in order to be a kosher Jew you had to believe in a single
divine figure and any other belief was simply idol worship. Others believed
that God had a divine deputy or emissary or even son, exalted above all the
angels, who functioned as an intermediary between God and the world in
creation, revelation, and redemption. Many Jews believed that redemption was
going to be effected by a human being, an actual hidden scion of the house of David—an
Anastasia—who at a certain point would take up the scepter and the sword,
defeat Israel’s enemies, and return her to her former glory. Others believed
that the redemption was going to be effected by that same second divine figure
mentioned above and not a human being at all. And still others believed that
these two were one and the same, that the Messiah of David would be the divine
Redeemer. As I said, a complicated affair.
While by now almost everyone, Christian and non-Christian, is
happy enough to refer to Jesus, the human, as a Jew, I want to go a step beyond
that. I wish us to see that Christ too—the divine Messiah—is a Jew…” [21]
So here we
are, at the place of encountering the divine. Now what you believe is how you
are prepared to accept the message of the Bible. Most will come to it with a
notion already conceived, with an identity of the Messiah firm in their hands
and hearts. But is this the way we
should look at the message of either the Tanach or the Messianic Writings [22]?
The idea of religion itself is what separates us today as well as
in the past. What we call religion is simply a pre-defined set of complex
beliefs and convictions set up by its (the religion in question) boundaries.
Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and all the other “..isms”
which we have as people put up around ourselves all deal with these boundaries.
Even atheists (atheism?) have boundaries that they set for themselves –
basically a “this far and no more” attitude. It is almost as if each group in
question can take out a basic “grocery list” of do’s and don’ts that define the
“proper way” an adherent to the group must look, act or behave; this list
controls the basic thought patterns and life-styles that each adherent must
conform too if they are to be considered a “true” Christian, a “true” Jew, a
“true” Moslem etcetera, etcetera. Here is the dilemma: who sets the rules? What
authority was given to any particular group or “ruling council” to tell all the
rest what was acceptable or not? And if there was a ruling council, was the
decisions they made correct? Was any provision made to question these
decisions?
That is where I am today. I have come to the decisions and
positions I espouse not because someone told me this is the way I must think,
but I am here today precisely because I choose to question what I was being
taught. The plan of God for my life is too important to me to leave it up to
religion. His word should be all that guides me, not a “predefined checklist”
of what it is I should believe or not. That is why my blog is called “At the
Gates of Yerushalayim: A Search for Messiah”. I am on a search for the real
Messiah, not the one invented by others. Just as it is important to believe in
the One True God and His plan of salvation (Messiah Yeshua!), it is more
important WHAT we believe.
John tells us:
1
John 2:18-29 (HCSB)
18 Children, it is the last hour. h And as you have heard, “Antichrist i is coming,” even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
18 Children, it is the last hour. h And as you have heard, “Antichrist i is coming,” even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the
truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar, if not
the one who denies that Jesus is the •Messiah? m This one is the
antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No
one who denies the Son can have the Father; n he who confesses the Son has the Father as well. o
24 What you have heard from
the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning
remains in you, then you will remain in the Son p and in the Father. q 25 And this is the promise that He
Himself made to us: eternal life. r 26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to
deceive you.
27 The anointing you received
from Him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, His
anointing teaches you about all things s and is true and is not
a lie; just as He has taught you, remain in Him. t
28 So now, little children,
remain in Him, so that when He appears a we may have boldness
and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. b 29 If you know that He is righteous,
you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right c has been born of Him. d [23]
My brethren, no lie is of the truth. So WHAT we believe has an
impact upon our salvation – it really is that simple. Now this is MY
conclusion, what I believe is truth (and of course I am teachable and
correctable…):
Yehsua is divine, for two
reasons:
1.
By the
virtue of Who His Father is, YHVH Tzva’ot – YHVH LORD of Hosts
2.
Because the
Father elevated Him to the Supreme position at His Right Hand
That being
said, I, at this time and this place in my search for my Messiah, do not
believe He is God (or YHVH). To hold to that violates what I read in the plain
(p’shat (פְּשָׁט) — "plain"
("simple") or the direct meaning) of Scripture.
I believe Yeshua was preexistent
in the mind of God, as the culmination of all that He prophesied to His
prophets, of all the covenant promises He gave to Adam, Noah, Abraham, etcetera.
I believe that at the right time, in the right place, He begat (ילד
yâlad yaw-lad', meaning to
bear, beget, or bring forth, to bring into existence [24])
His Son Yeshua to be His instrument of salvation, to the Jew first and then the
Gentile. Yeshua’s birth was the
fulfillment of Psalms 2:
Unless we
are willing to do violence to the meaning of words by declaring that that they
really don’t mean what they are supposed to mean, begat or begotten mean
simply this: to be brought into existence. Yeshua was brought into existence by
the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit.
Let us look
at a few verses of John 1:1-5, in parallel:
King James
Version Bishops Bible
(1568) Geneva
Bible (1587) 1899
Douay- Rheims
1.
1 In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
|
1 In the begynnyng was the worde, & the
worde was with God: and that worde was God.
|
1 In the beginning was that Word, and that
Word was with God, and that Word was God.
|
1 In the beginning was the Word: and the Word
was with God: and the Word was God.
|
2.
2 The same was in the
beginning with God.
|
2 The same was in the begynnyng with God.
|
2 This same was in the beginning with God.
|
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
|
3.
3 All things were made by
him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
|
3 All thynges were made by it: and without it, was
made nothyng that was made.
|
3 All
things were made by it,
and without it was made nothing that was made.
|
3 All things were made by him: and without
him was made nothing that was made.
|
4.
4 In him was life; and
the life was the light of men.
|
4 In it was lyfe, and the
lyfe was the lyght of men,
|
4 In it was life, and that life was the light of men.
|
4 In him was life: and the life was the light
of men.
|
5.
5 And the light shineth
in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
|
5 And the lyght shyneth in darkenesse: and
the darknesse comprehended it not.
|
5 And that light shineth in the darkenesse, and
the darkenesse comprehended it not.
|
5 And the light shineth in darkness: and the
darkness did not comprehend it.
|
The Bishops’
Bible of 1568 was the basis of the King James Bible translation that began in
1602 and finalized in 1611. The Geneva Bible of 1587 was a continuation of the
translation program that began in 1557. Notice the wording in verses 3 and 4 of
these two Bibles: keep in mind that men lost their lives to produce these
Bibles…
The key word
is highlighted: it. It
being the word of God which was God. The word spoken by God since the
beginning, the plan and purpose of God that was to come to pass in the right
time. The mind of God, His eternal purpose, laid out since before the
foundations of the world – His Messiah would be begotten. With one man sin
entered the world. With one man, all would be reconciled to Him again – but His
plan was to use the agency of humanity, a man born unto a virgin, conceived by
the Holy Spirit which is the power and presence of God – and a new creation
would begin with this one, this begotten one of God. The earliest writers knew
of this:
David wrote
of Him in Psalms.
Isaiah prophesied of Him:
Isa 9:6-7
(9:5) For a child is born(ילד yâlad yaw-lad', meaning to bear,
beget, or bring forth, to bring into existence) to us, a son
is given (to be given v. — to be caused to have, in
the abstract sense or physical sense) to us; dominion will rest on his
shoulders, and he will be given the name Pele-Yo`etz El Gibbor Avi-`Ad
Sar-Shalom [Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of
Peace], (7) (9:6) in
order to extend the dominion and perpetuate the peace of the throne and kingdom
of David, to secure it and sustain it through justice and righteousness
henceforth and forever. The zeal of Adonai-Tzva'ot will accomplish this.[26]
This child
of man, this Son of Man would be the one to bring restoration of all things
back unto God by His obedience unto the Word, and by His sacrifice that was
predicted before the foundation of the world. To view Yeshua as YHVH means that
God’s plan had no pathos to it, that it was basically meaningless for a sinless
existence is of no effort for God to do; but a man? O what a divine plan! To
see our Savior as actually one of us! To know he suffered the pangs of hunger, loneliness, joy, sadness, all the
emotions that make us human yet he sinned not…
Why do I say
He couldn’t be God, YHVH?
Yeshua
|
Reference
|
God
|
Reference
|
Is called
‘Son of God’
|
Is called
‘God the Father’
|
||
Was born
|
Is from
everlasting to everlasting
|
||
Was
tempted
|
Cannot be
tempted
|
||
Overcame
sin
|
Cannot sin
|
||
Was
obedient to God
|
Is supreme
|
||
Was seen
|
God cannot
be seen
|
||
Had
limited knowledge
|
Knows
everything
|
||
Died
|
God is
immortal – cannot die
|
||
Was raised
from the dead
|
God raised
Him !
|
||
Now sits
at God’s right hand
|
God’s
throne always in heaven
|
||
Will
return to earth
|
Is
everywhere present
|
Figure 1. Table from:
http://www.hopeofthebible.com/2011/01/01/jesus-son-of-god-not-god-the-son/
While some may argue these points, they are clearly what Scripture
tells us and our interpretations cannot override the plain meaning of
Scripture! To add another (i.e. our own) interpretation to God’s word is to try
and distort the Word for our purposes, to fit our own preconceived conclusions
instead of letting God bring us to the proper dividing of the word.
This is a
lot to chew on I know, so let’s continue this in our next post, where I will
try to flesh out for you the New Creation – the restoration of all things.
Till then, may God richly bless
you my beloved.
• Or the Christ; the Greek word is Christos and means the anointed one. Where the NT
emphasizes Christos as a name of our Lord or
has a Gentile context, “Christ” is used. Where the NT Christos has a Jewish context, the title “Messiah” is used.
[1] The Holy
Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2009. Nashville: Holman Bible
Publishers.
[2] From
“Worship and Encountering the Divine, Part 6” http://davidseedofabraham.blogspot.com/2013/10/worship-and-encountering-divine-part_13.html
[3] The Jewish Encyclopedia: A DESCRIPTIVE RECORD OF THE
HISTORY, RELIGION, LITERATURE, AND CUSTOMS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE FROM THE
EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY.
Vol. Volume 8. PREPARED AS AN EBOOK BY VARDA GRAPHICS, INC. ©, 2002 by Varda
Books. ©1905, 1909, BY FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, n.d. Article “Monotheism”
pg 659.
[4] “Hypostasis: (from ujpo>, under, and i[sthmi, to stand; hence subsistence), a term
used in theology to signify person…” Strong,
James and McClintock, John. CYCLOPEDIA of BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL and
ECCLESIASTICAL LITERATURE. Vol. 4. (in 12 volumes.) Electronic Edition. pg.
167: AGES Software Rio, WI USA, 2000.
[8] The Amidah
(Hebrew: תפילת העמידה, Tefilat HaAmidah "The Standing
Prayer"), also called the Shmoneh Esreh (שמנה עשרה, Shmoneh
Esreh "The Eighteen," in reference to the original number of
constituent blessings, now nineteen with the addition of the ), is the central prayer of the Jewish
liturgy.
[10] See Yaakov
Y. Teppler, Susan Weingarten Birkat haMinim: Jews and Christians in conflict in
the ancient world 2007 - Page 56 "Thus Krauss speaks on the one hand of
notzrim and on the other of minim, and his two pleas do not really hold up side
by ... 207 Rashi on BT Megillah 17b: "The minim are disciples of Jesus the
Notzri which is why they put Birkat haMinim ..."
Also, Marvin R. Wilson Our father Abraham: Jewish
roots of the Christian faith - 1989 Page 68 "We must emphasize that only
two texts of the Birkat ha-Minim (both found in the Cairo Genizah) explicitly
mention Christians. Both texts refer to "the Christians [notzrim, ie, the
Nazarenes] and the heretics / minim]. "
And again: ed. William David Davies, Louis
Finkelstein, Steven T. Katz The Cambridge History of Judaism: The late
Roman-Rabbinic period 2006 - Page 291 "He proposes that the original Yavnean version of
the Birkat ha-Minim, following the medieval Genizah
fragment, included both minim and "Nazarenes," and that "in this
liturgical fragment minim and Notzrim are synonymous, ie, "
[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkat_haMinim
[12] "Hilchot
Teshuva". Mishneh Torah. Moznaim Publications.
[13] Epikoros
(or Apikoros or Apikores or Epicurus; Hebrew: אפיקורוס,
lit. "Heretic", pl. Epicorsim ): "AN EPIKOROS. Rab and R.
Hanina both taught that this means one who disrespects a Talmid Chacham
[erudite Torah scholar]. R. Johanan and R. Joshua b. Levi maintained that it is
one who disrespects his neighbour in the presence of a Talmid Chacham.
" —B. Talmud,
Seder Nezikin,
tractate Sanhedrin, 99b
[14] "Hilchot
Teshuva". Mishneh Torah. Moznaim Publications.
[15] The
Cambridge History of Judaism: The late Roman-Rabbinic period pp291-292 ed.
William David Davies, Louis Finkelstein, Steven T. Katz – 2006.
[16] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuth
[17] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Christians;
Marcion of Sinope (Greek: Μαρκίων[1] Σινώπης),
(c. 85 – c. 160) was a bishop in early Christianity.[2] His theology,
which rejected the deity described in the Jewish
Scriptures as inferi\wxor or subjugate\
1.01]m .,?”
ed to the God proclaimed in the Christian gospel. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcion)114 `weruiop]\[
ed to the God proclaimed in the Christian gospel. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcion)114 `weruiop]\[
[18] McGrath,
Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing (2006). ISBN
1-4051-0899-1. Page 174: "In effect, they [Jewish Christians] seemed
to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary
Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief — that Jesus was the Messiah.
Unless males were circumcised, they
could not be saved
(Acts 15:1)."
[Author’s note:
The term “Jewish Christians” is a misnomer; the followers of Yeshua probably considered
themselves notzrim or netser (the modern Hebrew equivalent (No·tsri, נוֹצְרִי)) in the 1st
century, probably from the Hebrew na·tsar, נָצַר, meaning "to
watch," or from ne·tser, נֵ֫צֶר, meaning branch. It had something
to do with Yeshua coming from Nazareth. {The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and
English Lexicon (1906/2003), p. 665… See also: "...if the word Nazareth
is be derived from Hebrew at all, it must come from this root [i.e. נֹצְרִ,
nostri, to watch]" (Merrill,
Selah, (1881) Galilee in the Time of Christ, p. 116. "The
etymology of Nazara is neser" ("Nazareth", The
Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911.) "…NAZARETH, NAZARENE - Place name
meaning, 'branch.'" (Holman's Bible Dictionary, 1994.) "…Generally
supposed to be the Greek form of the Hebrew netser, a "shoot" or
"sprout." (Easton's Bible
Dictionary, (1897)…} In rabbinical and contemporary Israeli Hebrew,
the term "Notzrim" (plural) or singular "Notzri"
(נוצרי) is the general official term for "Christians" and "Christian",
although many Christians prefer Meshiykiyyim (משיחיים)
"Messianics", as found in most Hebrew New Testament translations as
seen in Acts 11, etc. per BFBS Franz Delitzsch Hebrew New Testament and revisions.}]
[19]
Boyarin, Daniel (2012-03-20). The Jewish Gospels
(Kindle Locations 245-251). New Press, The Kindle Edition.
[20] …Ibid… (Kindle
Location 257).
[21] …Ibid…
(Kindle Locations 287-298).
[22] Calling
the New Testament “The Messianic Writings” isn’t my idea … no, allow me to give
credit where credit is due: see the book “The
Messianic Writings” by Daniel Gruber, ELIJAH PUBLISHING; 1 edition (June
21, 2011).
• Or the Christ; the
Greek word is Christos and means the
anointed one. Where the NT emphasizes Christos as a name of our Lord or has a Gentile context, “Christ” is used. Where
the NT Christos has a Jewish context,
the title “Messiah” is used. {Authors’s
note: Folks, let’s face it… the entire NT is written in a Jewish context,
so we need to wrap ourselves around that truth, not try to read a “dual
theology” (Jewish and/or Christian) into it..}
[23] The Holy
Bible : Holman Christian standard version. 2009. Nashville: Holman Bible
Publishers.
[24] In its narrowest sense yālad describes the act
of a woman in giving birth to a child (e.g. Ex 1:19; I Kgs 3:17–18), but it is
sometimes used of the father’s part in becoming a parent (e.g. Gen 4:18; 10:8,
24, 26; 22:23, 25:3; I Chr 1:10–20, Prov 23:22). It may be used with reference
to the whole procedure involved in producing a child (e.g. Gen 38:27–28) or it
may even be specifically applied to the pains of a woman prior to the actual
birth (e.g. Gen 35:16; Mic 5:33). Although predominantly used of human beings
it is occasionally used of animals (e.g. Gen 30:39; 31:8; Job 39:1–2, Jer 14:5;
Ezk 31:6). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
by R Laird Harris (Author) , Gleason L Archer Jr. (Author) , Bruce K. Waltke.. Vol
1, pg 378-380. Moody Publishers; New Edition edition (October 1, 2003), n.d.
[26] Stern, David H. The Complete Jewish Bible.
Electronic Edition -e-Sword v. 10.2.1. Jewish New Testament Publications, ©1998.
(highlighted emphasis/definitions added)
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