Although I am not religious, I was raised catholic and I enjoy reading the bible. I read it much like other philosophy books. So here is my interpretation of Jesus and Jewish Laws.
The Old Testament explains God’s covenant with Abraham and his special relationship with the Hebrew people highlighted in his dealings with Moses. Next the Torah laid out specific laws that the Hebrew people needed to follow in order to maintain their relationship with God. That became the status quo for hundreds of years, but that all changed with the birth of Jesus. Jesus believed that the Hebrew relationship with God was compromised by the continuation of the ancient laws. He believed that the Pharisees had perverted the purpose of the laws thereby negating the need for those laws.
The social meaning of law is to preserve society, it does that by reinforcing values or traditions that the society holds high. The number one goal of every society is self-preservation, society’s meet this goal be turning customs and traditions into law. The ancient Hebrew gained their identity from the laws and legitimized their right to Jerusalem through the laws of God. Eventually those laws used to strengthen their identity and their relationship with God began to weaken their spirituality.
“For if the inheritance comes from the law, it is no longer from a promise; but god bestowed it on Abraham through a promise,” (The New American Bible, Galatians 3, 18). Certainly, laws cannot determine whom God allows into heaven and whom God sends to hell. God promised Abraham eternal salvation but the Pharisees began to use the laws as a control mechanism. They used the laws to acquire more power and began to corrupt the laws. This is why Paul felt that it was necessary to defy the Pharisees and compel people to disregard the laws because the coming of Jesus nullified those laws and enabled everyone to become a child of Abraham. Paul claims that Jesus came down to accept the burden that humanity had been shouldering until that point in time.
The problem is that over time the Hebrew laws began to lose meaning. This happens because people subconsciously follow laws with out putting much thought into why they are obeying this particular law. Jesus displayed the problems with passively following laws. People begin to follow the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. Jesus believed that people should follow the laws in their heart. Jesus did not believe that simply performing a specific action such as circumcision makes one righteous. “You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition,” (New American Bible Mark 7, 8).
This led to a certain amount of confusion because the Hebrews thought that Jesus abolished those laws. For example, the Hebrew would consider a person that never murders and never commits adultery as righteous. Jesus said that if that person has hate constantly in is heart and lust always in his mind than he is not righteous and it does not matter that he does not act on these feelings. The mere presence of negative thoughts means the person has violated the spirit of the law. Jesus tells his followers “…it was said to your ancestors, you shall not kill…but I say to you whoever is angry with his brother is liable to judgment,” (New American Bible Matthew 5, 21-22).
The laws also contributed to the Hebrew identity. By abolishing these laws, Jesus transformed the religion from one of a cultural and region specific religion to that of a universal religion. “Realize then that it is those who have faith who are children of Abraham,” (New American Bible, Galatians 3, 7). This means that salvation is no loner for a particular people but rather for all who believe. This is extremely important because until this point, the Hebrew's were the chosen people of God and only descendents could obtain entrance into heaven.
In my opinion Jesus is not the son of an almighty super natural being but rather a philosopher and preacher of peace and justice. I do not, as some do, begrudge others or smite them for interpreting it different.
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2 comments:
Thought-provoking post! I too was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic schools for most of my life (grade school, high school & college). Despite my religious upbringing, I would not consider myself a “religious person”. A spiritual person is probably more like it. Anyway, to the points….
I think you make a good observation on the law and how Jesus viewed it. The Pharisees were so caught up in the letter of the law, that they really missed the point. Your point about the Pharisees using the law to control the people is right on target. In fact, many feel that the Catholic church got caught up in the same problem in the period after Constantine converted to Christianity in the 4th century. From that point on, the church used the “law” to strengthen its position in the state and control the people. It continued right on up to the Renaissance – and to a large extent still exists today.
I would argue that the problem actually started before Constantine. Perhaps even with Paul himself. Paul seems to have strayed from Jesus’ message. When I read the gospels, I get the image of Jesus as a Jew who tried to reform a corrupt system. He wanted Judiasm to return to its roots. After all, Jesus and the apostles were all Jews themselves and followed Jewish customs and traditions. Jesus was not trying to invent some new religion. He was just looking for a return to the truth.
Paul had different ideas. He and his followers had a hard time winning the religious Jews over. As such, they focused on the pagans, lax Jews, and other spiritual/philosophical peoples such as the Greeks. Paul seemed like he never stayed put. He went into an area, got some converts, set up a circle of believers with an appointed leader (a bishop-like person). Then he moved on. Paul and his followers used their “letters” to keep the people following the law. (There is even some debate amongst scholars that Paul himself may have been a former Pharisee). It seems that the early church, after breaking away from Judaism and setting up shop, picked right up where the Pharisees left off.
Is Jesus “the son of an almighty super natural being” or “a philosopher and preacher of peace and justice”? That is a good question. I guess I am not sure of the answer. Or maybe I am, but am afraid I will be stuck down by a bolt of lightening or something if I say it out loud. In reality, I have thought about this for a long time – ever since I was a college student at Villanova. While there, I has made preparations to enter the monastery and become a monk. In the end, I backed out. I was convinced about the whole “Jesus is the son of God” thing.
Paul was the one who really pushed the Jesus is God thing. Jesus himself was just a spiritual Jew who was trying to return his faith to its true roots. As you point out, he made it known that salvation was available to all. In that sense, we are all sons and daughters of God.
I think you are right on by saying that Jesus was not trying to start a new religion. He was trying to reform judaism. I also think you are right on about Paul. I am crafting a response that deals specifically with Paul wich I will post shortly.
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