by Gill 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
If Jesus gave only two new commandments, to love God and love your neighbour, why do religions, and especially the JWs, who claim to be the only true religion, have so many other laws, rules, and regulations?
Didn't apostasy therefore start with Paul, and the original Elders who started lording it over others and giving lots of silly rules to follow?
You need to check if the rules that Paul etc onwards gave, do they contradict the two commandments Jesus gave.
Well if you compare Mark,Matt and Luke you'll find 3 different versions of the story in which the summary of the Torah is given by Jesus, an insightful questioner and a hostile Pharisee. So really it is selective reading to even say that the Jesus character gave any commands at all. It should also be said that Rabbis and writers had previously and contemporaneously summarized the Torah briefly using the same formula so it is not at all unique to the Jesus stories. Then it should be noted that the passage (whichever version) is not supposed to be an absolution of the Torah but a summary that implicitly required all the other laws to be obeyed. Modern readers tend to lift the passge from context and imagine that Jesus', or the questioner's, summary superceeded the Torah. That is reading more into it than intended by any of the 3 authors.
PP,
Never thought of it that way.
Do you have some examples of other Hebrew Rabbi's that summed up the Torah with similar expressions? That is a really new thought to me. I, ignorantly, thought Jesus was the first to do so.
Also, you're right about the assumption that Jesus was saying that you didn't have to obey the law but only the two "new" commandments. I never thought about it from the perspective you mentioned.
Perhaps Paul was apostate to Jesus message or perhaps in his private revelation to Paul, Jesus got more specific with things and Paul had the onerous task of shifting the gears of the first century christians?
Narkissos,
thanks for that website, it looks interesting.
There are a number of attempts to summarize the whole Torah in 1,2,or 3 laws, here are a couple from The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs (150 BC-150CE), :
T. Issachar 5:2: “Love the Lord and your neighbor, and have compassion on the poor and feeble.”
T. Issachar 7.6: “I loved the Lord with all my strength; likewise I loved every man with all my heart.”
T. Dan 5.3: “Love the Lord with all your life, and another with a sincere heart.”
Book of Jubilees (150 BC):
He commanded them that they should observe the way of the Lord; that they should work righteousness; and love each his neighbor.
Hello,
Didn't apostasy therefore start with Paul, and the original Elders who started lording it over others and giving lots of silly rules to follow?
I don't believe so. I think the bible may have been tampered with, especially with the parts of women in Paul's writings. I think, quotation marks may have been removed. As Paul, I think was correcting the congregations for their silly rules, instead of stating what he wanted. But most people think he was stating those rules for Christians to follow. But I don't think so. Also I think the apostles were giving their opinion on some things, but did not mean for it to be followed as though it was from Jesus or God. Like, for example, the abstaining from blood and food sacrificed to idols.. I think just advice, for the Christians and Jews to get along better.
