Its important to remember that the bible is full of contradictions. Jesus contradicts his father, Paul contradicts Jesus and on it goes. The bible is full of a midrash of writings put together by Roman sun and Cesar worshippers which later became the Catholic church.
The hypocrisy Jesus had towards the pharisees and sadducees
by adjusted knowledge 32 Replies latest jw friends
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TD
You're right inasmuch as Judaism (Prior to conquest) was not just a code of moral conduct, but was a civil and criminal code as well, with real physical penalties going all the way up to capital punishment. Things get insanely complicated when there is a death penalty involved and people have both the right and need to know the extent of the law exactly and in no uncertain terms.
Phariseeism was acrimoniously divided in the 1st century between conservative and liberal factions. There are a lot of scholars today who believe that Jewish was aligned with the liberal faction. As you observe, the argument is never over whether the Law should be kept, but over how the Law should be kept.
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