Open Heart
Well-known member
Matthew 5:18-19
18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Clearly, Jesus taught the Jews to obey the Torah. The Christian church, OTOH, is ambivilent about the Law. This largely has to do with Pauline teaching that circumcision is worthless, that it is up to the individual whether they keep the Shabbat or eat meat offered to idols, and that the law brings a curse. Yet for all their anti-nomianian teachings, Christians don't go around saying that it's okay to murder, steal, etc. Christian doctrine teaches that keeping the law is not necessary for salvation, but that one should nevertheless obey God and be a good decent person.
My problem is that Christians pick and choose what parts of the Law they want to obey and what parts they ignore, and they often don't even agree with each other on this matter.
For example, most Christians would say that they are to keep the 10 commandments, but they don't rest on the seventh day.
I need to clarify before I go on that Judaism itself doesn't teach that non-Jews have to keep the 613 commandments. For example, because the sabbath is observed in order to remember us being delivered from slavery in Egypt, sabbath keeping is one of the commandments that non-Jews need not keep. There ARE universal commandments embedded within the 613, but most of the laws are given to Israel, not to the world.
But Christians have chosen to keep the Torah as part of their canon of scripture. So why, then, do they (most of them) not do things like keep the seventh day a day of rest?
The answer I hear most often is that some laws are moral, and other laws are "ceremonial." Now, clearly, giving a sacrifice at the temple would be "ceremonial." But how do you get the idea that keeping the shabbat is ceremonial? Or the kosher laws, as another example?
It is clear to me that Christians pick and choose what is convenient to observe. Far from observing every jot and tittle, they only keep those laws they feel like.
18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Clearly, Jesus taught the Jews to obey the Torah. The Christian church, OTOH, is ambivilent about the Law. This largely has to do with Pauline teaching that circumcision is worthless, that it is up to the individual whether they keep the Shabbat or eat meat offered to idols, and that the law brings a curse. Yet for all their anti-nomianian teachings, Christians don't go around saying that it's okay to murder, steal, etc. Christian doctrine teaches that keeping the law is not necessary for salvation, but that one should nevertheless obey God and be a good decent person.
My problem is that Christians pick and choose what parts of the Law they want to obey and what parts they ignore, and they often don't even agree with each other on this matter.
For example, most Christians would say that they are to keep the 10 commandments, but they don't rest on the seventh day.
I need to clarify before I go on that Judaism itself doesn't teach that non-Jews have to keep the 613 commandments. For example, because the sabbath is observed in order to remember us being delivered from slavery in Egypt, sabbath keeping is one of the commandments that non-Jews need not keep. There ARE universal commandments embedded within the 613, but most of the laws are given to Israel, not to the world.
But Christians have chosen to keep the Torah as part of their canon of scripture. So why, then, do they (most of them) not do things like keep the seventh day a day of rest?
The answer I hear most often is that some laws are moral, and other laws are "ceremonial." Now, clearly, giving a sacrifice at the temple would be "ceremonial." But how do you get the idea that keeping the shabbat is ceremonial? Or the kosher laws, as another example?
It is clear to me that Christians pick and choose what is convenient to observe. Far from observing every jot and tittle, they only keep those laws they feel like.
