>The problem with Gibson making a film about Chanukkah, in
>which the Orthodox Jews are the heroes and the Hellenized
>Jews are the villians, is that it was Hellenized Jews, such
>as Matthew, who became the first Christians.
If by "Hellenized" you mean "able to speak and write Greek, then yes, Matthew/Levi was Hellenized.
If by "Hellenized" you mean "not worshipping the God of Israel" then perhaps you are mistaken. When Jesus is majestically pulling miracles, calling himself the "Son of Man", calling God "Father", picking fights with the Rabbis and making them look stupid, it takes someone at least somewhat familiar with the Jewish scriptures to figure out that it is the real McCohen standing before you, and not some imposter.
Funny thing about the Gospel of Matthew, is that some of the early church mentioned it as the gospel written in the tongue of the Jews. Moreover, the Talmud seems to discuss the quandry that faced the Rabbis of the Apostles days, who wondered if scrolls that contained "the divine name" could be burned. (It was originally written in Aramaic, not Greek).
As a publican (a tribute enforcer for the Romans), Matthew would have had to swear a pagan oath to Caesar and he would have been banned from the Temple and from synagogues.
it takes someone at least somewhat familiar with the Jewish scriptures to figure out that it is the real McCohen standing before you, and not some imposter.
Matthew may have been born and raised a Jew, so he knew something about Judaism, but he was an apostate.
Funny thing about the Gospel of Matthew, is that some of the early church mentioned it as the gospel written in the tongue of the Jews.
The Gospel of Matthew was largely copied from the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Mark was written by someone who knew very little about Judaism, possibly by a gentile. So, if Matthew was once written in Aramaic, it must have been a translation from Greek.