Posted on 09/30/2006 4:39:07 AM PDT by Pharmboy
In classical Judaism, resurrection of the dead was a central belief, essential to defining oneself as a Jew. “Today,” writes Jon D. Levenson, professor of Jewish studies at Harvard, that fact “comes as a shock to most Jews and Christians alike.”
Apart from the Orthodox minority, most Jews, including those who acknowledge belief in the resurrection as a part of Judaism’s historical legacy, seem to rush by the idea as quickly as possible, rendering it perhaps as a metaphor for how one’s good works live on, but in any case ushering it to the margins of their tradition, a minor and dispensable theme in a Judaism that focuses on life.
Resurrection of the dead, it is argued, is a Johnny-come-lately notion, not found in the ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible, which treated mortality matter-of-factly. Instead, the doctrine was an innovation of the Maccabean period, found in the Book of Daniel, written between 167 and 164 B.C.E, when faithful Jews were being persecuted by the Hellenistic monarch Antiochus IV. With ideas borrowed from Zoroastrianism and other foreign sources, resurrection solved the puzzle of understanding divine justice when fidelity to the Law brought about not prosperity and length of years but martyrdom.
Professor Levenson’s new book, “Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life” (Yale University Press), is a frontal challenge to this account. But the reasons that it has become a staple of modern Jewish apologetics, he allows, “are not hard to find.”
On the one hand, the rejection or marginalization of resurrection offered a clear distinction between Judaism and a Christianity that celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus as the ground for human hope. On the other hand, it simultaneously aligned Judaism with the naturalistic and scientific outlook of modernity
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
since the Orthodox Jew doesn't belive there is a New Testement, why would they belive in the resurrection
It is the general issue of the resurrection of the dead that is under discussion here rather than The Resurrection of Christ.
bookmark
As Jesus pointed out to the Saduccees, the idea of resurrection is implied in Exodus: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of the living, not of the dead.
Yes...interesting point.
I should than add, maybe that is why they don't belive in the New Testement
It didn't. It's earlier.
EzekielML/NJ
Chapter 37The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the LORD and set me in the center of the plain, which was now filled with bones. He made me walk among them in every direction so that I saw how many they were on the surface of the plain. How dry they were! He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come to life? "Lord GOD," I answered, "you alone know that." Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: See! I will bring spirit into you, that you may come to life. I will put sinews upon you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put spirit in you so that you may come to life and know that I am the LORD. I prophesied as I had been told, and even as I was prophesying I heard a noise; it was a rattling as the bones came together, bone joining bone. I saw the sinews and the flesh come upon them, and the skin cover them, but there was no spirit in them. Then he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord GOD: From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life. I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army. Then he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They have been saying, "Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off." Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.
I think Dr. Levenson's book will have a powerful effect on those who read it. I certainly plan to read it.
I had heard that, at the time he was arranging to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham understood he would see Isaac again when they were resurrected.
"Resurrection and the Restoration of Israel: The Ultimate Victory of the God of Life "
Handel knew it or at least the librettist Charles Jennens in the Messiah , from Job ( held to have lived before the patriarchs) 19:25-26: "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God"
Acts 23 is an interesting account of the divisions in Jerusalem at that time :1And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
2And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.
3Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?
4And they that stood by said, Revilest thou God's high priest?
5Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
6But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.
7And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided.
8For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
9And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
10And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
11And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
Thanks for your additions to this thread...I knew I could count on Freepers for that.
None of the three types of rabbinical Judaism (not just Orthodox) believes in the New Testament. If there is one thing they all agree on, it's that they reject Christianity.
I don't think any of us disagree with your point; that is indeed what separates Christianity from Judaism. The book under discussion is about the general belief in the resurrection of the dead and is not about Christ's Resurrection.
My point, exactly, which is why I thought it odd that someone would bring up belief in the New Testament on this topic. Thanks.
This looks most interesting. Ping for later and thanks for gleaning something of value from the awful NY Times. ( of course, I can't wait to see how they blame it all on Bush!)
Ahhh...thanks for your clarification. Got it.
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