Posted on 01/03/2006 9:34:40 AM PST by Esther Ruth
I choose to use Sha'ul's Hebrew name, as I do all the Apostles, to emphasize the fact that he was a Jew by birth and culture, with a Jewish way of thinking, not a Greek. This is doubly important in the case of Sha'ul, who was not only Jewish, but had learned at the feet of Rabbi Gamaliel of the School of Hillel, still revered today as one of the greatest of Jewish sages.
The Gospel--that God was born into the world in the person of Yeshua, lived a sinless life, died to pay the price of our sins, and rose again on the third day just as He will raise all who put their trust in Him--is such that it can be communicated and understood in every language and culture. However, it's original culture is Jewish, and when we lose sight of the fact that we are the recipients of a culturally-contextualized message and start to think that our Western culture is the "original" Gospel context, we start to misunderstand it.
For example, by imposing a Platonic ideal of virginity on a Jewish marriage, or by misunderstanding a type (the Eucharist, baptism) for the spiritual reality underlying the type, or thinking that "binding and loosing" (i.e., the authority to make halakah, rulings on how to apply the Torah) gives one the authority to change the day of the Sabbath.
Or thinking that we have the right to interfere and "mediate" a dispute between the Palestinians and the physical seed of Abraham, isaac, and Jacob, to whom God has forever given the land of Israel--other than to get firmly on the side of those to whom the lease is given.
Thanks for all your info on this thread!
Btw, I'm still waiting to hear on what basis I'm supposed to be condemning Sha'ul.
So why don't they all vote for the same guy?
What's that, throwing a monkey wrench into the gears??? Ha...
You're most welcome. Have a blessed New Year!
One slight correction: The Roman Catholics are NOT the only Church to have Apostolic Sucession.....so does the Holy Orthodox Church.
If I'm supposed to do this, then why did the following take place?
Returning to Acts 15, after much debate and discussion, Peter says that "[God] made no distinction between us [Jews] and them [Gentiles], but cleansed their hearts by faith." (Acts 15:9 KJV), and James the Just (the brother of Jesus) states that "we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who are turning to God" (Acts 15:19 KJV). They sent a letter accompanied by some leaders from the Jerusalem church back with Paul and his party to confirm that the Gentile believers should not be overburdened by Mosaic Law beyond abstaining from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. (Acts 15:29). The letter also refers to Barnabas and Paul as "beloved" (Acts 15:25 KJV); compare Paul's account "James, Cephas [Peter] and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship" (Gal. 2:9 KJV).
Correct....:)
That's right. The only legitimate apostolic churches are the Catholic Church(es) and most of the Orthodox Churches.
You are correct to a point...and it was simply the "Church"
and it wasn't Protestant. (suprise!)
Oh, I finally checked out your user profile, and checked out your "church"'s webpage. Are the prescriptions of the Talmud still observed, even though you are supposedly "Messianic"?
Couldn't have said it much better, myself. ;)
That's what your ancestors said! Except that they said "this time, let's go to Constantinople first."
I will stand.
However, note that Sha'ul denied teaching people to stop obeying the Torah, and was in fact perfectly willing to take a Nazrite oath and perform the attendant sacrifices involved to prove that! Therefore, teaching that any Apostle believed that the Torah was done away with by the coming of the Messiah is false, especially since Yeshua Himself said that not the least letter or penstroke of the Torah would pass away until Heaven and earth did, and that those teaching others to disobey the least commandment would be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat. 5:17-19)!
Note further that in Ya'akov's judgement in the Council, he finishes by saying, "For Moses from ages past has those in every city proclaiming him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day" (Acts 15:21). Look at what they required for fellowship: "They should abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood" (v. 20). Notice that loving one's neighbor, not stealing, honoring one's parents, and a host of other commands which we would consider as still binding are nowhere there--neither is baptism or the Lord's Supper, for that matter! Are we then to assume that they regarded these commands as the totality of the Torah that Gentiles should follow? Not at all!
Rather, each of these four items seems designed to separate a new believer from their former pagan practices: Idolatry needs no explanation. Fornication was typically done with temple prostitutes. Drinking blood and eating meat sacrificed to idols were also typical practices. Therefore, the minimum requirement for fellowship is that the new believer completely give up all other gods and their worship to worship the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, alone.
Having done so, they would be considered "clean" enough to enter the synagogues as "God-fearers" and learn about all the Scriptures, including the Torah. From there, the Apostles trusted the Holy Spirit to continue what He had started in their lives.
But the core issue is that the Gentiles who had received the Spirit by faith were already saved, and were learning to walk with God rather than needing to be saved by walking with God in just such-and-such a way. The RCC faces a similar reversal of cause-and-effect when it teaches that baptism is a prerequisite for salvation instead of an act of obedience that comes willingly as a sign of salvation.
You raise a good point. The jerusalem Council allowed goyim to become christians without becomin Jews, however what is forgotten is that the Mosaic code was still applicable to Jews (christian or Not).
In fact during the Inquisition Jews should not have been tortured into becoming Catholics but rather Orthodox Jewish Christians.
By the way where did nuns and rosary beads come from?
I was listening to a bible study the other day and offered an offhand prayer that I might get something new out of the scripture being discussed. Well, the speaker mentioned that since God the Father, and Jesus Christ his only begotten Son are outside of time as we know it, that when we pray, or worship, or take part in Holy Communion, we comfort him on the Cross, since that time was, is, and always will be NOW in some mystical sense.
All RC Priests and Bishops are chosen by laying on of hands. Y'all are getting stuck on the POPE. Don't get stuck on stupid. It's the Apostles (all of them) and their successors that are important, not just the Pope.
And Pius XII was a glorious, wonderful man, not some nazi enabler.
"Rather, each of these four items seems designed to separate a new believer from their former pagan practices: Idolatry needs no explanation. Fornication was typically done with temple prostitutes. Drinking blood and eating meat sacrificed to idols were also typical practices. Therefore, the minimum requirement for fellowship is that the new believer completely give up all other gods and their worship to worship the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, alone. "
Basically the Laws of Bnai Noach
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