Ok, I admit it, I've fallen behind on my 'morning after' thoughts.
How's that jingle go about the 'best laid plans?' Well, anyway, I thought I'd pick back up with these thoughts especially this week following what seems to me to be a VERY interesting text from Romans 10.
First of all, there's the verse that the lectionary omitted, vs 4: "For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." (nrsv) A **LOT** can and should be said about this verse. For instance, if "end" means nullification, then what Paul is saying is that the Torah is now done & over with and should be tossed in the nearest trash can. The problem with that idea--regardless of what one may think Paul's view of Torah was--is that it doesn't square very well with Jesus own words: "For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law (Torah) until all is accomplished." (Mt 5:18, nrsv). Romans 10:4 makes much more sense when we see that in the Greek the word we translate 'end' is 'telos'.....a word which means completion or even culmination. In other words, what Paul is saying is that Messiah is the culmination of the Torah. What, in the final analysis is the Torah all about? Is it about rules to live by, is it about working your way to heaven? NO. It's about the Messiah. Everything in Torah was supposed to point and lead one to the Messiah.
Now, on to the verses in the text, 5-15.
Of course as I said in my sermon the thing that really stands out is how Paul dons his Jewish Rabbi hat to martial huge chunks of the Old Testament to his argument. Again, tho, we miss a very important point in most of the English translations. It all boils down to the translation of the Greek conjunction "de." Most of the English translations of Romans assume that Paul is setting up an adversative scenario between what Moses says vs. what he (Paul) is saying. One classic, but very wrong, way of spinning this would be to say that Moses preached a righteousness according to the law, **but** Paul proclaims a righteousness according to the Gospel. Here's the nrsv version of vss 5-6:
5 Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that "the person who does these things will live by them." 6 ***But*** (Greek "de") the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down) etc.
The problem is that in the context of these verses the English word "but" is too strong. Besides, it makes no sense for Paul to say that Moses was dead wrong about something (righteousness according to the law), and then go on directly quoting from Moses (Deut 30). The key is to see that the Greek word "de" should be translated softer.....something along the lines of "and moreover." In this way, what Paul is doing is offering his midrash (commentary) on what Moses is talking about. In other words, Paul would say that Moses would say that "living according to the Torah" is **not** about the rules or "works salvation," but rather living by grace believing in the God of the Torah and His Messiah that is to come; a totally grace-based, faith-based perspective. Paul's point all through Romans is that **this** is the true perspective of the ancient Jewish faith, the Patriarchs and Prophets, but not the current leadership of Judaism who've rejected their own Messiah.
Cheers,
TM
About Me...what is an 'evangelical-catholic?'
- Pastor Tim Manwell
- Elk Grove Village, IL, United States
- I was born & raised in rural mid-Michigan (M-go blue!). Life & work have taken me to many different places. God has too, as I've come to learn that faith is a pilgrimage. I very much resonate with the label 'EVANGELICAL-CATHOLIC.' I was raised Baptist, but found myself drawn to the Sacraments & Liturgy of the Church. I appreciate very much the words of the Augsburg Confession: "...nothing has been received among us, in doctrine or in ceremonies, that is contrary to Scripture or to the church catholic." Evangelical-catholic is a term of self-designation used by Christians coming from a broad spectrum of theological perspectives and commitments, ranging from Lutherans, Anglicans, and various Evangelicals yearning for greater catholicity .....to faithful Roman Catholics longing for an evangelical renewal of the Church. Perhaps beneath the apparent denominational differences there lies a common...groaning of the Spirit of God, who is seeking to draw the members of Christ’s mystical body into a communal life that is both fully catholic and fully evangelical. One can always hope and pray!
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Monday, August 11, 2008
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1 comments:
Hello! I found your website. My name is Anders Branderud, I am 23 years and I am from Sweden.
By practising Torah non-selectively we make the world a better place to live in!
To realize that one can follow two polar-opposite masters — the authentic, historical, PRO-Torah 1st-century Ribi from Nazareth – the Messiah - and the 4th-century (post-135 C.E.), arch-antithesis ANTI-Torah apostasy developed by the Hellenists (namely the Sadducees and Roman pagans who conspired to kill Ribi YÓ™hoshua, displaced his original followers (the Netzarim) and redacted the NT); is a step in that direction!
So who then was the historical Jesus? His name was Ribi Yehoshua.
The research of world-recognized authorities (for example Barrie Wilson; www.barriewilson.com) in this area implies that Ribi Yehoshua was a Pharisee (a Torah-practising Jewish group - who according to 4Q MMT (a Scroll found in the Qumran-caves) practised both written and oral Torah (oral Torah in an unbroken chain since Mosheh (Moses); commanded by Mosheh in Torah; oral Torah is recorded Beit-Din (Jewish Court)-decisions of how Torah shall be applied).. As the earliest church historians, most eminent modern university historians, our web site (www.netzarim.co.il) and our Khavruta (Distance Learning) texts confirm, the original teachings of Ribi Yehoshua were not only accepted by most of the Pharisaic Jewish community, he had hoards of Jewish students.
For words that you don’t understand; se www.netzarim.co.il ; the link to Glossaries at the first page.
Ribi Yehoshua warned for false prophets who don’t produce good fruit = defined as don’t practise the commandments in Torah according to Halakhah (oral Torah; see the above definition). See Devarim (Deuteronomy) 13:1-6.
The research of Scholars in leading universities which implies that Ribi Yehoshua was a Pharisee necessarily implies that if you want to follow him you need to practise his Torah-teachings.
So you need to start follow the historical Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah – by practising Torah (including oral Torah)!
Finding the historical Jew, who was a Pharisee Ribi and following him brings you into Torah, which gives you a rich and meaningful life here on earth and great rewards in life after death (“heaven”)!
The only path that leads with certainty to the real Almighty of the real world is the path defined by documented history, fact, logic and science (e.g. physics and cosmology). This remains true regardless whether one is a Jew beginning in Judaism, a Christian beginning in Christianity or a Muslim beginning in Islam. Documented history, fact, logic and science inexorably constrain every intelligent, rational and logical person to the same facts about historically-documentation.
When, soul by soul, the three faiths of Abraham converge toward a logical and scientific understanding of historical documentation, logic and science they will necessarily converge toward each other, healing the schisms in the family of Abraham, soul by soul, and unifying their vision — and the Name — of the Creator.
From Anders Branderud
Geir Toshav, Netzarim in Ra’anana in Israel (www.netzarim.co.il) who is followers of Ribi Yehoshua – the Messiah – in Orthodox Judaism
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