In a series of posts and comments over the last few months, I have talked about how Torah pointed to Jesus of Nazareth, and how he fulfilled its provisions. I have also discussed how Christ summarized Torah into two great commandments - thus broadening its application to every situation/circumstance which might confront us in this life. Of course, although not acknowledged or given very much consideration by the vast majority of Christians, these concepts are not new, and I am NOT the only person who has recognized or advocated for them. In Jeffrey Kranz's The Torah: a Quick Overview of the Pentateuch, we read: "There are hundreds of individual laws, but they all boil down to two overarching principles: Love and devotion for God. Israelites couldn’t worship other deities, and because God’s temple was in their midst, the people maintained a degree of ritualistic purity. Love and respect for other humans. Israelites were expected to show generosity toward marginalized people, execute justice for both the rich and the poor, and not bring shame on each other."
For Christians, Christ is seen as the embodiment of the sacrificial system and the various rituals and Holy Days. Likewise, under the New Covenant, many of the physical observances of the Torah are seen as having symbolic applications (e.g., Sabbath is seen as the Christian resting from his/her own works, circumcision is seen as a spiritual operation performed on the human heart, Christ has made the unclean clean, etc.) And, although the assumptions of the Torah are no longer present in the New Covenant, the fact that the Old Covenant was also based on Love for God and each other means that many of the Torah commandments dealing with morality/righteousness are consistent with a Christian's obedience to the same two commandments which Christ incorporated into the New Covenant - the one he made available to everyone who accepted him and all of the things which he had done for them.
Even so, some folks seem unable or unwilling to acknowledge just how different the two covenants really are from each other. They reason that what was identified as evil or righteous by the Torah is still evil or righteous in the Christian Era. Interestingly, of course, almost all Christians acknowledge that everything in Torah was NOT carried forward into the Christian Era. Nevertheless, you may have noticed that there is NO consensus within that community over what exactly is excluded and what is carried forward. A popular answer is that the "moral law" was carried forward into the New Covenant. Unfortunately, this answer does not take into account that the Torah (moral laws included) was based on a number of assumptions (things that are taken for granted) which are NOT applicable to the Christian Era.
What are the assumptions on which the Torah legislation is based? They are: 1. Ethnicity - Torah was for the children of Israel (Christianity is available to everyone - there is neither Jew nor Gentile) 2. Gender - Torah assigns various commandments, rituals, and roles to males and females (In Christianity, there is neither male nor female) 3. Patriarchy - Torah is based on male authority and ownership 4. Slavery - Torah assumes that there are masters and slaves and outlines the responsibilities of both 5. Agricultural - Torah assumes a primitive agriculturally based economy 6. Polygamy - Torah assumes that men can have more than one wife 7. Territorial - Torah is concerned with the Promised Land, Jerusalem, and Samaria - implied/anticipated (other peoples/nations are only mentioned in terms of their interaction with or impact upon the people of Israel) 8. Familial/Tribal - Torah is focused on the story of a large family which is eventually organized into twelve/thirteen tribes 9. Ritualistic - Torah is focused on rituals related to the Tabernacle/Temple, Levitical Priesthood, Holy Days, sacrifices and offerings, clean and unclean, tithing, etc. 10. Legalistic - Torah is a written code of dos and don'ts 11. Collective - Torah is a compilation of the terms of God's covenant with an entire people - all of whom are responsible for adhering to its terms (Christianity is focused on the individual's personal relationship with God) 12. Punishment or Revenge - Torah assumes that the innocent will be avenged, and that the wicked will be punished. Hence, we can see that the assumptions of Torah are VERY different from the assumptions of the New Covenant. In short, the New Covenant is NOT premised on ANY of the assumptions which underpin Torah!
Once again, Torah is a shadow of the reality found in Jesus Christ. Torah points to Christ. Torah was fulfilled by Christ. Torah was summarized by Christ into two broad commandments or principles which were to be internalized by his followers as the foundation of their consciences going forward. In other words, a baptized Christian is expected to ask him/herself whether or not some action/behavior is consistent with loving God and each other. The Christian does NOT refer to a list of dos and don'ts. He/she is expected to ask him/herself if a behavior/action will disrespect God or hurt/harm another person/entity.
"a baptised Christian is expected to ask themself whether or not some action / behavior is consistant with loving God and each other. The Christian does not refer to a list of do's and dont's. He is expected to ask himself if a behavior will disrespect God or hurt/harm another person/entity".
ReplyDeleteThat sounds good, and it may even work for the full grown, mature Christian. But the babe in Christ, the weak believer, and the carnal Christian may require more detailed instruction.
Scriptures such as 1 Cor.9:9-14, and 1 Peter 2:2 demonstrate that instruction out of the Torah (the "word" used by Peter and the "law of Moses" used by Paul was still appropriate for that purpose. Also, Paul said, "thou shalt not muzzle . . .which is clearly a "don't"!
Titus 2:11-14 is interesting in this regard: For the grace of God that brings salvation (new covenant stuff) has appeared to all. Teaching us that denying ungodliness (a don't) and worldly lusts, we should live soberly (a do), righteously, and godly in this present world.
Now with just the "love" principle it would be difficult for the newby to figure out the specifics of what Paul is saying. A logical question is, where would one go to find such information?
2 Tim. 3:14-17, the holy scriptures, (the OT) which are able to make one WISE, and for INSTRUCTION in righteousness!!!
Now a major issue I see is that left with trusting our feelings or an undefined "love" instead of God's instruction in righteousness, we leave ourselves open to confusion and even deception! An example of this is how the "love" principle is abused by the Federal government and Evangelical leaders to spread covid propaganda to churches.
In September 2021, Wheaton college dean Ed Stetzen interviewed NIH director Francis Collins (a proven liar) on his podcast "Church Leadership" about why churches who want to obey Christ's command to love their neighbor should get the covid vaccine and avoid indulging in misinformation. In other words, if you don't accept what WE say about such n such, you are not loving your neighbor!
Both Rick Warren and Tim Keller also had interviews with Collins lamenting the UNlovingness of Christians who questioned the efficacy of masks, specifically framing it as a matter of obedience to Jesus. "Wearing a mask is the great commandment to love your neighbor as yourself"! Warren was also quoted as saying, "Let me just say a word to the Priests, Pastors, and Rabbis, that this is our job to deal with these conspiracy issues (defined by them), and to tell the people to trust the science, because they (Pharma) are not going to put out a vaccine that's going to hurt people".
So the idea is, that in order to love thy neighbor as Christ commands one must TRUST 2 of the most corrupt institutions on the planet, the government and big Pharma, whom themselves DO have a history of hurting people? I think Jeremiah 17:5 answers that, as well as other admonitions to prove, search, and get the facts avoiding being deceived.
I do believe like you that "love" is a good summary of God's will but as a moral standard it is lacking.
Christ said, "If you LOVE me, keep my commandments (A DO)! Whether you think he's referring to the 10 commandments or something else, the fact is it is a charge to do SOMETHING?
Love undefined or interpreted by some agent of this world system, can be used for any purpose. But "speaking the truth (God's word, which at the time was the OT scriptures) in LOVE" will enable us to GROW UP and keep ourselves safely in the faith as God continues writing His law upon our hearts and minds (Ephesians 4:15).
BP8,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to think about what you had written before I responded. It strikes me that there is a perception among all of the folks who have criticized my perspective on Torah that I have abandoned any moral standard or substituted a warm, fuzzy feeling to act as a new one. I think that both are a misperception of my thesis. Christ's identification of those two commandments as comprehending and representing Torah was intentional and wise. And, make not mistake, they are commandments that are truly universal in character.
You referenced a passage from Paul's first letter to the Christians at Corinth where he quoted from a Torah passage addressed to how working oxen were to be permitted by their owners to snack while they were being harnessed to process grain. The original commandment clearly referred to the treatment of working oxen, but Paul suggested that it should be looked at as a universal principle with a much broader application than was attributed to the original (more particularly, how apostles, evangelists, and teachers should be treated by the people whom they were working for! This is consistent with how Torah was transformed by Christ for use by Christians.
Yes, newborn Christians are NOT going to be as adept at applying these principles as more mature Christians, but that does NOT excuse them from doing their very best in this regard. After all, Christians are expected to GROW in grace and knowledge (and character).
There is much to learn from Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. As I have reiterated throughout this series of posts, ALL of them point to Christ and his work! The Hebrew Bible was the ONLY Bible available to the apostles, evangelists and teachers of the First Century! Indeed, the writings which we now refer to as the New Testament make very clear that the authors used the Hebrew Scriptures to preach and teach about Jesus Christ.
Christ's commandments are certainly "dos" - what we do MUST reflect our love for God and each other - they are NOT suggestions! Moreover, those two COMMANDMENTS are clearly demands that we do something! Also, that love does no harm to another person. I heartily disagree with you about mask and vaccination mandates - I think that stubborn refusal to do things which have been clearly demonstrated to help immuno-challenged individuals is a glaring failure to love such a person (whereas the virus may not cause any permanent hurt or harm to you, it has the very real potential to kill or further weaken such a person). And, I would say that it is NOT a matter of depending on humans or relying on human strength, it's a matter of taking advantage of the gifts God has given to us and using them as he intended (for our benefit).
I would also point out that exercising the kind of love that Christ, Paul and John were talking about requires a whole host of behaviors - like patience, kindness, humility, courteousness, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, tolerance, etc. In other words, following those two commandments is MUCH more demanding than scrupulously following any or ALL of those 600-plus dos and don'ts of Torah! The Old Covenant didn't give much consideration to intention/motivation/feelings - Under the New Covenant those things are crucial! It's not just the what and the how - the why is critical!
From "Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament" - https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hbd/o/old-testament-quotations-in-the-new-testament.html#:~:text=The%20Uses%20of%20Old%20Testament%20Quotations%20The%20New,Corinthians%2010%3A26%3B%201%20Corinthians%2014%3A21%3B%201%20Corinthians%2015%3A55%29.
ReplyDeleteDespite similarities with contemporary Jewish use(s) of the Old Testament, the New Testament writers interpreted the Old Testament in a radically new way. New Testament writers did not deliberately use a different exegetical method. They wrote from a different theological perspective. The writers of the New Testament were convinced that the true meaning of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ and that He alone provides the means of understanding it. True interpretation of the Old Testament is achieved by reading Old Testament passages or incidents in light of the event of Christ. While many of the Old Testament texts quoted in the New Testament had already been accepted as messianic (for example, Psalm 110:1 ) or could in light of Jesus' actual life claim to be messianic (Psalm 22:1; Isaiah 53:1 ), for the early Christians, all Scripture was to be interpreted by the fact of Christ because it is to Him that the Old Testament Scripture points (John 5:39 ). In summary, the New Testament writer quoted or alluded to the Old Testament in order to demonstrate how God's purposes have been fulfilled and are being fulfilled in Jesus.