The Belief in Jesus is a Neth!
The Godol ponders:
Another good question is if the Hebrew Bible is such a good book, why is it that most people ignore it today. The Christians mainly study the "New testament". The Muslims mainly study the Koran. Even Orthodox Jews spend more time studying Talmud and Jewish Law than studying the Hebrew Bible. Why is that? Is the Hebrew Bible outdated?
The implication is that its popularity indicates that there must be some divine origin involved. Good point. But then again don't you ever wonder about how the belief in Jesus got so popular? I mean it sounds very wacky doesn't it? Yet people all around the world believe in him. Amazing, isn't it? The truth is that its popularity doesn't indicate anything about it being divine. All it indicates is that it contains something which many different people really liked.
So how and why did this incredible reverence for the Bible develop? And why was it so convincing both to the Roman Empire and subsequently to Islam? And it's a reverence that has lasted for at least 2000 years, and maybe even more than 3000 (for the less skeptical).
Of course this is no absolute 'proof' of anything, but it does make you think.
Another good question is if the Hebrew Bible is such a good book, why is it that most people ignore it today. The Christians mainly study the "New testament". The Muslims mainly study the Koran. Even Orthodox Jews spend more time studying Talmud and Jewish Law than studying the Hebrew Bible. Why is that? Is the Hebrew Bible outdated?
posted by B. Spinoza at 9:45 PM
8 Comments:
Your point about the popular belief in jesus is excellent. Popularity is not a barometer of truth or of quality (ie. Brittany Spears, Ashlee Simpson, etc...)
I will try to answer your questions about the Hebrew bible. The Christians only pay lip service to the Hebrew bible because to them jesus is everything and they are only interested in the parts which supposedly point to him.I think that the koran views the Hebrew Bible as a distorted message. Orthodox Judaism focuses on the Talmud because it is their belief that it is G-d's explanation of the Hebrew Bible received at Sinai by Moses. I hope this helps. - JF
Your last paragraph carries a really great argument. You are right, nobody takes the Hebrew Bible seriously. Or let me rephrase that, nobody takes the Hebrew Bible as seriously as one is led to expect. Most of what it really says is ignored by all religions.
Is the Hebrew Bible outdated? It was already outdated in Misnaic times, and before. Thats why Chazal were forced to reinterpret it in the way they did.
>Thats why Chazal were forced to reinterpret it in the way they did.
I'm not sure if that's true. Sure the Hebrew Bible doesn't really fit with Rabbinic Judaism, but that doesn't mean it's outdated or that we still can't find inspiration from it.
>It's a good question. The answer is because the Hebrew Bible is a point of departure, not an end in itself.
Muslims also do not consider the Qur'an the end, but the beginning. There is also the hadeeths and far more. Same with Christians and their Scriptures. And sola scriptura Protestants end up poring over Tanakh with a magnifying glass.
You nailed Godol to the wall with this one. He's lost a step since retiring and coming back.
He's getting to be like a MO Mike Tyson with the "comebacks."
>He's getting to be like a MO Mike Tyson with the "comebacks."
Haha. Actually GH can get a little clowny whenever he tries to "prove" Judaism. He had a lot of posts like this in the past. Probably before you discovered his blog
> you nailed Godol to the wall with this one. He's lost a step since retiring and coming back.
> Haha. Actually GH can get a little clowny whenever he tries to "prove" Judaism.
I can't help it. It's impossible to be any other way.
GH,
thanks for honoring us with your holy presence. This blog probably wouldn't be here without you.
>I can't help it. It's impossible to be any other way.
It would seem to me that you have a conflict with your core beliefs and your desire to believe in something you can objectively show to be true. It must be frustrating for you.
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