david@cvl.UUCP (David Harwood) (12/13/84)
I wanted to straighten out some things in my quarrel with Yiri Ben-David. First, in my original, very obviously sarcastic article, I used the expression "if you believe that Y'shua was a good-old-boy, who was lynched in effigy by the murderous Gentiles, well then, you simply do not know your right hand from your left." In his reflexive "response" to this stimulus, Yiri seemed to interpret this to refer to the physical execution of Y'shua by the occupying Roman authorities (with a little help from Caesar's friends). But of course I was not referring to this official assassination at all, any more than he had been before this. The expression was a figure for his own view, his very own hobbyhorse, that the religious orthodoxy of "Y'shua" has been ideologically "lynched" (or "crucified" if you prefer) by early species of Gentile "Christians", whom he has often inclusively characterized as murderers. The consequent clause is also a figure -- of Yiri's confusion -- of his purely imaginary notions about "Y'shua", -- on the one hand, with the scholarly views of Parkes and Bagatti, and on the other hand, with his own anti-Christian (also anti-Torah) bigotry. I seem to recall that Jeff Gillette of Duke Divinity School has already observed that, with exceptions, Yiri has generally misrepresented the views of Parkes and Bagatti. Also, Yiri has already quit his "debate" with Jeff, I might add, with a tantrum. (Go ahead... repost his exchanges with you!) There is absolute reason to believe that Y'shua was not by any means an "orthodox" Jew among his contemporaries. On the contrary, from the earliest Gospel of Mark and the even earlier writings of Paul, it is clear that neither Y'shua, nor Paul, did identify the Eternal Law with any tradition observed by mankind, anymore than did any of the prophets. (Human "authorities" simply do not get along with prophets -- they get rid of them.) Neither is Jesus an "orthodox" Christian of any generation. Rather, they said of our traditions, that although they are somewhat providential, they are also corrupt and irrelevant. By themselves, they will miss the eternal mark. In Mark, it is said by Jesus, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.' You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And in Matthew, it is said by him, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." But he is referring to the Eternal Law, as in the Psalm, "For ever, O Lord, Thy word standeth fast in heaven," as he makes clear, saying in the same place, "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." Then he gives the new, surpassingly difficult commandments of the "Sermon on the Mount", especially those under the principle of overcoming evil by returning goodness and mercy. In the displaced story of the adulteress, who was to have been stoned to death according to the law, Jesus once again exposes the the merciless hypocrisy of men, saying, "If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Neither is she condemned by him (that is, consigned to death), but she is told to stop sinning. Therefore it is fitting that, in this story, "Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger," a surpassingly merciful commandment, I would say, even as it is said that the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai and gave "the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God." The point is that Jesus has obviously sown a new Word in the Earth, and written them upon our very hard hearts as a witness to us of God's goodness and mercy. This is not simply some observance of orthodoxy, whether some tradition or other may identify the two Testaments, the old and the new, or just the one, with the two tablets of Testimony written by the finger of God, or whether some professors may debate that the swords of the Lord are one, rather than now two. Besides this, Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, quite probably the most profound religious ideologist of all time, suggests that while our traditions may make us partly conscious of the Eternal Law, they are lacking in force to make us better men. All our traditions are incomparably less convincing of what is right than the surpassing example of the life of Christ. But the world is still in the dark, until the end of this generation, which has rejected Christ. For it is true that mankind have already killed untold numbers of innocent in the name of so-called "Christianity"; this religious bigotry and murder has been there on every side of us, since the time Cain slew Abel. But this is a perverse misrepresentation of the NT teaching of and about Jesus. It is true, as John says, that Christ has come unto his own (the "Jews", now the "Christians") but they would not receive him. It is also true that "the soldiers divided his garments among them and cast lots for his clothing." It is also true that Peter has cut off the ears of others, with his sword, so that they can hardly hear. And it is true, of each one of us, that "when they (the religious and political authorities) seized Jesus, (each) fled naked, leaving his garment behind." In fact, if you substitute "Christian" everywhere for "Jew" in the NT writings, they are not one bit less true. The Gospel is an eternal nuisance to all of this generation. In this sense, so-called "Christianity" is a counterfeit; but then so is every so-called religious tradition. For all have fallen short of the glory of God. Nevertheless, as Jesus said, while salvation "is impossible by men, everything is possible for God." So not all Gentile "Christians" are murderers, neither are they fools, as Yiri would have it, even if they do not understand what they profess to believe. There is a remnant, like a thread in the wick of a candle which casts a very gloomy light. For example, I will say that the Quaker Friends are, indeed, the church of Philadelphia, and the friends of Christ. (I am an infant of the Catholic Church, who is familiar with the Society of Friends.) But it would be absolutely deathly dark if it were not for the light of Christ; we would quickly suffer self-extinction on this planet otherwise. (And we may still if we reject his way of life.) I believe many greatly underestimate what is good in the ideological influence of Christianity in Earth's civil- ization, just as they confuse it too much with the culturally hered- itary violence and prejudice of human traditions and institutions, which predated it by hundreds even thousands of years. "Christianity" is not worse than other traditions; rather, it is more popular as a hypocrisy, since it so psychologically compelling of our conscience and imagination. I would remind Yiri, that it is said by David the king before all the leaders of Israel, "Hear me, my brethren, and my people; as for me, it was in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God; and I had made ready for the building. But God said unto me: Thou shalt not build a house for My name, because thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood." And if the ark of the covenant of the Lord is to be the innermost place of our hearts, then we must first be sure that there is no violence in our hearts, so that our words and our actions may truly glorify the goodness and mercy of God. It is Christ who has made our hearts acceptable to the Lord. It is said that mankind "hid themselves from presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden," as if among our human traditions. And "the Lord God called unto the mankind, and said, "Where art thou?" But the Lord "has sent forth the lightnings," that even we who were lost "may say unto Him: 'Here are we'." Therefore, it is truly said that Christ "is the light of the world." David Harwood