tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post2516761057837762797..comments2023-05-30T09:00:18.848-07:00Comments on Gathering Sparks: Did the church really try to change the Sabbath?Yahnatanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02321984415847643594noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-34239962761156205552012-09-24T18:35:30.078-07:002012-09-24T18:35:30.078-07:00Update: I got the following quote of Luther on Hol...Update: I got the following quote of <a href="http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/luther-on-holy-days" rel="nofollow">Luther on Holy Days</a> from Chaplain Mike over at The Internet Monk:<br /><br /><i>We therefore have and must have the power and the freedom to observe Easter when we choose; and even if we made Friday into Sunday, or vice versa, it would still be right, as long as it were done unanimously by the rulers and the Christians (as I said before). Moses is dead and buried by Christ, and days or seasons are not to be lords over Christians, but rather Christians are lords over days and seasons, free to fix them as they will or as seems convenient to them. For Christ made all things free when he abolished Moses. However, we will let things remain as they now are, since no peril, error, sin, or heresy is involved, and we are averse to changing anything needlessly or at our own personal whim, out of consideration for others who observe Easter at the same time we do. We know we shall attain salvation without Easter and Pentecost, without Friday and Sunday, and we know that we cannot be damned — as St. Paul teaches us — because of Easter, Pentecost, Sunday, or Friday.<br /><br />- Luther’s Works, Vol. 41: Church and Ministry III</i>Yahnatanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02321984415847643594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-44773452709917852842011-12-23T05:49:13.150-08:002011-12-23T05:49:13.150-08:00While listening to a lecture on the gospel of Pete...While listening to a lecture on the gospel of Peter, I was surprised to hear a reference to "the Sabbath...the Lord's Day," and it made me think of this topic again. It's a little tricky to make sense of the timeline in <a href="http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelpeter-brown.html" rel="nofollow">the account of the crucifixion and resurrection in gospel of Peter</a>, but it seems from vv. 34-35 like "the Sabbath" is also being referred to as "the Lord's Day":<br /><br /><br />[34] But early when the Sabbath was dawning, a crowd came from Jerusalem and the surrounding area in order that they might see the sealed tomb.<br /><br />[35] But in the night in which the Lord's day dawned, when the soldiers were safeguarding it two by two in every watch, there was a loud voice in heaven;<br /><br /><br />There's still no mention of Sunday, only the Lord's Day. (I heard a compelling argument at SBL 2010 in Atlanta that "the Lord's Day" in Rev 1 refers not to Sunday but to the eschatalogical Day of the Lord, so the Lord's Day isn't necessarily Sunday.) Furthermore, the Gospel of Peter seems to have plenty of interest in the Jewish calendar (at the bottom of the excerpt we have, there's a reference to the eighth day of Passover, a more obscure calendrical reference than any we find in the canonical Apostolic Writings, IMO. Ultimately, I don't think this is an example of the church changing Sabbath to Sunday, but still, I thought it was a text worth mentioning.Yahnatanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02321984415847643594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-39887691753448279282010-11-08T07:55:45.699-08:002010-11-08T07:55:45.699-08:00Athol,
Two things:
First, the correctness of my ...Athol,<br /><br />Two things:<br /><br />First, the correctness of my comments is in no way tied to my personal background. But for gentile Christian missionaries, establishing bona fides in order to preach to Jews is Job One. And to get to the bottom of the credibility of those preachy missionaries, the first thing we need to do is examine their claims to be Jewish. That's a Jew's first clue about whether those missionaries are to be believed.<br /><br />And second, I'd appreciate an apology from you for the incredibly hostile attack that constituted the majority of your last posting (which we can note Yahnatan elected not to suppress or modify).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-91560224791006580642010-11-07T23:56:11.291-08:002010-11-07T23:56:11.291-08:00Anon we have no proof that you are a Jew for that ...Anon we have no proof that you are a Jew for that matter. That you are a very unpleasant person lacking in common courtesy and respect for others we have plenty of evidence. It is one thing to disagree with someone another to be personally rude.Nezir Katanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703608475647852605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-32431400887485036392010-11-06T18:59:17.388-07:002010-11-06T18:59:17.388-07:00I hope that people will take a critical and sober ...I hope that people will take a critical and sober look at Judah's last comment, above. If you can see through the sarcasm and the attempt to deflect with humor, there is an implicit admission that he is not Jewish, and has no basis to support his claim to be a Jew.<br /><br />And yet, he will not come right out and state the truth.<br /><br />Take that into account as you assess the honesty and truthfulness behind his religious prescriptions for the Jews.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-13583402649676654622010-11-06T18:55:25.089-07:002010-11-06T18:55:25.089-07:00Athol,
Given your self-description as a "Heb...Athol,<br /><br />Given your self-description as a "Hebrew Catholic", I can see your point that I ought to have assumed you need to have your head examined!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-21133354598743077572010-11-06T15:15:40.707-07:002010-11-06T15:15:40.707-07:00Another point Anon. one may believe in Halakah but...Another point Anon. one may believe in Halakah but not be as observant as they hope to be one day. It is part of the sin of lashon hara to comment on a fellow Jews level of observance anyway. A Tzaddik who saw my picture you could have assumed I had a operation on my head or my hair got burnt off in a fire (haha).Nezir Katanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703608475647852605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-32981878944908381082010-11-06T14:42:50.137-07:002010-11-06T14:42:50.137-07:00Anon you are funny. That picture of me was when I ...Anon you are funny. That picture of me was when I was 21 years old and a punk- before I became an observant Jew. If you read my blog article 'From Punk to Hebrew Catholic" you would have realised that.Nezir Katanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703608475647852605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-37219619077672744432010-11-05T13:55:57.548-07:002010-11-05T13:55:57.548-07:00Ok, ok, I confess. Sorry, guys. Truth is, I didn&#...Ok, ok, I confess. Sorry, guys. Truth is, I didn't list my race on my profile page because I am hiding a deep, dark secret.<br /><br />I'm actually a Zimbabwean Aboriginal from Finland. Also, I'm part of the Illuminati Oligarchy. And the NWO. (That's New World Order, for you uninformed pawns of the system.) And I've been sent here by the Catholic Church to covertly proselytize the Jews! Oh, yes!<br /><br />Argggh! Why did this have to come to light! Damn you, anonymous, you uncovered me! And I would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling trolls...<br /><br />Really signing off this time. :-)) Shabbat shalom from this secret ugly Zimbabwean gentile.Judah Gabriel Himangohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10277699587853707632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-47068458645765380202010-11-05T12:51:09.874-07:002010-11-05T12:51:09.874-07:00Judah wrote (of me): "I'm glad to have h...Judah wrote (of me): "I'm glad to have helped you retreat from your earlier erring assertions, which you have now abandoned." For the record, Judah did not "correct" me, he just repeated his errors and emphasized his incorrect positions. I stand by each of the points I've published here; there's no retreat.<br /><br />Judah wrote (of himself): "You question my identity as a Jew. Ok. You can read my blog. I'm a transparent person...". The "About" section of Judah's blog, though, includes only the following peculiarly opaque sentence: "Husband, dad, disciple of Yeshua, Messianic blogger, music lover, guitarist, software developer, and all-around nerd." Sentient readers ought to examine that description with one question in mind: why hasn't Judah, the self-described transparent Jew, included any information that could illuminate whether or not he's Jewish, as he claims to be, in accordance with the Jewish understanding of the term? And just how transparent can he be if he's hiding something? And if he's hiding something while describing himself as transparent, what does that imply about the credibility of the rest of what he's preaching? These are the questions you should be mulling over as you examine his statements.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-41710067482491352542010-11-05T09:34:58.437-07:002010-11-05T09:34:58.437-07:00A fine shabbat to all you folks contributing to Go...A fine shabbat to all you folks contributing to God's kingdom on earth. Signing off for awhile.Judah Gabriel Himangohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10277699587853707632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-40897981259179780742010-11-05T09:33:41.364-07:002010-11-05T09:33:41.364-07:00Anon,
I'm glad to have helped you retreat fro...Anon,<br /><br />I'm glad to have helped you retreat from your earlier erring assertions, which you have now abandoned.<br /><br />You question my identity as a Jew. Ok. You can read my blog. I'm a transparent person and have talked plainly about this. Unlike you, I post with my real name and am not secretive about my identity. :-)Judah Gabriel Himangohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10277699587853707632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-19239991435434403422010-11-05T08:33:21.555-07:002010-11-05T08:33:21.555-07:00I want to take you seriously, Athol. I really do....I want to take you seriously, Athol. I really do.<br /><br />But you've coupled your protestation that you abide by "Halakah" in accordance with "Jewish tradition" (even including its "oral form") with a self portrait tailored to prominently exhibit your having cut off the hair on the side of your head (Lev. 19:27).<br /><br />When a person goes out of their way to take a breathtakingly obvious stand in the most public way possible that they reject Jewish religious law, and then exclaim that such is the very code that they live by (and punctuate their claim with a gratuitous "nu", no less), they reveal a degree of irrationality with which one cannot hope to reason.<br /><br />So, rather than try to reason with you, I'm simply going to recite a fact, and I'll leave it up to you to try or fail at digesting it: Judah Gabriel may have a Jewish father or a Jewish wife or a Jewish pen pal, but as you correctly stated he would only meet the Jewish definition for being a Jew if his mother could trace a direct maternal heritage to Jacob or to a woman who converted into the Jewish people in accordance with Jewish standards and procedures.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-60788812911761607842010-11-05T02:19:23.487-07:002010-11-05T02:19:23.487-07:00Anon you said
"Everyone who follows the Jewi...Anon you said<br /><br />"Everyone who follows the Jewish tradition believes that Moses is a Jew, and that you are not. You only believe that you are a Jew because you reject the Jewish tradition. That does not make you a Jew."<br /><br /><br /><br />Not sure I am following you. As far as I know anyone who is of maternal Jewish ancestry or has converted or their maternal Jewish ancestor converted according to Halakah are Jewish. Who is rejecting the Jewish tradition? I certainly believe that the Torah was given by God at Sinai in both Written and oral forms. HOwever many Jews do not. Are they still Jewish? According to halakah they are. trhus if Jews believe in Jesus they are still Jewish-nu?Nezir Katanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703608475647852605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-58472966608839060562010-11-04T20:58:41.586-07:002010-11-04T20:58:41.586-07:00Judah,
Most of what you've written in respons...Judah,<br /><br />Most of what you've written in response to my facts are snarky personal zings or retreads of your early comments which I've since dispelled, so I'm not going to continue this dance with you. We'll just let the record of our comments and responses to one another stand. I'm comfortable with that.<br /><br />The one point you made, above, that was new, I will address.<br /><br />You claim that just as Moses was a Jew, so too are you. That statement is false. Moses was a Jew because his mother was a daughter of a daughter of a daughter...of Jacob. For the same reason, I too am a Jew. You see, to be a member of the Jewish family, you have to have membership according to that family's rules, and not the ones you make up on your own. Now, it is possible for gentiles, like you, to become Jewish, to become a member of the family of Jacob, but that again can only be accomplished by the rules the children of Israel hold to, and not the grafted olive tree baloney that Christians made up for the Israel.<br /><br />Everyone who follows the Jewish tradition believes that Moses is a Jew, and that you are not. You only believe that you are a Jew because you reject the Jewish tradition. That does not make you a Jew.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-14631577610344611352010-11-04T19:27:09.673-07:002010-11-04T19:27:09.673-07:00>> having everyone agreeing on the fact that...>> <i>having everyone agreeing on the fact that G-d gave the Jewish Bible to Israel is something that should give us all pause...</i><br /><br />Except that it's not true. Judaism is not unique in having its holy books recognized by other religions. Even if it were, you yourself concede it would not prove it's a truthful revelation. <br /><br />>> <i>First, you mischaracterized Mormonism as not a Christian faith.</i><br /><br />Ok. You mischaracterize Messianic Judaism as not a Judaism.<br /><br />>> <i>It is up to the Mormons, and not you, to decide if they believe that they are following Jesus' teachings, and they believe that they are</i><br /><br />Ok. It is up to Messianic Jews, not you, to decide if they believe that they are following the Tenakh, and we believe we are.<br /><br />>> <i>Let's be clear: the prophets of the Jewish Bible were Jews, like me</i><br /><br />Ok. And Moshe was a Jew like me. <br /><br />>> <i>I only recognize that they all admit that the fact is He did.</i><br /><br />Again, that's not reality. Do you know what Islam says about the Torah? That the Torah, as it stands today, is corrupted by Jews and not an authentic document. And for what it's worth, the good that Islam says of the so-called original Torah, it also says good of the gospels: <br /><br /><i>"It is He Who has sent down the Book (the Qur'an) to you with truth, confirming what came before it. And He sent down the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)."</i><br /><br />Your statements that Islam recognizes the Torah as given to Israel are not entirely factual. Islam recognizes *a* Torah given to Israel, (and additionally, a gospel given to Israel), the Torah, they say, is corrupted by Jewish scribes and is not trustworthy or to be revered.<br /><br />Ironically, the only major group outside of Judaism upholding the Torah as a truthful document are the people you are trying to repudiate: Christians.Judah Gabriel Himangohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10277699587853707632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-26256482032995392362010-11-04T15:37:15.392-07:002010-11-04T15:37:15.392-07:00Judah,
You wrote that "Having another religi...Judah,<br /><br />You wrote that "Having another religion validate your holy book does not make it truthful revelation." I agree with you on that point.<br /><br />But having everyone from all sorts of religions (excepting atheists, of course!) all agreeing on the fact that G-d gave the Jewish Bible to Israel is something that should give us all pause, especially since none of the other world religions enjoy a similar unanimity as to the truthfulness of their own disparate texts. That is one more clue about the uniqueness of the credibility of Judaism as opposed to, say, Christianity. As you correctly pointed out Christians largely view the Jewish Bible as obsolete, which is really very odd given Christians' simultaneous belief that G-d gave the Jewish Bible to Israel and given the Jewish Bibles' own insistence that it will never become obsolete!<br /><br />I want to take a moment to correct a couple of your facts.<br /><br />First, you mischaracterized Mormonism as not a Christian faith. You may have your own reasons for being bigoted against Mormons, but that does not afford you the right to literally bend our English language to your own liking. The meaning of the word "Christian" means following Jesus' teachings. It is up to the Mormons, and not you, to decide if they believe that they are following Jesus' teachings, and they believe that they are. They are every bit as Christian as you are. (This is a fine case-in-point example of what I was talking about--both non-Mormon and Mormon Christians agree that G-d gave the Jewish Bible to Israel, but the two groups can't even decide on how many times He changed His mind about it.)<br /><br />Second, you wrote of "our prophets". Let's be clear: the prophets of the Jewish Bible were Jews, like me. Not like you. They were not "our" prophets. They are "my" prophets.<br /><br />Third and finally, you wrote that I am "in a fantasy world where everyone validates Tenakh and Judaism." I suspect you are sophisticated enough to know that statement is false, and that I by no means extend to you credit for believing the central tenets of Judaism (oneness of G-d, sinfulness of worshiping a man, individual responsibility, etc.), but in case you're not let me be explicit: I don't think most of the world "validates" or otherwise is willing to positively deal with what it means that G-d gave the Torah to the Jews. I only recognize that they all admit that the fact is He did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-31706660088790679452010-11-04T01:15:13.607-07:002010-11-04T01:15:13.607-07:00"The practice of meeting together on the firs..."The practice of meeting together on the first day of the week for the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is indicated in Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; in Apocalypse 1:10, it is called the Lord's day. In the Didache (14) the injunction is given: "On the Lord's Day come together and break bread. And give thanks (offer the Eucharist), after confessing your sins that your sacrifice may be pure". St. Ignatius (Ep. ad Magnes. ix) speaks of Christians as "no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also Our Life rose again". In the Epistle of Barnabas (xv) we read: "Wherefore, also, we keep the eight day (i.e. the first of the week) with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead"...These and similar indications show that during the first three centuries practice and tradition had consecrated the Sunday to the public worship of God by the hearing of the Mass and the resting from work. With the opening of the fourth century positive legislation, both ecclesiastical and civil, began to make these duties more definite. The Council of Elvira (300) decreed: "If anyone in the city neglects to come to church for three Sundays, let him be excommunicated for a short time so that he may be corrected" (xxi). In the Apostolic Constitutions, which belong to the end of the fourth century, both the hearing of the Mass and the rest from work are prescribed, and the precept is attributed to the Apostles. The express teaching of Christ and St. Paul prevented the early Christians from falling into the excesses of Jewish Sabbatarianism in the observance of the Sunday, and yet we find St. Cæsarius of Arles in the sixth century teaching that the holy Doctors of the Church had decreed that the whole glory of the Jewish Sabbath had been transferred to the Sunday, and that Christians must keep the Sunday holy in the same way as the Jews had been commanded to keep holy the Sabbath Day. He especially insisted on the people hearing the whole of the Mass and not leaving the church after the Epistle and the Gospel had been read. He taught them that they should come to Vespers and spend the rest of the day in pious reading and prayer. As with the Jewish Sabbath, the observance of the Christian Sunday began with sundown on Saturday and lasted till the same time on Sunday. ..The obligation of rest from work on Sunday remained somewhat indefinite for several centuries. A Council of Laodicea, held toward the end of the fourth century, was content to prescribe that on the Lord's Day the faithful were to abstain from work as far as possible. At the beginning of the sixth century St. Caesarius, as we have seen, and others showed an inclination to apply the law of the Jewish Sabbath to the observance of the Christian Sunday. The Council held at Orléans in 538 reprobated this tendency as Jewish and non-Christian. From the eight century the law began to be formulated as it exists at the present day, and the local councils forbade servile work, public buying and selling, pleading in the law courts, and the public and solemn taking of oaths. There is a large body of civil legislation on the Sunday rest side by side with the ecclesiastical. It begins with an Edict of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, who forbade judges to sit and townspeople to work on Sunday. He made an exception in favour of agriculture. The breaking of the law of Sunday rest was punished by the Anglo-Saxon legislation in England like other crimes and misdemeanours. After the Reformation, under Puritan influence, many laws were passed in England whose effect is still visible in the stringency of the English Sabbath. Still more is this the case in Scotland..."Nezir Katanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703608475647852605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-33961864891628209402010-11-04T01:04:50.540-07:002010-11-04T01:04:50.540-07:00Here is an interesting article on Sunday in the on...Here is an interesting article on Sunday in the online New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia.<br /><br />http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14335a.htmNezir Katanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703608475647852605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-1881106542972602272010-11-04T00:52:05.927-07:002010-11-04T00:52:05.927-07:00No you are wrong anon. Everyone doesn't agree ...No you are wrong anon. Everyone doesn't agree that the Jewish Bible was given to the Jewish people on Sinai. Millions of liberal Christians, Jews and Muslims believe it is just a myth. <br /><br />Also Islam not only acknowledges the Torah of the Jews but also the Gospels of the Christians eventhough they believe Jews and Christians have changed certain texts in their holy books. Muslims like Catholics, Eastern orthodox Christians, Coptic, Syrian, Armenian etc believe in and are devoted to a all-holy Virgin Mary (Maryam/ Miriam) who is the highest woman in Heaven.Nezir Katanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00703608475647852605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-73516398692581941732010-11-03T19:27:06.455-07:002010-11-03T19:27:06.455-07:00Anon,
Your first post suggested that, because oth...Anon,<br /><br />Your first post suggested that, because other world religions accept the Tenakh, Judaism is a "truthful revelation". (Contrasted with Christianity, which you seem to think doesn't have its holy books validated by other religions.)<br /><br />Having another religion validate your holy book does not make it truthful revelation. If it did, Christianity would also be truthful, seeing how religions like Mormonism are built atop it.<br /><br />If "what other people believe" validates your religion, it is you, not I, who is in trouble: Christianity largely believes the Torah is obsolete, Islam largely believes the Tenakh was redacted and corrupted by Jewish scribes, and the secular world largely adheres to the JEDP theory of Torah composition, thinks our prophets were crazy religious nutters, King David a mere tribal chieftain of a small band of squabbling Semites, Israel a tiny fiefdom with a prominent blood sacrifice cult at its center.<br /><br />When you look at it that way, about 0.001% of the world sees things as you do. :-) And that's not counting the sects and fractures within Judaism.<br /><br />So please, let's not pretend we're in a fantasy world where everyone validates Tenakh and Judaism. But you and I, we have some common ground, as we both believe the Tenakh is a truthful document. The biggest difference between us is that I believe Messiah already showed up and did an amazing work which has led to billions of people following the God of Israel. :-)Judah Gabriel Himangohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10277699587853707632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-43922020924979325942010-11-03T19:24:08.555-07:002010-11-03T19:24:08.555-07:00Anonymous,
I must confess, I'm surprised by y...Anonymous,<br /><br />I must confess, I'm surprised by your reaction. (Maybe you're thinking of your mysterious second posting, which I never saw?)<br /><br />The only edit I applied to this comment was removing the first sentence--an attack on Judah which I personally found offensive and made clear to you that I would remove.<br /><br />All the words I posted are yours. You should take ownership of them and be proud of them--they're not so bad that you need to try to pawn them off on me!Yahnatanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02321984415847643594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-428811523311459092010-11-03T19:10:49.625-07:002010-11-03T19:10:49.625-07:00All:
Please be advised that the posting Yahnatan ...All:<br /><br />Please be advised that the posting Yahnatan credited to me is not the one I submitted. He has edited my entry to such an extent that I can no longer claim to be it's author. Note that he has not done likewise to any of you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-24224680900410401482010-11-03T16:52:45.332-07:002010-11-03T16:52:45.332-07:00Aharon,
Thanks for chiming in--please continue to...Aharon,<br /><br />Thanks for chiming in--please continue to do so!<br /><br />YahnatanYahnatanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02321984415847643594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4001811172010286940.post-19297365500306124672010-11-03T16:50:57.096-07:002010-11-03T16:50:57.096-07:00This was from Anonymous on Oct 28:
Judah Gabriel,...This was from Anonymous on Oct 28:<br /><br />Judah Gabriel,<br /><br />The reality is that the West is not nearly post-religious to the extent you portray it, and as an American you live at the epicenter of Western religiosity. You are a member of a two-billion strong Christian faith community, that is fractured into countless sects that cannot agree on the nature of G-d, His expectations of man, or how many times He changed His mind. The one thing Christians can all agree on, however, is that G-d gave the Jewish Bible to the Jewish people at Sinai.<br /><br />And in the rest of the world, we find more fracture...and unity. There are also two billion Muslims split into a handful of violently disagreeing theological groups. In India there are a billion Hindus who join with Christendom and Islam in vehement disagreement over the nature of G-d, His expectations of man, and how many times He changed His mind. The one thing the majority of humanity can all agree on is that G-d gave the Jewish Bible to the Jewish people at Sinai.Yahnatanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02321984415847643594noreply@blogger.com