In the book of Galatians Paul was writing to the Galatian people because the Judaizes were pushing the Gentiles to be circumcised and were claiming that Paul
1) The written law is a collection of the five books of the Hebrew bible and contain the biblical laws for Judaism. It is believed in rabbinic theology that the Torah was created by God and comes from Heaven. It contains the writings of Moses. The oral law was transmitted orally from generation to generation by messengers to carry out the traditions. It explains how the written Torah is to be followed. Put in simple terms, the written Torah is the sound basis of Judaism and the oral law is the explanation that things may not be as literal as they seem in the written law. I would believe they are dependent, as the oral law explains the works and meanings of the written Torah.
The tithing (or giving) issue is one that comes up often and that tends to bring up larger issues of law, Christian freedom, grace, generosity, faithfulness and priorities. With this issue, as is true of so many areas of the Christian life and, more specifically, church life, there is broad freedom with respect to many particular decisions or courses of action we might take, provided we take them for biblical reasons and with biblical principles in mind.
Paul became an advocate for the inclusion of the Gentiles among the ‘true’ followers of Christianity. Until this moment in history, Jewish Christians believed that non-Jews had to convert to Judaism and follow the law like them, which included many dietary restrictions and circumcision. Gentiles who worship in the synagogue but did not convert were only
Permitting freedom from the laws of kashruth and circumcision allowed Christianity to spread more freely amongst the Gentiles and is why Paul is so significant today. (Christianity vs. Judaism worksheet).
The meaning of the phrase “law of Moses” has different possible meanings. To find which of the meanings fit the text best one must look at the Hebrew context. Since there is no word for “of” in the biblical Hebrew, Hebrew uses what is called a construct chain to define what type of (possessive) relationship between two nouns. A construct chain is when two nouns are placed side by side in which the (possessive) relationship between these two nouns is expressed. In a constructive chain, the word “of” is implied because each of the nouns is side by side. Most of the time two different translations is possible, for example “law of Moses” or “Moses’ law.”
Aristotle once said “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. “ Aristotle saw how we as humans were different from other animals; we were able to create these non-existent rules for humans to follow without question. Laws help shape the society we live in, whether they are positive or negative, our morality can come into play when faced with a troubling situation, why should words on paper dictate what we can and cannot achieve? Why is parchment more credible than the humans’ testimony? Should Gods sway the way laws work? These questions are all important when dealing with the creations of rules and regulations.
Some will look into this verse and others like it, such as Romans 7:4 and come to the conclusion that the law, all parts of it are abolished, or done away with - particularly, the New Covenant Theologians (NCT). The NCT view the entire Mosaic Law as being done away with in favor of the Law of Christ. Jeremiah 31:33 states: "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it." Many believe that this law is referring to the Mosaic Law which was reinstated with Israel, yet on the other hand, others say that the New Covenant Law is a “renewed” form of the Mosaic Law. The confusion rests on what kind of “Law” Jeremiah was speaking about. Was it the Mosaic Law or was it the New Law of Christ?
Throughout the early history of Christianity, disputes broke out over mosaic law, particularly in the mid first century when the issue of circumcision, cutting off the foreskin of a man’s penis, was a heavily debated and a recurring issue among different churches and members of the church. Many Christians believed that following the mosaic law, which included the act of circumcision, was no longer required for salvation as having faith and accepting Jesus as the messiah would be enough. Others, on the other hand, believed that requirements set forth in the mosaic law were still necessary to be saved. These people were negatively branded with the name Judaizers (those who believed that all Christians should follow the Law of Moses), and were often criticized for being discriminatory and elitist. A meeting was then held to discuss the whether the application of the mosaic law to new members of the Christian community, particularly focusing on if those trying to convert, were obliged undergo circumcision to be accepted into, and become part of, the Christian community. The apostolic decree of the council of Jerusalem moved away from its
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy compose the majority of the Hebrew law, also known as the Torah. Leviticus is a continuation of Exodus, and it contains the Sinaitic legislation from the time of the completion of the Tabernacle. Throughout the story, we see God accepts the sacrifice of the victim rather the death of the sinner.
From Chapter 6 - Paul defends his Gentile Mission - How is the issue of Jewish Christians eating meat related to Galatians 2:1-18 and Acts 15:1-35? What was the decision of the Jerusalem Council? Why is this important for Christians today?
Throughout history many living figures have helped shaped each religion the way it is viewed
Paul was not fighting against the Law of Moses – he knew the law, and that obeying the commandments would lead to happiness. But he also knew that Christ had come to fulfil the law as messiah, and to reconcile the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). He did not interpose rejection of the law, but was polemical of Jewish Christians excluding Gentiles on grounds such as circumcision. As he was later to say of the event, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
A similar conflict between the Gentiles and Jews took place during the early establishment of the Church. The Jews demanded that the Gentiles adhere to their laws as established by Moses, wherein they were forbidden from eating certain foods and required that all males be circumcised. McRay states, “During that time some men came from Jerusalem and tried to lay upon the Gentiles an even more stringent requirement than the earlier Jerusalem emissaries had done. It was no longer simply a matter of requiring the Gentiles to observe Jewish food laws in order to maintain fellowship with Jewish Christians. They were now demanding that Gentiles males be circumcised in order to be saved” (McRay, 2003, p. 127). Similar to today, these disagreements are presented to the Church Leadership conflict for resolution. In advising the leadership council of Saint Elizabeth Catholic church on how to resolve and maintain the fellowship between these believers, I will use Romans 14 as the fundamental basis for handling conflict resolutions.
The Bible is divided into two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. This paper mainly focuses on the Old Testament. The Old Testament has 39 books in total which is also subdivided into four categories namely; Pentateuch books (5 books), the historical books (12 books), the poetic books (5 books) and the prophetic books (17 books). The Old Testament books were written back in 1400 B.C. The Pentateuch books were written by Moses during his time in Canaan, while the other 34 books were also written by different authors at different stated time. The aim of this paper is therefore, to analyze the authorship, dating, content, outline, themes, and unique features of one book of the Old Testament, and the book chosen is the book of Leviticus.