Comments on Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism: Jesus: Myth, Man, or Messiah?

Beaj (and others),Why do we need to have imperical...

2007-12-28T08:01:00.000-06:00

Beaj (and others),

Why do we need to have imperical historical evidence that Jesus existed at all? Even carbon dating, which is the most accurate way of telling WHEN something happened, isn't exact. Whether Jesus truly existed as a historical figure, for me, is inconsequential. His stories are told to tech a lesson. The existence of Jesus is a matter of faith, much like the existence of God (or Goddess). It must be taken as a matter of faith whether he (or she) exists or DOESN'T exist.

I would like to thank you for the tremendous article. Not being raised as a jew I know little about it beyond what I learn from Carly who posted down there. And at the very, very, very least I was exposed to a new word today, eschatological. I had to look that one up in Webster's online dictionary.
JC

Rabbi -- thank you for a fantastic post on a diffi...

2007-12-27T12:02:00.000-06:00

Rabbi -- thank you for a fantastic post on a difficult subject. I love the "Albert Einstein" metaphor. I will definitely use that and your definition of "IHS" when this subject comes up in the future -- as it always does.

Dear Spaceling,Thanks for your question. The term ...

2007-12-26T11:37:00.000-06:00

Dear Spaceling,

Thanks for your question. The term "ga'al," redeemer, is really a clan term. By which I mean, the ga'al "redeemer" is the member of your family/clan who by custom is obligated to assist you, defend you, rescue you, pay your debt, or take revenge for you if you are impoverished, attacked, kidnapped, fall into slavery, or killed. The idea that a redeemer must rescue you from yourself only applies in so far as the idea of debt-slavery implies your fault in getting there in the first place. but even that is not a prominent feature of Biblical thought. Stuff just happens and people need help (the entire book of Ruth illustrates this idea).

In the case of the first fruits, these belong to God. But you can redeem them for yourself.

The term redemption applied to world is this: that God, who is Israel's spiritual kinsman, will rescue us from our distress. It is Israel who is God's first born son (As we are described in Exodus), and as such, it is He who claims the right to redeem us.

Christianity has constructed a particular version of this idea of personal soul-salvific redemption premised on their notion of humanity's depraved condition. Judaism does not ascribe to Original Sin or innate human depravity, so this is not an issue. What is an issue is the dangerous and destructive nature of the world at large. The Messiah, who is only a human, will be the leader of the reorganization of human society to bring an end to such suffering, inequality, and oppression.

Hope this helps.

What does it mean in Judaism, for the world to be ...

2007-12-26T00:15:00.000-06:00

What does it mean in Judaism, for the world to be redeemed (hb. ga'al)? In the Torah, first born sons have to be redeemed... because like first fruits, they belong to G!d and would otherwise need to be offered up like the first fruits. So what is the world being redeemed from? Considering how Christians view Jesus as a kind of ultimate redeemer for the world because his status is something like an ultimate firstborn son, how do Jews understand redemption as it relates to the idea of the Messiah?

There is no contemporary evidence that Jesus ever ...

2007-12-25T21:00:00.000-06:00

There is no contemporary evidence that Jesus ever existed. From 1-50 AD not one writing or archaeological find confirms his existence.
That being said, Jews tend to stay away from this issue because when it comes to lack of evidence, the Exodus is right up there with Noah's Flood.
In fact, archeology and other historical finds show that something else was happening at the time the Exodus was supposed to happen.