Jesus disputed with the Pharisees over matters of the Law of Moses on a number of recorded occasions. (From LDS.org) In Judaism exists the concept of the khumrot (חומרות), or proscriptions that are implemented to safeguard the halakhah (הלכה)–––the body of Jewish religious laws–––from being transgressed. The khumrot of Orthodox Judaism are not the laws themselves, but are instead … Read more
“Eastern Orthodox icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea” (Source) The legendary Geza Vermes (of blessed memory) has an amusing thought in his introduction to the 1992 volume Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of Their Origins and Early Development. An anecdote recorded in the Babylonian Talmud (Menahot 29b) portrays Moses as seeking permission from … Read more
The historical Jesus? I am currently making my way through Reza Aslan‘s recent volume Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Rather than offering a review his book (I instead direct the reader’s attention to the reviews offered by Stephen Prothero, Stuart Kelly, Craig A. Evans, Greg Carey, and Allan Nadler), I wanted to call attention … Read more
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland had some wise words in his April 2014 General Conference address. Sadly enough, my young friends, it is a characteristic of our age that if people want any gods at all, they want them to be gods who do not demand much, comfortable gods, smooth gods who not only don’t rock … Read more
Last night I was reading the Gospel of Luke in the Einheitsübersetzung when I came across this commentary. Die Sonderüberlieferungen des Lukas stehen im Dienst seiner theologischen Aussagen. Er zeigt in Jesus den Heiland der Verlorenen, der sozial Entrechteten, der Frauen, der Zöllner und Sünder. Jesus offenbarte die Menschenliebe Gottes auf bezwingende Weise. Alle Christen müssen daher … Read more