My guess would be that there are a lot of practicing, or "accultured" Christians (brought up in Christian culture and at least try to practice their religion by church attendance or holiday observance), that prefer to lurk, if only to learn something, but do not have the time or energy to participate. Many are agnostic, meaning they are not sure that Jesus was a living extension of God rather than a social construct. They know what they were taught in Christian Sunday School or Synagogue Schools as a child, but never got their heads around their church's beliefs. They hear about the Historical Critical approach, find out that a sizable number of Christian critics have also employed it, not just atheists. Apologists will rear their heads in knee jerk reaction. I guess the average person just likes to seek advice without parroting apologists.No apologies needed - I'm well aware of the character of the site, which is my interest and is the subject of my postings.If I am mistaken I apologize. Just want to give you a heads up. I would rather you not feel deceived by a simple misunderstanding.
And if I am a Christian, that I may be one of the only ones on the site...
Yes, there has been a too ready acceptance of the idealized descriptions of Judeans in general given by Josephus or Philo or the NT or even the Mishna, where there are organized parties called Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, etc. All of authors (or editors) presented idealized pictures of how they want other Judeans or non-Judeans to perceive things. The real life world, when we get a look at it by accidental preservation of relics (receipts, contracts, agreements, personal letters), seems sometimes to have been much different. I think the scholarly reaction to the DSS is a good example, seeing how wild and wooly they seem compared to the tidy picture we have recreated for ourselves.
BTW, I'm not sure what you were referring to by warning me not to use "Jew" before 8th century. My cutoff date is closer to the time of Roman emperor Julian the Apostate, who was the last emperor who kicked around the idea of reconstituting the Judean temple apparatus, but had to give up as impractical. There was no longer a Judean homeland that was recognized as such, so I say "Jews" at that point. If you search my posts for "Jew" you will likely find it only in quotes from others, not in my replies, unless I was referring to the medieval period (about 6th century on until renaissance).
DCH
Statistics: Posted by DCHindley — Mon Jan 15, 2024 6:02 am