Christian Texts and History • Samaritans are Hebrews but not "Jews'

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No the problem here is real: the Paul in Acts says that he's been given the task of teaching the gentiles, but no one amongst the Jamesian church says that. He's made by them to do costly penance, and is not given letters of mandate to teach (I won't take Paul's word on anything).

The "Jamesian church" seems to know about and approve of Paul preaching a Torah-free gospel to Gentiles in Acts 15, where they send a letter to Gentiles (via Paul) saying this.

Keep reading to the results in Act 21:

And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.
And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
...
What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come.
Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;
Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. (Acts 21:18-24 [KJV])

The Jamesian church obliges Paul to do costly penance. And this is Paul in Acts, not the Faulines; he submits to James.

The Faul in the Faulines does not teach a Torah-free gospel: he teaches anti-Torah and anti-Christian letters, which is not the same.

But Paul needs the Torah to understand Jesus. He sees references to Jesus in the Torah and believes that this is the proper way of interpreting the Torah (and the rest of the OT). How can Paul be anti-Torah if he uses and sees Jesus in the Torah? And since Paul was willing to be Torah observant around Jews (in his letters and in Acts), he needed the Torah to do that as well.

Everyone needs the gospels to understand Jesus; but Faul practically never cites Jesus or uses his teachings in the Faulines. What Faul needs from the Torah in the Faulines is a matter of speculation, but it's clear Faul misquotes it to suit his purpose - Habakkuk 2:4:

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Jesus taught a Torah-observant (up to a point) gospel to everyone, including Samaratains (who do not consider themselves as "Jews"),

Well, but Samaritans are Hebrews and were/are Torah-observant.

The Samaratains on the West Bank, then and now, will emphatically tell you they are not "Jews" - your post referred to "Jews". And Samaratains are Pentateuch observant; I'm not sure they would agree with being called Torah-observant (unlike say the Karaites); they're observant up to a point, as Christians are.

And since Paul was willing to be Torah observant around Jews (in his letters and in Acts)

Faul was willing to be anything to anybody, which is not very Christian:

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; (I Corinthians 9:20 [KJV])

I ask myself did he have to pretend to be a "Jew" because he was an Idumean by birth? Do we have any idea who his mother was? Was she an Idumean? Maybe Eisenman knows.

I hope you aren't arguing that the Crowleyism in (Rom. 7:6) should be considered Torah observance - it's anti-Shema and the whole of Romans 7 is Marcian and anti-Christian.

And the Abgarus letter in Eusebius only mentions Jesus' healings, not Torah observance (Agbarus: "I have heard the reports of you and of your cures as performed by you without medicines or herbs"; Jesus: "I will send to you one of my disciples, that he may heal your disease"). And I can't think of any examples in the NT of Jesus telling Gentiles to be Torah observant.

I'm not convinced that telling Gentiles to be Torah observant is a good definition of Christianity: Jesus' ministry was centered on healing and casting out demons and overturning the tables of the moneychangers, as well as teaching Pentateuch. Were the moneychangers "Jewish"? I doubt he cared, but they got a good teaching.

I doubt you could convnce us that Jesus and his disciples allowed only "Jews" at his teachings:

When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. Matthew 14:13-17 [KJV])

Were they only "Jews" in the great multitude? Or do you want to ignore Christ and Christianity when they're not teaching anything other than Torah-observance?

PS: Please qualify that by Torah you mean "written Torah", the Old Testament, as I do.

Statistics: Posted by ebion — Sun Dec 31, 2023 1:21 pm

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