Online discussions might provide an analogy for the development of "proof texts" from the scriptures in favor of the idea of this "Jesus Christ." One's trotted out, but it's pointed out why it's misinterpreted. Another is trotted out, again it's pointed out that it's misinterpreted. Yet another, but it's about a king of the Jews, and Jesus was not, at least not as far as anyone can see. Over and over they are introduced and rejected, thus inspiring the search for yet more, ever more 'interpretations' that are supposed to mutually confirm the hidden truth about this so-called "Christ" and a new era of freedom from the law ushered in by his "apostles" that can be found only lurking behind the texts in subtle ways.
Whatever it is they are trying to prove, they started with believing in its "truth" and then went looking for it. They started with believing the "truth" that the law no longer needed to be followed. The started with knowing the "truth" of the rejection, suffering, and death of "Jesus." They started with believing the "truth" that he was chosen by God to deliver this message despite going against the Torah and despite being from one crucified. Armed with this "truth" as their intepretive guide, they could find all the claims that "proved" from the scriptures what they said about the significance of this "Jesus," the meaning of his suffering, and the validity of the mission of his "apostles."
These highly motivated "interpretations" and "proofs," based on what they knew they wanted to find, accumulated over time until, when they were written down, by people who heard them from other people who heard them (or from earlier written sources that were themselves compilations), they took the form of things like the Epistle of Barnabas, the passion narratives, or the Dialogue with Trypho by Justin Martyr. Something like someone pulling together the pieces of a puzzle in some long internet research piece, overwhelming the reader with repetition and rhetoric. The 'prophecies' and 'proofs' took on their full supposed meaning when, and only when, it was decided that such proof had to be found. The creative activity of finding all of them required the study and ingenuity of many individuals, given how obscure and contrived so many of them are. But once the game was on to find them, they would be produced one after another in religious debates until they could be assembled to try to bring others to believe.
Whatever it is they are trying to prove, they started with believing in its "truth" and then went looking for it. They started with believing the "truth" that the law no longer needed to be followed. The started with knowing the "truth" of the rejection, suffering, and death of "Jesus." They started with believing the "truth" that he was chosen by God to deliver this message despite going against the Torah and despite being from one crucified. Armed with this "truth" as their intepretive guide, they could find all the claims that "proved" from the scriptures what they said about the significance of this "Jesus," the meaning of his suffering, and the validity of the mission of his "apostles."
These highly motivated "interpretations" and "proofs," based on what they knew they wanted to find, accumulated over time until, when they were written down, by people who heard them from other people who heard them (or from earlier written sources that were themselves compilations), they took the form of things like the Epistle of Barnabas, the passion narratives, or the Dialogue with Trypho by Justin Martyr. Something like someone pulling together the pieces of a puzzle in some long internet research piece, overwhelming the reader with repetition and rhetoric. The 'prophecies' and 'proofs' took on their full supposed meaning when, and only when, it was decided that such proof had to be found. The creative activity of finding all of them required the study and ingenuity of many individuals, given how obscure and contrived so many of them are. But once the game was on to find them, they would be produced one after another in religious debates until they could be assembled to try to bring others to believe.
Statistics: Posted by Peter Kirby — Sat Jun 15, 2024 5:34 pm