04-22-2008, 01:54 PM
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#51
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Banned
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Palm Springs, California
Posts: 10,955
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joan of Bark
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gamera
Well Matthew 10 and 15 have been amply discussed by commentaries in the context of historical Christianity for hundreds of years, so it's not like these passages are crying out for explication from me.
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Citations?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gamera
The usual commentary is messianic (Jesus' role in Judaism as fulfiling prophesy) and doesn't interest me. However, it hardly takes a deep reading of the gospels to see where even Jesus found the role rather too prescriptive and contradicted it at various time. Hence, the believing centurion passage in Matthew 8, the healing of the Garesene demoniac, the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, etc. etc.
Leaving that aside, I fail to see how the passages you mention contradict or rather limit (as you seem to be claiming) Jesus's teachings about loving your enemy. Jesus seemed quite capable of making universalist statements while playing the role of the Jewish messiah.
As to Paul, well, yeah, that makes my point. Since the passages were arguably written long after Paul, it suggests they don't have the construction you put on it.
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I agree, the centurion doesn't seem to be Jewish, and the Samaritan woman obviously wasn't. (However, I notice He doesn't apologize for the highly derogatory remarks He makes about gentiles in this passage; and the woman had to talk Him into curing her daughter -- He was initially very callous toward her).
But I admit I don't have a strong case here. I'm still not sure, though, that it was clear that Jesus was preaching universal truths. Perhaps He changed His thinking during the course of His ministry. |
I think it's more than possible he did change his thinking in the course of his ministry (at least under the terms of the text itself), which frankly might produce an even richer meaning to the narrative than an absolutist Jesus marching inexorably to Golgotha.
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