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Old 06-25-2013, 12:50 AM   #21
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New Testament Narrative as Old Testament Midrash

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The line is thin between extrapolating new meanings from ancient scriptures (borrowing the authority of the old) and actually composing new scripture (or quasi-scripture) by extrapolating from the old. By this process of midrashic expansion grew the Jewish haggadah, new narrative commenting on old (scriptural) narrative by rewriting it. Haggadah is a species of hypertext, and thus it cannot be fully understood without reference to the underlying text on which it forms a kind of commentary. The earliest Christians being Jews, it is no surprise that they practiced haggadic expansion of scripture, resulting in new narratives partaking of the authority of the old. The New Testament gospels and the Acts of the Apostles can be shown to be Christian haggadah upon Jewish scripture, and these narratives can be neither fully understood nor fully appreciated without tracing them to their underlying sources, ....
Actually I think the term may be popular because Christians have tried to maintain that the default interpretation of the gospels must be that they were meant to describe historical events. One can point to midrash to show that this is not true.
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Old 06-25-2013, 02:26 AM   #22
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Has anyone researched tendencies to take things literally or metaphorically and autistic spectrum disorders? Some fascinating historical forensic analysis might be possible!
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Old 06-25-2013, 03:15 AM   #23
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Maybe Christian scriptures are just what happens when Hellenistic gentiles tried to do some midrash of their own. They grew their own funk.
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Old 06-25-2013, 03:58 AM   #24
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Maybe Christian scriptures are just what happens when Hellenistic gentiles tried to do some midrash of their own. They grew their own funk.
Yes or ever a kind of political spin thrown in too? Opportunity and possibilities.
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Old 06-25-2013, 04:05 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by Toto View Post
New Testament Narrative as Old Testament Midrash

Quote:
The line is thin between extrapolating new meanings from ancient scriptures (borrowing the authority of the old) and actually composing new scripture (or quasi-scripture) by extrapolating from the old. By this process of midrashic expansion grew the Jewish haggadah, new narrative commenting on old (scriptural) narrative by rewriting it. Haggadah is a species of hypertext, and thus it cannot be fully understood without reference to the underlying text on which it forms a kind of commentary. The earliest Christians being Jews, it is no surprise that they practiced haggadic expansion of scripture, resulting in new narratives partaking of the authority of the old. The New Testament gospels and the Acts of the Apostles can be shown to be Christian haggadah upon Jewish scripture, and these narratives can be neither fully understood nor fully appreciated without tracing them to their underlying sources, ....
Actually I think "the term" may be popular because Christians have tried to maintain that the default interpretation of the gospels must be that they were meant to describe historical events. One can point to midrash to show that this is not true.
What term are you proposing "may be popular b/c [etc]" - 'midrash' or 'haggadah'?
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Old 06-25-2013, 04:10 AM   #26
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Maybe Christian scriptures are just what happens when Hellenistic gentiles tried to do some midrash of their own. They grew their own funk.
Highly likely, especially given the enslavement & dispersal of the Jews during and b/c of the three Roman-Jewish wars
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Old 06-25-2013, 06:08 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by Toto View Post
New Testament Narrative as Old Testament Midrash



Actually I think "the term" may be popular because Christians have tried to maintain that the default interpretation of the gospels must be that they were meant to describe historical events. One can point to midrash to show that this is not true.
What term are you proposing "may be popular b/c [etc]" - 'midrash' or 'haggadah'?
Haggadah
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is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder.
The guy in Toto's comment probably loses a lot of credibility by using this term improperly.

He's probably searching for Aggadah. Maybe just a simple mistake, but still it's hard to take someone seriously after that.
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Old 06-25-2013, 06:27 AM   #28
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.
Haggadah

He's probably searching for Aggadah.
Ha! Pun intended.

That's probably a good example of many literary 'quirks' that have plagued and shaped lots of theology
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Old 06-25-2013, 07:39 AM   #29
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Originally Posted by Toto View Post
New Testament Narrative as Old Testament Midrash



Actually I think "the term" may be popular because Christians have tried to maintain that the default interpretation of the gospels must be that they were meant to describe historical events. One can point to midrash to show that this is not true.
What term are you proposing "may be popular b/c [etc]" - 'midrash' or 'haggadah'?
The term in the title of this thread.
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Old 06-25-2013, 07:45 AM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by semiopen View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMacSon View Post
What term are you proposing "may be popular b/c [etc]" - 'midrash' or 'haggadah'?
Haggadah
Quote:
is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder.
The guy in Toto's comment probably loses a lot of credibility by using this term improperly.

He's probably searching for Aggadah. Maybe just a simple mistake, but still it's hard to take someone seriously after that.

Jewish Encyclopedia on "Midrash Haggadah"

Quote:
Midrash Haggadah embraces the interpretation, illustration, or expansion, in a moralizing or edifying manner, of the non-legal portions of the Bible (see Haggadah; Midrash; Midrash Halakah). The word "haggadah" (Aramaic, "agada") means primarily the recitation or teaching of Scripture; in a narrower sense it denotes the exegetic amplification of a Biblical passage and the development of a new thought based thereupon.
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