Freethought & Rationalism Archive

show_no_mercy · 12-10-2009, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spamandham

Quote:

Originally Posted by dog-on

Paul wasn't born a Jew.

His discourses show that he may have dabbled in becoming one at some point, but his attitude towards Jewish cultural traditions shows that these were not something he was brought up believing.

If someone were to ask me about the theological utility of Christian traditions, I would probably bust a gut laughing about the question. From this, they might conclude I had not been raised as a Christian. They would be wrong.

When I read Paul, I read someone who has abandoned the religion of his childhood in favor of what he has come to believe to be the real meaning of it all.

I think Paul was a Hellenistic Jew of the Diaspora. The Hellenistic Jews weren't exactly wiped out by the Maccabees. What the Maccabees tried to stomp out was the foundation for, and eventually became, Christianity.

DCHindley · 12-11-2009, 02:58 PM

Well, I'd hope that the Maccabees, operating in Judea, would not have been able to "wipe out" any Diaspora Jews, who would, by definition, NOT be in Judea, but "dispersed" around the Mediterranean Sea or in places like Mesopotamia.

But I kind of see where you are going with this. So, you think that Paul's theology represents a kind of "Hellenization" of Jewish religion?

DCH

Quote:

Originally Posted by show_no_mercy

Quote:

Originally Posted by spamandham

When I read Paul, I read someone who has abandoned the religion of his childhood in favor of what he has come to believe to be the real meaning of it all.

I think Paul was a Hellenistic Jew of the Diaspora. The Hellenistic Jews weren't exactly wiped out by the Maccabees. What the Maccabees tried to stomp out was the foundation for, and eventually became, Christianity.

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