New Testament From Jewish Point of View - A Temple Israel Long Beach Zoom Class

Due to Rosh Hashanah on 9/26/2022 (we skipped studying together that day), JoAnn and Dan took their time getting the summary of what we discussed on 9/19/2022.  As usual, we had a lively discussion. Jo Ann, Dan, Steve, Karen, David, Dave, Merill, Jessica, Kim, Randy, and Robin attended.  It was the first time Kim joined us and we were so glad to have her join in! Below is a summary of what went on written by Dan: We studied Philippians chapters 3-4 and finished this letter. One thing is clear, Paul really disliked those who said gentile men should undergo circumcision, calling them "dogs". He again boasted of his Jewish credentials (born of the tribe of Benjamin, etc.), then said he considered what he was before he had his encounter with Jesus to be "rubbish". We don't know exactly what he meant by that, but it is sure those words would be part of the process of believers in Jesus becoming a separate religion from Judaism. Chapter 4 contained a notable order on

As always, Monday’s 9/12/2022 study and time of learning was so fun! Jo Ann, Dan, Steve, Karen, Norky, Dave, Robin, Randy, and Merrill attended.   Below is a summary of what on written by Dan: The afterlife was our subject on Monday, September 12, 2022. Specifically, in response to Randy's question: is there marriage in the afterlife? We reviewed the reason for this question, namely a famous episode of Meet the Sadducees wherein Jesus was posed the riddle of a woman who was legally married to more than one husband due to their deaths. Who was she married to in heaven? Answer: there is no marriage in heaven.  The core of our conversation had to do with some of the experiences some of us had: out of the body experiences, simple experiences of communion with dearly departed ones, etc. To those who had such experiences they were compelling evidence of a continued existence after death, with reunion with loved ones.  Unlike questions like "how did the universe come into being?"

We met as usual on Labor Day 2022 and had a pretty good turn out!  Jo Ann, Dan, Steve, Karen, Amy, Norky, Dave, David S., and Lori attended. The small size of the group gave everyone a chance to share and talk and ask a lot of questions. Lori, aka, Dr. Lori Baron, was off from her teaching of New Testament Studies at St. Louis University for Labor Day, so her input was really much appreciated and very special! We read Chapter 2 in Philippians and also the grey box that goes with the chapter. Jo Ann asked Dr. Lori to help explain the chapter. Below is a summary written by Dan describing what went on:  We studied Philippians chapter 2, and spent a lot of time talking about the poem or song that Paul quoted in that chapter. In particular we discussed the phrase saying that Jesus always had "the very nature of God", trying to understand what that meant. Does this mean that Paul believed in the Trinity? Steve suggested that this could have meant that Jesus was made in the image of