Summary of New Testament From a Jewish Point of View Class - Memorial Day 5/29/2023

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We had a good group even though it was a holiday.  Dan, Jo Ann, Merrill, Robin, Ruth, Karen, Dave, Jay, Odette, and Steve attended.

Below is a summary, written by Dan, on what we studied and discussed:

“Great turnout! Thank you for coming!

Colossians chapter 4 - a lot of greetings. Jo Ann asked why the frequent use of “brother” or “sister”? A common Christian greeting, less common among Jewish people. See Proverbs 18:24 - “a friend who sticks closer than a brother”. Someone brought up the term “Messianic Rabbi” - don’t Rabbis have to go to rabbinic school? “Messianic Rabbi” seems to harken to the past when a person who could read and write was sometimes called a “rabbi”, since today rabbis indeed do need to go to rabbinic school.  An interesting mention was made that cantors traditionally were “invested” instead of being “ordained”. I understand that now both rabbis and cantors are ordained. 

Getting back to the text of Colossians 4, we agreed that our conduct reflects not only ourselves but our community. Don’t be a shonda. Karen mentioned speech “seasoned with salt”, and Jo Ann agreed that we should say good things. In line with this chapter talking about the importance of good conduct before “others”, Steve and Jo Ann spoke of instances when churches provided facilities for temples when they were needed. 

We read the introduction to IThessalonians. It was interesting that this letter is the earliest book written in the New Testament. Of great concern was chapter 2’s diatribe against Judaism. I think we all know that people frequently fail to separate Jews and Judaism, so this statement is important in the history of Christian anti-Judaism and anti-semitism. The movies South Pacific (“You have to be. carefully trained”), and the movie Gentlemen’s Agreement were mentioned.

In honor of Memorial Day, Merrill mentioned his father and grandfather’s service in the armed forces in WWI and WWII. We honor them and all American service members and veterans, living and dead.”

As always, if I missed anything that should be included in this summary, please add by clicking the comment button below.






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