A Jewish Rabbi

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life." --Albert Einstein

The Danger of Idyllic Preterist Yearnings

Many people have a sentimental affection for pleasant things that
may have happened in the past. Having had a happy childhood for
example lends motive to recall those years in the past when all
was good and free flowing. It appears too that from a
psychological aspect if there has been a significant loss in
the past, then the human mind yearns for continuity or
re-establishment, albeit unrealistically, of those happy
years before the loss.

Not being a psychologist I can not develop the subject with
authority. However, a condition that seems to appear in the
philosophical or theological approach that many take seems
to reflect the psychological condition described above.

For example, a theological view that favors re-establishment
of ancient moral laws and customs somewhat literally, seems
to be deeply motivated by an yearning rather than a sequential
and reasonable development of thoughts. Such views are idyllic
because they are simplistic. These views evoke what seems like
a "perfect" world, i.e., people living in harmony with the land
diligently following God's precepts.

Such views are preterist because the are always based on a
view of the past and they are yearnings because the seek a
reality that ceased to exist.

The question however remains whether the apparently desirable
reality of the past can be re-established. The answer to this
question is presumably anybody's guess. I am not aware of
successful re-establishment of past realities into the present
condition in the spheres of social structures, business, technology
or living conditions. It could be argued that communities
that have rejected advances in technology and live a life
devoid of TV and other modern amenities are an example of
successful adherence to a reality of the past. However, I believe
the question remains open for the definition of success for those
systems.

Mosaic moral law does not necessitate that individuals live under
the same societal customs of four thousand years ago in order to
be effectively incorporated into communities. Fulfillment of mosaic
law is perfectly accomplished in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ, whose life, death and resurrection are effectual in actuating
the fulfillment to God's conditions for the redemption of those
whom He calls, is also and the actual fulfillment of the requirements
of the law in our behalf.

The law before the incarnation points to the incarnation and
sets the moral structure against which our sins are exposed.
The requirements of the law at the incarnation are fulfilled
for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their Savior
and Lord. The law at and after the incarnation is also expanded
in its details and applicability.

Therefore, post-incarnation we are not only called to live
by mosaic law but we are called to understand the expansive
explication of mosaic law (which the New Testament does)
but also to live by it. Follows that yearnings for a preterist
standard of living do not address the expansion of the law
detailed in the NT. Arguably such yearnings if they could be
realized could not reasonably incorporate into daily practice
the wealth of knowledge offered in the NT because they miss
the substance of the NT in regard to the law.

Idyllic preterist yearnings sound good on first analysis but
fail the test of reasonable applicability vis-à-vis the wealth
of NT expansion, definition and application of the law. This
wealth would be left out in a true literal application of mosaic
law in communities in the present age.

Ed Lane

The Jewish Carpenter

"As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene....No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life." --Albert Einstein

Taxa de homicídios do Brasil é similar a de zonas de guerra

BRASÍLIA (Reuters) - Mais de 150 brasileiros foram assassinados por dia
em média no ano passado, o que equivale às taxas registradas em zonas de
guerra, disse o Ministério da Justiça na segunda-feira.

Foram cerca de 55.000 vítimas de homicídios em 2005, o que supera em alguns
milhares o número de civis mortos em três anos na guerra do Iraque.

http://br.news.yahoo.com/060925/5/1968z.html

Brazil murder rate similar to war zone, data shows

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - More than 150 Brazilians were murdered
each day last year on average, putting Brazil on a par with some war
zones in terms of its homicide rate, the Justice Ministry said on Monday.

Some 55,000 Brazilians died of homicide in 2005 -- a few thousand more
civilians than in three years of war in Iraq, according to leading
estimates.

Brazil, a continent-sized nation of 185 million people starkly divided
into rich and poor, has had notoriously high crime rates for years.
Millions of poor live in urban slums and unpoliced rural areas where
guns are easy to come by.

el1414

el1212, inman3, flowerg

The Jews

Should it be noted that the Jews in spite of centuries of persecution,
slaughter and rejection are not blowing themselves up with explosives?

Where reason is thy splendor?

Our Histories

"But a professor of Islamic law at Qatar University, Muhammad Ayash al-Kubaisi, proposed another route: A debate with the pope on the history their faiths. His offer, posted last week on the Web site of the Al-Jazeera television network, contends Christians should study their own turbulent past." Quoted from seattlepi.com at
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Christianitys_Sword.html

Mr. Muhammad is right that the history of Christianity and Islam both have plenty of violence but what about the history of the founders of each one of these two faiths? What is there to say about Muhammad and Jesus as it relates to conquest?

More Reason or Lack of

"... at a religious workshop of Muslims and Christians earlier this year, the Rev. Hans Ucko, a representative from the nearly 350-member World Council of Churches, said no real understanding is possible until the faiths look beyond their own texts.

"The Quran, Bible and other sacred books should come with a warning label," he said. "It should say, `These books may contain passages that can be interpreted for violence and intolerance.'" quote from seattlepi.com
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Christianitys_Sword.html

Rev. Hans Ucko ought to take a second look at the Christian Bible specially under a section popularly known as "The Ten Commandments" for the moral framework of the Bible. Having said that, I concur with Rev. Ucko that there is much violence narrated in the Bible. The test of reason on this issue however is: Is the violence narrated in Bible condemned, commanded, prohibited, tolerated or abhorred? How do the narratives relate to the Ten Commandments? Is there a case when murder is not murder?

The Pope Invites Muslim Leaders

The following paragraph is quoted from ABC News International at
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2486620&page=2

"On Sunday, Benedict praised an Italian nun who was shot to death on Sept. 17 in Mogadishu, Somalia in an attack that might have been linked to the worldwide anger over the Regensburg speech. Benedict noted that the nun forgave her attackers as she lay dying, showing "the victory of love over hate and evil.""

My comment: Forgiveness of one's enemies IS consistent with the character of the God of the Christian Bible.

The Post-Reason Age

It should be said that a call for reason in the post-modern western civilization touches at wery heart of the ideological handicap of our age.

Pope Benedict's call for Reason

That a journalist would misinterpret the Pope's argument is puzzling coming from a journalist. Yet it proves what is implied in Pope's speech, namely that failure to employ reason in dialog cripples its outcome. Meacham misses two important points: violence in any religion is inconsistent with the nature of the God of Christianity; the islamic reactions to the Pope's comments prove the Pope right.

That the dean of the Harvard Divinity School would state that "Historically, there is no more basis for arguing that Islam is irrational than there is for arguing the same about Christianity or Judaism" proves that Mr. Graham must not have read either the Bible or the Koran. He fails to take into account that the holy books provide the ideological basis for each religion. Read side by side it is unquestionable which one provides historical and rational consistency and prophetic integrity.