A brief history of Judaism Part 8

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=100 BGCOLOR="#CCCCFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04000640egdysm.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Arial" ><B>Church of God, In Truth</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000099" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>    |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church of God, In Truth"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> back to<B>  </B><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Judaism Study Series"><B>Judaism Study Series</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#0000BF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="id421.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Study: Judaism, the Jews religion">Bible Study: "Judaism", the Jews' religion</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id192.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Questions to ask">Questions to ask</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 1">Part 1</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 2">Part 2</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 3">Part 3</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 4">Part 4</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 5">Part 5</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 6">Part 6</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 7">Part 7</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 8">Part 8</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 9">Part 9</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id88.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 10">Part 10</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id89.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 11">Part 11</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 12">Part 12</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id91.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 13">Part 13</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id92.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 14">Part 14</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id425.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A brief history of Judaism">A brief history of Judaism</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id426.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Is Judaism the Religion of the Old Testa">Is Judaism the Religion of the Old Testament?</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id435.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A brief history of Judaism Part 2">A brief history of Judaism - Part 2</A></div> <div> <A HREF="a_brief_history_of_judaism__.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A brief history of Judaism Part 3">A brief history of Judaism - Part 3</A></div> <div> <A HREF="a_brief_history_of_judaism_p.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A brief history of Judaism Part 4">A brief history of Judaism Part 4</A></div> <div> <A HREF="a_brief_history_of_judaism__1cf.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A brief history of Judaism Part 5">A brief history of Judaism - Part 5</A></div> <div> <A HREF="part_6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 6">Part 6</A></div> <div> <A HREF="a_brief_history_of_judaism__1de.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A brief history of Judaism Part 7">A brief history of Judaism - Part 7</A></div> <div> <B>A brief history of Judaism Part 8</B></div> <div> <A HREF="a_brief_history_of_judaism__1ed.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A brief history of Judaism Part 9">A brief history of Judaism - Part 9</A></div> <div> <A HREF="part_10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 10">Part 10</A></div> <div> <A HREF="part_11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Part 11">Part 11</A></div> <div> <A HREF="judaism_part_13.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Judaism Part 13">Judaism Part 13</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=380 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> "Judaism” <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >        Is It the Old Testament Religion?  </FONT><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" > </FONT></div> <div> Part 8 </div> <div>         In earlier issues we have seen the Egyptian rule of Palestine until 198 B.C. In that year the Syrian kingdom on the north invaded and conquered the territory of Judea. The change of government from Alexandria to Antioch in Syria---and the establishment of the Syrian way of life in Palestine, meant that an adjustment had to be made in the manner of living which the Jews had taken from the Egyptian Hellenists. The Syrians were Hellenists, just like the Egyptians were but there was a different mode of observing it. </div> <div>        When the Syrians took control of Palestine, the Jews were fully conscious that something new was taking place. The contrast between the Egyptian Hellenists and the Syrian Hellenists was such, that it shocked a few of the Jews into realizing there was a different way to live. They realized that the old way of life--following scripture was possible. The Jews knew the scriptures did not recognize either form of Hellenism. New interest in God and the religions of Moses began to revive. Religious anarchy ends and the Sanhedrin began. </div> <div>        The new interest in the religion of the forefathers caused some of the Jews to reflect on the past in order to ascertain how their forefathers had been governed in their religious life. They could see that from the time of Ezra and Nehemiah to Alexander the Great, the Sopherim had been the religious leaders and teachers of the people. Remember, the Sopherim had disappeared from the scene--Simon the Just was the last. The Jews understood that an organization like the Sopherim must exist if there was to be religious unity and the people properly taught the Law. The leaders of this new revival decided to meet in council with one another. Its avowed purpose was to direct those who were desiring to live according to the law of their forefathers. This council became known by the Greek name Sanhedrin. </div> <div>        "It is not clear when the Sanhedrin first began meeting. It must have been just a short time after the Syrians came into Palestine, perhaps about 196 B.C. or immediately thereafter" (Laterbach, Rabbinic Essays. Pg. 207). The influence of the Sanhedrin was not great at first. Not many Jews recognized its authority or adhered to its injunctions. Yet, with its establishment, we can say that outright religious anarchy came to an end, even though the majority of the Jews were still greatly affected by Hellenism. </div> <div>        The Syrians brought to the Jews a fanatical zeal for the Syrian style of Hellenism. To the Syrians there must be nothing that rivaled their way of thinking Egyptian Hellenists had allowed the Old Testament to be used. The interpretation of it, however, must be by Greek methods--it had to be Grecianized. Thus, we have the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament. But, the Syrian Hellenists would not allow the Old Testament even to be in existence. Only Greek ways were allowed. No form of individual or nationalistic religion was allowed to exist that conflicted in any way with the doctrines of the Syrians. This was the philosophy of the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, who ruled from 175 to 164 B.C. </div> <div>        "Antiochus Epiphanes was a Hellenist enthusiast, proud of his Athenian citizenship, and bent on spreading Hellenic civilization throughout his domain. He built various temples to Apollo and Jupiter. He observed and commanded his subjects to observe all the pagan Greek festivities to the heathen gods. So fanatical was he in his zeal to implant his beliefs on all other that some of his contemporaries call him Half-crazed" (Margolis, History of the Jewish People. Pg. 135). He let nothing hinder him for realizing his desires. </div> <div>        A large number of Jews readily accepted the newly established Syrian doctrine of complete surrender to the philosophies of Hellenism. Most of the Jews were thoroughly accustomed to much of the Greek culture anyway, and it was not hard thing to transfer allegiance from the Egyptians to the Syrians. </div> <div>        By the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, other Jews had also begun to take a new interest in religion--the religion of their forefathers. This new concern for religion was beginning to spread among the Jews of Palestine. </div> <div>        When Antiochus Epiphanes heard that some of the Jews were rejecting Hellenism, he began to persecute many of them. This persecution cause many more Jews to side with the cause of religion. This stubbornness of the Jews infuriated Antiochus. He began--in a fit of demoniac insanity-widespread persecution committing heinous indignities against all those who would not conform to his ways. </div> <div>        Not all Jews were in disfavor with Antiochus. Many wealthy and influential families, and especially many of the chief priests, wickedly supported Antiochus in his wild schemes. As the persecution grew more intense, a great many of the common people went against Antiochus. Renewed interest in the Scriptures was quickened by the persecution of this madman. Many began to take up arms against the Syrians. The cry went throughout the land that this was a religious war and the Jews were fighting for their Law and their God. This belief boosted renewed interest in fighting against Antiochus. </div> <div>        In order to band themselves together against the Syrians, the Jews came to the side of Judas Maccabee and his four brothers. An army for formed for two purposes: 1) to defeat Antiochus Epiphanes and 2) drive out the Syrians from Palestine. After many successful battles, in succeeding decades, the Jewish army accomplished both things. Antiochus armies were defeated in 165 B.C. and by 142 B.C. the Syrians were completely driven from the land. Independence for the Jews were the results. </div> <div>        With the defeat of Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 B.C. the religious history of the Jews entered a new phase. The Sanhedrin, which had been feebly established some thirty years before, was officially declared the religious authority among the Jews of Palestine. Being in virtual control of the land, the Jews were in position to re-establish the religion that had been in a state of decay for so long. For the first time since the period of the Sopherim, they had independent religious authority. The Sanhedrin took the place of the Spoherim in directing the religious life of the people. But, this governing body of men was to be greatly different from the priestly Sopherim. </div> <div>        During the period of religious anarchy before Antiochus, a fundamental change took place in the attitudes of the priests. Many of the priests were outright Hellenists and steeped in the pagan philosophies of that culture. Not only that, many of them had sided with Antiochus Epiphanes against the common people during the Maccabean Revolt. This cause the common people to be wary of the priests and their teaching. There was a general distrust for anything priestly at this time. </div> <div>        A few priest had not allied themselves with Hellenism and Antiochus Epiphanes. But the large majority, in one way or another, were not faithful to the religion of their forefathers. This general lack of trust for the priests led most of the common people to disapprove of their re-assuming their full former role of being religious authorities. Only those priests who had not been openly in favor of Hellenism were sought and allowed to take their former positions. "The common people could not bring themselves to entrust the other priests with the right to help regulated the religious life of the Jews. Only to these faithful priests were committed chairs in the new Sanhedrin" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, pg. 209). </div> <div>                                NON-PRIESTLY TEACHERS ASSUME AUTHORITATIVE POSITIONS </div> <div>        Under Egyptian control, within the period of the religious anarchy, Palestine had no official teachers of the law. A few individuals here and there endeavored to study the Scriptures in a personal way. Without official teachers, the study obviously had to be a personal and in private. The fact that a few independent students of the Law existed is proved by the few learned men who came to the fore with the establishment of a Sanhedrin. This new Sanhedrin, organized in 196 B.C., was composed of LAY TEACHERS, as well as some priests. "The study of the Law now became a matter of private piety, and as such was not limited to the priests" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, Pg. 198). </div> <div>         This private study, without proper guidance from recognized authority such as the Sopherim were, brought about some surprising results! This same condition happened in the Protestant Reformation. (Many lay teachers arose and many confusing and contradictory divisions arose amongst those who were coming out of the Catholic Church!). </div> <div>        Many of these Jewish teachers, because of their independent private study of the Scripture, were in unity on many of their teachings. Many of these teachers were variously affected by Hellenism. "We shall therefore be not far from the truth if we represent the Sanhedrin in the years from its foundation down to the outbreak of the Maccabean Revolt, as an Assembly of priests and laymen, some of whom inclined to Hellenism while others opposed it out of loyalty to the Torah" (Herford, The Pharisees, Pg. 27). </div> <div>        The differing degrees of Hellenic absorbed among the teachers, mixed with independent study of the Scripture, brought about a new variety of opinions. And in the discussions that followed to determine which opinions to use, the lay teachers claimed as much right to voice their views as the priests. The lay teachers were assured of the common people behind them. "At the beginning of the second century these non -priestly teachers already exerted a great influence in the community and began persistently to claim for themselves, as teachers of the Law, the same authority which, till then, the priests exclusively had enjoyed" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, Pg. 28). </div> <div>        Such privileges that the lay teachers were usurping to themselves would never have been permitted while the Sopherim, the successors of Ezra and Nehemiah, were in authority. The Law of Moses, which God had directly commanded him, clearly enjoined that the priest, with their helpers the Levites, were to perform the functions of teachers, not just any layman who would presume to do so! </div> <div>                               LAY TEACHERS REJECT SOLE AUTHORITY OF PRIESTS TO TEACH! </div> <div>        When the Sanhedrin was re-organized after Antiochus Epiphanes, the lay teachers exhibited more power than ever before. The priest, who were under a ban of discredit before the Maccabean Revolt, were even more so afterward. Lay teachers repudiated the claim that the priests had an exclusive right to be in authority. "These lay teachers, refused to recognize the authority of the priests as a class, and, inasmuch as many of the priests had proven unfaithful guardians of the Law, they would not entrust to them the religious life of the people" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, Pg. 209). Although the lay teachers took the privilege to teach the law, the priests were the only ones allowed to perform the ritualistic Temple services. No lay teacher ever thought of taking over this exclusive position of the priests. BUT, from the time of the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin, after the Maccabean Revolt, the lay teachers became the important religious leaders! </div> <div>        With the re-establishment of the Sanhedrin came many problems. They sought to resume some form of the religion of Moses. "The members of the Sanhedrin took up the interrupted activity of the former teachers, the Sopherim, and like them, sought to teach and interpret the Law and to regulate the life of the people in accordance with the laws and traditions of the fathers. But in their attempts to harmonize the laws of the fathers with the life of their own times, they encountered some great difficulties" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, Pg. 105). The people were keeping so many customs, not observed by their forefathers, that the members of the Sanhedrin became perplexed over what to do. It was not easy to find support from the Scripture which might condone some of the practices of the Jews at this time. The members of the Sanhedrin began to look for ways of justifying the people, rather than following the Scripture commands to correct them (Deu. 32:1-47). </div> <div>        <B>"Many new customs and practices for which there were no precedents in the traditions of the fathers, and not the slightest indication in the Book of the Law, were observed by the people and considered by them as part of their religious laws and practices" (ibid, Pg. 195). The majority of the teachers in the Sanhedrin came to the conclusion that the proper thing to do was to find some way to authoritatively justify these new customs. They were well aware that they could not go to the Scriptures for their support!! This presented a troublesome situation to the Jewish teachers</B> [Emphasis added.].</div> <div>        "The difficulty was to find a sanction in the Torah for the new customs and practices which had established themselves in the community....." (Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha, Pg. 66). The only commands the Jews had from God in this matter were clearly negative. "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them" (Jer. 10:2). "Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise" (Deu. 12:30). The teachers sought a new ways to avoid these scripture commands and to get these new customs sanctioned as proper religious observances. The teachers thought it would have been mis- adventurous to tell the people who wanted to retain these customs the simple commands of the Scriptures. The people were not about to give up these new customs. What, then, did the teachers do to finally get these new religious customs and practices authorized and as having the sanction of God? They came out with a most ingenious fiction which shows an amazing and clever display of human reasoning! </div> <div> <B>                                      The Teachers Pronounce Heathen Customs Jewish in Origin! </B></div> <div>        The conclusion of the Jewish teachers is surprising! They merely taught that all the customs and practices which the Jews were now observing were actually Jewish in origin! "They reasoned this: it is hardly possible that foreign customs and non- Jewish laws should have met with such universal acceptance. The total absence of objection on the part of the people to such customs vouched for their Jewish origin, in the opinion of the teachers" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, Pg. 211). </div> <div>        The Jewish teachers told the people that it was simply not possible for them, being Jews, to have inherited any heathen custom or practice! Since the Jewish teachers accepted these customs as actually being Jewish in origin, it became necessary to carry the theory just a little further. The theory went like this: Since the customs were supposedly Jewish, then they must have been taught by the prophets and the teachers of Israel, even by Moses himself! This is how the customs and practices of the Jews, which in reality they had inherited from the heathen within the period of religious anarchy, were falsely termed the "traditions of the fathers"-- handed down from Moses, the prophets and teachers of old. <U>These are the traditions Jesus condemned</U>!! </div> <div>        There was one difficulty for the Jewish teachers to overcome in this interpretation. There were no such customs and practices as these mentioned in all of Moses' law Nor in any other part of Scripture. This did not dampen the spirit of the Jewish teachers. They also had an answer for this! They maintained that these customs were not put down in written form, and because of this, were not found in the text of Scripture. "These customs were <U>handed down orally from Moses</U>," was their assertion! "They were passed down by word of mouth from Moses through every generation!! By assuming that there was an "Oral Law" called the "traditions of the fathers," this freed the Jewish teachers from having to appeal to the Written Scripture for evidence to back up their statements. </div> <div>        "Accordingly, the teachers themselves came to believe that such generally recognized laws and practices must have been old traditional laws and practices accepted by the fathers and transmitted to following generations in addition to the Written Law. Such a belief would naturally free the teachers from the necessity of finding scriptural proof for all the NEW practices" (Lauterbach, Rabbinic Essays, Pg. 211). </div> <div>                 THESE TRADITIONAL LAWS- THE ORAL LAWS- WERE NOT FROM MOSES! </div> <div>        Nor were they from any of the prophets! There is not a single reference in the Scripture that Moses gave the Israelites any ORAL or TRADITIONAL LAWS that were to be handed down along with the Written Word. The Bible states just the opposite. It plainly says that Moses "wrote the whole law in a book." There is no such thing as an ORAL LAW OF MOSES!! Notice: `And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?" (Deu. 31:24-27). </div> <div>         Moses wrote the Law in a book. And it was this written Word of God that was to be a witness against the Israelites for future generations, not any so-called Oral Law. DR. Lauterbach says, "These traditional laws had no indication in the Written Law and no basis in the teachings of the Sopherim, because they developed AFTER the period of the Sopherim" (ibid, Pg. 206). In other words, tradition originated in the period of the religious anarchy, when the Egyptians were in control of Palestine. "The reorganized Sanhedrin had to reckon with these new laws and customs, now considered as traditional because observed and practiced by the people for a generation or more" (ibid., Pg. 206). </div> <div>        We should not suppose that this theory of the origin of the Traditional laws was wholeheartedly accepted by all the teachers and members of the Sanhedrin. Some of the teachers disapproved of the new interpretation. "The theory of an authoritative traditional law (which might be taught independently of the Scripture) was altogether too new to be unhesitatingly accepted... the theory was too startling and novel to be unconditionally accepted" (ibid., Pg. 211). </div> <div> The Jewish teachers who were the most prone to accept the new fictional interpretation were the lay teachers. Some of the priests were not quite sure this was the way of handling the situation. They maintained that the Sopherim of old had always relied upon the Scripture, and that they would never have countenanced such interpretation which completely side-tracked the Word of God. </div> <div>        "In their (the priests) opinion, the main thing was to observe the laws of the fathers as contained in the Book of the Law, because the people had pledged themselves by oath, in the time of Ezra, to do so. If changed conditions required additional laws and new regulations, the priests and rulers were competent to decree them according to the authority given to them in Deut. 17:8-13" (ibid., Pg. 209). The priests as a whole, declared that the Scripture was the only necessary code of laws to obey! "This apparently simple solution offered by the priestly group in the Sanhedrin did not find favor with the lay members of that body" (ibid., Pg. 209). </div> <div>       The lay teachers, who outnumbered the priestly group, claimed the only way of reconciling these new customs with the Scripture was to recognize them as ORAL Laws handed down from Moses. They began to formulate methods of explaining how these laws were ordained by Moses and transmitted to the Jews then living. Their explanations were not true, but they deliberately taught them anyway. </div> <div>        Lauterbach says, "These lay teachers of the Sanhedrin devised the "methods for connecting with the Law all those new decisions and customs which were now universally observed by the people, thus making them appear as part of the laws of the Fathers" (ibid., Pg.210). Notice, they made them appear as if they were actual traditions of Moses!!! </div> <div>        "The lay teachers had an answer for almost every question that an opponent might ask concerning the validity of these Traditional laws. If one would mention that Deuteronomy 4:2 forbade the addition to the Law, the lay teachers would readily admit that fact but staunchly affirm that the recognition of the Traditional laws was not adding to the Law of Moses. They claimed these laws originated with Moses and represented the complete revelation that God gave him" (ibid., Pg. 44). "If some opponent would voice the truth about the recent origin of these laws, the lay teachers merely declared that the laws were actually Mosaic but had been long forgotten and had just be recalled and reintroduced" (ibid., Pg.45). </div> <div>        "When someone would prove beyond question that these laws were nothing more than pagan practices, in some cases the Jews could maintain that the heathen were following Jewish practices and not vice versa" (Liberman, Hellenism in Jewish Palestine, Pg. 129). Such interpretations were absurdly extreme, completely unjustified and utterly false. How they managed to palm off such fallacious interpretations as actual truth can be understood only if we recognize that the people wanted to receive this error. With the people behind them, the lay teachers could teach what they wished. </div> <div>       "Certain religious practices, considered by the later teachers as part of the traditional law, or as handed down by Moses, originated in reality from other, perhaps non-Jewish sources, and had no authority other than the authority of the people who adopted them" (ibid., Pg. 241). </div> <div>        With the acceptance of these new customs and practices we can date the true beginning of Judaism as a religion! The opportunity of returning to the Law of Moses was rejected. From that time forward, about 150 years before Christ, we become familiar in history with the real Judaism--a religion which the Apostle Paul calls the "Jews religion!" </div> <div>        (To be continued in the next issue of the Prove All Things"). Information for this article was taken from the Good News Magazine, July 1961, published by Ambassador College. We encourage to read the original article titled "Is Judaism the Law of Moses? </div> <div>        It is not the Church of God, In Truth's, intention to degrade the Jewish people. It is our intention to show and prove that Judaism is not the religion of the Old Testament, just as Catholicism is not the true religions of Jesus Christ!</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>