A common but erroneous assumption. It's easily demonstrable that the content of the Revelation in Christ was utterly contrary to contemporary Hellenist belief, which follows a dualism, rather than an Hebraic holism. Origen'd dispute with Celsus evidences this, as does the Church's rejection of Marcion and Montanus, for example.
To pick up a Jewish man and to make of him a demigod had always been a Hellenistic theology. Jesus was a Jewish man, whose Faith was Judaism in which there is no such a thing as the Hellenistic mythology of a demigod or man god.
Justin Martyr believed that if what Christ said was true, then the doctrine must be accessible to reason — that it can be argued philosophically.[/quote]
Jesus did say the truth because he spoke according to the Law and the Testimony, which is the test in Isaiah 8:20 for those who claim Divine inspiration. But 80 percent of what is claimed about Jesus, was not said by him.
As Christianity spread beyond Jewish borders, the mythopoeic methodology of the Jews would not suffice to adequately express its metaphysical content — it was too isolationist.
Christianity did not at all spread from within the Jewish borders, but from the borders of the Greek city of Antioch, where Christians were for the first time called Christinas. (Acts 11:26) And the reason was because Paul spent there a whole year teaching that Jesus was Christ.
Rather He revealed the spirit that transcends the letter.
The spirit that transcends the letter is revealed in Psalm 119. The whole chapter. Read it. Jesus rather warned us all to observe the Law according to the letter. Read Mat. 5:17-19.
He also said "before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58) and "I am the way the truth and the life" (John 14:6). He said listen to me.
That was never said by Jesus because he was a Jewish man and not a Greek demigod. Besides, the proof that the whole chapter 8 of John was a forgery by the Church is in the contradiction that in verse 31, Jesus was speaking to the Jews that had believed in him, and in verse 44, he called those Jews children of the devil. Any one can see the antisemitic hand of the Hellenistic Gentiles who wrote the book of John. Besides, Luke reports about John as having been an unlearned and ignorant man. As far as I am concerned, illiterate men do not write books. That's just another evidence that Hellenists, former disciples of Paul wrote the gospels.
So the Shema Israel is a strawman strategy?
I meant to say that "religion of the heart" is a cop out because there is no religion which is not of the heart. Therefore, the expression is a stupid redoundance with the intent to promote Replacement Theology, which is translated as vandalism of Judaism by Christianity.
So the word of the Lord in Osee 11:1-4, for example, is nonsense?
"... Because Israel was a child, and I loved him: and I called my son out of Egypt ... And I was like a foster father to Ephraim, I carried them in my arms: and they knew not that I healed them. I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love... "
No, there is no nonsense. Nonsense is found in the lack of understanding of metaphorical language by some people. The child and son are Israel as a People who indeed were in Egypt at the beginning before they became an organized nation, and not as one individual among the people. "Foster father, arms, hands of love," all to be interpreted metaphoricall. Jesus was never in Egypt, unless you wanna dig another contradiction between Matthew and Luke.
In spirit and in truth — that is with the whole body, the whole person.
What is the truth, do you know what is the truth? Jesus said that it is the Word of God. (John 17:17) Now, do you know whom was the Word of God given to? Read Psalm 147:19,20. To Israel only and to no other people on earth.
But not very well, or rather, they were badly led.
In that case, Jesus either lied or did not know what he was talking about. Because that's what you seem to imply.
Ben
