Oops Moments in Biblical Commentary
Here are a couple of my favorite “oops” moments in eavesdropping on people’s characterizations of the Bible:
“We don’t need to obey all that Leviticus stuff, we just need to listen to Jesus and love our neighbor as ourselves.”
And this one, in a New Testament Intro course, arguing against Pauline authorship of the Pastoral Epistles:
“In Paul’s letters, such as 1 Corinthians, we see that church leadership and worship is charismatic, more free, led by the Spirit; in the Pastorals everything is much more… what was it they used to say at Princeton?… ‘done decently and in order.’”
(If you’re scratching your head: In example 1, Jesus is citing Leviticus 19:18; in example 2, the final quote is from 1 Corinthians 14:40.)
Well, after all, God helps those who help themselves.
“We don’t need to obey all that Leviticus stuff, we just need to listen to Jesus and love our neighbor as ourselves.”
lol…this is great, i wonder if they’ve ever heard of marcionism, the early christian heresy that denounced the entire old testament…
but that’s not even the real issue, the real issue is what does is REALLY look like to “listen to Jesus and love our neighbor as ourselves”?
dies jesus lay exclusive claim to this admonishment? after all rabbi hillel said long before jesus, “”What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn” (Shab. 31a)”
JRDK,
Thanks for sharing your time and thoughts. Bookmarked and enjoy your blog.
I am still scratching my head on example one. What was Jesus citing?
Although I get the overall gist, I was wondering about the citation.
Thanks,
PDR
I entered a comment and question earlier that evidently didn’t survive Moderation. I am not sure what happened. I was wondering about the citation of Leviticus 19:8 by Jesus, as it regarded dietary habits. I found the verse (19:18) that contains the words Jesus cited regarding loving one’s neighbor. I had looked throughout Leviticus 19 this morning but overlooked them until just now. Anyway, was now wondering what happened to my earlier reply, as it had nothing in it (words or intention) that I thought would keep it from being posted. In any event, I’ll continue to read and learn with much appreciation. Thanks.
PDR, sorry about that. My typo threw us both off–you not knowing what I was on about, me not knowing why my explanation was insufficient!
Thanks for coming around and for following up.
Peace,
jrdk