[ExI] Are literalists the only consistent members of a faith?

[BillK]

On 6/11/09, Damien Broderick wrote:
>  In Xianity, there's a handy escape clause in respect of the more brutish
> requirements of the Old Testament. Jesus abrogated many such horrors
> (including literalist "Pharisaic" scrupulosities over Sabbath restrictions),
> and because he's G-d, hey, he's got the right.
>


Ooooh! That's a big simplification!   ;)

Don't blame Jesus. It was Paul that got rid of the Law because he was
preaching to Gentiles.

Jesus (if he existed) was a Jewish rabbi. A bit radical, admitted.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the
truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not
the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law
until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18).

The earliest followers of Jesus were a Jewish sect that followed the Law.
Then Paul arrived and had lots of arguments with them. Not that they
could do much as they didn't have much say on what went on outside
Jerusalem.

The Jewish sect were destroyed when the Romans sacked Jerusalem. So
Paul's version was what survived and became the official church of
Rome.

BillK