Israel and the New Testament, An Apology
Dear Readers,
I would like to address the criticism I had received in the past couple of days. There are two particular areas that trouble certain commenters. Those two areas are my usage of the New Testament and my disregard of Zionistic ideals. Let me attempt to put to rest these insinuations.
The first of these I would like to deal with is my usage of the New Testament. I do not treat the New Testament with the reverence due to a holy book, but I do believe that there is something to be gained fro its pages. To know the ethics of another is to better understand them. Of the religions of the world, one of the most common is the Christian faith based on this anthology of books. These books make certain observations on the Jewish community that we cannot dismiss as easily as my critics would like. The Jews are portrayed in a certain way consistent with the mentality that we have now. I used these observations as an historical observation (even if it is biased) on the Jews of the second temple era. According to some of my critics, it was comparable to the usage of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Now the major difference between these two works is that one's protagonist is actually confirmed by an outside source (Flavius Josephus) while the other is propaganda and completely fabricated. We live in a place where Christians of all types are the majority, I am just surprised at my critics unwillingness to learn the psychological, sociological, ethical, and religious mindset of the local majority. This isn't liberal mumbo jumbo, but in order to ascertain how to deal with the outside world, we must familiarize ourselves with it. Before my critics condemn me for even knowing the New Testament, they should read it themselves and invest some time in learning the ways of the outside world. It will stregnthen their faiths and give them a sense of what Gentiles are all about.
As for my Zionists, allow me to quote what I said in a previous post:
"Israel is good, it should be our headquarters, but not our end-all be-all."
-Marc Kolb, Modern Orthodox Jewish Social and Religious Reform, Joshua's Revolution and Isiah's Light Unto the Nations
I agree that Israel should be our headquarters, but I also repeat that we are not a world rendered unto ourselves. We do have a mission to complete and that mission heavily involves the Diaspora, which probably encompasses the whole of the Earth. Again, Israel is important and far be it from me to deny that importance, but it is just not relevant to the social reform of the Jewish community. Great, a bunch of American Jews move to Israel, we will still have the same problem there that we have here. Israel is a focal point for our goal, not to be mistaken for the goal itself.
And so, dear critics, I hope this has satisfied your enquiries.
-Marc Kolb
I would like to address the criticism I had received in the past couple of days. There are two particular areas that trouble certain commenters. Those two areas are my usage of the New Testament and my disregard of Zionistic ideals. Let me attempt to put to rest these insinuations.
The first of these I would like to deal with is my usage of the New Testament. I do not treat the New Testament with the reverence due to a holy book, but I do believe that there is something to be gained fro its pages. To know the ethics of another is to better understand them. Of the religions of the world, one of the most common is the Christian faith based on this anthology of books. These books make certain observations on the Jewish community that we cannot dismiss as easily as my critics would like. The Jews are portrayed in a certain way consistent with the mentality that we have now. I used these observations as an historical observation (even if it is biased) on the Jews of the second temple era. According to some of my critics, it was comparable to the usage of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Now the major difference between these two works is that one's protagonist is actually confirmed by an outside source (Flavius Josephus) while the other is propaganda and completely fabricated. We live in a place where Christians of all types are the majority, I am just surprised at my critics unwillingness to learn the psychological, sociological, ethical, and religious mindset of the local majority. This isn't liberal mumbo jumbo, but in order to ascertain how to deal with the outside world, we must familiarize ourselves with it. Before my critics condemn me for even knowing the New Testament, they should read it themselves and invest some time in learning the ways of the outside world. It will stregnthen their faiths and give them a sense of what Gentiles are all about.
As for my Zionists, allow me to quote what I said in a previous post:
"Israel is good, it should be our headquarters, but not our end-all be-all."
-Marc Kolb, Modern Orthodox Jewish Social and Religious Reform, Joshua's Revolution and Isiah's Light Unto the Nations
I agree that Israel should be our headquarters, but I also repeat that we are not a world rendered unto ourselves. We do have a mission to complete and that mission heavily involves the Diaspora, which probably encompasses the whole of the Earth. Again, Israel is important and far be it from me to deny that importance, but it is just not relevant to the social reform of the Jewish community. Great, a bunch of American Jews move to Israel, we will still have the same problem there that we have here. Israel is a focal point for our goal, not to be mistaken for the goal itself.
And so, dear critics, I hope this has satisfied your enquiries.
-Marc Kolb
posted by Marc Kolb | 11:44 PM
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