PJ's Journal

As I was reading this week, I could not help but think about the similarities of Jewish religious thought and worldview to that of my own; however, there is a huge difference relative to receiving salvation. First let’s take a look at Jewish religious thought during the Intertestamental time period. Jews had a very high view of God. It starts with His name. They held the name of God in such reverence that they “put a fence around” His name by refusing to say YHWH for fear that they might mispronounce His name, and therefore, misuse His name breaking the third commandment. 1 The Jews had an elitist attitude toward the rest of the world. The considered themselves to be the elect of God through the covenant relationship they had with Him. The law played a special part in this relationship. Scott says, “Through the requirements of the law Israel was constantly reminded of her inclusion in the covenant.” 2 This provides the backdrop to the huge difference relative

I read one of the more fascinating letters written by a second century apologist named Justin (given the title of Martyr because that is how his life ended). In the following post I describe 2nd century apologetics and what the church can learn from it. Apologetics is a defense of one's belief system. In the second century, as a result of persecution by the state, Christians began to defend their faith by incorporating their culture into their defense. Apologists, like Justin Martyr, were defending the faith on several fronts: pagan intellectuals, the state, the Jews, and heretics within the church. 1 Rome was accusing Christians of atheism, cannibalism, and incest. 2 The accusation of atheism is not what you or I immediately think of. According to Ferguson "An atheist was someone who did not observe the traditional religious practices, regardless of what faith he professed." 3 Christianity was not thought of as a traditional religion, but rather a new one... one

During the time of the New Testament, there were three major religious and political sects of Judaism. They were the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. Two key issues defined each of these groups: religious philosophy and practice, and social and political philosophy. First, let us look at their religious philosophy and practice. The Sadducees were generally men associated with the priesthood probably as a carry over from their association with the priestly Hasmonean rulers. 1 However, Scott says, “it must not be assumed that all Sadducees were priest nor that all priest were Saducees.” 2 They did control the operations of the Temple. Their authoritative source for religious philosophy and practice was the Old Testament law. They rejected the oral law of the Pharisees in favor of the written law of the Old Testament. Scott says, “The Sadducees were conservative and literalistic in handling the Old Testament law as they resisted the new i

In this post I will be explaining the religious institution during the time of Jesus and talking about what the church can learn from them. There are three religious institutions during the time of Christ. The first institution is the Temple, which was the worship center of Judaism. 1 Sacrifices in the morning and the evening were offered and both rituals were almost identical. 2 While in the temple, where no Gentiles were permitted, the Jewish people would observe the sacrifice, recite the Ten Commandments, the Shema, benedictions, other prayers, and even sing in praise to God. 3 Toward the end of the ritual, the Levites began singing, trumpet blasts prompted the people to prostrate themselves, and when the singing ended so did the service. 4 The second institution is the synagogue. The synagogues provided a variety of functions for Judaism. Lea says this about the synagogue, “The synagogue served as the center of religious, social, and educational life for the Je