Therefore, with apologies to David Letterman, I have outlined the Top 10 dangers of the traditional paradigm which threaten Christian preaching on Jews and Judaism. #6. Jesus alone cared for sinners and the marginalized. Jesus certainly preached the forgiveness and mercy of God to sinners and the marginalized. However, because the gospels so often show Jesus in debate with other Jews, the traditional paradigm falsely concludes that Jesus’ opponents were against such mercy and forgiveness. There is no historical foundation for this assumption. All Jews had access to God’s forgiveness through the sacrifices in the temple. The Hebrew Scriptures amply testify to a God who rejoices when a sinner repents and who is the protector of the marginalized. Jesus may have disagreed with his opponents over the means to attain God’s forgiveness. But preachers should resist giving the impression that Jesus’ opponents, and thereby Judaism itself, somehow rejected those who sinned, shunned the marginalized, or denied the mercy and forgiveness of God.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 14:02:34 +0000
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