Has Christianity abandoned the Mosaic Law ? Part I

       RPK or Pete, the editor of Malaysia Today claims that Christian opposition
to Sharia implementation, in Malaysia, of Hudud ordinances, are the result of
Christianity abandoning the Mosaic Law.

 The Christian opposition to Hudud is not about civil liberties or democracy
 or to uphold the principles of a Secular State. It is about a denial of the fact 
that  Judeo-Christians have abandoned God’s Commandments while Muslims 
want to defend them.
    
     Pete quotes several examples to prove his point. Is it really true that Christianity
abrogated the Mosaic Law. Moreover is Islamic Sharia law then the defacto standard
for Mosaic Law. Since he mentions that Muslims i quote

'Most Muslims, not all, however, still follow what Moses taught and they still 
abide  to what God commanded. In that sense Muslims make better 
 Judeo-Christians than Jews and Christians themselves'

Leviticus 20:10
And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that 
committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall 
surely be put to 
death. (King James Version)

Deuteronomy 22:24
Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them
with stones that they die. (King James Version)

These are the verses that he quotes against adultery. Lets examine what it says and 
compare it to what his holy book says.

[4:15]   Those who commit adultery among your women, you must have four 

witnesses  against them, from among you. If they do bear witness, then you shall

keep such women in their homes until they die, or until GOD creates an exit for

 them.

[4:16]   The couple who commits adultery shall be punished. If they repent 

and reform, you shall leave them alone. GOD is Redeemer, Most Merciful.

[4:17]   Repentance is acceptable by GOD from those who fall in sin out of 
ignorance, then repent immediately thereafter.  GOD redeems them. GOD is 
Omniscient, Most Wise

 The Quran is ambiguous. It does not quote, paraphrase or mention, anything similar
to the Tanakh. It just says the women is to be kept in their homes until they die or the 
couple shall be punished. 

Now, lets look at the New Testament and see if it is true of what Pete says

'Christians argue that Jesus abrogated these laws, as the excuse, and they 
quote the New Testament as the so-called ‘evidence’
 

⁵³ Then they all went home, 8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered 
around  him, and he sat down to teach them. ³ The teachers of the law and the 
Pharisees brought  in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before
 the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, 
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses
 commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using 
this question as a trap,
  in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When 
they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one
 of you who is without 
sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on 
the ground.
⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, 
until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened 
up and asked her,
 “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

~ John 7:53-8:11

I suggest that one read this passage several times. Does Jesus say, he 
abrogates the Mosaic Law, in any manner ?  Yes or No. If i believe that 
Jesus is Almighty God. That  is my prerogative as a Christ follower. If 
he is Almighty God, does he not have the Power and Authority to forgive
or pardon a Sin. Kapish ( “lei capisce”) ?

 

Poor Ignorant Fishermen ?

            It is interesting, that no one ever questions, who wrote the Bhagavad Gita,
IChing, or the Quran for that matter. Authorship of these writings never seem to
be disputed.  I believe for several reasons. If an author were to write that the
Tao Te Ching was not written by a sage named Laozi or Ved Vyasa did not write
the Bhagavad Gita. No one would care, simply there are no eternal consequences,
or monetary value in writing such a book. The Quran however is a special case,
no one really writes dissertations against it, because we all know how very well,
what happens to those who do. 

           Not only are Christian Gospels disputed as distorted.  Renowned Gospel
Scholar Bart Erhman even claims that the Gospels themselves could not have
been written or attributed to Yeshua's disciples themselves. He makes numerous
inferences that appear to be logical. He does not however apply actual empirical
findings to that argument.  I want to address this smoking gun that others seem to
be hung-up over.

       Eg. Fishermen are illiterate. Therefore Peter and John who were Jewish fisherman
could not have been attributed to the Gospels.

  The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of
 Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no
 special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who
 had been with Jesus. ~ Acts 4:13 NLT

 Some versions translate 'ordinary' with 'unschooled, uneducated, unlearned....'

     It does not mean that they were illiterate. This is simply a myth. I will tell you 
why, empirically. Simply go to a Jewish Shabbat Service anywhere, and observe what
the children do in the middle of the service. They are invited to read passages of 
Scripture out loud. They are thought to dwell on 'the Word' early on in life. I SAW IT
WITH MY OWN EYES. Bart Erhman can go fish for other myths. What is meant 
'ordinary' ? Jewish orthodox believers were schooled very early in age to separate
those with the potential to be part of the rabbinical class. Essentially, Peter and John
were washouts. They were not singled-out as being exceptional i.e. memorizing text,
or comprehending Jewish scripture on a high level. Poor Ignorant fishermen, really ?
 
Why are there differences in the gospels ?

   

Gnosticism or Lost Gospels

     My Bud KT from Ayer Hitam Penang raises an interesting conundrum.

In his Blog KTemoc Konsiders, Different gospels, different stories

   He raises a very valid point. Here he highlights supposedly lost gospels

that was not included in the Canonization of the Christian Bible. 

Per my reply


Lost Gospels ? or rehashed Gnostic Documents. They've been around forever, 
claiming secret knowledge, and contradicting the Cannon.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gnostics.html

as Bart Erhman himself says

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myqo2BrGka4

Best not to quote, a reference that supports your view points,
who also agrees that these Gnostics claimed, Secret Bull Shit knowledge...
Pardon my french.....

Thanks K.T for the article. Inspiration for my next blog article......

KTemoc1:29 pm, March 09, 2015

Secret Bull Shit knowledge - which ones? The mainstream bible or 

the Gnostic gospels, or both

Gnostic writings appeared in the 1st and 2nd century seemingly
to contradict or add to, erroneous heretical information on Christianity

I can't speak directly as to the authenticity of those writings. However,

as someone who believes that Yeshua himself was not against empiricism

i.e. verifiable knowledge or experience. After all, he told Thomas to

put his hand in the wound in his side.

  

²⁴ One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),^[c] was 

not with the others when Jesus came. ²⁵ They told him, 

“We have seen the Lord!”

But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his 
hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound 
in his side.”
²⁶ Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time 
Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as
 before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” 
he said. ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and 
look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. 
Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” ~ John 20 NLT

Why are Gnostic writings erroneous to me. Simply, we cannot establish
a chain that connects any of the writings to the original Apostles. The
content contradicts and establishes a different pattern of thought
i.e. denies the incarnation etc

Case in point the 'Gospel of Judas'. Can someone explain to me 
how someone who commits suicide apon the the Crucifixion of Yeshua
was able to pass on intimate Secret .... Knowledge to his  supposed 
followers of scribers. It took decades to compile the original writings 
of the Apostles. However, someone who commits suicide so soon upon
the Crucifixion event is able to divulge information that required
painstaking amount, hundreds of hours of transcribing, on leather 
parchment. This lends more credence by Dr. Bart Erhman as acceptable
, whereas contextual errors in copies of original manuscripts of the New 
Testament, must be relegated to disputed at the very least. That is like 
saying if i build a jet engine of a hardened titanium component to 
6 Sigma Standards i.e. 3.5 dpmo and i find 3 defects i should throw 
away the other over 999 thousand parts. Whereas, if the part were 
made of playdough with 0 defects. Eureka, let's get on that jet plane