From: RFaussette@aol.com
Date: Wed Dec 18 2002 - 17:44:09 EST
In a message dated 12/18/02 4:57:41 PM Eastern Standard Time,
ateo@whitworth.edu writes:
> The Israelites' understanding of God and His ways appears to be less
> complete than that of the NT writers, but the NT writers formed their
>
Yes, there was a general dissatisfaction in the NT period with the Temple
sacrificial system which was a tripartite sacrifical system such as hinduism.
People in the NT period looked back to the pure religion before the
tripartite system which had only arisen during the conquest of the landed
agricultural states by pastoralists. Toynbee remarks that this polluted the
religion of the primeval shepherds with the baggage of social stratification.
I base part of that remark on melchizedek a mythological figure who comes
from a time before social stratification when priests and kings were not
different social strata but the priest was the king (melchi-zedek,
king/priest) and there was no social stratification. This dissatisfaction is
strongly attested in Hebrews 7.
Even in genesis it has been suggested that the refence to melchizedek is an
interpolation placed there by solomon to induce the tribes to embrace the
sacrificial system, the levitical priesthood and the capital at jerusalem
because they didn't want a kingdom, they were tribal people.
rich
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