Personality of Jesus - Essay Example

Paul certainly made a concerted effort to distance the persona of Jesus from His Jewish background, by elevating Him to a supernatural and transcendent platform. While addressing his Corinthian congregations, Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and our faith has been in vain…. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins (1 Cor., 15:14, 17).

The most rampant misconception about Judaism in the academic and theological circles is that the Jewish theology and law happens to be an utterly monolithic entity that is devoid of all the versatility and elements of dissent, the attributes so essential to claim validity and social and popular acceptance in the modern world. Not only is this impression far from reality, but utterly dilutes the reality that like other valid religions, Judaism is a living, vibrating, and ever-evolving religion that is seriously sensitive to the needs of the times and the altering aspirations of the masses. Ample evidence about this fact exists in the Jewish religious texts.

Several learned and influential sources have done their best to establish that Judaism is basically misogynistic and is peculiarly harsh to the issues and problems faced by women in the past and the present. Many people believe that Jesus’ injunctions against divorce were an attempt to safeguard the women of His times against the injustices of the Jewish laws. The fact is that prejudices rampant against women in the times of Jesus were not peculiar to Judaism only, but were a generalized phenomenon that was common to the Jewish and non-Jewish societies of those days. Hence, misogynist tendencies cannot be solely attributed to the Jews, when the Church itself has its share of prejudices against women and other marginalized segments of the society.

The Liberation Theology and the World Council of Churches can definitely re-fabricate their version of Christianity to be more contemporary to extend their scope for justice and reconciliation to incorporate a Jewish context, by accepting the Jewish background of Jesus, to begin with.

Levin’s message of interfaith dialogue seems to agree with Jesus’ understanding of religion as Jesus assessed the faithful by their conduct, which left ample scope for the participation of non-Christians. However, this does not hold for Paul’s understanding of religion.

A Marcionite is a person who recognizes Jesus to be the savior sent by God and regards Paul to be His chief apostle but is intolerant of Yahweh and the Hebrew Bible.

Constantine, I knew as Constantine the Great, was the first Roman emperor who was affiliated with Christianity.

A Gnostic is a person who owed allegiance to a series of religions that originated in antiquity, which had elaborate and sometimes contradictory belief systems. The Jewish mystical studies of Kabbalah owe a lot to Gnostic ideas.

Shema stands for an affirmation of the Jewish faith and a firm belief in one God. Jews are expected to say Shema in the morning and at night.