Judaic thought is far more cogent to me

[reen12]

[Post 1, of 2 opening posts]

Where are the parallels - between the Passover [and the Exodus],
and the liturgy of the Eucharist?

God delivers His people from bondage to the Egyptian pharaoh.
[Christ delivers us from original sin.]

God parts the waters, to save His people.
[Saving water is poured on those baptized, removing
‘original sin.’]

A lamb is slain, to provide the blood on the lintel, and His people are saved from death.
The lamb was eaten, to provide strength for the journey to come. [the Exodus],
at God’s command.
Jesus is the Lamb of God, and we are saved through the blood that He shed,
eating the ‘lamb of God,’ both flesh and blood, as part of this memorial meal,
at the command of Jesus. “This is My body, which will be given up for you.”
“This is My blood, which will be shed for you.”

Yet there is a problem. What - precisely, were we being saved “from?”
It was St. Paul - not Christ - who spoke of an original ‘sin’ - from which
we needed to be saved. No original sin - no second, individual exodus, required.

I have four questions.

1- The Temple was destroyed, in 70 CE. About 35 years after the death of Jesus,
and His resurrection - if testimony, to this effect, is accepted as fact.
Is this not too co-incidental, to be discounted? - in terms of a new Passover
having been instituted. With Jesus as the lamb Who was slain?

2 -How address the two psalms, quoted by Christians - to bolster a claim of
much earlier ‘knowledge’ - of original sin? [Catholic scriptures numeration:]

Psalm 51: 7
Psalm 88: 16

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Questions 3 and 4 in post # 2

reen12

 

[reen12]

3 - In the first centuries of Christianity, how many were martyred for
following the Christian messiah? Why would anyone accept martydom,
unless one truly held that Jesus was Savior, God/Man?

Tertullian: “In the blood of the martyrs lies the seed of the Church” (Apologeticum, 1).

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4 -The most pressing argument, I find - in favor of Christian assertions, is this:

There are now 7 billion human beings on the planet.
[Billions of human beings have lived and died, in the 20 centuries
since Jesus was hailed as the God/Man.]
It was through Christianity, that many billions, across the centuries, heard of the one God -
now said to be Three divine Persons - God as Trinity.

So when I argue all of this, in my head - I keep coming back to this one thing:
How many, 2000 years later, would have even the knowledge that God exists,
and that He is one, not plural - where it not for the Christian faith?

How do I address this very point, if confronted with same?

Is it not God’s will that He be known, and acknowledged, as the One God,
Who created all things?
Was the coming of the Christ His Way [literally] of making Himself known to the world?
“I am the Way and the Truth and the Light.” Jesus of Nazareth]

Yet even here - only 3 of 7 billion people, in our own day,
acknowlege God as One - with only 2 billion people holding
that God is One in Three. A Trinity. [Christianity]
So any argument, that may be made - with regard to making
God known to all of humankind, as a ‘reason’ for a ‘new’
covenant - is nearly moot. Christendom, itself, is highly divided.

And this - in a day and age of instant communication, and
the creation of a true ‘global village,’ with the spread of the internet.

I tend to think that His people remain His people, still.
That the members of Judaism intercede with God,
on behalf of all human kind. That the concept of the
‘righteous Gentile,’ is absolutely accurate. They are
not our ‘elders, in the faith,’ they are God’s people.

And so I think: Let God’s people be God’s people.
Theirs is the responsibilty, in terms of the *mitzvos. *
[Catholicism speaks of a ‘natural law’ - while there are the ‘Noahide laws,’
to guide the Gentile.]

torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter1-18b.html

I think, too, of the following: Zechariah8: 20–23

Thus says the Lord of Hosts: There shall yet come peoples, the inhabitants of many cities,
and the inhabitants of one city shall approach those of another, and say:
“Come! let us go to implore the favor of the Lord,”
and, “I too will go to seek the Lord.”
Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to implore the favor of the Lord.
Thus says the Lord of Hosts: In those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues,
shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say,
“Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”

That is why I so often think:

“Let me go with you, for I have heard that God is with you.”

reen12