Leviticus: SOOOOOOOOO Catholic

[Crumpy]

Well, I’m starting my reading of the Bible with the intention of reading the whole thing. Every other book is on “hold.”

Exodus is such a Catholic book. It has God’s command to observe the LORD’S Passover in all generations. The Israelites not only sacrifice the lamb, they consume it. What a great foreshadowing of our Eucharist, the Divine Passover Meal in the Mass.

But! Look at Leviticus: Chapter after chapter of people confessing their sins to the priest. It’s so Catholic! It’s right there in scripture, the command of God – a Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Hebrew Testament. (I’ve got Scott Hahn’s ‘Swear to God’ on my book shelf; not trying to steal his thunder on this, if he mentions this in that book.) But,you just read it and there it is!

I’m not quite finished with Leviticus, but somewhere around Chap 18 God says to Moses that people can’t just sacrifice animals out in a field someplace, either. That’s too close to neighboring pagan rituals, and it violates the idea of offering the atoning sacrifice at the altar at the Tent of the Meeting (near the mercy seat of God).

But, sadly it’s scary reading it, too. I’d run out of sheep to offer for all my sins. LORD have mercy.

 

[deb1]

Well, I’m starting my reading of the Bible with the intention of reading the whole thing. Every other book is on “hold.”

Exodus is such a Catholic book. It has God’s command to observe the LORD’S Passover in all generations. The Israelites not only sacrifice the lamb, they consume it. What a great foreshadowing of our Eucharist, the Divine Passover Meal in the Mass.

But! Look at Leviticus: Chapter after chapter of people confessing their sins to the priest. It’s so Catholic! It’s right there in scripture, the command of God – a Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Hebrew Testament. (I’ve got Scott Hahn’s ‘Swear to God’ on my book shelf; not trying to steal his thunder on this, if he mentions this in that book.) But,you just read it and there it is!

I’m not quite finished with Leviticus, but somewhere around Chap 18 God says to Moses that people can’t just sacrifice animals out in a field someplace, either. That’s too close to neighboring pagan rituals, and it violates the idea of offering the atoning sacrifice at the altar at the Tent of the Meeting (near the mercy seat of God).

But, sadly it’s scary reading it, too. I’d run out of sheep to offer for all my sins. LORD have mercy.

The Jewish people were not bible alone people. They believed in oral tradition that was eventually written down in the Torah. I’ve often wondered, if the Jewish people from which Christ sprang were not only Bible only, then why are we supposed to be?

 

[Crumpy]

The Jewish people were not bible alone people. They believed in oral tradition that was eventually written down in the Torah. I’ve often wondered, if the Jewish people from which Christ sprang were not only Bible only, then why are we supposed to be?

I would agree that the Jews were not Bible-only people, and that’s not because they didn’t try.

Certainly, though, when reading Exodus and Leviticus there is nothing but “black and white” “do it or die” religion at least at face value.

Consider how two of the sons of Aaron were put to death for not burning incense correctly, and then there’s some incident that I recall about Moses directing a man to be stoned to death, for blasphemy, if I’m not mistaken.

You can say that the Jews were not Bible-only Jews, but that is only to their detriment as far as I can read. And, I think the point is, at least the way it is portrayed in these early books, is that there is so much direct revelation to Moses. Hey, God comes to dwell on Mount Sinai and Moses spends 40 days up there talking to God, as to a friend (it says).

On the other hand, I’ve cited Rabbi David Wolpe elswhere in these forums and given a link to his webpage and essay on just how the Jews COULD NOT follow the statutes. That is because, the statutes themselves were not always clear, and the punishments were not always clear. Here’s a contemporary Jew showing that they could not be literalistic.

Yes, I’m glossing a couple issues here with the idea of the Jews being ‘people of the book.’ Still, it’s the same point, that, as you know from watching Fiddler on the Roof, that tradition in its direct and extended forms are so important to the Jews.

Jaroslav Pelikan in his book Whose Bible is it? has a revealing essay on the little mentioned traditions of the Torah, which is worth the reading.

Catholics are NOT supposed to be ‘people of the book’ and it says that explicitly in Vatican II’s Verbum Dei (according to Fr. Corapi) and is quoted in the CCC, I believe.

 

[Traditional_Ang]

Deb & Grumpy:

I’m sure you’ll find a LOT more as you search Leviticus and the Torah…

A few things I think I should remind you of - For Observant Jews, The Torah was given to Moses by G-d in the Desert (Mostly on Horeb), and the whole of the RENACH is Inspired of G-d, with those parts which say, “Thus says YHWH…” or the equivalent being directly spoken by HIM.

The Oral Tradition includes works such as the Mishnah and the Talmud, which our LORD was familiar with, since HE was a Rabbi and a Pharisee.

The three Orders we know (Bishop, Priest and Deacon) were established in Leviticus (High Priests, Priests and Levites) and the Pattern of the Covenant we know was also established in the Nation of Israel (Anointed Davidic King, Queen Mother, Prime Minister with the Keys of the Kingdom and Authority over day to day affairs of the Kingdom and Ministers of the Termple) and carried over in the new Covenant of the Church (Our Lord, His Mother who is the Queen of Heaven, the Peter’s descendents who have the Keys of the Kingdom and Authority here on earth and the 3-fold sacraficial ministry of Bishops, priests and deacons).

Our LORD took an old pattern, redeemed it and made it new, but HE didn’t create something people weren’t familiar with.

I hope this gives you a good start…

Your Brother in Christ, Michael