untitled
“JUDAISM”
IS IT THE OLD TESTAMENT RELIGION?
Part
7
In
the last installment we learned when the Egyptians and finally the
Syrians caused violent changes among the Jews in Palestine, the authority
of the Sopherim, the rightful teachers of the Law of Moses was taken
away! We hear nothing more of any of its members outside of Simon
the Just, the High Priest who died in 270 B.C. Simon is describes
as the last remnant of the group. What happened to the remainder of
these teachers is not known. We now continue with period of history
when "Hellenism" spread. Here is how Egyptian tradition replaced the
Law of Moses in the second century before Jesus' birth.
"The
series of wars over the control of Palestine between the Egyptians
on the south and the Syrians on the north--both under Greek domination--created
great political and religious disorder with Palestine. The land was
attacked by invading armies no less than four time between 330 B.C.
and 301 B.C. In the latter year, the land finally succumbed to the
rulership of Ptolemy of Egypt" (M. Margolis, History of the Jewish
People, pg. 128).
During
the early part of this period of Egyptian domination Simon the Just,
the last survivor of the Sopherim died (270 B.C.). With his death
a dark cloud passes over all the religious life of the Jews. We are
informed by Lauterbach, the learned Jewish scholar, "That Jewish tradition
know of no religious teacher who taught any form of religion from
the death of Simon the Just until about the year 190 B.C." (Rabbinic
Essay, pg. 196). "This silence would have been impossible, if there
had been any official activity of the teachers in those years" (ibid.
pg. 196).
This
means that for a period of nearly one hundred year, approximately
the time of Egyptian rule, there was no record of any religious activity
among the Jews!! This is the only period in the history of the Jews
in Palestine of which nothing is recorded. We do not know what caused
this lack of records, but we do know that one of the major reasons
was the influence of Hellenism--the culture of the Greeks---as propagated
by the Egyptians.
Hellenism---the
philosophy of life was exerted upon all peoples subject to the Egyptians!
All persons within the Egyptian territories were to follow the dictates
of the government in this matter. If any person did not follow Hellenism--the
government would take the matters into their own hands and compel
the people to do their biding.
Alexander
the Great had left the conception of Hellenizing the whole of his
empire. His reason was strictly political. He fancied that all his
subject, being Hellenists, would represent a unified empire, not one
of diverse ideas and philosophies, constantly causing troubles with
bickering and strife. Alexanders successors saw that the continued
dissemination of Hellenism would work to their advantage. Ptolemy--Alexander
successor in Egypt carried on the campaign of preaching this Greek
culture to his subject and the Jew did not escape its influences.
"It
was impossible to avoid its influence. The Greek language was the
language of commerce and social intercourse generally, and it became
a matter of necessity to acquire fluency in Greek" (Herford, Talmud
and Apocrypha, pg. 77). By constantly hearing and speaking Greek,
it was natural that the Greek language would become known, and in
many cases begin to be practiced among the Jews. "There was no escape
from that influence (Hellenism). It was present everywhere, in the
street and the market, in the everyday life and all phases of social
intercourse" (ibid, pg. 77).
The
Jews, of all people conquered by Alexander the Great and his various
successors, were seemingly the least likely to adopt the Greek culture,
but the very novelty of it, the variety of its new interests and pleasures
made it exceedingly attractive to the majority of the Jews!
Of
course not every individual was attracted to Hellenism, but everyone
was affected by it, some to a limited and some became outright Hellenists.
"It is safe to say that no one, high or low, who was living in Judea
in the period which includes the whole of the third and the beginning
of the second century B.C. wholly escaped the influence of Hellenism"
(Ibid, pg. 77).
The
most affected by this new culture, rather ironically, were the leaders
of the Jews--the chief priests themselves. Most of the other influential
Jews, also fell under the sway of Hellenism. In effect all the intellectually
able individuals, who should have been leading the common people towards
the observance of the Law of God, were following after the culture
of Hellenism, as preached by the Egyptians. This is the reason no
religious teacher of the Law is mentioned by the Jewish histories
as having existed during this period of Egyptian domination. Because
the Jews were completely surrounded by the teachings of Hellenism,
they incorporated it into their daily lives. They had no real teaching
in the Law of God, because their leaders were completely devoted to
Hellenism.
What
was the natural result of this teaching? Lauterbach give us the answer:
"There prevailed a state of religious anarchy, wherein the practical
life of the people was not controlled by the law of the fathers as
interpreted by the religious authorities, nor were the activities
of the teachers carried on in an official way by an authoritative
body. This chaotic state of affairs lasted for a period of about eighty
years..." (Rabbinic Essays, pg. 200). See also Herford, Talmud and
Apocrypha, page 57.
THE
KEY TO UNDERSTANDING JUDAISM!
The
recognition of this religious anarchy among the Jews is the veritable
key that explains the reason why the Judaism of Christ's day arose.
Had this religious anarchy not occurred there would have been no Judaism
for Christ to contend with. If the Sopherims had continued teaching
the Law of God, then Christ would have come to a people who were fully
obeying the Laws. But instead, we find a people who were practicing
Judaism--the religions of the Jews---not the religions of God as taught
by Moses!
The
knowledge of this religious anarchy gives us a Key to unlock the doctrines
and teachings of Judaism. History prove that Judaism evolved out of
and was directly guided by, the inherited principles of pagan life
acquired during that religious anarchy. The very foundation of Judaism,
its underlying principles, though later covered with a veneer of the
Law of Moses, have their origin within this period of religious chaos.
Let's
consider how this period of religious confusion under the influence
of the Egyptians brought about these significant changes in the Jews'
manner of living! How did the new laws and customs come into Jewish
teachings. Because Hellenism was being taught throughout the known
world, there was no way to escape its influence. Two known historians
of this period, Lauterbach and Herford were fully aware of the chaotic
conditions which existed in this period of Hellenism.
"During
the seventy or eighty years of religious anarchy, many new practices
had been gradually adopted by the people" (Rabbinic Essays, pg. 206).
Herford adds: "in the absence of authoritative guidance, the people
had gone their own way, new customs had found a place amongst old
religious usages...new ideas had been formed under the influence of
Hellenism which had permeated the land for more than a century, and
there had been no one to point out the danger which thereby threatened
the religious life of the people" (Talmud and Apocrypha, pg. 64, 65).
There
must have been a few Jews endeavoring, in a limited way to observe
the Sabbath and perhaps the Sacred festivals, but many of the Jews
rejected the use of Scripture and its teachings. "The people who had
now been in contact with Greek culture..acquired new ideas and became
familiar with new views of life, other than those which they had been
taught by their teachers in the name of the law of the fathers. The
rich and influential classes accepted Greek ideas and followed Greek
customs. The leaders of the people were no longer guided by the laws
of the father, nor was the life of the people controlled solely by
the laws and customs of the fathers as contained in the Torah" (Lauterbach,
Rabbinic Essays, pg. 194).
Even
the scattered Jews were affected. This condition of general religious
anarchy among the Jews was not limited to Palestine. The Hellenistic
culture had been spread wherever the Jews lived throughout
civilized Asia and in many parts of Europe. New ideas and customs
everywhere supplanted the ones they had been taught under the Sopherim.
The luxuries and the extravagant habits of the Hellenists were attractive
to the rich and influential Jews and the acquiring of Hellenism's
new manners for everyday living and public communication became an
economic necessity for the common Jews.
Many
Jews enjoyed the new culture, the new types of learning and philosophies
of thought that came with it. The Greek philosopher, the Greek artists
and the Greek man of letters became figures of great respect and admiration
to the majority of Jews--especially of the learned classes.
Anything
Hellenistic became the object of imitation. The older customs were
looked upon as relics of antiquity that, if they were to be observed
at all, had to be greatly modified according to the new methods of
interpretation promoted by Hellenism!!
"Greek
culture, Greek literature were thrown open to the people of Asia and
it pressed into its pale the native literature, including the Scriptures,
but these in the new daylight looked poor and unformed: now those
who wrote must write Greek, those who thought must think on the lines
of Greek science and philosophy" (Bevan, Jerusalem Under the High
Priests, pg. 37).
"Virtually
everything was changed to conform to this new way of life. Even the
Scripture, when read, was interpreted in the new light of Hellenism"
(Liberman, Hellenism in Jewish Palestine, pg. 62-64). The people abandoned
the simple teachings of Scripture and modified or disregarded them,
and in its place substituted the new customs and practice of Hellenism.
It
is not at all amazing that within the space of a short one hundred
years that such a change could take place. The same thing happened
in the Christian world in the century following 1850 with the introduction
of evolution and higher criticism. Notice what is happening today,
many years after Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong died, the True Church of
God has been scattered, and the Worldwide Church of God no longer
believes that we have to keep the Seventh Day Sabbath Holy as commanded
by God, and now we know they are no longer the True Church of God.
It is easy to see how fast the truth is lost when you stop following
the very Word of God!!
At
the beginning of Egyptian rule in Palestine, many thousands of Jews
were carried captive to Egypt by Ptolemy I. Under Ptolemy II these
Jews gained their freedom. Ptolemy II was inclined to favor the Jews
as a whole and his kind treatment prompted many Jews to accept Hellenism
even more. As a result many thousand of other Jews chose to migrate
from Palestine to Egypt. In a short time there were so many Jews in
Alexandria, Egypt that a full quarter of the city was Jewish! Those
Jews who went to Egypt abandoned the Hebrew language and completely
adopted Greek.
It
was during this time of religious anarchy in Palestine and Egypt,
that the Old Testament was corrupted and then translated into Greek.
It was called the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament. Tradition
has it that Ptolemy II wanted to have a translation of the Jewish
Scriptures made for his library. In the course of time, certain Jewish
scholars were invited by Ptolemy II to accomplish this task. Thus,
the Septuagint Version was born.
Needless
to say, this translation abounds in Hellenistic interpretations. The
version was rejected by later Jews as totally unacceptable because
of its variations from the original, inspired and authoritative Palestinian
Hebrew text and because of its inclination to "improve" the text in
order to please or displease as the case may be its Gentile reading
audience. The translators of this Version thought nothing of adding
to the text or taking away from it whole verses and even whole chapters!
No wonder later Jews renounced this product of Egypt which was translated
during the time of religious anarchy!!
CHRIST
AND THE APOSTLES DID NOT USE THE SEPTUAGINT!
It
has often been assumed that the Septuagint Version, instead of the
original Hebrew Text, was the Old Testament of the early Christian
Church. This is not true!
It
can be shown quite plainly that Christ did not set the example of
using the Septuagint Version. "It was His custom to quote from the
original Hebrew scrolls (Luke 4:16-17). Christ referred to three divisions
of the Hebrew Bible as: THE SCRIPTURE, (Luke 24:44-45)---the Septuagint
Version did not contain these three divisional designations" (International
Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol 1, pg. 555).
Some
scholars endeavor to maintain that the apostles used the Septuagint
Version, however we are informed by Collett, (The Scripture of Truth,
pg. 142-143), that 263 direct quotations from the Old Testament, 88
are verbal quotations that agree with the Septuagint. Does this prove
the apostles use this Version? IT DOES NOT!!
"It
is important to note that the Jews of Palestine, because of the variations
in the Septuagint from the original Hebrew text, regarded the day
the Septuagint was translated as a great calamity equal to the worship
of the golden calf" (Sopherim, i, 7). For an extensive discussion
on these variations, see Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and
Ecclesiastical Literature, vol IX, pg. 533-554.
To
be continued in the next issue of the Prove All Things). Information
for this article was taken from the Good News Magazine, June 1961,
published by Ambassador College. We encourage you to read the original
article titled "Is Judaism the Law of Moses?"
It
is not the Church of God, In Truths, intention to degrade the Jewish
people. It is our intention to show and prove that Judaism is not
the religion of the Old Testament, just as Catholicism is not the
true religion of Jesus Christ.