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  1. John D. Brey

    What Was Israel's Ancient Belief?

    Does that include a crucifix? John
  2. John D. Brey

    What Was Israel's Ancient Belief?

    Earlier you pointed out that you can't "unJew" a person. Once they're Jewish no sin or failure can undo the fact that they're a Jew. Which is like the Christian position, "once save always saved," that's so often poo pooed. The irony I was toying with is the fact that there's a certain...
  3. John D. Brey

    What Was Israel's Ancient Belief?

    How do you think they determine that? And does that imply a Jewish mother's womb automatically spews excellent Jews? I wasn't speaking of circumcision. If a female Gentile is to convert to Judaism, a male Jew must authenticate the conversion. Which is peculiar since that same male Jew who...
  4. John D. Brey

    What Was Israel's Ancient Belief?

    As my spiritual mentor, Col. R.B. Thieme Jr., frequently pointed out, ritual without reality is meaningless. Whereas the cross symbolizes the reality that is, for Christians, the death of the son of God, what does circumcision symbolize for Jews? What's the reality that that ritual, brit milah...
  5. John D. Brey

    What Was Israel's Ancient Belief?

    The nearly universal practice of ritual circumcision among Jews isn't that surprising when we see that throughout Jewish scripture and writing circumcision is understood to be something like the symbol or even sin qua non of what it is to be Jewish. Nothing can "un-Jew" someone. Which means...
  6. John D. Brey

    What Was Israel's Ancient Belief?

    "Circumcision" is a word we use to signify a spiritual event or condition. The word "circumcision" is not the thing-in-itself. It's merely a sign we use to signify the thing we label with the word "circumcision." Brit milah is a ritual which, like the word ("circumcision"), merely signifies...
  7. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    The first verse you quoted appears to imply that the "flesh" was (ala prelapse ha-adam) not originally corrupted? Secondarily, in traditional Christian doctrine, Jesus is, because of his virgin birth (which eliminates the seed of the serpent) not yet corrupted. In both cases, the flesh isn't...
  8. John D. Brey

    "Saul(Paul) vowed to destroy all Christians throughout the world"

    Since God is omniscient, he can use his foreknowledge of events in order to guide history to its fitting end. God knew before he created the world that Israel would reject Christ's first advent. That didn't shock God, or make him hate Israel. On the contrary, it's all in the mix. Israel was...
  9. John D. Brey

    "Saul(Paul) vowed to destroy all Christians throughout the world"

    . . . Chronologically speaking Jesus came for the lost sheep of Israel. His original offer was only to Israel. But when they rejected him (such that Israel's leaders conspired to successfully force the Roman's into crucifying him) then, after he was resurrected from that holocaust, he sent his...
  10. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    It follows then that Isaac's life after the עקדה, was the life of a human being who had not originated from a drop of semen. We must view Isaac as someone born-again in consequence of that experience: a totally new creature. G-d had applied the strictest yardstick to him by letting him die, and...
  11. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    Appreciating the sacrifice of the ram as a peace offering directs the focus back to the sacrifice of Isaac as the "lamb" (i.e., the burnt offering). The offering of the ram isn't a replacement for the sacrifice of Isaac, but a celebration of the fact that God accepts Isaac as a burnt offering...
  12. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    Someone will say, But the text literally says: "Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son" (Genesis 22:13). Case closed! ----Nevertheless, Rashi notes that some translations omit an important word found in Genesis 22:13: תחת. In the KJV, the Hebrew...
  13. John D. Brey

    The Garden of Eden

    Apparently you don't know what it means in the context of its usage? The word in Hebrew is yada ידע (the noun is daat דעת). And throughout the Torah, whenever a man has sex with his wife the text claims he gains "knowledge" (yada ידע) of her. Gaining "knowledge" of her as a verb is yada ידע...
  14. John D. Brey

    The Garden of Eden

    Can you reveal to us what fruit tree you know of the fruit of which makes a woman get naked, and if her body swallows, pregnant? The narrative clearly implies, one, that she appreciates the nature of her nakedness after she eats this fruit. Two, that she should cover her private part now that...
  15. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘If you become circumcised, you will receive the secret [sod] of the Lord' . . Due to the merit of circumcision . . . as it is stated: “The secret [sod] of the Lord is [revealed] to those who fear Him.” Bereshis Rabbah, 49:2. The secret of the Lord is...
  16. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    Isaac, however, was the spiritual equivalent of Adam before his sin, since he was the first person who was both conceived and born by parents who had sanctified themselves. The removal of Abraham's foreskin repaired the damage Adam had done by sinning and acquiring a קליפה, husk (symbol of sin)...
  17. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    I'm kinda lost. If I can't equate the word "lamb" שה with a "ram" אילֹ (as I was originally doing till you chided me), then it seems difficult to imply that Abraham gets to do what you chided me for doing, i.e., assuming a lamb and a ram are interchangeable? Can Abraham say,"God will provide the...
  18. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    Not really? If Isaac isn't the lamb, then it seems the narrative goes haywire. Where is the lamb God provides? It's not the animal Abraham actually sacrifices. That's a ram. John
  19. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    In the same sense Rabbi Hirsch argues the sacrifice of the ram must be a more exalted sacrifice than the mere sacrifice of Isaac (not withstanding the stupendous nature of the sacrifice of Isaac), so too, logic and reasons dictate that since God isn't the author of confusion, therefore the...
  20. John D. Brey

    The Akedah aka the Binding of Isaac.

    See, all serious input is valuable. I've gone back and changed the wording to "ram" not "lamb." And more than that, your being nit-picking about the distinction, forced me to try to figure out what's going on when Abraham and Isaac speak of a lamb, while the writer of the story says Abraham...
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