Hebrews - the problem of Religion

Hebrews - the problem of Religion

• 1.
  Hebrews Series: Resurrection trumpsReligion Part 1: The context and the problem?
• 2.
  A Literary approachto Hebrews “Disciplined attention” • Rhetorical Questions – Purpose of the text? (Pastoral situation/problem?) – Audience? (Doing, feeling, thinking?) – What is its argument?(Total act of discourse – whole not the parts) – Desired effect on the readers? – Us as modern readers??? Are we implicated?
• 3.
  What problem isHebrews addressing?
• 4.
  The “Judaising” ofChristianity • Jewish believers losing confidence in the faith • One foot in, one foot out • Returning to the rituals and outward splendor • Mixing the gospel with Jewish traditions • Polluting and diluting the truth • But how is this relevant to us?
• 5.
  How are weengaged as modern readers?
• 6.
  ‘Religion’ as smokescreento God “How can Christ become the Lord of the religionless as well? If religion is only a garment of Christianity – then what is religionless Christianity? ” “How do we speak in a ‘secular’ way about God? In what way are we… not regarding ourselves from a religious point of view as specially favoured, but rather as belonging to the world? In that case, Christ is no longer an object of religion but something quite different, really the LORD of the world”
• 7.
  What is ‘religion’? MetaphysicsInteriority “Adding God, as reality, to reality” Profane/visible Sacred “God” is relegated outside the world & public sphere of life “God” is retained in the sphere of personal, intimate, private life God limited to boundaries of human experience “The religious man searches furiously to reserve a place for God and today this place is at the boundaries”
• 8.
  Schizophrenia of Sundayto Monday??? “Distinction between sacred and profane; Sacred places and profane places; profane working days and sacred days; secular people and priests; profane love and sacred love; the religious aspect and human sentiments”
• 9.
  So we cannotbe religious ‘specialists’ “God is no stop-gap; he must be recognised at the centre of life, not when we are at the end our resources. It is his will to recognised in life, not only in death; in our activities, not only in our sin. In Christ, there are not ‘Christian’ problems” “The Christian adds nothing to the human; the Christian does not add anything more to the human than God adds to the world. The Christian is the human being, the entirely human man.”
• 10.
  We add athird – ‘morality’ • Breaking the ‘divide’ down (public/private) without also breaking the ‘metaphysics’ divide down • Leads to morality – ie ‘sacred’ invades the ‘profane’ • Narrows the problems of life down to ‘religious’ and we still have a God at the edges……
• 11.
  A ‘moral’ messagecondemns faith to the edges of life … “I should like to speak of God not on the boundaries but at the centre, not in weakness but in strength; and therefore not in death and guilt but in man’s life and goodness” “The attack by the Christian apologetic on the adulthood of the world I consider to be pointless, ignoble and unchristian. It seems to me like an attempt to put a grown-up man back into adolescence …it exploits man’s weakness for purposes that are alien to him and to which he has not freely assented. It confuses Christ with one particular stage in man’s religiousness ie a human law”
• 12.
  The Jewish audience “Walka mile in their shoes” Empathy = Thinking, Feeling, Doing?
• 13.
  The Five Jewishsects • Pharisees – Rules & regulations • Sadducees – Temple • Essenes – Monastic • Zealots – Political • Baptisers – John Baptist & Jesus The Social vision of the early church What if Christianity was seen as a Jewish movement, expanding Judaism to its natural conclusion – including by the early Christians?
• 14.
  The Centrality ofthe Temple “As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look Teacher what massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” Mark 13
• 15.
  The Devastation ofits Destruction “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down. “Tell us when will these things happen?” “This generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.”
• 16.
  An apocalyptic disasterfor the Jews “When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it does not belong – then those who are in Judea feel to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter into the house to take anything out. …How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!..”
• 17.
  The drama ofActs: Struggle not just expansion • Ever widening spread of the gospel – Geographical theme (Missionary journeys + Paul-centric view) • Struggle to break free from “Jerusalem” – New wine needs new wineskins. • Social drama – finding a new social identity to house the gospel. A reluctant and tortured journey – not a deliberate one. • Personal drama – Paul and his lifelong agonised struggle with his Jewish roots & identity • Three assumptions they made - • The “Way” would be a Jewish movement not separate • Hoped Jews would be converted as an entire nation • Did not at first believe/expect wholesale Gentile conversions & would never have expected what history unfolded…
• 18.
  Acts of theApostles: A tale of two cities Acts 1:12 “Then they returned to Jerusalem…” Acts 28:28 “For two whole years Paul stayed there (Rome) in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him”
• 19.
  The dramatic structureof Acts “Trust the tale not the teller” Acts 20 - 28 The Pauline ‘agony’ & struggle with Jerusalem – trip to Rome Acts 1 – 9 The Early days and the first rift - Martyrdom of Stephen & Paul’s conversion Acts 10 – 13 Peter & Cornelius, defence to the elders & Antioch church Acts 13 – 20 Paul’s missionary journeys & defence at Council of Jerusalem “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?” says the LORD (Acts 7:49)
• 20.
  The dramatic tensionof Acts “The tug of Jerusalem on the gospel expansion not just geographical but spiritual/cognitive apprehension” Acts 20 - 28 The Pauline ‘agony’ & struggle with Jerusalem – trip to Rome Acts 1 – 9 The Early days and the first rift - Martyrdom of Stephen & Paul’s conversion Acts 10 – 13 Peter & Cornelius, defence to the elders & Antioch church Acts 13 – 20 Paul’s missionary journeys & defence at Council of Jerusalem Peter is ‘stretched’ by the Holy Spirit but rapped on the knuckles by the elders.. “please explain” The ‘Jerusalem’ core becomes ‘Jewish believers’ NOT ‘Jewish priestly antagonists The Religion was infecting the church & the Jerusalem clique ran the church as its leaders. Acts 11:2 “So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticised him and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
• 21.
  The dramatic structureof Acts “James & the old guard run the show” Acts 15 “Some men came from Jerusalem teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised …you cannot be saved.” Believed in Christ AND circumcision as way of salvation Acts 15 “Some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees …”Gentiles must be required to obey the law of Moses” Some believers remained part of the Pharisees publicly Acts 15 “James said ‘We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them (four Jewish rules to keep) For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath” Moses, the law & social compliance still dominate their frameworks and decisions
• 22.
  The personal agonyof Paul “The authentic unresolved journey of a rejected man” “In my experience of it, age has a tendency to make one’s sense of oneself harder to maintain, less robust in some ways…” John Ames in ‘Gilead’ by Marilynne Robinson Acts 20:16 “Paul had decided to avoid spending time in Asia because he was in a hurry to reach Jersualem. …’And now compelled by the Spirit I am going to Jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there (a sense of gathering doom). … They pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart?”
• 23.
  Acts 21:17 “Paulwent to see James and all the elders and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles. When they heard this they praised God. Then they said to Paul: ‘You see brother how many thousands of Jews have believed and all of them are zealous for the law. They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. What shall we do? … so do what we tell you. There are four men here with us who have made a vow. Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that everyone can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them” Paul’s doomed plan & futile hope “The plan backfires …” When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him shouting, ‘Men of Israel, this is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place…”
• 24.
  A new voiceemerges “The viral power of conversation and connections” Acts 18: “Paul left Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria came to Ephesus… He was a learned man with a thorough knowledge of Scripture. … instructed in the way of the Lord, spoke with great fervor & taught about Jesus accurately, though he only knew the baptism of John. P & A heard him, invited him to their home and explained the way of God to him more adequately. (went to Corinth) he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” Intellectual Accuracy which results from carefulness Relentless pure pursuit of Jesus & truth Educated in Jewish reasoning Pastoral Eloquent and rhetorically trained Organic and gradual conversion that included ‘pre- gospel’ elements
• 25.
  The “Hellenist” Jews: Contrastbetween East and West dispersions Eastern (Babylon) – only minority returned to Israel. Wealthiest remained. Millions remained. Pharisees camp – purists. Powerful political influence. Contemptuous of Hellenist Jews. Tight knit and ethnically pure. Western (Hellenists) – Influenced by Greek culture and thought. Much more diverse and integrated into host cultures. Translation of OT into Greek – Septuagint. Philo was key. He taught many who became Christians and influenced them heavily. “So there were two worlds in Jerusalem side by side: the one represented the old Israel, groping back into the darkness of the past; the other, young Israel, stretching forth its hands to where the dawn of a new day was about to break.” Edersheim. “Act 6:1 “In those days, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.”
• 26.
  New voice froma new city: Fertile interaction of Jewish mind with Greek thought Alexandria – the New York of the ancient world. Three worlds met – Africa, Asia and Europe. Wealthy port, huge cosmopolitan populace. One eighth of Population was Jewish (1m from 7.8m). Ran whole grain trade, and the harbour. Philo’s brother, Alexander, was rich banker like Medici. . “When the Jew stepped outside the narrow circle, he was confronted by Grecianism. In the forum, in the market, in the counting house, in the street. Refined, elegant, profound, supremely attractive… One step remained – frankly to recognise truth in the results of Greek thought.” Thus they recognised deeper truths in Moses – under the letter not in the letter.
• 27.
  How integration occurs…
• 28.
  Alexandria and the‘Logos’ of Philo • Greek idea of “Logos” – ‘archetypal Idea’ or ‘’world reason” that pervades matter • Note – this goes back to the creation and the nature of matter…. • “Memra” – frequently used in Targumim = ‘God-as-revealing-himself” • Embryonic Trinitarianism??? • Logos = ‘shadow’ which the Light of God casts as the matter is his habitation • Image of God upon which man was made • Logos connects reality of God with materiality of world/mankind • Announces & interprets man to will and mind of God – mediator • Logos = high priest & paraclete, sun whose rays illuminate man, medium of divine revelation to the soul • Logos = Melchisedek, King of righteousness and peace The Alexandrian ‘ingredients’ - The cake that Philo baked -
• 29.
  John & Hebrewsbuild on Philo: How??? • Logos of Philo is shadowy and unreal – Platonic. • No need for an atonement • High priest intercedes but has no sacrifice to make as the basis of intercession least of all Himself • OT types are only typologies/ideas not typological fact “In the beginning was the Word … and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” “In the past God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by His son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word” JOHN HEBREWS - APOLLOS
• 30.
  Prepared by Alexandria,Apollos picked the baton from Paul and extended it… • Free from the ‘Jerusalem’ pull and history. • Mind expanded by the Alexandrian/Greek/Philo teaching • Highly skilled in debate and philosophy • Took Gospel to its logical conclusions fearlessly Philo had no successor. In him Hellenism completed its cycle. Its message and mission were finished. ..it needed, like Apollos its great representative in the church, two things – the baptism of John to the knowledge of sin and to have the way of God more fully expounded. On the other hand Eastern Judaism … was incapable of transformation. It must go to its final completion – either be true or swept aside and destroyed.
• 31.
  The ‘sins’ ofHebrews are all religious. “Don’t underestimate Jesus” “Religious” sins (piety & ritual) were holding them back from grasping supremacy of Jesus. One foot in the camp, and one foot out. Dragging Jesus/gospel back under the domain of the Mosaic law and custom 2:1 How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? “Since this work of God in Jesus was not accompanied by supernatural fanfare we can afford to treat it as an optional extra. It is less dangerous to ignore Jesus than Moses….” It is far more dangerous to ignore the message God has given us in Jesus than it was to ignore the angelic messages.
• 33.
  The Devastation ofits Destruction
• 34.
  The Devastation ofits Destruction
• 35.
  So who wroteHebrews?
• 36.
  The theme ofHebrews: Christ & the rule of humanity
• 37.
  The Devastation ofits Destruction
• 43.
  Wailing Wall
• 49.
  The Devastation ofits Destruction
• 53.
  Church on Sunday/ work on monday
• 55.
  Desert Fathers
• 61.
  Masada
• 67.
  Ancient Alexandria
• 70.
  Cosmos
• 72.
  Bonhoffer
• 75.
  Flossenbürg concentration camp,general and administrative detainee area