Published Date: February 24, 2020
Truth Lover wrote:
Since you asked Gidon, & I am a non-compromising honest person, I must speak what I know to be the truth. The Oral Tradition or the Talmud is NOT divine at all, but man made & for all of you that claim to be disciples of Yahshua (Jesus), you need to follow Him, not traditions of men, no matter who they are. This is what our Master said of the Pharisees in John 8:42–47 “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47 He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”
Gidon responded:
Shalom “Truth Lover,”
Thank you for writing, though I prefer engaging with people who do not hide behind pretend names.
As with many of the materials we post on Root Source, we were “pushing the envelope” with this one. Our main audience is Christians who are strong enough in their faith to consider challenges to it, in order to help then strengthen it.
Like many of my Christian friends, but by all means not all Christians, I understand that Jesus was a Jew himself, in fact, probably a Pharisee. His criticism of Pharisees was an internal debate, reproof in order to improve. He also did not disapprove of all Pharisees, but of the leadership who were straying from the proper path and leading others astray.
I will concede that this article paints with a wide brush, implying that all Oral traditions have equal divine status. It is out of the scope of this comment to describe and expain what the differences are, but in general the author Rabbi Richman’s point should be well taken, that the Written Torah indicates strongly that an Oral Torah was given together with it.
Your point that Jesus followers must follow the words of God and not the traditions of men is a well known cliche but is virtually impossible for all but the most strict of hermits.
I am sure that you meant that you are an uncompromisingly honest person, and not an uncompromising (and) honest person, because compromising is a positive trait. It basically is a part of a bridge builder’s toolkit, and that is what we here at Root Source specialize in.
Shalom!