Re: [TruthTalk] Judaism and Theology

[Bill Taylor]

Judy, I'm not criticizing you at all. I concur with what you said, and I do this for the very reasons that you outlined. Good job. The point of my correspondence was to accentuate the possibility that the Jews may very well have a different set of reasons for living in the moment than you and I do as Evangelical Christians, and that those reasons are theological in nature. I recognize that one could hardly make a case study out of my limited experience with a Jewish rabbi. But knowing what I do about the eschatological agnosticism of Jewish theology, I believe if we were to do a case study, we would find a host of similarities between the rabbi's request concerning praying for the present, and what Jews in general believe about the extant nature of reality; i.e., that it exists only in the here and now. Evangelical Christians, on the other hand, because of our belief in the risen Lord Jesus, believe the future is just as "real" as the present. In other words, we have a basis for hope in Jesus Christ, where many Jews do not -- my bigger point being that it is precisely because of there theology, and not a lack thereof, that they are now driven to think mainly in terms of the here and now.   Bill ----- Original Message ----- From: Judy Taylor To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org Cc: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 7:24 AM Subject: Re: [TruthTalk] Judaism and Theology   This is one disjointed stream of "consciousness"  Please explain to me what "beatle mania" and/or an unbelieving Jewish Rabbi at a Religious tolerance meeting have to do with "living in the moment?"   Trusting God along with living in the moment is basically obeying Jesus who pointed out that "without Him we can do nothing" anyway and who said that we are unable to turn one hair white or black (now remember we are talking about reality rather than to conceal and cover up).  It's pride and unbelief to plan even a year ahead according to James who wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.   I don't agree that Judaism's concern with living in the now is what is sad. It is their bitterness and unbelief.  judyt     On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:17:55 -0700 "Bill Taylor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: I was at a panel discussion one time about fifteen years ago. The topic was religious tolerance and the panel was made up of an evangelical Christian, a liberal Christian, a Catholic priest, and a Jewish Rabbi. At one point during the discussion a very well-meaning and elderly Christian woman stood up and told the rabbi that she would be praying for his eternal salvation. His response to her was something on the order of, "Please do not pray for me my eternal destiny; I know you mean well, but pray, instead, for me now. I can tell you what will happen after I die: Nothing. What I need is prayers for the here and now."   Wow, that really floored me! I realized with that statement that I was looking at a man who held out no hope for the future. In his mind there is no salvation apart from the (first) coming of Messiah, or the restoration of the Temple, or something, and none of these are present realities; hence when he's dies, that's all there is; it is over; he will just cease to exist.   While I do not buy the idea that the Jews are theological disinterested (after all the above was this man's theology), I do think they are much more oriented to the present than we are, and not nearly so inclined to forward thinking. The comment, "Judaism is concerned primarily with living now," is therefore a sad commentary -- and, I believe, more sadly true.  Bill      From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] the notion below sounds like the essence of beatle-mania*, the perfect way to deal with the reality of a two year old whose mind set, apparently, corresponds precisely to the mind set of Judaism    *related to the concept 'focus and center life on philosophy rather than theology'   On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 06:30:23 -0500 "David Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >Judaism is concerned primarily with living now.