Soon — this week, actually — I have to turn in my first paper for messianic ordination training. The theme of the paper is, “What practical use does rabbinics hold for today’s believer?” With most of the reading out of the way, I’m finally zeroing in on a thesis statement.
It comes to this, and since I’ve already begun study in the second course of study, focusing on the [Christian] church and the Jews, I can say it safely applies to both Jews and Christians alike: Reading about church history is no way to inspire yourself toward obedience to haShem, primarily because so many failed to live up to that commitment … even the most pious figures one can imagine.
Rabbi Akiba? He comes off as a rather brutal, intolerant man. Constantine? A murderer of those faithful to the messianic faith he co-opted into a state religion and hardly the sort one could imagine as being remotely holy, let alone a pope. Martin Luther? Violently antisemitic.
To be honest, a bit of church history can kill one’s appetite for religion about as effective as a solid dose of Phentermine can kill one’s desire for a thick, juicy steak. Of course, it only goes to prove what the Brit haDashah teaches through Messiah Y’shua: “He who says he is without sin deceives himself and the truth is not in him.”
Certainly the history of both Christianity and Judaism is rife with examples of this particular truth.
Tags: Constantine, Martin Luther, Phentermine, Rabbi Akiba