Monday, June 25, 2007

Another View of the Apostle Paul

With his projection of Jesus as the literal son of God, Paul shattered the rabbinical monotheistic concept of God as the all-pervading presence of the universe. After the Jews had won their thousand-year-old battle against anthropomorphism and relegated such things to mythology, he revived not only God the physical father, but God the physical son. It is understandable that the rabbis turned against him with contempt and anger.

Howard Fast, The Jews, Story of a People

If you are at all stirred up by this short excerpt, I can only say: Read the book. Fast lays out a hair-raising picture of Paul as the father of institutionalized anti-semitism, laying the groundwork for 2,000 years of atrocities. I'm neither endorsing nor refuting his view here. I am, however, saying it is worth understanding. It's fascinating and challenging.

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