re sabbath admissions of in article apr geneva rutgers edu clh writes re are you christian or pauline both sure why not but are you using paul to correct the words of jesus there is no doubt in my mind about what is sin and what is not at least not in this case jesus did not deal explicitly with the question of whether the law was binding on gentiles so anyone who dissolves even one of the smallest commands and teaches others the same way will be known as the lowest in the kingdom of the skies whereas anyone who keeps the commands and teaches them too will be known as someone great in the kingdom of the skies mat gaus are you an anyone or are you a no one why not assume that since jesus didn t say that his words apply only to jews that they apply to all human beings irregardless of race or sex why not assume that even though jesus did not mention your name still jesus was talking directly to you that s why i have to cite evidence such as the way jesus dealt with the centurion as to general jewish views on this i am dependent largely on studies of pauline theology one by h j schoeps and one whose author i can t come up with at the moment both authors are jews also various christian and non christian jews have discussed the issue here and in other newsgroups mat is clear that the law is still valid it does not say that it applies to gentiles does it say that it applies to you are you anyone or no one and yes i say that the specific requirement for worship on the sabbath in the ten commandments is a ceremonial detail when you re looking at the obligations of gentiles ex jps remember the sabbath day and keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a sabbath of the lord your god you shall not do any work you your son or daughter your male or female slave or your cattle or the stranger who is within your settlements for in six days the lord made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them and he rested on the seventh day therefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hollowed it note there is no specific requirement for worship here however i for one would not be so bold as to call these verses a ceremonial detail similarly circumcision don t many christians still practice circumcision i m not sure quite what else i can say on this subject again it s unfortunate the jesus didn t answer the question directly it s unfortunate that jesus didn t use your name directly or maybe jesus did are you somebody or nobody however we do know what the st cent jewish approach was how jesus dealt with at least one gentile and how jesus disciples dealt with the issue when it became more acute i m referring to acts more than paul given that these are all in agreement i don t see that there s a big problem if you don t see a problem then perhaps there is none as paul closes romans gaus in short pursue the ends of peace and of building each other up don t let dietary considerations undo the work of god everything may be clean but it s evil for the person who eats it in an offensive spirit better not to eat the meat or drink the wine or whatever else your brother is offended by as for the faith that you have keep that between yourself and god the person is in luck who doesn t condemn himself for what he samples on the other hand the person with doubts about something who eats it anyway is guilty because he isn t acting on his faith and any failure to act on faith is a sin as far as i know christians except specific jewish christian groups and maybe some of the sabbatarians both of which are very small groups do not practice circumcision on religious grounds in some countries it has been done for supposed health reasons but i ve not heard it argued that it is being done because of the biblical commandment clh
