Corpus-Paul

["Hyam Maccoby" <h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk>]

Dear Bob,

You wrote:

>In 1st century Aramaic "lachma" (bread) and "hamara" (wine) are idioms for
> teaching. Drinking and eating, in Aramaic, are idioms for learning from a
> teacher whose teachings are "bread and wine."  <<
>
> Could Paul have been translating a similar image? I think it could be
argued
> in part. The teaching of Jesus has power from his death and resurrection.

I absolutely agree that bread and wine are used in rabbinic writings as
metaphors for teachings.  If Jesus had merely said, 'This bread and wine
represent my teachings,'  there would have been nothing unJewish about that.
But the alleged further saying about blood and body are unJewish.
Personally, I think that Jesus' teachings (as shown in the parable of the
prodigal son, for example) were very Jewish indeed.  Of course you will not
expect me to accept that his teaching was about salvation through his death
and resurrection.

>Hyam in his Ritual and Morality writes about the Red Cow: "The sprinkling
> of the corpse-impure with the Red Cow 'blood' should therefore be compared
> with the lustrations of the mystery cults... [including] the baptism of
> Christianity ... ('washed with the blood of the lamb')."

> Hyam is indulging in extreme metaphor as I have.  What his suggestion
> implies however is that the 'mystery cult' was part of Jewish thought from
> Torah. Even if it is a leftover syncretism from other religions, it
predates
> the first century and is therefore not an 'invention' of Paul.


I do indeed argue that 'mystery cult' aspects in Judaism are a leftover
syncretism from other religions.  But I have never argued that Paul
'invented' mystery religion,  which (it is now accepted) existed in the
Hellenistic world, in various forms, before the time of Paul.  His
originality or 'invention' lay in the fact that he applied mystery religion
ideas to the Jewish martyr Jesus, who, like Rabbi Akiva after him, died at
the hands of the Romans in the cause of Judaism.  I argue that Paul
re-introduced centrally ideas which had long been banished from Judaism,
leaving only inconsiderable traces;  thus, by turning the clock back, Paul
produced a new religion, irreconcilable with either Judaism or with the
views of the Jerusalem Church.

Many thanks for your kind remarks in your previous letter about my book
RITUAL AND MORALITY.

With best regards,

Hyam
-----------------------------------------------


Dr.Hyam Maccoby
Research Professor
Centre for Jewish Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds.LS2
Direct lines: tel. +44 (0)113 268 1972
                   fax +44 (0)113 225 9927
e-mail: h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob MacDonald" <bobmacdonald AT shaw.ca>
To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
Sent: Sunday, September 15, 2002 12:53 AM
Subject: [corpus-paul] Re: The blood of the covenant


> Peter Eyland writes: >>I can't fault your logic. This representation in
the
> Gospels does seem contrary to all Jewish tradition. Thanks for the
point.<<
>
> two thoughts: 1. in the Aramaic per Jack Kilmon on the Johanine Literature
> list
>
> >>In 1st century Aramaic "lachma" (bread) and "hamara" (wine) are idioms
for
> teaching. Drinking and eating, in Aramaic, are idioms for learning from a
> teacher whose teachings are "bread and wine."  <<
>
> Could Paul have been translating a similar image? I think it could be
argued
> in part. The teaching of Jesus has power from his death and resurrection.
>
> 2. Hyam in his Ritual and Morality writes about the Red Cow: "The
sprinkling
> of the corpse-impure with the Red Cow 'blood' should therefore be compared
> with the lustrations of the mystery cults... [including] the baptism of
> Christianity ... ('washed with the blood of the lamb')."
>
> Hyam is indulging in extreme metaphor as I have.  What his suggestion
> implies however is that the 'mystery cult' was part of Jewish thought from
> Torah. Even if it is a leftover syncretism from other religions, it
predates
> the first century and is therefore not an 'invention' of Paul.
>
> 1. is probably more attractive to those not interested in blood sacrifice
> (no forgiveness with unbloody teaching though).
> 2. allows some justification for extreme typology and metaphor as an
> interpretive strategy of Jews of the first century - without necessarily
> having the 'mystery' originate with Paul 'the Hellenist'.
>
> Bob
>
> mailto::BobMacDonald AT shaw.ca
> + + + Victoria, B.C., Canada + + +
>
> Catch the foxes for us,
>    the little foxes that make havoc of the vineyards,
> for our vineyards are in flower.   (Song 2.15)
> http://bobmacdonald.gx.ca
>
>
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