Corpus-Paul

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

Dear Jeff,

Many thanks for your post, and for your kind words about EARLY RABBINIC
WRITINGS.

    The High Priest was certainly in charge of the Temple, but this made him
merely a functionary, who superintended the performance of the sacrifices.
It did not make him an authority who could pronounce on matters of doctrine
or religious law. 'A learned bastard takes precedence over an ignorant High
Priest' (Mishnah Horayot 3:8).  It is a great mistake to think of the High
Priest on the analogy of the Christian Pope, for in Judaism, the performance
of sacraments is separated from the teaching function, which belongs to the
Sages/Rabbis.  This, at any rate, was the view of the Pharisees, who were
followed by the great majority of the people (this has been questioned in
recent years, despite the strong evidence of Josephus and the rabbinic
writings;  recently, however, the excellent work of Roland Deines, among
others, has reinstated the older view).
    Certainly a small minority, the Sadducees, disagreed and wished to
assign teaching authority to the priests.  The Dead Sea Scrolls sect, though
opposed to the Jerusalem priesthood, were themselves even more
priest-centred.  Indeed they criticised the Jerusalem priests (MMT document)
precisely on the ground that they submitted too much to Pharisee authority.
That the Sadducees, in practice, did submit to the Pharisees even in their
administration of the sacrifices is attested by both Josephus and the
rabbinic writings.

With best wishes,

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
               hyam.maccoby AT btopenworld.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Peterson" <peterson AT austingrad.edu>
To: "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 9:57 PM
Subject: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Deut 21:22-23


> Hyam Maccoby wrote;
>
>  [Jesus] was not
> > condemned by a Jewish court (the Gospel of John omits the alleged
Sanhedrin
> > trial altogether) but by the Roman procurator, to whom he was handed
over as
> > a rebel by the quisling High Priest, who was a Roman appointee and had
no
> > religious authority among the Jews.
>
> It seems a considerable overstatement to say that the High Priest had no
religious
> authority whatsoever. Certainly his authority was contested, and some
Judeans
> challenged his legitimacy and aspects of his administration of the temple;
the DSS
> document what common sense would lead us to suppose anyway. But as the
High Priest
> did exercise authority over the temple, his judgment was perforce heeded
by all those
> Jews who continued to regard it as the site where, the Torah taught, God
had chosen as
> the dwelling for his name. Acts, in which Prof. Maccoby expresses some
confidence as a
> source, depicts a mixed assembly of Pharisees and Sadducees expressing
outrage at
> disrespect shown to "God's high priest" (23:4). E. P. Sanders among others
has offered a
> needed corrective to the undue credit traditionally afforded the rabbis'
tendency to exalt
> their Pharisaic precursors at the expense of the priestly elite.
>
> US residents are familiar with the a situation in which the chief
executive's legitimacy
> and governance persist in dispute, with a vocal minority insisting he has
no claim to an
> office in which his performance has been a disgrace. But it would be a
mistake to
> conclude from the persistence of such criticism that George W. Bush has
"no political or
> moral authority" in American life or indeed hasn't accomplished quite a
bit, whether one
> agrees or disagrees with his policies.
>
> I hope it won't be thought out of place if I take this opportunity to
express appreciation
> to Prof. Maccoby, whose EARLY RABBINIC WRITINGS helped me survive
comprehensive
> exams a few years ago and whose post contains material for a number of
interesting
> discussions.
>
> Jeff Peterson
> Austin School of Theology
> Austin, Texas
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