-
God granted Jewish rulers the authority to legislate in regards to cases not
specifically spelled out in the laws of the covenant that Yhvh's people agreed
upon with God; and failure to comply with their decisions is a death offense.
(Deut 17:8-13)
However, the rulers were never given license to revise, amend, or repeal the
covenant.
†. Deut 4:2 . .You shall not add anything to what I command you or take
anything away from it, but keep the commandments of Yhvh your God that I
enjoin upon you.
†. Deut 5:29-30 . . Be careful, then, to do as Yhvh your God has
commanded you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left: follow only the
path that Yhvh your God has enjoined upon you.
†. Deut 27:26 . . Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Law and
observe them.
The intent of Deut 17:8-13 was to give Jewish rulers the authority to apply
the covenanted law to Jewish civil life; not to allow them carte blanche to
revise the covenant; thus making Israel's God-given religion more strict and
more cumbersome than Yhvh intended.
Israel's religious laws were God-given and set in stone; thus any additional
laws Jewish authorities legislate have to be regarded as non-covenanted
law; e.g. the Talmud and Halacha (a.k.a. Halakhah)
By that same principle, Christ gave his top men the authority to police his
church (Matt 16:19, Matt 18:15-18) but he did not give them license to
independently add to the religion of Christianity nor to revise, amend, or
repeal it. Whatever they taught in their teachings, and/or their writings, they
did by the inspiration and/or revelation of God, not by the fertile
imaginations of despotic men of ambition.
Although the laws, rules, teachings, traditions, and commandments of the
Apostles are binding upon all Christians, the in-house laws, rules, teachings,
traditions, and commandments of individual denominations are not. Any
laws, rules, teachings, traditions, and commandments that an individual
church and/or denomination binds upon itself and its members have to be
considered local only, and binding only within the jurisdiction of the
individual church and/or denomination.
No one is bound to the laws, rules, teachings, traditions, and
commandments of just one denomination within Christianity claiming to be
the "one true church". That's laughable. Christ's church alone is the one true
church; there is no one denomination like Roman Catholicism or Mormonism
that is the one true church. A claim of that nature is nothing but downright
fraud.
If Christ was chafed with Jewish rulers for legislating laws, rules, teachings,
traditions, and commandments that countermanded, added to, embellished,
repealed, and/or diminished from Old Testament Judaism, don't you think he
would be just as chafed with Christian rulers who legislate laws, rules,
teachings, traditions, and commandments that countermand, add to,
embellish, repeal, and/or diminish from, New Testament Christianity? Yes, of
course he would; primarily because it invalidates Christ's personal guarantee
that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light (Matt 11:28-30)
Case in point: The Roman emperor Constantine initiated a committee to
compile a universally acceptable Christian handbook from an archive of
already-existing manuscripts in hopes it would unify the Christian factions in
his kingdom.
Ironically, the Catholic Church, which takes sole credit for the existence of
the New Testament, has succeeded in fragmenting Christ's church with far
more effect than Constantine's efforts to unify it. As of mid 2009, there were
1.14 billion Catholics worldwide totally alienated from the rest of Christ's
church via Rome's proprietary catechism, the laws of its Ecumenical
Councils, and its collection of Bulls, and Encyclicals. The average pew
warmer's version of Christianity is a smothering religion that has become far
more strict, and far more cumbersome than the Apostles ever dreamed or
expected.
†. Matt 15:7-9 . .You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he
said: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.
Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's will with their own man-made
teachings.
==================================
God granted Jewish rulers the authority to legislate in regards to cases not
specifically spelled out in the laws of the covenant that Yhvh's people agreed
upon with God; and failure to comply with their decisions is a death offense.
(Deut 17:8-13)
However, the rulers were never given license to revise, amend, or repeal the
covenant.
†. Deut 4:2 . .You shall not add anything to what I command you or take
anything away from it, but keep the commandments of Yhvh your God that I
enjoin upon you.
†. Deut 5:29-30 . . Be careful, then, to do as Yhvh your God has
commanded you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left: follow only the
path that Yhvh your God has enjoined upon you.
†. Deut 27:26 . . Cursed be he who will not uphold the terms of this Law and
observe them.
The intent of Deut 17:8-13 was to give Jewish rulers the authority to apply
the covenanted law to Jewish civil life; not to allow them carte blanche to
revise the covenant; thus making Israel's God-given religion more strict and
more cumbersome than Yhvh intended.
Israel's religious laws were God-given and set in stone; thus any additional
laws Jewish authorities legislate have to be regarded as non-covenanted
law; e.g. the Talmud and Halacha (a.k.a. Halakhah)
By that same principle, Christ gave his top men the authority to police his
church (Matt 16:19, Matt 18:15-18) but he did not give them license to
independently add to the religion of Christianity nor to revise, amend, or
repeal it. Whatever they taught in their teachings, and/or their writings, they
did by the inspiration and/or revelation of God, not by the fertile
imaginations of despotic men of ambition.
Although the laws, rules, teachings, traditions, and commandments of the
Apostles are binding upon all Christians, the in-house laws, rules, teachings,
traditions, and commandments of individual denominations are not. Any
laws, rules, teachings, traditions, and commandments that an individual
church and/or denomination binds upon itself and its members have to be
considered local only, and binding only within the jurisdiction of the
individual church and/or denomination.
No one is bound to the laws, rules, teachings, traditions, and
commandments of just one denomination within Christianity claiming to be
the "one true church". That's laughable. Christ's church alone is the one true
church; there is no one denomination like Roman Catholicism or Mormonism
that is the one true church. A claim of that nature is nothing but downright
fraud.
If Christ was chafed with Jewish rulers for legislating laws, rules, teachings,
traditions, and commandments that countermanded, added to, embellished,
repealed, and/or diminished from Old Testament Judaism, don't you think he
would be just as chafed with Christian rulers who legislate laws, rules,
teachings, traditions, and commandments that countermand, add to,
embellish, repeal, and/or diminish from, New Testament Christianity? Yes, of
course he would; primarily because it invalidates Christ's personal guarantee
that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light (Matt 11:28-30)
Case in point: The Roman emperor Constantine initiated a committee to
compile a universally acceptable Christian handbook from an archive of
already-existing manuscripts in hopes it would unify the Christian factions in
his kingdom.
Ironically, the Catholic Church, which takes sole credit for the existence of
the New Testament, has succeeded in fragmenting Christ's church with far
more effect than Constantine's efforts to unify it. As of mid 2009, there were
1.14 billion Catholics worldwide totally alienated from the rest of Christ's
church via Rome's proprietary catechism, the laws of its Ecumenical
Councils, and its collection of Bulls, and Encyclicals. The average pew
warmer's version of Christianity is a smothering religion that has become far
more strict, and far more cumbersome than the Apostles ever dreamed or
expected.
†. Matt 15:7-9 . .You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he
said: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.
Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's will with their own man-made
teachings.
==================================