It really has nothing to do with "the bad stuff," as suggested above. Rather, the apostle Paul, in Colossians 2:14, indicated that Jesus had "canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." (New International Version) The Mosaic Code was not in effect during the Patriarchal Era (prior to the Mosaic Era); nor is it in effect during the Christian Era (subsequent to the Mosaic Era)...
Besides that, Mosaic law was only given to the hebrews. It was their law, not anyone elses. In return for adhering to this code, they got to have God's backup and support in things like taking over the region. Special rules in exchange for special consideration.
When Moses (Moshe in Hebrew) wrote his laws, he combined a lot of common Egyptian/Babylonian law with a set of religious rules. For example, murder, theft, false witness are all common statutory laws in the Egyptian and Babylonian codes. Polytheism, idolatry, sabbath violation, verbal oaths, covetousness are more along the lines of religious and ethical. Whereas homosexuality, beastiality, pedophilia are cultural laws, things which were very commonly done and acceptible in ancient Greece and Rome. Moses was a prolific writer, but he did not segregate his laws as such, he just bunched them all together. It thus confuses modern readers who are weak in the knowledge of ancient history.
I suppose you think that Moses wrote Deuteronomy 34:5-7 (CEV) = And so, Moses the Lord’s servant died there in Moab, just as the Lord had said. The Lord buried him in a valley near the town of Beth-Peor, but even today no one knows exactly where. Moses was a hundred twenty years old when he died, yet his eyesight was still good, and his body was strong.
Then Christians will often cite Matthew 5:17 when you tell them the OT does not apply. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Matthew 5:17
Paul was a former pharisee, turned apostle to the Gentile community. Chrisitans believe that the Pauline writings were guided by the Holy Spirit (which is a part of the Godhead, or Holy Trinity); and the Holy Spirit is therefore co-equal to both God the Father and God the Son...
It could be a mere scribal gloss. Or, if one accepts the so-called "Documentary Hypothesis of the Pentateuch," then these words were authored by the Deuteronomist...
And where did I say that he DID change it? Or that Paul overruled anything? I said that Mosaic law was for the Jews only. It remains so.
Nine of the Ten Commandments (or the Decalogue) are repeated, in one form or another, in the New Testament. (The command to observe the Sabbath is the one exception.) I would argue that these rules are now in effect, not because of their inclusion in the Mosaic Code, but because of their inclusion in Christian scripture; and for that reason, exclusively...
It's an interesting policy, this cancellation of the OT except where the NT explicitly agrees with it. It is certainly also convenient for the modern Christian, of course! The only problem is that nothing in the NT actually supports this idea - not explicitly
I would argue that Paul's words in Colossians 2:14 (quoted in post #2 in this thread) do "explicitly" support "this idea"...
It was the quotation they chose to put in, after they'd decided anyway? They were, after all, Jews seeking Jewish converts. The OT is hardly consistent with Christianity, surely?
Paul was likely mentally ill and Moses probably did not exist. OTOH, if Moses did exist, he was probably a lesser member of the Egyptian royal family and may have been influenced by Akhenaten.
Who could possibly know about Moses: our only evidence it the OT. Paul was putting together Judaism and the Roman notion that men could be gods - it was a tension all Roman citizens faced when they sacrificed to Caesar - but he sounds sane enough to me. People thought that way back then, logically enough.
You can always turn the other cheek if they call you an Atheist. That's is exactly what I have against Jesus. He was an agent of Rome whose mission was to turn the Jews into passive and secularly apathetic sissies. Also, the later ruling classes liked Christianity because it made people accept their fate, even though they outnumbered the rulers and could have slaughtered them all at any time. This idea of an after-life where the humble cowards would live in luxury while their evil lords would go to hell was a useful tool to keep the majority from taking action in this world.
Interesting, is it not, that you set forth unsupported allegations, as if they were known to be true by The Properly Enlightened Class--even though very few serious biblical scholars would agree with them...
From the description given about Paul on the road to Damascus it seems that he suffered a heat stroke, which caused his hallucinations about Jesus. It was Paul after all who first preached about the Jesus character. He was going to Damascus to persecute the members of The Way, who were Jewish heretics and had nothing to do with Jesus. That's because Paul hadn't invented Jesus before then. The Moses character was modeled after the Babylonian king Hammurabi. The Israelites/Hebrews/Jews were always someone's vassals. They never had an independent nation. The Babylonians and Assyrians were always at war with Egypt. Moses could have been one of their agents sent to create a fifth column in Egypt. That makes more sense than to think he was buddies with a celestial deity who hung out on a desert mountain and spoke through a burning bush.
Here's an interesting parallel, and seems to relate directly to what you mention regarding Moses and Hammurabi: http://www.specialtyinterests.net/codexhammurabi.html We might as well have the Hammurabi Codex on our courthouses
