Christians - why is some of the Law worth following but some not?

Question

Many Christians say that they should follow the Ten Commandments and biblical laws such as those that prohibit homosexuality, yet biblical laws that prohibit the eating of bacon go ignored. According to Paul, Jesus freed the gentiles from the Law. If this is so, does this only apply to certain laws? If so, which ones? Why do Christians need to follow the Law relating to creating graven images of God, but are free to eat lobster? According to Jews, both are equal.

This is a serious theological question, not a criticism. Please respond seriously. I am not "Christian bashing." I am Jewish, have studied some Christian theology, and have some questions. Thank you.

Just to clarify - I'm not focusing entirely on food laws those just happened to come to mind right away. There's plenty of other laws to use as examples - leaving a corner of your field available for the hungry to take from, eating unleavened bread on Pesach, etc.

Answer 1

The practices of Christian peoples vary more than the practices of the various sects of Jews. Not all the Jews take the law as seriously as other Jews .. both as sects and as individuals. This is same with modern Christians of the various faiths.

And in the early church once it was decided to let the gentiles in(and some isolated groups didn't and died out) .. then the old law was considered over and the law was cherry picked for what was deemed important for the new people .. a people based both on book and faith .. and not book and only for one people and one faith. Peter's "kill and eat" is a famous comment.

Although some are loath to admit it, the deviations from the law stem from both the New Testament and also traditions dating back farther than most can remember.

And weird things entered in .. like the Catholic Friday fish meal (which has been recently dropped by modern catholics and dropped centuries before by other christians) probably comes directly from the cult of Osiris living in the Corinth area where much of early Christianity sprang. see Joseph Campbell for more. In the cult of Osiris it was important to eat some fish on the Sabbath to get some of the god into you. (sound echoingly familiar to another Christian practice related to bread and wine?)

The study of early Christianity is interesting. as a start you might enjoy "Beyond Belief" by Pagels. what was left in, thrown out, and what was thought to be thrown out and is still there.

For example hidden in Roman Catholism are interesting Sufi-like and Gnostic overtones which although there is a line in the sand of "heresy" .. these teachings are rumbling around in the Catholic teachings and practices for almost 2000 years. These are not really found in the more western versions of Christianity.

ps.
The cherry picking from both old and new testiments and revieled knowledge is still going on today.

ps.
Jesus' coments about Love and Compassion and Forgivness being the way transending law man and religious teaching echo in most other religions. If we can cut others some slack and give them at least 1 other chance the world would be a better place. This is NOT to say to let them walk all over you - which some christians would agree and others would disagree.

Good Luck in your search.

Answer 2

My understanding is that Christians keep those laws which are considered mostly ethical in nature. Some of the laws Christians do not keep are the ones that served to set the Jewish people apart as a people. Since in Christian Theology, salvation was opened up to all the people, there is no longer a necessity to keep the distinguishing laws. I don't have anything against a Jewish person keeping those distinctive laws. I think some of them are very good.

The only exception I can think of right off hand to what I've said is the Sabbath. I realize that Christians do not keep the Jewish Shabbat, but they do try to keep some semblance of a Sabbath, which seems to be less of an ethical law, and more of a ritual law. But I am thinking that the idea may be that in order to be ethical, we have to set aside time for God. If we don't, then we become spiritually drained.

Answer 3

You have good questions and I will try to answer the best I can with my limited knowledge. I do not have access to my resources at this time that would explain this authoritatively and list of references. This is my understanding:

Christ and the apostles explain the reasons for deviating from traditional Jewish customs. You need to realize that many of the so called "laws" were not all laws. Jesus said nothing makes a person unclean except what comes from the persons words and actions.

One distinction on the Commandment you brought up on graven images, was actually a Commandment against "idols". God did not mean we could not have graven images but "idols". How can we know this is true? Well, God told Moses to make an image of bronze snakes, which is todays symbol for the medical occupation. God also instructed Moses to make "winged creatures" on the arc of the covenant that held the ten commandments. God instructing Moses to make graven images proves the commandment was against "idol worshiping". This is a direct misinterpretation of the commandment.

Another instance, Peter was called to the house of a gentile who was wanting to have his entire family convert to Christianity. Peter, a devout Jew, was troubled about this and received a dream God gave him in which he was to eat food that was "unclean". God said do not declare anything unclean he has not declared unclean. Peter recognized that gentiles were to be "adopted children" of God and baptized the gentiles as Christians.

Hope this helps. Once I have access to my references I will try to do a better job of answering your question.

Answer 4

As mentioned here by others, Jesus told us He did not come to destroy THE LAW but to fulfill it.

He was very explicit as to what the law was supposed to be about. The first and foremost commandments - He says - are:
to love God, with all our being and above everything else, and to love (be kind to) our neighbour (our fellow human beings!) even if the were our enemies!!

Any applications or interpretations deviating from these two are NOT VALID.

That is not easy to accept, even for many Christians. It is considered to be unrealistic or impractical or "unscientific" etc.

BUT! Just imagine! If all humans would willingly (not because they have been told) act out of compassion toward the "others" there truly would be peace on Earth! Unfortunately we are not perfect and to bear "our cross" often seems too hard (or illogical, or "unscientific). - No, I'm not perfect either!

It all boils down to this: We need to examine our thoughts and actions and admit them to ourselves if they offend THE LAW.

We need to regret where we hurt others and ourselves, by what we did or what we failed to do.

We have to resolve to do and think right, or at least better, in the future. We can then ask for forgiveness AND forgive ourselves. That is what Jesus asked of us, and as His followers we should do our best to do so.

Compassion AND forgiveness are taught and recommended in many religions, including Judaism, Christian, Muslim, Buddhism, Hinduism and more, and by some our past philosophers. But it seams to hard to apply in our daily lives. That’s why so much misinterpretation is rampant.

As someone put it:
Love (as in compassion and forgiveness) is the answer - whatever the question.
Try it! You may get to like it!

Answer 5

If I read it right the God Yahweh told Moses to teach His people His Mosaic Laws and Ten Commandments and to follow them for all future generations to come which still includes this generation. I don't recall Yahweh telling Moses to follow His laws only until the birth of His Son Jesus Christ and then His people would no longer have to follow them. Why would Jesus quote Old Testament law if His intentions were to abolish His people from following them? I don't think He did.

Answer 6

There are all kinds of Laws.
The most serious one is to Love GOD with all your Heart and Soul and Mind and Love your Neighbor as yourself.
But you will still have to brush up on the lesser ones like the Speed Limit on a Highway, different Highways have different Speed Limits. See?

If you Love GOD and your Neighbor like the Bible says so, you Really don't need the rest of the 10 Commandments.
But, everything else is kinda between You and GOD.
How many people you know break the Speed Limit on the Highways?

Answer 7

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. So when we do what pleases Him, we are fulfilling the law. If you recall the vision that Peter had (in Acts) of the unclean animals and how God told him to rise and eat... and he did not understand. He learned later that Christianity was to spread to the gentiles as well. Gentiles should not participate eating forbidden foods etc in front of Jews who would find it objectionable, causing them to stumble in their faith. Paul learned to be all things to all men. Read the book of Hebrews in the Christian Bible and you will understand so much more. you can find it online at www.biblegateway.com God bless you as you learn and search out the truth. Shalolm

Answer 8

Jesus came to die & fulfil some of the law. You have to remember we could not go to God ourselves befor Christ died. Only those who were selected from the 12 tribes of Iseral could do this. They went to God on our behalf, After Christ died we could go to HIM ourselves. The laws that changed were in the old testement.The Jews do not believe in the new testement because they do not believe Christ was the Massah. The just believe he was a good man that did wonderful things. So they live under the laws of the old testement I also am not bashing the Jews. We all believe in God in our own way.

Answer 9

NONE of the Law is worth following if you speak of the Old Law. The teachings of Christ and His followers are to be followed, not the Law that was nailed to the cross with Jesus when He completed it.

If you are a Jew, then you offer sacrifices that are offered by the sons of Aaron. I wonder how you find them in this age.

Answer 10

The amount of law we follow is in direct proportion to the
amount of strength we exercise. We are all weak; some weaker than others. Sometimes it's easier to rationalize why we shouldn't have to follow a law than to be strong and follow it.