Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 exptools 1/6/84; site ihuxq.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2 From: amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Re: The World of the Talmud Message-ID: <737@ihuxq.UUCP> Date: Mon, 5-Mar-84 12:46:02 EST Article-I.D.: ihuxq.737 Posted: Mon Mar 5 12:46:02 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 6-Mar-84 04:17:33 EST References: <937@ihuxr.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL Lines: 28 Lew Mammel states: >> Actually, I did gain some appreciation for the significance >> of the rules of observance. I can almost see how a person >> could "get into it". I still draw back, though, from the >> concept of unquestioning obedience to a code. [Several lines omitted] >> So, I'm ready to go along with the idea of the richness and >> wisdom of Talmudic scholarship, and I have come a little >> closer to comprehending how people can subject themselves to >> all those rules, but it's still out of my sphere. What many people fail to realize is that there is a *basic* difference between Judaism and Christianity. To a Jew, God is inherently unknowable, "No one shall look upon the face of God and live"; but to a Christian, God is revealed in the person of Jesus. What difference does that make? Well, we must ask the question, "how is a person justified?" The answer is, do the will of God. How do we do that? To a Christian, the answer is "be like Christ." To a Jew, the answer is "obey God's law." How do we know what God's law is? By studying Torah. And to make sure that we obey the law, we follow the Talmud, which is a well defined statement of what must be done to make sure that we fulfill the law. John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2