Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Religion News
Modern Evangelicalism, or in other words, Second Temple Judaism v. 2.0

Modern Evangelicalism, or in other words, Second Temple Judaism v. 2.0

Last updated on: November 10, 2017 at 7:21 pm by Matthew Distefano

Modern Evangelicalism, or in other words, Second Temple Judaism v. 2.0 2017-11-10T19:21:11-06:00 Matthew Distefano

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Courtesy of Pixabay

Courtesy of Pixabay

I grew up in the Evangelical church, so I’m fairly familiar with all of the standard doctrines: Pretribulation rapture, eternal conscious torment, penal substitution atonement, retributive eschatology, yada yada yada. What I never realized during my time in these staunchly conservative fundamentalist churches, however, is that the gist of what was taught is the same as what was taught by many of Jesus’ interlocutors—i.e. the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. In this article, we will discuss three of the more prominent shared doctrines.

SIMILARITY I: HERMENEUTICS: “WHAT ABOUT THIS VERSE? WHAT ABOUT THAT VERSE?”

When we listen to most Evangelicals, the first thing we generally hear about is how the Bible is God’s word. And then this carries with it a meaning that only they themselves can define. If you counter them on anything that contradicts their tightly-held worldview, no matter the topic it seems, they simply point you to a Bible verse as if the meaning is self-evident, and that it self-evidently points to their correct, and might I say, self-evidently self-evident interpretation.

This technique, known as “proof-texting,” is just like what the Pharisees used to do to Jesus. Here are two examples. First, in John 8, the Pharisees, being technically correct that the law clearly states adulteresses are to be stoned to death (Lev 20:10), use this fact to try and trick Jesus: In the law Moses says this, but what do you say? Second, when the Pharisees get all uppity about Jesus healing a blind man on the Sabbath (John 9), by the letter of the law, they have every right to be pissed (see the clear statements found in Exod 20:8–11 and Num 15:32–36).

Here’s the Irony: Jesus had a hermeneutic and it is as far removed from Pharisaical-Evangelical “proof-texting” as East is from the West. He always seemed to put the Pharisees in their place by trouncing all over their religious rigidity. He did so by emphasizing mercy over condemnation, and aiding those in need over looking pious before God on Saturday. And like those who emphasize similar things today, Jesus got raked over the coals by these religious “authorities.”

(Note: If you are interested in Jesus’ specific hermeneutical method, I harp on it all of the time, which you can read all about here, here, here, and here.)

SIMILARITY II: ESCHATOLOGY: WATCH OUT FOR GOD’S THUNDERBOLT!

Not only is the “hermeneutical approach” of both the Pharisees and most Evangelicals strangely similar, but so too is their eschatology. You can toss the Essenes into the mix here too. Basically—and to be fair, I am over-simplifying things here—all three groups believe that God is retributive and that in the end, he is coming to bring hell to their—ahem, his—enemies (but same thing, right?). There will be fire. There will be brimstone. In the Evangelical model, since Jesus is involved, he will be riding on a white horse, destroying more human beings than Aragorn destroyed orcs, goblins, and Uruk-hai combined. Of course, those who believe this never believe they will be on the wrong end of Rambo Jesus’ divine version of Isildur’s “Flame of the West.” It’s always the other guys who end up just like the armies of Mordor after Sauron is defeated (I really hope you all are picking up on these Lord of the Rings references).

Here’s the irony: Jesus taught that God is non-retributive. What more could he do than to die naked and hanging from an imperial torture device? Oh, I almost forgot, he did this while also preaching forgiveness: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Oh, and I almost forgot, he then came back from the dead preaching forgiveness: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20: 21, 23). So if Jesus is then coming back as Mark Driscoll envisions—with a tattoo down his leg, a sword in his hand and the commitment to make someone bleed—then perhaps first-century Jesus would have nothing more to say than “Father, forgive him, for he does not know what he is doing.”

SIMILARITY III: POLITICS: MAKE US GREAT AGAIN!

A big part of why people couldn’t fully get on board with Jesus as messiah is that messiahship was expected to be something a bit different than what folks found in the non-violent Jesus of Nazareth. Israel wanted to be made great again. They yearned for freedom, to be vindicated, to be put on a pedestal by God so that the world could see that their way was the correct way, that their nation was God’s nation. And so, the messiah was to deliver the Jews from Rome in order for this to happen.

Evangelicals, then, in a sense, act as if the first-century Jesus never redefined messiahship, and still look to “saviors” who are going to make their lives great again. Currently, these Christians—at least here in God’s “New Israel,” the United States—are clinging to the “salvific” words of Donald Trump, and only 70-some-odd years ago Christians from God’s other “New Israel,” Germany, clung to Hitler’s proclamations. Sadly, they await a messiah who will use violence to bring about a goal, just like most Second Temple Jews did.

Here’s the irony . . . actually, I think the irony is self-evident. In some backward-ass universe, supposed followers of Jesus have both supported someone who ended up murdering roughly 6 million Jews, and are currently supporting a man who has continually demonstrated xenophobic, racist, sexist, and frankly anti-Christlike behavior—and all of this in the name of making the “Christian nation” great again. Consider me flummoxed.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

All in all, I think I have been a bit hard on the first-century Jews. I apologize. How could they have expected that God was just like Jesus? So I’m actually going to give them a pass. However, Evangelicals have no such excuse. They have Jesus, and still beat others over the head with their Scriptures, still believe their God is coming back to smite their—ahem, his—enemies (but same thing, right?), and still look to messiahs to make their nation great again.

Can you spell irony? I can: E V A N G E L I C A L.

Selah.

Previous Post

September 7, 2016

From the Blood of Abel Publishing Campaign

Next Post

October 1, 2016 What My Universalism Is and Is Not

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Atonement Book Review Early Church Eschatology eternal torment Hell Hermeneutics LGBTQ+ Mimetic Theory Mysticism News Old Testament Podcast Poetry Politics Prayer Religion Sacrifice Satire Soteriology Theology Uncategorized Violence

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 June 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

James Peter Paul John

Books by This Author Books by All Set Free

See All Titles »