Did Jesus believe in/ preach from the Old Testiment mentality? Or was his preaching a new brand of belief?
I’m pretty sure he said something at one point about how he did not come to change the old rules (set forth in the OT), so I’d say he was believing in and preaching from an Old Testament mentality, and believing himself to be the fulfillment of prophecies made in the OT.
However, IANA Christian nor a Bible scholar and I haven’t read the book in years.
Some more knowledgable person is going to come along and answer this better, but I should point out that the answer to your question really depends on which gospel you’re talking about.
For example, Mark is often referred to as the “Jewish” gospel because in it, Jesus seems to focus more on converting Jews to the new faith, while in Luke, there is a decided emphasis on the fact that Jews no longer have status as the “chosen” people. Thus, you might say that Jesus departs more from OT teachings in Luke than he does in Mark. An illustration of this is the parable of the Good Samaritan - the Samaritans were rivals to Jews, and yet in the parable a Samaritan is praised for doing a good deed, though he doesn’t follow the Old Testament.
Throughout Luke, the Pharisees (who I believe are Jews) criticize Jesus for departing too much from the Old Testament - i.e. they don’t like the fact that he performs healings on the Sabbath, and so fort. As a whole though, the consensus seems to be that Jesus’ beliefs are meant to be an extension and a fulfillment of the Old Testament, so I wouldn’t really call it a completely “new brand of belief” though there are clearly major differences with respect to the possibility of salvation and the like.
Matthew 5:17
**The Fulfillment of the Law **
*Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. *
My understanding is that he came to clarify matters, to a people who demonstrated a need for clarification.
This is a big subject. The only thing I can do is to correct your spelling (testament) and point you in the right direction:
The dedicated staff members Dex and Euty wrote their magnum opus a few months ago. Published in five tomes it addresses all the classical problems but avoids the normal pitfalls. Without further ado I give you:
Who wrote the Bible?"
Especially part 4, which deals with early christian writings.
The same pair of indefatigable scholars have also given us What’s the origin of “Good Samaritan”?, which also discusses early christian behaviour vis-a-vis jews.
And if you really want something to dig the teeth into, I suggest you find a copy of Gibbons The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. he deals extensively (critically) with the early christians, and their rise from a jewish sect to a universal church.
His work is in the pubic domain, and can be found on the web.
(On preview I see that you ask specifically for Jesus view, whereas I have answered what early christians thought. It might be argued that as no first hand account of his thoughts are available, all we can settle for is what his followers thought. Or thought that he thought. As I hinted above, this is not a question that can be answered in a single line - or a singe book. If you want an answer, you’re in for a long ride!)
**Mark 12:28-31
The Greatest Commandment **
*28. One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” *
These two ‘new’ commandments appear to replace the ten received by Moses. However, many would interpret them as being a pretty good summary of the original ten. More especially, they embody the original intent behind those passed to Moses.
More than that, Wator: in Mark 12, Jesus is quoting from the Old Testament. “Love the Lord your God…” is from Deuteronomy 6:4, and “Love your neighbor…” is from Leviticus 19:18. The commandments aren’t in any sense a replacement for the Ten, but they are, as you pointed out, a pretty good summary of the spirit of the entire Law.
Common misconception about there being only Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. There were lots more than that. The Ten were (according to the text) spoken by God directly to the people Israel, gathered at Mount Sinai. The others were given by God to Moses, who conveyed them to the people Israel.
So, as c_carol has correctly pointed out, the statements by Jesus that walor quoted are neither “new” nor “replacements.” They are the ones Jesus (and others, such as Rabbi Hillel) viewed as “most important.”
Now, on whether Jesus spoke from an Old Testament point of view, the answer is a very clear yes. In fact, Jesus spoke MORE STRICTLY than the Old Testament view. For instance, the Old Testament commandment forbids adultery; Jesus expands that to say that you should not even THINK about committing adultery. That is, Jesus’ rulings are more strict, more severe, than those of Jewish law.
Then Paul came along and threw the whole thing out, of course.
walor:
As c_Carol said, his two commandments were actually quotes from the Old Testament. In addition, the quote of “Love thy neighbor” was probably intended as a paraphrase of a famous statement from Hillel, a sage who taught a generation or two before JC’s time. That statement is part of the following story:
A non-Jew came to Shammai (the other leading sage of that generation) and said, “I wish to convert to Judaism, on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while standing on one foot.” Shammai chased him away.
He then came to Hillel and repeated his demand. Hillel, on one foot, responded, “What is hateful to you do not do to others, as it says, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’ The rest is all commentary - now go learn it.”
When seen in this context, it is likely that JC was saying that “Love thy neighbor” was the foundation underlying all the other biblical rules - not that it supplants them.
I agree… I guess my earlier statement that he came to clarify rather than replace was not that well put.
However, seems like C K Dexter Haven, c_carol, yourself and myself are pretty close in our thinking.
pax