# Mary Magdalene **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 1, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-magdalene/210853 "2003-11-01T17:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-magdalene/210853/21 "2003-11-09T07:10:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skott \* > It [prophecy] was criminalized? I would assume that they would exempt “real” prophets, which is why the Jewish leaders come to John the Baptist and ask if he was Elijah or “The Prophet”. In the 13th chapter of Zechariah, Zechariah talks of a time when prophecy will be taken away, and those who claim to be prophets will be killed by their own family members for being the liars that they are. When the prophecies of post-exilic restoration did not occur, the consensus among the Judahites were that they are now living in that time that Zechariah spoke of. If someone were to claim to truly be a prophet (or the Messiah), then they better show it through great signs and the overthrow of their oppressors. Now keep in mind that neither John the Baptist nor Jesus said, “Hey, I’m a prophet!” (In John 1:21, John the Baptist specifically answers “no” to the question. Jesus only accepts the title ‘Messiah’ amongst his apostles.) They simply preached as though they were. This led crowds to consider them prophets, or, at least, hope they were prophets. This sets up the scene in the gospels where some of the Jewish leaders try to trap Jesus with the question of where the source of his authority was. If Jesus said “from God,” or that he was the Messiah or a prophet, then they’d say “prove it,” or simply arrest him for prophesying. And so Jesus turned the table and said he’d tell them the source of his authority if they told him the source of John’s authority – was he a prophet? The leaders were caught in a trap: if they said John wasn’t a prophet, then the people would be mad at them, for they thought John was a prophet. If they said John was a prophet, then they’d validate John’s message which was often a condemnation of the status quo which they’ve been keeping. So they refused to answer, and so did Jesus in turn. > [@](#): > > From what I understood, the Council at Jerusalem agreed on that freedom (sans strangled beasts, blood, or sexual licentatiousness), which lead to the Circumcision vs. Non-circumcision battles, of which Paul was a strong leader in the latter front. Yes. But way before that council, **Peter** was preaching freedom from dietary laws and taking in Gentile converts. As often happens in Church councils, innovative practices precedes approval. And in this case, it was Peter who started it, not Paul. > [@](#): > > Acts 11:1-4 – Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, saying, “You entered the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying… Paul doesn’t start his preaching until the next chapter. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-magdalene/210853/22 "2003-11-13T18:55:29Z")
> [@](#): > > - > > … > > If you had **any** familiarity with the primary source of knowledge of Jesus’ life (i.e., the four Gospels), you’d know the Jesus’ execution was engineered by some of the Jewish religious leaders of the time precisely because **Jesus was breaking Jewish law**. Jesus even changed the ten commandments for pete’s sake. You think that lesser Jewish customs, such as being married by the time you’re thirty, was going to be a top priority for him? > > Only those religious leaders who respected Jesus, or, who wanted to trap him in legal arguments used the title ‘Rabbi.’ > > Some were suspecting that Jesus was the Messiah, or at least a prophet (and prophecy in Israel had been outlawed for centuries), so, it’s not surprising he would be called, at least, ‘Rabbi.’ > > … > > \*\* Interesting. I’m familiar with a passage wherein Jesus sure seems to be rewriting the Commandments. “Do not defraud” is not one of them, after all. (I’m wondering if there is something in the Talmud which tacks it onto “Do not steal”, though.) What claims of breaking Jewish law would you say were valid ones? And would they be violations of the Torah or later delimitations and interpretations? * * * True Blue Jack ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-magdalene/210853/23 "2003-11-13T22:32:04Z")
This has wandered kind of far from Mary Magdalene. I guess I’d like to suggest that you start a “General Questions” thread, if you want to further discuss what Jesus actually said or did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mary-magdalene/210853.md?page=1)