Masters Degrees (Old and New Testament)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/1032

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Old and New Testament) by Author "Depoix, D. J."

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Purity : blessing or burden?
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-03) Depoix, D. J.; Mouton, Elna; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the history of Israel the concept of "purity" had developed as a way in which God's people could honour his holiness and draw nearer to him, as a sanctified nation. By the time of Jesus, in Second Temple Judaism, the purity system had become restrictive. This had been influenced by political and social developments, including an increased desire to withdraw from Hellenistic and other factors which were seen as contaminating the integrity of Judaism. There were diverse perceptions regarding the achievement of the purity of Israel, including militaristic confrontation and expulsion of alien occupation forces, stricter adherence to the Law and, in some cases, total withdrawal from general society (such as at Qumran). It was, however, particularly the Pharisaic imposition of the supplementary oral tradition, supposed to clarify the written Law, which imposed hardship on those who, through illiteracy or inferior social status, were unable to meet all the minute provisions which would ensure ritual purity. The expansion of the Law of Moses by the commentary of the rabbis, which over time became the entrenched oral "tradition of the fathers", was originally intended to promote access to God by clarifying obscure points of the Law, in the pursuit of purity. However, this oral tradition had, in fact, become an instrument of alienation and separation of the ordinary people not only from the Pharisees, who considered themselves as the religious elite, but also from God. The common people, that is, a large section of the population, felt rejected and on the outside of both religious and social acceptance. On the material level they also suffered under a heavy tax burden, from both Temple and State, which aggravated their poverty. It was this situation which Jesus confronted in his mission to change the ideological climate and to reveal the Kingdom of God as being accessible to all who accepted the true Fatherhood of God, in penitence and humility. He denounced the hypocrisy which professed piety but which ignored the plight of those who were suffering. Hark 7 : 1-23 symbolizes the difference between the teaching and practice of Jesus and that of the Pharisees, and provides metaphorically a pattern of Christian engagement which is relevant in the South African situation today. The Christian challenge is to remove those barriers, both ideological and economic, which impede spiritual and material well-being within society. By active engagement, rather than by retreating to the purely ritualistic and individualistic practice of religion, the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven, as inaugurated by Jesus, will be advanced.