Nice partial-sentence quote, the "couple decades after Christ" part is pretty important to the thought. Stephen was shortly after the crucifixion of Christ, but things settled down in Jerusalem, at least until Paul came around when he got arrested.
Uh, OK. So you mean a very short sliver of time in history then? Then I'm not exactly sure what point you're trying to make. This 10-20 years (not exactly sure) weighs more than the rest of history?
If Jews don't want other people to become Jews, that's good, not bad. It means they don't bother other people for that reason.
My point wasn't for or against the value of the practice, but that going off documented beliefs and actions, it's a sentiment that goes back to before the destruction of the temple. This really shouldn't be too surprising, as orthodox Judiasm hasn't really changed much since the time of Christ; Titus destroying the temple seems to have locked their theology to where it isn't far from where the Pharisees had it even 2,000 years later.
I'm not entirely sure. I think the destruction of the Temple was a major change, because it moved Judaism from being about ritual sacrifice by priests to one being obsessed with minutiae of ritual.
[Saint Stephen has entered the conversation]
Nice partial-sentence quote, the "couple decades after Christ" part is pretty important to the thought. Stephen was shortly after the crucifixion of Christ, but things settled down in Jerusalem, at least until Paul came around when he got arrested.
Uh, OK. So you mean a very short sliver of time in history then? Then I'm not exactly sure what point you're trying to make. This 10-20 years (not exactly sure) weighs more than the rest of history?
If Jews don't want other people to become Jews, that's good, not bad. It means they don't bother other people for that reason.
My point wasn't for or against the value of the practice, but that going off documented beliefs and actions, it's a sentiment that goes back to before the destruction of the temple. This really shouldn't be too surprising, as orthodox Judiasm hasn't really changed much since the time of Christ; Titus destroying the temple seems to have locked their theology to where it isn't far from where the Pharisees had it even 2,000 years later.
I'm not entirely sure. I think the destruction of the Temple was a major change, because it moved Judaism from being about ritual sacrifice by priests to one being obsessed with minutiae of ritual.