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Dave Scott

8:27 Monday, 7 May 2012

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.

Steve Maltz

11:03 Monday, 23 April 2012

Twinklep, I appreciate your concern and you're not the first to confront me on this. All material on this page is adapted from my books which also don't have footnotes etc. This was a deliberate decision on my part as I don't write for academics and felt that I would get a better narrative if I don't clutter the text with footnotes and quote from other sources - instead I prefer to rewrite any external quotes, in order to get a uniform style. Nevertheless if you have any particular queries I would be happy to give you the source and background reference either here or by email. You can email me at steve@saltshakers.com

twinklep

12:39 Sunday, 22 April 2012

Dear Steve, What would be really helpful and add more substance and verification of what you write would be if you would include the references for all the texts you have used - given that we are to 'test everything and hold on to the good', and we are 'not to be blown around by every wind of teaching' - source references are essential for this task. sincerely twinklep

Marcia

0:15 Thursday, 19 April 2012

loving this stuff :-)

Steve Maltz

10:03 Thursday, 5 April 2012

Dave, good point about Origen. It does seem out of character for an allegorist such as he would self-mutilate on the basis of an EXTREME literal understanding of a verse of Scripture (Matthew 19:12). It does speak of devotion, but it also speaks of the pagan Platonic idea of considering things of the flesh evil, so perhaps he was being true to his 'philosophy' here?

Steve Maltz

8:06 Thursday, 5 April 2012

Peter, good question about the Orthodox church. Bearing in mind that both Eastern and Western churches trace their origins back to the early Church fathers, the Greek influences affected both. This doesn't mean there weren't other influences too - such as the use of icons in the orthodox church, which I think came from a separate tradition. perhaps someone out there knows more about this?

Steve Maltz

14:00 Wednesday, 4 April 2012

Anthony, my article is not intended as a character assassination, just a historically accurate summary of the influences on Augustine (Plato, Origen etc) and what the effect of this was on the subsequent development of the Church. It is all history not conjecture. This doesn't mean that Augustine is wrong in everything, but we can only judge people by the affect their ideas have had on subsequent history.

Dave Scott

11:51 Wednesday, 4 April 2012

"If Origen discerned where a Bible passage spoke about Christ, then, for him, this had to be the original meaning of the text." Not sure about that one Steve since Origen mutilated himself and therefore didn't interpret 'Platonically' - I think he took the "3 levels" pretty much as in "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" - but I don't deny that there was a definite Hellenic 'gloss'.

Antony

7:41 Wednesday, 4 April 2012

Go to John Pipers website he has a great biography on Augustine . this article is a waste of time and misleading Antony (Jerusalem)

Peter

10:29 Tuesday, 3 April 2012

Hi Steve, Thanks very much for this material. Very helpful. Quick question: do you think the "Orthodox" church was influenced in the same way by Greek philosophy? Some make a distinction between the 'western' and 'orthodox' church - I assume the Greek influences on these 2 major traditions were much the same? Blessings, Peter

talmidmjn

8:49 Friday, 23 March 2012

i always hear how yeshua's parents were poor.... we know yeshua gave up material comfort, but, didn't yosef, a righteous man, receive gifts from the babylonian jews from the east? [the magi; my hypothesis] who knew torah and came to offer gifts to the king of the jews? being righteous would he not have been a good steward of the many and expensive gifts of gold etc?

sandra

8:24 Thursday, 15 March 2012

Also, Matthew quotes it in his gospel - surely he would have known

Christopher Proudlove

18:08 Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Cardinal John Henry Newman said that 87 per cent of Roman Catholic rites derive from pagan origins. The Protestant calendar is much the same. I commend the work of Pastor Mike Fryer on this subject. You can find this on www.christiansforzion.com

Steve Maltz

8:18 Monday, 12 March 2012

Christina, thanks for the interesting questions. The thing about Jewish people is that they, just like everyone else, come in all shapes and sizes. Most are secular and don't go to synagogue or celebrate the feasts, but live a cultural Jewish life rather than a religious lifestyle. Also most don't keep kosher so much either. One thing though that all Jews have in common is the knowledge of what "Christians" have done to them in the past and the name "Jesus Christ" is a very negative trigger to them. The key thing you can do is to know something of their history and show them love as individuals. If you need help, I've written a book, Outcast Nation :-) ...

Christina

17:51 Saturday, 10 March 2012

I have a few questions about how Gentile Christians can witness to Jews. As Jesus was and is a Jew and did what Jews do today... going to the synagogue, celebrating the Feasts, does this mean that today one can best help Jews meet him as their Jewish Messiah using these activities as a starting point and praying that the Holy Spirit will give them revelation? I knew an elderly Jewish man who had not been to a synagogue for a few decades and who asked me if he could come to my church. What seemed to make the most impact on him was meeting Gentile Christians who had genuine love for the Jewish people, and this was in the context of a Gentile church community. I am also wondering about how to offer hospitality to Jewish people - I think that religious Jews would not accept food cooked in a non-kosher kitchen.

Sand:ra Delemare

7:41 Tuesday, 6 March 2012

I love a good debate, but I always try to remember Paul's words and not get into fruitless arguments. How many of the divisions between the denominations are over interpretation of words? Jesus' beautiful prayer in John 17 asks for unity - that the world may see God because of our love for one another. To misquote: love covers over a multitude of dogma/doctrine.

Steve Maltz

8:13 Sunday, 4 March 2012

Mark, Eh? Are you confusing these with my vidcasts or are you reading these articles through your ears?

Mark James

19:45 Friday, 2 March 2012

I'd get the microphone closer, Steve, since at least on my PC, I have to have the volume turned way up, and can only then hear you normally, and my hearing is fine.

Steve Maltz

8:05 Thursday, 23 February 2012

Geoff, thanks for your comments. The whimsical comment concerning the fact that there was 'no room at the inn' suggesting that, if they had money, they would have found a willing person to put them up for the night. The 'clincher' as to their poverty was the fact that they could only afford doves or pigeons for their temple offering - Leviticus 5:7 explains how this worked.

Geoff

17:59 Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Thank you Steve for a very interesting article. Please would you explain the clue there was no room at the inn and Mary and Joseph being poor.

Steve Maltz

8:22 Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Kevyn, of course the New Testament wasn't yet written when Jesus was growing up, Jews living in Israel at that time would have used the Hebrew scriptures at that time (not the Greek Septuagint). I would also suggest that Greek may have been the language of the Roman Empire but ordinary Jews would have spoken predominantly in Aramaic and Hebrew.

Kevyn

13:49 Monday, 20 February 2012

Thank you for the article, very stimulating. I disagree with the comment about Mary speaking Greek being like a cockney speaking Latin. The Greek language dominated the Eastern Mediterranian area. Greek would have been widely used and understood by the Jews. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) was probably used as much as the Hebrew version. The New Testament was written in Greek - even the letter to the Hebrews. Perhaps a better analogy would be to say that a Jew speaking Greek would be like a Welsh person speaking English. It may not be their first language at home, but they can use it fluently.

Steve Maltz

8:40 Thursday, 16 February 2012

Cornelius, God is not bound by language - He knows His son's name in all languages and will respond accordingly. I have seen the power of both the name Jesus and Yeshua and so can speak with experience on this.

PAT

16:00 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

I BELIEVE WE HAVE STRAYED FROM OUR JEWISH ROOTS

Cornelius

15:51 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

I have a very interesting question for you Steve? How come awesome things happen at the mention of the name Jesus? This is according to the book of Philipians 2:10 I am also talking from personal experience. I accept His Hebrew name is Yeshua. Can you explain how come his latin name is so powerful and does exactly what the scripture says?

Steve Maltz

15:27 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Vitor, a thought provoking post. To answer you ... 1) Yes, Aquinas did promote Aristotle. Who said that was a good thing! 2) Don't think Joseph & Mary travelled first-class on their three annual trips to Jerusalem - I imagine the trip was as long and arduous as no doubt the trip o Bethelehem was 3) Jesus' interactions with pharisees was purely on merit of his extraordinary gifts, not nepotism

Christiane

12:16 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

I just had an afterthought on this: 'By me seeking to get to know god better I really get to know myself better in relationship to her/him, thus, I relate better to what I know god is to me and become a vessel - god particle. Knowing that, I will seek to improve my being every second of the day automatically, since god is in me - expressing herself/himself through me. Therefor, I am constantly striving to get to know her/him better (since in me he is female) and by doing this I adjust my behaviour/thinking/talking accordingly. I become love, mindfulness, generousity etc. etc. Here we are, I bridge the gap for myself .. Thank you all .....

Annie

11:40 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Thank you Steve, I will stick with you because I am really interested in the Hebriac perspective and the hebriac idoms that Yahshua used. Since I started on this journey it has been most enlightening. PS I am so pleased that I can read the words in the box so I can submit. Glad I came acoss you. Thanks to Premier email

Vitor Edwards

11:02 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Thought provoking! 1) What of the saying that, "Thomas Aqinus baptised Aristotle" 2) Joseph was an established artisan not a begger, otherwise how could they afford the annual - expensive - holiday trip to Jerusalem? 3) Joseph - the 'just man' - [hasidim?] thus giving his son an insider view on the pharisees. Evidence; consulted by a leading pharisee; given prime place in the synagogue; buried by two pharisees.

CHRISTIANE

10:14 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

'The Greek mind says that we should strive for knowledge about God; the Hebraic mind says that we should know God.' I SEEK TO KNOW GOD SO I STRIVE FOR KNOWLEDGE OF HIM, I MAKE AN ATTEMPT TO GET TO KNOW HIM/HER AS BEST AS I CAN AT ANY GIVEN TIME! WHERE IS THE GAP HERE?

Steve Maltz

8:14 Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Annie, you speak much truth and the purpose of these articles is to get people thinking about why we Christians think about stuff and do stuff in a certain way. So, everyone, if you are willing to be shocked, surprised, perhaps even angered, then stay with us on our journey back to the very roots of our faith.

Annie

23:42 Tuesday, 14 February 2012

Christianity at the time of Jesus and the Apostles ????????? Jesus(Yahshua) is his real name obeyed the law of Moses which God gave him. Also the writings and the prophets. He taught from what we call the Old Testement. Most people think the law, bad translation should be Torah. Gods teaching and instruction was done away with. He came to fullfil the Torah means fill it full of meaning and understanding and not to destroy it. Meaning to wrongly interpret it. The Church Fathers outlawed the Jew(Judah). Did away with the Feast. The Feast of Firstfruits is now called Harvest Festival. They changed the times and seasons. Constantine brought in a mixture of Pagan worship. Easter and Christmas is nowhere in the Bible. Easter is Ashteroth and Christmas is Sun Worship, Nimrod Madonna and Child. Most people (christians) think Jesus let the women who was caught in Adultery off because of his grace and love. Not so he made the decsion based on the Law of Moses Lev 20 v 10. The man was not present. Her accusers sulked off because they were condenmed.

Israel-David-Jesus

19:32 Tuesday, 14 February 2012

beautiful...absolutely beautiful