Re: Helping a Gay Man; Just What Did Jesus Do?

[Steven E. Webster]

Zimnah,

I was interested to see that you are studying Religious Studies at a Roman Catholic College. I received my MA in Religious Studies from a Roman Catholic College (Edgewood in Madison, Wisconsin operated by a very liberal order of Dominican Sisters (the Sinsinawa Dominicans.) I am Protestant (Methodist) and had classmates from a wide range of Christian denominations. The college had close relations with a nearby Reform Synagogue and included a Rabbi among its adjunct faculty.

I was also interested in your comment on "not giving much credence" to the "secret writings." You don't say much about that. I'm not sure which writings your refer to specifically (they are many and varied), and your reason for not giving them "much credence."

If you are referring to "extra-canonical gospels," you are correct, in my opinion, not to accept them at "face value"--yet they do give us, here and there, valuable information that warrant serious scholarly attention. The canonical New Testament eliminated much of the actual diversity which existed in early Christianity. Amongst all that diversity there are bits of information and points of view that are worth consideration.

There is good evidence that our current Gospel of Mark passed through several editions before it was "fixed" in it's current form--and even then there are variations in the manuscripts. My New Testament Professor at Edgewood College (who has since converted to Judaism, I might add) considered the extra-canonical New Testament texts to be very important, and it was under her teaching that I became more open to, and more interested in these texts.

Anyway, all I am trying to say in response to your statement about not giving much credence to the extra-canonical texts is "Why not?"

Steven Webster

[zimnah]

Steven:
Like your experience, the movement of sisters behind Marywood is also very left wing and endorses activism. We have a very vibrant ALLY group on campus, of which I am a member.
Now, as to why I do not give credence to "secret texts"... well, I should have explained: I give them credence (quite a lot, actually) in a scholarly sense, because they do (and you are absolutely correct in this) give us a lot of information that is vital to our understanding of the times in which they lived. The problem I have is that , beyond the scholarly pursuits, they only really serve to confuse and mislead the layreader. Consistency is important to the average layreader. Please note that I do not consider myself above any well read layreader...but I know from the amazing damage resulting from Hollywood's embrace of the Kabbalah. The stars, for all their good intentions, have made this aspect of mysticism in Judaism a joke, and have consistently published misconceptions about G-d without regard for the laws preceeding it. Perhaps this has skewed my view of written insights of G-d's word.
I have to work on this a bit more. During this time of mourning in my family, I am attending services in our local synagogue daily, and things strike me much differently than they did when I was serving as a cantor. I am now a simple congregant (a luxurious position, I assure you! LOL), and prayer has a clearer definition now. Epiphany is but a service away, and I wil post as things become clearer.
Until then, be well, my friend. I know that this post lacks clarity, but I also lack that same clarity. I am struggling to define who I am; married to a wonderful hetro man, but lesbian in nature. Technically bisexual, but I'm not comfortable with that. I keep looking to the Torah for guidance...and I'll post when I find it. Meanwhile, G-d bless.
--Dawn