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Date:         Sun, 24 Jan 1993 16:35:56 EST
From:         Lon Mendelsohn <LMENDELS@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU>
Subject:      Kerry's Theological Questions
              <KSTE%PURCCVM.BITNET@asu.edu>

Kerry,

I'll make a stab at answering some of your theological questions.

1. The Septuagint.  When the Old Testament is quoted in the New, the
   Septuagint is the Greek translation most often used.  The Bible
   which Jesus and the apostles used personally, however, was most likely
   the Hebrew Bible, also known as the TaNaKH (tenach, tanach, etc.).
   The Septuagint was used by The Hellenistic Jews, whose primary
   language was Greek.  It is useful, and it is a high quality translation
   for its time.  It includes the deuterocanonical (apocryphal) books,
   which are not recognized as being scripture by most protestants and Jews.
   In my view, the deuterocanonical books are useful, but cannot be relied
   upon in the same way that the Bible can.  Ask a Catholic or Orthodox
   Christian, though, and you'll get a different opinion.

2. Why are Daniel and Revelation the only two books which recent studies
   of prophecy focus on?  I think that it is primarily popular works
   which tend to focus on these.  Most of the more scholarly oriented
   works, including what could be called "popular scholarship" tend to
   examine the other prophetic books of the OT.  Most of the material
   to which I am exposed in the Messianic Jewish movement also tends
   to take a more holistic (in terms of looking at the _whole_ of the
   prophetic witness) view of prophecy, and I find such an approach
   to be much more helpful.  I really don't think that Revelation and
   Daniel can be understood apart from the totality of the prophetic
   witness.

3. What is Israel?  This is a more complex problem than I have time to
   address right now, but I'll get back to you on it...

4. I have Baker's Bible Atlas, which is pretty good, but the best
   Bible atlas is supposed to be the Macmillan Bible Atlas.  I have
   looked at the Macmillan atlas, and I have been impressed.

5. As mentioned above, the TaNaKH is the the Hebrew Bible, so called
   because the Bible in Hebrew is divided into three sections:
    Torah (The Penteteuch)
    Nevi'im (The Prophets)
    K'tuvim (The Writings)
   Tanakh is an acronym formed from the first letters of the names of the
   three divisions.  The content of the Tanakh is identical to that of the
   OT, but the arrangement is different.  You should be able to find a copy
   in your university library.  Also, any decent bookstore would probably
   have one.

6. The Talmud is a massive work, comprised of many, many volumes, and
   it is very difficult to understand.  There is a lot of good material
   in it, but there is also much that is problematic at best.  For example,
   it has a lot of information on practical applications (case studies,
   sort of) of the Torah.  At the same time, their is material which was
   included for the express purpose of refuting the early Jewish Christians.
   It is considered in the Jewish tradition to be the codification of an
   oral law which was given to Moses at the same time that the written law
   (the Torah) was given.  Good reading, but tough to get through.  There
   are several works out there which distill down some of the principle
   points.  One of them is entitled _The Essential Talmud_, and you may
   want to look at it.

Hope this helps.

Shalom,

Lon Mendelsohn
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