Into the Wardrobe — a C. S. Lewis website

by **warren_piece** » November 14th, 2006, 4:38 pm

sorry, i was a bit unclear. sure...i know the ot talks about loving ones neighbor rather frequently. but why did the law expert combine that idea with loving god? why not combine, say, keeping the sabbath? or any of the other concepts that the ot brings up on a regular basis? why did he pick the bit about the neighbor and put it, nearly, on par with loving god? that was my real confusion.

by **wingedllama** » November 14th, 2006, 4:58 pm

by **Karen** » November 14th, 2006, 5:01 pm

He probably said it because of the influence of , one of the two great Jewish thinkers of the time (the other being Shammai). Hillel's and Shammai's thought were integral to 2nd Temple Judaism, the milieu in which Jesus and his hearers lived.One of Hillel's most famous sayings supposedly came about when a gentile asked him to explain the whole Torah while standing on one foot. He said "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; Go and study it."

by **warren_piece** » November 14th, 2006, 5:26 pm

by **Karen** » November 14th, 2006, 5:51 pm

by **interloper** » November 14th, 2006, 6:04 pm

by **warren_piece** » November 14th, 2006, 8:54 pm

by **gameld** » November 15th, 2006, 1:51 am

ummm.... a point that i don't see made: the lawyer did not quote that passage in deuteronomy. that was Jesus words. He is the one who said, "love God... and love your neighbor as yourself. i, as a christian, have a hard time believing that Jesus, God incarnate, was 'influenced' by hillel. instead, i believe that hillel understood what God actually wanted. of course, luke does not record a piece of the conversation that matthew does: 'all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.' (matt 22:40)
remember to take all of this in context: the lawyer was asking Christ (who by now is well known in his area) what the greatest law was, what law to follow to the utmost in order to enter into eternal life (therefore not a saducee and not likely to simply respect a quote from hillel). Christ response was love God and love people. at this point any man would be humbled unless he be a lunatic or liar (or Lord) because of failure to this. if these commandments are not kept, then all the others are useless. 'all the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.'

by **Karen** » November 15th, 2006, 2:16 am

by **interloper** » November 15th, 2006, 6:15 pm

by **JRosemary** » November 15th, 2006, 11:08 pm

by **interloper** » November 16th, 2006, 12:34 am

Into the Wardrobe — a C. S. Lewis website

Message Forums — A Community of Wardrobians

you want me to do _what_ to my neighbor?

you want me to do _what_ to my neighbor?

Who is online