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Misquoting Jesus Podcast

Can Anyone Keep the Jewish Law?

February 4, 2025 · 46 min · Watch on YouTube →

Old TestamentBurning Questions

Show notes

Episode Outline:
– Introducing Jewish law in the New Testament
– How Bart first understood the Jewish law as a Christian
– Was the law actually seen as impossible to keep?
– Jewish law in its ancient covenant context
– The purpose of the law: worship, community, and purity
– Consequences and penalties for breaking the law
– How New Testament authors differ on the law
– Matthew versus Paul on keeping the Jewish law
– Jesus, the Pharisees, and debates over interpreting the law
– Jesus’ view: love God and love your neighbor

Episode Description
If I start talking about “the law”, many of you are going to have certain ideas pop into your heads - a police force, trials, prison. But what about if I’m talking about the law in a religious sense? Maybe you’ll think of the ten commandments, veiling women, or practices of abstinence. Today, Dr. Bart Ehrman talks about the Jewish Law as presented in the New Testament, exploring whether it’s possible to even keep it, and what agenda the NT authors had when talking about it.

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