 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
| Part of a series on |
| Judaism |
|---|
   |
Gilyonim, or avon gilyon, are terms used by the Mishnah and Talmud to refer to certain heretical works.
The Jewish Christians of Palestine had a Gospel of their own, the so-called Hebrew Gospel, from which still later Church Fathers quote. [1] Matthew was, likewise, often thought to have been originally written in Hebrew (that is, Aramaic)[ citation needed ]; if so, many copies must, therefore, have been in circulation, and doubts must naturally have arisen concerning the manner in which they were to be disposed of, since they contained mention of the divine name. Indeed, the correct reading in this passage has gilyon in the singular; the gnostic writings (which were sometimes called gilyonim also), however, were many; and had reference to these been intended here the plural would have been used.
However, the 3rd century Aramaic writings of the religion of Manichaeism, did have a single book called evangelion, written in Aramaic, the Gospel of Mani, which was one of their seven sacred writings. Mani was a contemporary of Rav, and from the same area of Babylonia. The central doctrine of Manichaeism was a belief in two powers (a good god versus an evil god), and in Aramaic they were called Maninaya, which in Hebrew would have been Manim.
Regarding the Tosefta passage, Moritz Friedlander [2] argued that attempts to identify these books with Christian gospels in which divine names do not occur are strained. Even R. T. Herford [3] identified the word gilyon as "the unwritten portion of a [heretical] book, the margin ... used for annotations; and it is reasonable to suppose that these annotations would include texts of scripture, quoted as illustrations." Birger Pearson [4] cites Herford as an example of flawed attempts after Friedlander to interpret all occurrences of gilyonim and gilyon as references to Jewish Christianity.
Rabbinic discussion of gilyonim does not always rely on identifying it with Christians or any other heretics in particular. [5] Nonetheless Friedlander [6] (following Krochmal and Grätz) set out a thesis that those labelled as minim by the Rabbis were Gnostics who originated in Jewish circles pre-dating Christianity, and that gilyonim were 'tablets' bearing a gnostic "Ophite diagram" as described by Celsus and Origen. This would explain the opposition from Rabbi Tarfon. However, this thesis has not found wide acceptance, as noted in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1901–1906). Pearson claims that Gnostics and something like the Ophite diagram were known to the Rabbis, and that M. Joel had made this point before Friedlander. Pearson dates this evidence to the early second century, and possibly earlier, in the anti-heretical polemics in the Talmud and Midrash. Daniel Boyarin [7] lists a number of problems with that thesis, citing Karen King’s argument that Gnostic influences in Judaism are entwined with Christian influences. Boyarin is no more prepared to identify minim with Christians than with Gnostics.
Amongst the following scholars, there is a consensus that gilyonim cannot be too readily identified with gospels. William David Davies and Louis Finkelstein [8] consider that gilyonim would not necessarily be Jewish-Christian ‘gospels’. Davies [9] and James Paget [10] cite Karl Georg Kuhn (‘Judentum Urchristentum Kirche’, 1964), and also Maier (1982) to this effect. Kuhn argues that:
Daniel Boyarin, [7] in line with Kuhn, understands the books to which Rabbi Tarfon referred to be Torah scrolls. Marvin R. Wilson [11] takes the term 'minim' in the Talmud as originally denoting all “dissidents, apostates and traitors” rather than Christians in particular.
Margaret Barker [12] notes that Rabbi Tarfon’s gilyonim referred to “an empty space or a margin” and suggests Tarfon punned on galah meaning "reveal" and hence ‘revelation’, rather than on ‘euangelion’. Barker nonetheless has Christian revelation in view rather than gnosticism.
Barker applies her thesis to Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Meir’s aven gilyon and avon gilyon, interpreting them as “worthless revelation” and “iniquitous revelation” respectively. FF Bruce translates the same as 'Sin of the Writing tablet' and 'Iniquity of the Margin'. [13] Barker and Bruce are however agreed on identifying them as puns on euangelion (Christian gospels), whereas Daniel Boyarin [7] has other Jewish heretics in view. Boyarin interprets Rabbi Yohanan and Rabbi Meir’s aven gilyon and avon gilyon as “gilyon of wretchedness” and “gilyon of sin” and identifies them with Jewish ‘apocalypses’, i.e. revelations, such as Enoch.
The principal passage in the Tosefta is as follows:
The same passage is quoted with minor variations in the Babylonian Talmud, [17] Jerusalem Talmud, [18] and Sifre. [19]
The word gilyonim in the plural, means several copies of a single work, not multiple different gospels. The Munich manuscript of the Talmud has here hagilyon (the [single] scroll) where the printed editions have the plural. The title may have been originally briefly ἀγγέλιον (Greek for "Evangelion").
Later in the same passage of the Babylonian Talmud, the following appears:
The terms aven gilyon and avon gilyon are derogatory puns on ἐυαγγέλιον ("evangelion"). As Rabbi Meir was the descendant of Greek proselytes, it is possible that he, having had a Greek education, simply intended to represent the sound of ἐυαγγέλιον more exactly. However, this explanation would not apply to Rabbi Johanan's comment.
Next, the Talmud tells the story of Rabban Gamaliel II's dispute with a philosopher (פילוסופא) who said to Gamaliel, "Since the day that you were exiled from your land, the Torah of Moses was taken away, and the avon gilyon was given [in its place], and written in it [is the law that] son and daughter inherit equally" (in contrast to the Torah's rule that daughters do not inherit if a son is alive [21] ). Later the philosopher said, "I reached the end of the avon gilyon, and it is written: 'I [the author] did not come to subtract from the Torah of Moses, or to add to the Torah of Moses.' And it is written there: In a situation where there is a son, the daughter does not inherit." [22] The philosopher's statements in this story reflect Christian beliefs; [23] it cannot be determined whether the new law regarding the right of daughters to inherit was included in the original Hebrew Gospel. [24]
Another passage shows that the Gospels have not the sanctity of the Biblical books:
The Gospels are not otherwise mentioned in the Talmud or Midrash. [24] However, from the Talmudic narratives about Jesus it appears that the contents of the Gospel were known to the Talmudic teachers. [24]
Christianity began as a movement within Second Temple Judaism, but the two religions gradually diverged over the first few centuries of the Christian Era. Today, differences of opinion vary between denominations in both religions, but the most important distinction is Christian acceptance and Jewish non-acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah prophesized in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. Early Christianity distinguished itself by determining that observance of halakha was not necessary for non-Jewish converts to Christianity. Another major difference is the two religions' conceptions of God. The Christian God consists of three persons of one essence, with the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son in Jesus being of special importance. Judaism emphasizes the Oneness of God and rejects the Christian concept of God in human form. While Christianity recognizes the Hebrew Bible as part of its scriptural canon, Judaism does not recognize the Christian New Testament.
Halakha, also transliterated as halacha, halakhah, and halocho, is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandments (mitzvot), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the Shulchan Aruch. Halakha is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation of it might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the root which means "to behave". Halakha not only guides religious practices and beliefs, it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life.
In Judaism, the Seven Laws of Noah, otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws or the Noachian Laws, are a set of universal moral laws which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a covenant with Noah and with the "sons of Noah"—that is, all of humanity.
There is no established formulation of principles of faith that are recognized by all branches of Judaism. Central authority in Judaism is not vested in any one person or group - although the Sanhedrin, the supreme Jewish religious court, would fulfill this role if it were re-established - but rather in Judaism's sacred writings, laws, and traditions.
The Pharisees were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs became the foundational, liturgical, and ritualistic basis for Rabbinic Judaism.
This article distinguishes the various terms used to describe Jewish and Christian scripture. Several terms refer to the same material, although sometimes rearranged.
Religious pluralism is a set of religious world views that hold that one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus recognizes that some level of truth and value exists in other religions. As such, religious pluralism goes beyond religious tolerance, which is the condition of peaceful existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.
There is no specific doctrinal view of Jesus in traditional Judaism. Monotheism, a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God, is central to Judaism, which regards the worship of a person as a form of idolatry. Therefore, considering Jesus a deity would be forbidden according to Judaism. The rejection of Jesus as Messiah has never been a theological issue for Judaism because Jewish eschatology holds that the coming of the Jewish Messiah will be associated with events that had not occurred at the time of Jesus, such as the rebuilding of The Temple, a Messianic Age of peace, and the ingathering of Jews to their homeland.
Yeshu is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in rabbinic literature, Jesus when used in the Talmud. The name Yeshu is also used in other sources before and after the completion of the Babylonian Talmud. It is also the modern Israeli spelling of Jesus.
Jacob the heretic is the name given to a 2nd-century heretic whose doings were used as examples in a few passages of the Tosefta and Talmud to illustrate laws relating to dealing with heresy (minut).
Most scholars who study the historical Jesus and early Christianity believe that the canonical gospels and the life of Jesus must be viewed within their historical and cultural context, rather than purely in terms of Christian orthodoxy. They look at Second Temple Judaism, the tensions, trends, and changes in the region under the influence of Hellenism and the Roman occupation, and the Jewish factions of the time, seeing Jesus as a Jew in this environment; and the written New Testament as arising from a period of oral gospel traditions after his death.
Elisha ben Abuyah was a rabbi and Jewish religious authority born in Jerusalem sometime before 70 CE. After he adopted a worldview considered heretical by his fellow Tannaim, the rabbis of the Talmud refrained from relating teachings in his name and referred to him as the "Other One". In the writings of the Geonim this name appears as "Achor" ("backwards"), because Elisha was considered to have "turned backwards" by embracing heresy.
Rabbi Tarfon or Tarphon, a Kohen, was a member of the third generation of the Mishnah sages, who lived in the period between the destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Betar.
Pardes is the subject of a Jewish aggadah ("legend") about four rabbis of the Mishnaic period who visited the pardes, only one of whom succeeded in leaving the pardes unharmed.
Jewish heresy refers to those beliefs which contradict the traditional doctrines of Rabbinic Judaism, including theological beliefs and opinions about the practice of halakha. Jewish tradition contains a range of statements about heretics, including laws for how to deal with them in a communal context, and statements about the divine punishment they are expected to receive.
Nazarene is a title used to describe people from the city of Nazareth in the New Testament, and is a title applied to Jesus, who, according to the New Testament, grew up in Nazareth, a town in Galilee, now in northern Israel. The word is used to translate two related terms that appear in the Greek New Testament: Nazarēnos ('Nazarene') and Nazōraios ('Nazorean'). The phrases traditionally rendered as "Jesus of Nazareth" can also be translated as "Jesus the Nazarene" or "Jesus the Nazorean", and the title Nazarene may have a religious significance instead of denoting a place of origin. Both Nazarene and Nazorean are irregular in Greek and the additional vowel in Nazorean complicates any derivation from Nazareth.
Epikoros is a Jewish term figuratively meaning "a heretic", cited in the Mishnah, referring to one who does not have a share in the world to come:
"All Israel have a share in the world to come as states: Your people are all righteous, they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, wherein I glory. And these are the ones who do not have a portion in the world to come: He who maintains that there is no resurrection of the dead derived from the Torah, and [He who maintains] that the Torah is not from the Heavens, and an Epikoros"
There are several passages in the Talmud which are believed by some scholars to be references to Jesus. The name used in the Talmud is "Yeshu", the Aramaic vocalization of the Hebrew name Yeshua.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Judaism:
The Birkat haMinim is a curse on heretics which forms part of the Jewish rabbinical liturgy. It is the twelfth in the series of eighteen benedictions that constitute the core of prayer service in the statutory daily 'standing prayer' of religious Jews.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Gilyonim". The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
