Purity : blessing or burden?

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:During the history of Israel the concept of purityhad developed as a way in which God's people could honourhis holiness and draw nearer to him, as a sanctifiednation. By the time of Jesus, in Second Temple Judaism,the purity system had become restrictive. This had beeninfluenced by political and social developments, includingan increased desire to withdraw from Hellenistic and otherfactors which were seen as contaminating the integrity ofJudaism.There were diverse perceptions regarding theachievement of the purity of Israel, includingmilitaristic confrontation and expulsion of alienoccupation forces, stricter adherence to the Law and, insome cases, total withdrawal from general society (such asat Qumran). It was, however, particularly the Pharisaicimposition of the supplementary oral tradition, supposedto clarify the written Law, which imposed hardship onthose who, through illiteracy or inferior social status,were unable to meet all the minute provisions which wouldensure ritual purity. The expansion of the Law of Mosesby the commentary of the rabbis, which over time becamethe entrenched oral tradition of the fathers, wasoriginally intended to promote access to God by clarifyingobscure points of the Law, in the pursuit of purity.However, this oral tradition had, in fact, become aninstrument of alienation and separation of the ordinarypeople not only from the Pharisees, who consideredthemselves as the religious elite, but also from God.The common people, that is, a large section of thepopulation, felt rejected and on the outside of bothreligious and social acceptance. On the material levelthey also suffered under a heavy tax burden, from bothTemple and State, which aggravated their poverty.It was this situation which Jesus confronted in hismission to change the ideological climate and to revealthe Kingdom of God as being accessible to all who acceptedthe true Fatherhood of God, in penitence and humility.He denounced the hypocrisy which professed piety but whichignored the plight of those who were suffering.Hark 7 : 1-23 symbolizes the difference between theteaching and practice of Jesus and that of the Pharisees,and provides metaphorically a pattern of Christianengagement which is relevant in the South Africansituation today.The Christian challenge is to remove those barriers,both ideological and economic, which impede spiritual andmaterial well-being within society. By active engagement,rather than by retreating to the purely ritualistic andindividualistic practice of religion, the realization ofthe Kingdom of Heaven, as inaugurated by Jesus, will beadvanced.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University