(December 1, 2021 at 8:08 am)vulcanlogician Wrote: even though they are so wretched, and their sin is so great, Jesus nonetheless rescues them.
If you read through the Old Testament in order, you see that the emphasis changes. At the beginning, it emphasizes personal worship of God, including burnt offerings and that kind of thing.
Once you get to the Prophets, especially post-Exile, they will say that God hates the smell of the offerings, because of the social injustice he sees in Israel. Properly observed ceremony means nothing if the widows and orphans are suffering.
One of Jesus's main strategies is to take the Old Testament teachings and increase them to the point that it would seem extreme and absurd to the people of the time. (And to us.) So wanting justice for widows and orphans is easy, but wanting justice for dirty low women who sell themselves is not something we easily feel. It seems extreme. Hey, they did it to themselves, why should I feel sympathy for them? If it doesn't seem extreme now, that largely has to do with Christian influence.
With the acknowledgment, of course, that too few Christians (or any of us) live up to that.
