RE: My theology class with a bunch of Unitarians
April 7, 2012 at 8:22 pm
(This post was last modified: April 7, 2012 at 8:22 pm by Oldandeasilyconfused.)
Quote:The Samaritan may have been Jewish but he wasn't overly burdened with religion.
Incorrect. He may not have been burdened with meaningless ritual, but Samaritans tended to be very devout Jews. Saying Samaritans are not "real" Jews is like saying say Copts are not "real' Christians..
Quote:The Samaritans (Hebrew: שומרונים Shomronim, Arabic: السامريون as-Sāmariyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously the Samaritans are adherents of Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism. Based on the Samaritan Torah, Samaritans claim their worship is the true religion of the ancient Israelites prior to the Babylonian Exile, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to Judaism, which they assert is a related but altered and amended religion brought back by those returning from exile.
Quote:Religious beliefs
There is one God, YHWH, the same God recognized by the Hebrew prophets.
The Torah was given by God to Moses.
Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, is the one true sanctuary chosen by Israel's God.
Many Samaritans believe that at the end of days, the dead will be resurrected by Taheb, a restorer (possibly a prophet, some say Moses).
Paradise (heaven).
The priests are the interpreters of the law and the keepers of tradition; scholars are secondary to the priesthood.
The authority of post-Torah sections of the Tanakh, and classical Jewish rabbinical works (the Talmud, comprising the Mishnah and the Gemara) is rejected.
They have a significantly different version of the Ten Commandments (for example, their 10th commandment is about the sanctity of Mount Gerizim).
The Samaritans retained the Ancient Hebrew script, the high priesthood, animal sacrifices, the eating of lambs at Passover, and the celebration of Aviv in spring as the New Year. Yom Teruah (the biblical name for Rosh Hashanah), at the beginning of Tishrei, is not considered a new year as it is in Judaism. Their main Torah text differs from the Masoretic Text, as well. Some differences are doctrinal: for example, their Torah explicitly states that Mount Gerizim is "the place that God has chosen" for the Temple, as opposed to the Jewish Torah that refers to "the place that God will choose". Other differences are minor and seem more or less accidental.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan
