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631
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
631

THE JEWISH ENX'YCLOPEDIA

631

Stood to be of rubhiiiiciil on'i^in. Proof for this is not imleed to be found in the Septuagint (I)eut. xxxiii. 2), or in Josephus ("Ant." xv. 5, §3); Paulinism for both passages (h-sorilie the presand Phari- cnce of angels on Mount Sinai during saism. the revelation as eontribiiling to the glory thereof, whereas Paul seeks to demonstrate the inferiority of the 'I'orah in that it is the work of angels, and not of God. The followingTahnudic passage, however, affordsan interesting " An unbeliever said parallel to these words of Paul to K. Idit, 'Wliy is it, said in Ex, xxiv. 1, "An<l he said unto Moses, Come up tmto the Lord"? It sliould say, "Come up unto me." The rabbi answered: 'God in this plaee is the Metatron, whose name is as the name of his Lord.'"* The "Mitatroll" is proliahly a liabylonianf inter))(ilalion, for the older sources mention some arehangel, sueh as Mieliael, prince of Israel, as the actual giver of the Law, thus alfording some foundation for Paul's dis]>araging rellection u])on the Torah's origin. Sindlarly, liis reference in Gal. iii. 11 to Hah. ii. 4, "Th<' just shall live l)y his faith." from which he seeks to prove the superiority of faith over the Law, is not original with him. "Six hundri'd and thirteen commandments." .says the Talmud in .Makkoi, •,':!/., •iin, "wer<- giv<'n to Closes; then came Ilabakkuk and ri-duccd them to one, as it is said, The,just shall

.

.

.

'

by his faith.'" The differenee between the Talnuul and I'aul here is. of course, (|uite a fundamental one; the Talmuil meaning only that the chief conlive

tent of the Law is faith, without abolishing thereby a single precept. It is very instructive, however, to note how Paul adapts Pharisaic utterances to his

own

purposes.

Paidine Antinomianism became the property of the Church only in a much restrieled sense; namely. in its iiractical aspect, the non-binding nature of

The

Law.

the

reason for this

is

easily discerned.

had a very clear way out between Jewish nomianism ami T^aul's violent Antinomianism, by simply regarding the Jewish law as an imperfect, picparatory grade of revelation, which was to lie fullilled and complclcd in the higher Chrislian

The

pecially to .braham. cinild he maintain a historical conneii ion between Judaism ami Chris tianity. TheGiioslicsdevilopid Aniinoniianisin more eonsisl<>nlly. Kcgaidlessof theirditTinnces of opiii ion ill other respects. Iliey are all siriclly antinomistic, ami the opposition with them is no longer lielween Law and (iospel, lint between thetioil cif the

Old Ti'Stament and that of the Ni'W Testament.

They do

  • Snnli.

not, like

ix/i.

The

Ilrninllnir in U. Idll,

I'aul. approiieli thi'

ciirn'ii x|iliuiiiitiiii

III

YilWII

.liisiin Miirlvr.

  • Mf|ll|nill

laii iirlirlii

h never

Tiirif.

iimiallv eiilteil

rill.

Ainer."

|i|>.

"

TliN

Is

IMiilekru<<," Ivl..

Ver. lien. v. It. Iill.

IlMil I/. I.

liislor

>>r

alxi iiiulnUiliictl iiiiil

(iiii. It.

felllltl 111 IIIIV nilihlllli-al

Till (I HI

topic

llih luiKsiiiri' Ik thiit. iliies liol iiIwiiv.h llliim (iiKl In |ht-

M>ii, lull MiiiH'ilitii's all iiiarcl.

Ih

Antinomianism

but from the side of their doctrine of dualism which originated in Platonism, or, properly speaking, in Parseeisin. Hence the Gnostic view of the dilference between the Supreme God and the WorldCreator leads to the contrast of Redemption and Creation, as finding exposition in the New and Old ieally.

Tcstami'iits respectively.

Paul's Antinomianism seems to have exercised most inlluence upon the(!nostic Marcion (who taught in Home about ITjO), whose dualism, unlike that of

other Gnostics,

is

not the cause, but the result, of his

pronounced Antinomianism (Harnack, "Dogniengeschichle," iii. 2.")l)). >Iarcion proceeds from the strong Pauline antitheses Law and Gospel, wrath and grace, works and faith, tlesh and spirit, sin and righteousness, death and life; and as these opposites seem irreconcilable, he arrives at the dualistic doctrine of the just and angry God of the Old Testament, and of the God of the Gosjiels Gnostic who is only love and mercy. Besides ElaboraMarcion. his conteinporary Tatian tions. (came to Home about IT'i) must be mentioned (compare Hilgeiifeld, " Ketzergescliiclite,"p. 384). His dualism of the demiurire of the Old Testament and of the SupremefJod of the Xew Testament is likewise an olfshoot of Pauline .Vntinomianism. He differs from .Marcion only in llial he does not conceive the relation between the demiurge and God as a hostile one (Kurtz, " Lehrbueh der Kirehengescliiclile," i. T9). The inlluence e.erted by Antinomianism on the conduct of life jiroved to be of a twofold nature; while Marcion and Tatian were led by it to extreme asceticism, with the Gnostics it resulied in libertine Iiraclises which contributed not a little to their ulii mate downfall. Especially notorious in this regard were the Nikolaitans, the Simonians, the Carpoeratiaiis, and the Prodicians. to which must be added the Pseiido-Hasilidians. L. G.

Chiireli

morality. Ki|ually eviih'iit is the reason why Paul could not select this way. " He was loo niueh of a Pharisee to distinguish critically between what was temponiry and what was permanent, between the form and the contents of the Ijiw; the Law was to him an inseparable whole of divine origin, which was either the sole and entire means to salvation or else the means, not to salvation, but to daninalion (PHeiderer, " rrchristenlhum," '^()7|. I'aul was in dei'd too much of a ,]vv to draw the Further fullest coiisei|uenees of his antiiioDevelop- inistie doctrine, so that only through ment of the the artillcial separation between Law Doctrine, and the promise to the forefathers, es-

.lew

Anti-KaimoniBts

.'l

III

N

Work

a laier ulcim.

Hiiliylniila

ijh-**

liv

the

II. ;;.

nl H.

rille<4llllIilll,

IhielliT,

wlm "B

Joel ("Ulicke in die Religionsgeschichte." i. 28. Hreslaii, Is.SOjsays; claim that the aniinomistic (and antinationaU movement in Christianity oriiii-

"We

nated

among

the Hellenistic .lews already in the

and that its representatives were thus unintluenceil by Christianity." The interesting pasdays of sage

Pliiln.

Philo

(" I)e

Miu'iatione Abraliami," xvi. 4.'5(b, allegorical system of interpretation had long before led to Aniinoniiaiiism, leads as follnws; "For there are those who. while taking the lelterof the laws as a symbol of spiritual things, lay all Ilie stress upon the latter, but neglect the foriuer. I am inclined to blame Ihein for their levity, inasmueli as they ought to pay regard to bulh the aeciirali' investigation of the things hidden and I he faithful observance of those laws which are manin

showing plainly that the

ifestly slated.

These

iiieii.

however, conduct them-

selves as if they lived alone in a ileserl. or as if they Were souls without conneclion wilh the body, as if they had no knowledge of the evistcnce of a city. village, or house, iir of any iiitercinirse of men; they disngard everylhiiig that is pleasing to the niajorily. aiming only at the plain, naked ruth by il.self. Yet Holy Scripture warns such men not to despise a gonil repiitalion, nor to disregiird any of the ciisloiiis which holy men. of greater wisdom than any of mir lime, have established. For we are far from tliinkinir thai liecaiise the Sabbath is inwardly a lessiiii III leach us the power of the I'ncreated and the iiiaiiivily of the Ihiiigscnaled, we should therefore have the laws of the Sabbalh abrogated anil so light a tire, till the land, carry burdens, or briiiir suits liefore he court and five juilirmeiil. or demand the restoration of deposits, iir exact the |>uyuieut of I

I