Before putting this out to an open forum like this, I gave it to my brother to ask his thoughts as he is a bit more accustomed to listening to my crazy thoughts. He enthusiastically said post it! He also told me to offer you a few more verses regarding practicing our own traditions to give you more to go on.
Here's the thought -
Everything within Christianity that is true, faithful and obedient to God and His Word is actually Judaism. Everything that cannot be shown to be Hebraic in origin, is in fact pagan and by definition fully disobedient and evil.
Can you please offer examples that do not fit this statement?
Deuteronomy 12:20-32 makes it clear that we're not to use pagan practices to worship God. Throughout history, we as a faith group, have removed the pagan gods from certain practices and plugged in the One True God and declared the practice “good” or even “holy”. Other verses that would indicate we shouldn’t do this – Mat 15:3; Col 2:8; Jer 10:1-5; Heb 10:26. So it would seem that anything non-Hebraic in terms of practicing our faith (there’s A LOT) is therefore evil.
Guidelines and important notes -
1. Please don't take this as an attack on your faith. I am simply trying to grow my own understanding of the Word and using your help to get me outside of my own "box" of thoughts. This is an exercise in growth and faith building for me...I hope it is for you as well.
2. Please don't get angry and rude, but please do reply with a well thought out rebuttal and explanation as to why my theory is actually inaccurate.
3. Please thoroughly research the practice you're highlighting as non-pagan and non-Hebraic to be sure it's accurately represented, because I assure you, I will.
4. This question is asked with the assumption that you acknowledge that Jesus is Jewish and therefore practiced Judaism in the fullest and an utterly obedient fashion. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and "belongs to Judaism" just as must as He "belongs to Christianity."
it depends on what you mean by "judaism"?, it is evident from what is written in the Gospels that Jesus Christ seemed very innovative for most people in His time, moreover, with the fact that He saved people very effectively, removing the devilish spirits from the affected/possessed ones, healing the sick of all diseases/disorders/disabilities, resurrecting dead, and teaching the concerned ones to believe properly - everything with full and permanent effect, and there was no relapse
Matthew 8:27 "The men were amazed, and said, What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?",
Matthew 9:32-33 "a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.",
Matthew 10:1 "Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.",
Matthew 15:31 "the crowd marveled as they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.",
Mark 1:22 "They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.",
Mark 6:2 "When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands?",
Mark 7:37 "They were utterly astonished, saying, He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.",
Luke 9:43 "everyone was marveling at all that He was doing"
5. This is said with the assumption that the only source of absolute truth currently available to us is the Bible in the form generally accepted throughout greater Christianity.
the primary source of perfect truth is the true God Himself, or what can we understand from the Scriptures if He doesn't reveal their meaning to us, which is why it is written that the righteous man will live by faith (Romans 1:17), as well as that the letter kills, while the Holy Spirit gives life (Romans 2:29, 2 Corinthians 3:5-6)
6. While the Holy Spirit is a source of absolute truth, it is understood that He will never, under any circumstance, instruct you or anyone else to practice a walk of faith in contradictory manner against the written Word of God - the Bible.
7. It is understood that Jesus did not excuse you or anyone else from obedience. He did pay the price (death) for your inability to practice inerrant obedience.
8. All Biblical references used to refute my theory should be verified by 2-3 different Bible translations as some translations are written with a doctrinal leaning that often skew the true message of the Word.
i know even from experience that even all biblical versions are not enough to reveal the perfect meaning of the scripture, even the biblical hebrew and greek lexicon (such as that of james strong) is not enough, because there are many biblical(scriptural) words and phrases with specific spiritual meanings that cannot be understood only by reading - there is definitely a need of revelation from the true God
9. I am not saying that everything in Judaism is correct and perfect. I am saying that Judaism was the selected method of worship practiced by our God and Savior, Jesus.
judaism has been full of ineffective beliefs and practices even since the time before Jesus came 2 millennia ago, which He denounced as in the following case:
Mark 10:2-9 "Some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began to question Him whether it was lawful for a man to divorce a wife. And He answered and said to them, What did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away. But Jesus said to them, Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
they thought that the women and the sex are supposedly an obstacle to the spiritual growth of themselves, which is why they made a practice of divorcing their wives and sending them away
10. I am not saying you are going to hell because you practice pagan rituals. I am not God and therefore I can’t make such a judgement. Face it - we've all been fooled by Satan as he has manipulated our system of faith of the last 2 millennia. And yes – contrary to popular belief, 2 billion Christians can be wrong and they are wrong on many many things.
i am also not hasty to condemn/doom people to go into perdition, but in fact the heretical and idolatrous beliefs and practices lead to hell, the greatest sin presented in the Bible is the spiritual/religious tradition and activity that is based on the kingdom of satan/beast, it is written that every worshiper that worships the "beast" will suffer for ever and ever (Revelation 14:8-11), and that the greatest punishment is prepared for the false prophets (Revelation 19:20)
on the whole i don't think that anything ineffective or less effective as to the overall salvation in the true Lord God is worth it more than what is better and best for it, even if it is some form of judaism, and the fact that what is more and most effective as to overall salvation in God and Jesus is better than what is less and least effective for it indicates that it doesn't pay to choose what is worse and worst for the souls
Blessings