I guess my question would be do we understand the bible from an Eastern mindset or a Western mindset? Because the two cultures are completely different from one another.
Many blessings to you all.
Moriah Ruth
Personally,
From what I've seen, it's hard to get past the reality that those in the Bible had NO issue with utilizing aspects from both the Eastern and Western style of thinking. For there are many basic things which cannot be understood unless you understand the Eastern culture Christ and the Gospels were written in. For good study reference, have you heard of the book
Amazon.com: Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (9780830825684): Kenneth E. Bailey: Books ?
Bought that book years ago at Borders before they went out of business- and although I didn't finish it (although halfway through), it was really insightful to see some of the ways that Middle-Eastern culture can make a world of difference in understanding the text.
In example, One thing I got from the book was on how a lot of things are amazing in seeing once considering how to see the Nativity scene/the scriptures through Middle-Eastern eyes and understand where things (i.e. rooms, animals, etc) would've been properly placed and how different that is from our imagination of things today. Kenneth E. Baily did a lot of excellent work on the issue in his book entitled "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes" and shared in-depth on the ways that Joseph/Mary weren't traditionally in a barn as many think....nor were they in poor conditions when Christ was born since Joseph had royal blood/had relatives that would have taken care of them in his hometown (as it'd be dishonorable for relatives to turn away blood/family at crucial times and hospitality is key). Moreover, as Baily shared, Middle/Near-Eastern culture is radically different than what others often think and hygiene has to be seen from their perspective of what was actually done. There were not a concept of "barns" where all the animals stayed seperate from the people in all contexts (more shared here in
Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels - Page 31 )
In peasant homes of the time, mangers were located in the main part of the house. As Kenneth Bailey points out,
Each night into that designated area, the family cow, donkey and a few sheep would be driven. And every morning those same animals were taken out and tied up in the courtyard of the house. The animal stall would then be cleaned for the day. The animals are put in the house because, they provide heat in winter and are safe from theft.
The Bible even reveals this practice of keeping animals in the house:
1 Samuel 28:24 (ESV) 24 Now the woman had a fattened calf in the house, and she quickly killed it, and she took flour and kneaded it and baked unleavened bread of it,
Judges 11:31 (ESV) 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORDs, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. Jephthah assumed it would be one of his animals not his daughter.
Luke 13:15 (ESV) 15 Then the Lord answered him, You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? As stated earlier, the animals are taken out of the house (untied) every morning and led out of the house even on the Sabbath. Interestingly, the phrase used by
Luke 13:12, you are freed literally means untied.And the earliest Arabic version of the NT from the 9th century translates
Luke 13:15 as,
does not every one of you untie his ox or his donkey from the manger in the house and take it outside and water it?
It would not have been odd for Joseph and Mary to be in the same room as many of the animals since that was common during that time. Of course, in two story homes, there could be rooms above where the animals were so as to add heat to the rooms were....but to be amongst the other animals in the same room would not have been odd. And to be clear, the Gospel of
Luke doesnt mention a single animal being present at the nativity. However, there are some things which can be inferred. In example, we cant speak for the donkeys not being present automatically since their presence at the manger when Jesus was Born would have been likely. After, it was a hotel stable...and we can assume there were all sorts of manger using animals hanging around. Even if the hotel guests werent traveling with donkeys, remember, at least one donkey would have been present, the one Mary rode in on.
That said, I definately think that "Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes" is a GREAT read
And one illustration of how the Eastern mindset is central to know the Lord.
And outside of dynamics as it concerns culture and lifestyle, the differences in values are also something that one cannot understand without seeing how the Eastern mindset operates.
For more specifics, here's a decent video by a Messianic Jew who noted some in-depth thoughts on the matter...
The folks over at the Rosh Pina Project, as they're always amongst the most balanced/honest of others within the Messianic movement. And I felt the video had a very balanced point of view. However, I disagree with the fact about commentaries. ..as commentaries can be helpful in understanding the word. But you have to know of course where the writer is coming from and what their biases are. It is difficult to completely wipe out the Greek thinking attitude (as he noted) that we have been brought up with and adapt a more Hebraic way of thinking because community is more important than the individual and that is what we struggle with ....as we place individual above community. In fact, sometimes community's way of doing things and thinking can be wrong. ..and when leaving out the Holy Spirit, a lot of things come out of place.
The exact difference between a Greco-Roman mindset and a Hebrew mindset is key to remember since much of Scripture makes no sense from a Greco-Roman linear point of view, but only from a block logic, circular pattern point of view.
Many Jewish Rabbi/organizations have made clear how Greek Thought is based more so on a Step model of logic (i.e. "1+1=2") where there's a great degree of forumla while the Hebraic is very much with similar dynamics, except that on many things there's a BLOCK Model of logic where things do not have to be in sequence or formulaic. Thoughts can parralel without necessarily having to make sense on why they connect---and there can be a great degree of mystery involved where some things are not necessarily certain. And Greek Thought was linear and Hebraic was circular...but even with one being more so linear and the other being circular, it would not be fully accurate to say the Hebraic has absolutes in all things...as in, all things neatly "categorized", "boxed" and in nice rows of thought.
Not all things Greek are bad, of course. If interested, here are some articles on the issue of Gentiles and Messianics that I thought would bless you----from "Rosh Pina Project". It is entitled
Its All Greek To Me---which I thought was beyond fascinating since it did a great job of addressing how one considered amongst the greatest of Jewish Rabbis,
Maimonides, based his whole negative theology off Aristotelian ideas, meaning that he defined God by what he is not, as you cant explain God in positive terms by human philosophy. Also, there was excellent discussion on the issue (including the ways that Judaism after/during the Maccabean Revolt managed to find ways of utilizing Hellenization to their advantage by making it fit a Judaic perspective) as seen in the book entitled
In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity.
The Maccabean fighters, who eventually established the Hasmonean kingdom, were themselves influenced deeply by Hellenism - with later generations finding many positive benefits from it as a result (more shared
here /
here).
Going back to what was said earlier, there is a difference in the way the people from a Western background think when compared to the culture Yeshua came from. For in the West, answers are either right or wrong AND the individual is important or central. In Middle Eastern thinking (the same for Hebraic thinking) it is more like there is more than one answer and the community is central. Greek thinking is more black and white, whereas Middle Eastern is not so black and White. AND the aforementioned video from earlier says that Hebraic thinking is more faith and reading the Bible than reading commentaries. I remember reading on in a book entitled
"Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road: Exploring a New Path Between Two Faiths" ( ) and being amazed at things I had never considered before with parables. Yes, I was aware that Christ spoke in parables and that was a form of communication...but I had no realization as to how extensive the concept of story-telling was to illustrate deep truths within Middle-Eastern culture...and how many of those stories weren't meant to be understood as if one had to see them from a rational
In regards to the Messianic Jew who shared in the earlier video, there are others who've done good reviews. In example, Messianic Jew Alan Hirsch did a good review on the matter h
ere in his book
The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church"
Also, there are others who seemed to be very similar to the British Messianic Jew in the video who spoke---if knowing of Ray Vander Laan of "Follow the Rabbi"...more on his teachings
seen here (or
here )
Shalom..
Amen Sister, tell it like it is! And it truly is!
