Hypnosis In Christianity Exposed!

[Biblicist]

So the very complex Temple-oriented Judaism out of which Christianity emerged, along with all its ritualism, calendars and liturgies and then produced the New Testament and subsequently began again engaging in ritual, liturgy and sacred calendars. I simply see the NT as part of this continuum, the texts are liturgical. They don't contain liturgical instructions and formulas because they are the liturgies of the early Christian communities which produced them.

That's an interesting perspective, but if you will permit a bit of flamboyant language, then I am more than convinced that the liturgical ways of the Old Covenant, which were only a shadow of things to come, that when the Holy Spirit fell upon the church that these old ways took the same path as the Do-do bird, where they flew the coop for all time.

If the very Jewish Apostles-of-Christ (being the Twelve and Paul) had considered that even some of the old forms of worship were to have continued into the New Covenant, then we would have at least seen a suggestion of this; but instead, we see in John 4:23;

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks".​

Gone are the old ways where now the Children of God, who have been joined together in Christ through the unifying presence of the indwelling Eschatological Holy Spirit, we have now been enabled and empowered to worship and praise our Father in truth but most importantly through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Aelred of Rievaulx]

If the very Jewish Apostles-of-Christ (being the Twelve and Paul) had considered that even some of the old forms of worship were to have continued into the New Covenant, then we would have at least seen a suggestion of this; but instead, we see in John 4:23;

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks".​

Gone are the old ways where now the Children of God, who have been joined together in Christ through the unifying presence of the indwelling Eschatological Holy Spirit, we have now been enabled and empowered to worship and praise our Father in truth but most importantly through the agency of the Holy Spirit.

And yet, the early Christians continued to go to the Temple (according to Acts), in the Diaspora they continued to go to Synagogue. Presumably they participated well enough with the liturgies going on there, such as the Birkath hammazon and given that they eventually developed the early Christian liturgies, very early in fact, the Didache. I think the only way around having a high liturgical faith is to assume, like the LDS does, a Great Apostasy...

 

[Biblicist]

And yet, the early Christians continued to go to the Temple (according to Acts), in the Diaspora they continued to go to Synagogue. Presumably they participated well enough with the liturgies going on there, such as the Birkath hammazon and given that they eventually developed the early Christian liturgies, very early in fact, the Didache. I think the only way around having a high liturgical faith is to assume, like the LDS does, a Great Apostasy...

In all probablity the early Jewish Christians saw themselves as being a continuation of their previous Jewish faith, where they were in most part, to continue on with the old ways which would have included many of their worship practices. Though the ability to praise God in the Spirit (tongues) would have been a new aspect of their praise and worship which they had not experienced under the Old Covenant as would the ability for the rank-and-file members to prophesy.

We only have to look at the response to Peter's announcement that the Holy Spirit had been given to the Gentiles to realise that the first Christians probably only adjusted their traditional forms of worship etc by degrees; but again, their new found ability to be able to praise God in the Spirit would have undoubtedly changed a thing or two during their meetings.

Within only a few years, the Church would have matured and with the introduction of the Gentiles who would have had no interest with Jewish forms of worship, we would have by this time seen the end of the old ways with the introduction of the New things of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Aelred of Rievaulx]

Within only a few years, the Church would have matured and with the introduction of the Gentiles who would have had no interest with Jewish forms of worship, we would have by this time seen the end of the old ways with the introduction of the New things of the Holy Spirit.

I don't know why people assume this about the Gentiles. They were very interested in things Jewish. The Gentiles which Paul sought out were "God-fearers", sympathisers to Judaism. A growing trend in biblical studies today, see especially the work of Daniel Boyarin, Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Bogdan Bucur and Michel Rene Barnes has been looking at the NT texts and the 2nd century texts as developing from within various strains of Judaism. Bucur and Barnes, in particular look, at pneumatology.

 

[Biblicist]

I don't know why people assume this about the Gentiles. They were very interested in things Jewish. The Gentiles which Paul sought out were "God-fearers", sympathisers to Judaism. A growing trend in biblical studies today, see especially the work of Daniel Boyarin, Crispin Fletcher-Louis, Bogdan Bucur and Michel Rene Barnes has been looking at the NT texts and the 2nd century texts as developing from within various strains of Judaism. Bucur and Barnes, in particular look, at pneumatology.

It would be a mistake in my view to presume that the God-fearers were being attracted so much to the Jewish Temple worship but more with God himself. In fact from what the evidence indicates, these God-fearers who were certainly respected by the Jewish population were not permitted to be involved within the Temple or Synagogue meetings.