by Harry BuererThis book is dangerous! Solberg seeks to turn the reader against what Jesus described as the greatest commandment, loving (and obeying) God. The connection between the two is emphasized in 1 John 5:3. I bought and read this book because I don’t think it’s intellectually honest to only read books that I think I’ll agree with. I also wanted to see if he raised any points that I had not previously considered. He didn’t.
As the son of a Baptist pastor, I grew up with the same beliefs that Solberg is promoting. After graduating from Bible college and seminary, I had the idea to teach a class on how the Torah changed from being normative to being obsolete (since that is what I’d always been taught). With that question in mind, I read the entire New Testament. By the time I finished, I had changed my mind. This change became solidified a few years later when I discovered the Fiscus Judaicus, a heavy Roman tax on Jews (or those who acted Jewish). It was a great incentive for followers of Jesus to abandon any of God’s commands that looked Jewish.
Jesus and his early followers taught Judaism, with the additional idea that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Jesus insisted repeatedly that not a jot or tittle of the law would change until heaven and earth pass away. (Luke 16:17; Matthew 5:17-19) Solberg mentions the Matthew passage, but seems to think that the time-frame Jesus had in mind was a few months until his crucifixion.
Peter’s warning in 2 Peter 3 should be a wake-up call. He points out that Paul’s letters are confusing, and those who misunderstand them tend to fall into “the error of lawless men”. This should alert us to which side of the law Paul is on. A good example of this error is in Acts 21, when believers in Jerusalem (who are zealous for the Torah) have believed the false rumor that Paul taught people to disobey the Torah. I believe that they thought this through misunderstanding Paul’s letter to the Galatians, as many do today. In any event, Paul went to a lot of trouble to prove to them that he lived according to the Torah.
Solberg seems unaware of the many places where Paul affirms the Torah in his writings. He mentions Romans 3:31 but doesn’t do much to rebut it. He doesn’t mention Romans 2:13 which says that it isn’t the hearers of Torah but those who do it who live righteously. Throughout Romans 7 Paul says that the Torah is: holy (vs. 12), spiritual (vs. 14), good (vs. 16), certainly not sin (vs. 7), and concludes by saying that in his inner being he delights in God’s Torah (vs. 22). For those who think that the Torah was only for Jews, in 1 Corinthians 7:19 he says that it doesn’t matter whether you’re Jewish or Gentile, keeping God’s commands is what counts.
Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son seems to be talking about the history of “Christianity”. What became Christianity abandoned many of God’s commands in the 2nd century, in contrast to the older brother, Israel. The bulk of Christianity has been out “feeding pigs” since the 2nd century. It’s encouraging that there seems to be an end-times movement to repent and return to the Father.
Both Galatians and Acts 15 are talking about not converting to Judaism, rather than not obeying Torah. It was difficult for Gentiles to embrace total Torah obedience all at once, which they would have to do if they converted to Judaism (Galatians 5:3). Acts 15 presents four rules to start with, and encourages Gentiles to attend synagogue every Sabbath and embrace Torah gradually as they come to understand it. It’s ironic, in hindsight, that three of the four rules given are dietary restrictions.
Solberg seems to think that the early followers of Jesus met to worship on the first day of the week. There is no hint of this in the New Testament. The event in Acts 20:7-12 is a community meal late Saturday evening. They had to wait until the Sabbath ended at sunset to prepare hot food. But Paul was leaving the next day, so they couldn’t wait. Paul was not preaching; he was dialoguing. (That’s the Greek word used.) In 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul instructs his readers to set aside money at home. He mentions the first day of the week because money was not to be handled on the Sabbath. As far as Revelation 1:10 goes, John was transported in spirit to the future Day of the Lord, which the biblical prophets talked about as a time of judgment. Christians like to translate it as the “Lord’s Day”, but Sunday wasn’t called that until centuries later.
For those who think that the Torah was only given to Israel, remember that it was a mixed multitude at Sinai (Exodus 12:38). The core of the group was Israel, and Israel was the only group of any size who was interested in obeying God, so in a sense the Torah was given primarily to Israel. But there are at least a half dozen verse in Torah that say that the same law is for the native-born and the foreigner. Leviticus 18:24-28 makes it clear that the sexual perversions mentioned were a major reason the people of Canaan were cast out. So they clearly were not only for Israel. And Isaiah 56 tells us that God is pleased when foreigners keep his Sabbaths. (The plural indicates that it includes the feast days.) In addition, Isaiah 66:23 and Zechariah 14:16 indicate that Sabbath and festivals will be observed in the Messianic kingdom. (cf. Matthew 24:20)
It’s interesting that the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost (Shavuot), the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. One of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to help people keep God’s Torah. (Ezekiel 36:27) This is confirmed by Romans 8:4 which says that God condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. The passage goes on to say that the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. (8:7)
There is much more in the New Testament, and certainly the Old Testament, that would lead us to follow Torah. But space limits what I can cover here. The more I study the New Testament, the more I am convinced that we should follow Torah. Paul summarized it in 2 Timothy 3:16 when he said that All Scripture (the Hebrew Scripture was all that he knew) is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.