Thank you for your kind words! I don't comment on it often but I have been impressed by the depth and the intensity of your interest in these matters. I enjoy conversing them with you.
yahvah and I used to be on each other's friends lists, but I think he got tired of having the same argument with me over and over. :)
(For some reason I just thought of Joe Versus the Volcano. "I'm not arguing that with you!")
I agree with you that Paul erred by taking the legalistic path in making his arguments. It obscured his meaning and sullied the clarity of his message. I like best the passages where he speaks from the heart, like when he is talking about love, or thankfulness.
Jesus did not allow his argument to be similarly weighed down. He could argue scripture, but his exegesis is clear and simple and always compassionate, not legalistic, not bogged down by concerns about who is "saved" and who is not. I'm reminded for example of Matthew 12 or John 10.
Let me propose that the "contaminating culprit" that you sense is dualism, not Hellenism. Dualism is a doctrine that can crop up in any mystical tradition at any time, and it always leads to discord, mistrust of women and sexual minorities, and religious legalism. If I am right, then the biggest problem comes not so much from Hellenistic philosophy (which was moderately dualistic) but the influence of Zoroastrian religion (which was strongly dualistic) on Judaism.
Re: Paul=Antichrist?
(For some reason I just thought of Joe Versus the Volcano. "I'm not arguing that with you!")
I agree with you that Paul erred by taking the legalistic path in making his arguments. It obscured his meaning and sullied the clarity of his message. I like best the passages where he speaks from the heart, like when he is talking about love, or thankfulness.
Jesus did not allow his argument to be similarly weighed down. He could argue scripture, but his exegesis is clear and simple and always compassionate, not legalistic, not bogged down by concerns about who is "saved" and who is not. I'm reminded for example of Matthew 12 or John 10.
Let me propose that the "contaminating culprit" that you sense is dualism, not Hellenism. Dualism is a doctrine that can crop up in any mystical tradition at any time, and it always leads to discord, mistrust of women and sexual minorities, and religious legalism. If I am right, then the biggest problem comes not so much from Hellenistic philosophy (which was moderately dualistic) but the influence of Zoroastrian religion (which was strongly dualistic) on Judaism.