Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 11/19/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hello, Fr. Johnson,

My question is about "faith vs works" as enunciated by Jesus and Paul.  In my reading, it seems that Jesus supported the following of the Laws of Moses.  For instance, he states in the Sermon on the Mount that not one dot of the law should be changed or ignored (I'm paraphrasing; it's not a direct quote).  Jesus even lived by the law, was circumcised, advocated following the Ten Commandments, celebrated Passover, etc.  God himself commanded following the Law, using phrases like "always, eternal, for a thousand generations, etc."  However, Paul dismisses following the Law of Moses, describing it as a yoke, or slavemaster.  Why do Christians not follow the Laws of Moses when Jesus himself did, and God himself commands following the Law "always."  My feeling is that God wasn't kidding; when he says "always" or "for eternity" he probably means it.  God doesn't usually change his mind.

ANSWER: Hi, Bruce:
Thanks for the question.
This is an area that does not lend itself to simple and short answers, though it is a good question and study...
The basics of the Catholic Tradition in approaching this whole issue is the distinction between "moral" law, on the one hand, and "ritual" law on the other.
The moral law has to do with human choices and acts, and whether or not they are in accord with God's design and plan for human nature...
The ritual law was ordained by God in order to prepare for by preview and foreshadowing the Visitation to mankind by God among us (Immanuel) in the flesh.  The ritual law before Christ served to "point to the Christ"; but once the Christ had actually COME, He was in fact the fulfillment of the Old Law - both in His very person, and in the ritual actions he instituted.
There can be no doubt that Jesus Christ, at the Last Supper, instituted the Eucharist and commanded his Apostles: "Do this in memory of me."  Do what?
Well - celebrate the Mystery of Christ as the fulfillment of all the "Types" of the Old Testament.  In His very person He is "Priest, Victim of the Sacrifice, Savior, New Life and Resurrection, etc."
Jesus followed the Law of Moses even in all of its ritual prescriptions during His Life in the flesh, because He was raised as a good Pharasaical Jew...and He did not institute the NEW and ETERNAL COVENANT until the night before He offered Himself on the Cross.
There is much more that could be said and studied.  I hope this will be of some help for reflection.

Fr. Timothy Johnson

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dear Fr. Johnson,

Thank you for that very thoughtful answer.  I have a follow-up.

In the Old Testament, there are numerous commandments to follow the Law always and forever.  Below are a few examples:


Deut 4:2 "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."

Deut 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments FOR A THOUSAND GENERATIONS." (time is not up yet)

Deut 11:1 "Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, ALWAYS."

And, of course, Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount:  "Think not that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.  For truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not one dot, not one iota, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished."

But Paul changed all that when he began to prosyletize to the Gentiles, after being rejected by the Jews.  Christians follow what appears to be "a change in the rules in the middle of the game?"  To me it seems that Jesus had his own particular ideas of how to follow the Law of Moses, but not to abolish them (as he plainly states).  In fact, to almost his dying day he lived as a religious Jew.  He was celebrating Passover with his disciples just one day before he died.  It seems very unlikely that Jesus himself would wait until the last possible moment to reveal what turned out to be a monumental change in belief, especially since he earlier said that he doesn't believe in that.  Most if not all his quotes and beatitudes were paraphrases from the Torah and Tulmud, even the Golden Rule, which was a takeoff on the teachings of Hillel.  My impression is that he would be shocked to know that an entirely new religion started after he died.  

One other question.  What do Christians currently believe is the age of the Earth and the Universe?  

Thank you very much for your help.

Best regards,
Bruce

ANSWER: Hi, Bruce:
Thanks for the questions.
It is true that 1,000 generations has not come to close; but the generations are called to "keep covenant."  Christians believe that we are keeping Covenant: it continues from the Old into the New in Christ.
As for the first quote: following the Christ is neither adding nor taking away...the Covenant has unfolded into the dispensation of the Visitation of God in the Flesh - the Incarnation.
Since the establishment of the Covenants (both Old and New) are rooted in the very Person of Christ, I see no problem with the matter unfolding and continuing into the new dispensation on the night Jesus was betrayed.  You seem to speak of Jesus as merely a Prophet who had such and such an amount of "time" to "teach" certain truths; but He in His very Person is "Way, Truth, and Life."  The Covenants are not lists of "laws or rules" - they are the manifestation of the Truth of the Person of God the Son in human nature.
As I stated in my first answer, there is a distinction between the "moral" law and the "ritual" law.  The Moral Law does not change, as human nature as God created it does not change; the Ritual Law is manifested, first in prefigurements pointing to Jesus Christ, then in the unfolding in Jesus being the very fulfillment and reality of the "type."
Christians do not know the age of the Earth and Universe; but neither do scientists.

Fr. Timothy Johnson

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello, Fr. Johnson.

I appreciate those answers.  I am eager to learn more about Christianity.

I was not aware of the difference between the ritualistic laws and the moral law.  What exactly is the Moral Law, and how is it used by Christians?  And how is the Moral Law NOT used by other religions?

My question about the age of the Earth and Universe was meant to get a better understanding of how literal Christians take every word in the Bible.  For instance, I understand that devout believers take the age of the Universe to be approximately 6000 years old, whereas scientists estimate the age to be approximately 14 billion years.  Since that is a very large difference, I was just wondering what your feelings are on that.

One further question, that also relates to belief in the literal veracity of the Bible.  I noticed that in three of the four Gospels, the very last words of Jesus just before he "dies" are stated.  However, all three are different.  For instance, in one Gospel, Jesus states: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"  In another, he states: "Into your hands I commend my spirit."  And in another, he states: "It is finished."  These three statements, all supposedly his specific last words, are not only different literally, but even in their inherent message.  Two are relatively straightforward and unemotional, and one seems like he's really desperate and bewildered.  It does not seem possible that it is simply a translational problem or different "vantage point" of three different authors.  What do you make of this, and all the other many differences and contradictions in the Gospels? (I could furnish you with a list a mile long)

Thanks again for your help in understanding all this.  I am currently involved in examining all the religions, to determine which one is best for me.

With best regards,
Bruce

*****

Answer
Hi, Bruce:
Hope I can help.
Basically the Moral Law concerns free human acts.  These are weighed against objective criteria of the nature and purpose of a thing, and the good free choices will do for the objective social order of society.  You ought to study about the "Positive Natural Law."  As to some of the specifics of how other religions may or may NOT use the Moral Law is kind of outside my area of study and expertise.  Often times there will be some kind of denial of the very basis for the natural law, or a misunderstanding of "nature", and how it is described in a systematic exposition of "natural law."  It becomes a very complex study, indeed.  Sadly, I have had experience with certain seemingly devout Protestant Fundamentalists who have a real problem with moral law, because they confuse it with ritual law.  Most will will proclaim that people must strive to be moral - but they have a problem describing the reasoning behind the moral law, and it becomes nothing more than a kinf of arbitrary "God says so, therefore, this is the way it is to be..."  This attitude has the consequence (by accident, I think) where I have encountered disgruntled fundamentalists who have "given up the struggle" to lead a moral life, and they begin rationalizing immoral behavior with an attitude that "God is forgiving," and "It doesn't matter what you do, because God is the one saving you..."
Like I said about the age of the earth - even scientists don't REALLY KNOW the age of the earth and the universe.  They vary by millions or billions of years.  You and I, and nobody can even begin to imagine a million years!  The Catholic Church posits no "feelings" on the issue of the age of the earth.  We are called to recognize that nothing comes from nothing, and that the Universe was ultimately created by God; but as to how exactly that has worked out - many factors that may never be known will have to weigh in.
I know that there is a Good Friday Devotion built around the "Seven Last Words of Jesus."  It may be better in English to think of it as Seven last recorded "phrases" spoken by Jesus; as further study would show us that the meaning of "seven last words" is not to be taken as a last sentence, composed of seven discrete words.
So each Gospel writer put a focus on different phrases of Jesus during His dying on the Cross.  He was at the end, or the "last" part of His life in this world.  So His "Last Words" are any phrases spoken while He was on the Cross - as He was at His "last" while He was dying on the Cross.

Fr. Timothy Johnson