Perhaps we should ask more often, 'how can we be sure?'
Not trying to dispute what was said here, despite not being in agreement. That would be foolish and fruitless. Simply trying to impart why many other sects and denominations among the community of believers have adopted entirely different interpretations based on various textual and contextual methodologies. Sadly, many decisions regarding the interpretation of scripture, made in both academic and religious circles, are based on cultural norms, funding and/or political narratives as much as anything else.
"As of 09 Feb 2024, there are
more than 45,000 Christian denominations worldwide, including the Roman Catholic Church, 25 principal forms of Eastern Orthodoxy, numerous varieties of Protestantism, and tiny store-front churches with fewer than 100 members." (1)
"Christianity is the largest religious group in the world, with an estimated 2.3 to 2.6 billion adherents in 2020." (3)
"Some conservative churches that voted to disaffiliate say the denomination has responded by forcing out their pastors and charging them millions to keep their property." (0)
"The number of church buildings in the US is not mentioned in the sources." (2)
This, according to:
christianitytoday.com (0)
wesleyan.edu (1)
thecompletepilgrim.com (2)
en.wikipedia.org (3)
List of Christian denominations by number of members - Wikipedia
Almost all of these listed above claim to be led by the Spirit. But when the results of their disparate conclusions are considered by others, whether believing or not, many have come to ask, "By which spirit?"
The short version is that Christian denominations by any metric are Big Business. They have a vested interest in their adherents conforming to their particular belief system and traditions. We have all seen congregations split over the color of carpet. How much more so over the color of their dogma?
Not saying any particular belief system is more or less correct than any other. But this is why some have come to the conclusion that scripture and commentary, taken in context, is much more valuable to the seeker than denominations and dogma. Perhaps choosing one's own beliefs first, is a better way of choosing the congregation to which one should belong. But in this world, most people are born into a church before they become 'born again' in Messiah.
Performing certain mental exercises on dogma and beliefs and then asking different questions in different manners, is a great way to see if they may fit any other possibilities. Such as asking if the Messiah, referring to what is 'fulfilled' in this case, was perhaps not Torah (the 'Law'), but what the Prophets prophesied about the Messiah? There were after all, certain expectations of what the Messiah would be like and what He would do during His ministry and reign. Shouldn't that be thoroughly explored to dispel any hint of doubt by the seeker?
One of the things that turned my way of thinking around, was to study Eastern philosophy and how it affects our understanding of verbal and written communications from a Western perspective. Although it is possible that one's conclusions may not be 'earth shattering', however, it may very well be eye-opening. And it provides a starting point to a journey from what a person had always been taught, to what a person would know. Serious discrepancies between what is taught and what is learned should be rectified - and that will never happen in an unquestioning devotion to tradition.
Another source of revelation is to study ancient writing forms and how they were understood from within the cultural context of the people to whom they were originally intended. For instance, look at the differences between the interpretations of ancient writings (including the survival of those writings) to be found between a conquerors' understanding and that of the conquered. This is an ever evolving field of study, but one worthy of our attention.
The victor writes the history. It is widely accepted that this type of dramatic re-interpretation of ancient writings, events and customs occurred with the expansion of many ancient empires. The Hittite, the Assyrian, the Babylonian and the Greek treatment of ancient cultures and their writings is fairly well documented, but not completely understood. So what befell the many-times enslaved sons of Israel in this regard? Were they not similarly corrupted with the adoption of the traditions and practices of their conquerors? Of course they were. Should that not be thoroughly understood before adhereing to a particular set of beliefs and traditions? Absolutely!
At the time of the Roman diaspora, Judean slaves were so plentiful that the average Roman citizen, resident alien or sojourner within that realm, could purchase a 'Jew' for the price of a loaf of bread. For the next two centuries or more, if a Judean, slave or not, was caught possessing Torah scrolls within the Roman Empire, it was a sentence of death by torture. They were often smeared with pitch, affixed to a pole and burned for garden party illumination and entertainment, no matter their beliefs about Messiah.
During the Roman conquest and the subsequent events of that century, we are also aware of the evolution of dogma within the 'believing' community that resulted in the destruction of many popular writings among the 'believers' by those congregation most closely aligned with the ever-changing policies, perspectives and politics of Rome. We have documentation of the brutal excesses of that era too. Both believers and non-believers, parchment and papyrus, were burned. Attitudes and teachings were 'adjusted' to fit the narrative du jour.
This is how we inherit tradition (dogma). Dogma drives teachings. Perhaps certain views deserve another look; like the possibility that
what Messiah 'fulfilled' wasn't what has been decided by those that buried every non-acceptable interpretation and tradition under a pile of roasted parchment, people and pigs.
Considering the stakes, being 'sure' isn't enough. It is written that His people perish for lack of knowledge. Shouldn't that be enough to inspire us to keep seeking and testing? Perhaps, metaphorically speaking, putting all the proverbial eggs in one basket
should be questioned. That is all I'm saying. But that is yours to decide.
May you be Blessed,
