BR 11:03, Jun 1995
Who was the historical Jesus? For some recent New Testament scholars, he was a reformer who, in mingling with the poor, healing lepers and preaching to the outcast, deliberately flouted Jewish purity lawsand the Temple system associated with themattacking these laws as perpetuating social, economic and gender distinctions. Instead of a politics of purity, Jesus brought a politics of compassion. But that argument is flawed, according to Paula Fredriksen in Did Jesus Oppose the Purity Laws? The scholars who subscribe to this theory completely fail to understand the Jewish purity system, she points out, for neither sin nor social stigma attached to impurity. Indeed, Jesus may have ritually cleansed himself before entering the Temple, thus paying respect to ancient Judaisms most sacred siteradically changing our understanding of the historical Jesus.