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2,500 years ago, Jews were slaughtering goats and offering them as burnt offerings on altars in order to absolve themselves of sin. Modern Judaism is distinctl

2,500 years ago, Jews were slaughtering goats and offering them as burnt offerings on altars in order to absolve themselves of sin. Modern Judaism is distinctly different than what was practiced two millenia ago.

ErrantX 16y ago
That's a very problematic argument for a few reasons. Firstly your now considering early Judaism unenlightened. However the core beliefs are still very much the same; and many customs from contemporary Norse times are still observed by some sects. Secondly that's the practice of religion; which is very different from a belief itself. It is possible to believe in God or a set of gods without following the practices of the organisations themselves. The difference between then and now is that a) you were "sold" the practices as an inherent part of belief in XYZ God and b) to believe without practising them was dangerous. As a result the actual belief in the Abrahamic God is somewhat irrelevant to the practices.
orp 16y ago
To my knowledge, the religious decree about slaughtering goats is the same today in judaism as it was 2,500 years ago. The reason it's not practiced today is 'just' because the decree also states that you have to perform the sacrifice at the great temple on temple mount. That poses a technical problem, since: 1. The temple was destroyed 2k years back, and there's a pretty famous mosque standing in its place. 2. Religious jews have to do a special kind of purification in order to even be on temple mount, and this purification is impossible at the moment, again for weird technical reasons (they need a red cow, don't ask). BUT, if there was a temple, and there was a purification rite, religious jews would, in all likelihood, be happily burning offerings 3 times each year. In short, not as different as you may think.
- pyre 16y ago
  I was under the impression that a most of the religious classes/castes (other than the Rabbis) in Judaism were wiped out by the Romans (or someone) and that some of those were the ones that were supposed to perform certain ceremonies. I may be wrong though, I can't find anything about this in a quick Wikipedia search.
  - philwelch 16y ago
    Rabbis aren't a caste, they're just a profession. There is a priestly caste, the kohanim. The kohanim have various obligations and duties, most of which are moot in the modern world, and one of which involves the hand gesture made famous by Leonard Nimoy. There is another caste, the Levites, but they have no remaining duties.
- pyre 16y ago
  I was under the impression that a most of the religious classes/castes (other than the Rabbis) in Judaism were wiped out by the Romans (or someone) and that some of those were the ones that were supposed to perform certain ceremonies. I may be wrong though, I can't find anything about this in a quick Wikipedia search. [EDIT] I may have been confused with the Sanhedrin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin

ErrantX 16y ago

That's a very problematic argument for a few reasons. Firstly your now considering early Judaism unenlightened. However the core beliefs are still very much the same; and many customs from contemporary Norse times are still observed by some sects. Secondly that's the practice of religion; which is very different from a belief itself. It is possible to believe in God or a set of gods without following the practices of the organisations themselves. The difference between then and now is that a) you were "sold" the practices as an inherent part of belief in XYZ God and b) to believe without practising them was dangerous. As a result the actual belief in the Abrahamic God is somewhat irrelevant to the practices.

orp 16y ago

To my knowledge, the religious decree about slaughtering goats is the same today in judaism as it was 2,500 years ago. The reason it's not practiced today is 'just' because the decree also states that you have to perform the sacrifice at the great temple on temple mount. That poses a technical problem, since: 1. The temple was destroyed 2k years back, and there's a pretty famous mosque standing in its place. 2. Religious jews have to do a special kind of purification in order to even be on temple mount, and this purification is impossible at the moment, again for weird technical reasons (they need a red cow, don't ask). BUT, if there was a temple, and there was a purification rite, religious jews would, in all likelihood, be happily burning offerings 3 times each year. In short, not as different as you may think.

pyre 16y ago
I was under the impression that a most of the religious classes/castes (other than the Rabbis) in Judaism were wiped out by the Romans (or someone) and that some of those were the ones that were supposed to perform certain ceremonies. I may be wrong though, I can't find anything about this in a quick Wikipedia search.
- philwelch 16y ago
  Rabbis aren't a caste, they're just a profession. There is a priestly caste, the kohanim. The kohanim have various obligations and duties, most of which are moot in the modern world, and one of which involves the hand gesture made famous by Leonard Nimoy. There is another caste, the Levites, but they have no remaining duties.
pyre 16y ago
I was under the impression that a most of the religious classes/castes (other than the Rabbis) in Judaism were wiped out by the Romans (or someone) and that some of those were the ones that were supposed to perform certain ceremonies. I may be wrong though, I can't find anything about this in a quick Wikipedia search. [EDIT] I may have been confused with the Sanhedrin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanhedrin