Posts Tagged ‘Antun Saadeh’
Was Jesus Jewish by any long shot?
Posted on: April 6, 2015
Was Jesus Jewish by any long shot?
The Jews of Jerusalem never acknowledged that Jesus was a Jew.
Jesus never proclaimed that he was Jew.
The mother of Jesus was from the town of Qana, the district of Tyr then and now, as was all of her family.
The Temple they patronized was the Great Temple of the Carmel and it is there they celebrated their religious events.
The town of Bethlehem was the one in Galilee and not the one close to Jerusalem that was a tiny military garrison.
When Jesus ascended toward Jerusalem, it was his first visit to the city, where he would be persecuted and executed.
!['Jesus was Syrian</p><br /><br />
<p>By Dr. Edmond Melhem</p><br /><br />
<p>Was Jesus really a Jew as some scholars refer to him? According to Antun Sa´adeh, Jesus was not a Jew, but he was Syrian and a product of his Syrian social environment. Sa´adeh clearly states: </p><br /><br />
<p>Jesus was not Jewish and he had no Jewish fathers; as claimed by the composer of the Instigatory [Al-Qarawi], who denigrated him. Jesus was Syrian, who used to address people in Aramaic. </p><br /><br />
<p>In his book, Life of Jesus, Renan, asserts that “the real mother-tongue of Jesus was the Syrian dialect mingled with Hebrew, which was then spoken in Palestine”. By the Syrian dialect Renan meant Aramaic, which was the spoken language in Palestine, particularly in the Galilee, during the lifetime of Jesus. The Dutch Roman Catholic scholar Edward Schillebeeckx was certain about the Aramaic hypothesis when he wrote: “On historical grounds it is quite certain that he [Jesus] conveyed his message in Aramaic”. Günther Bornekamm offers a similar view that “Jesus’ mother tongue is the Aramaic of Galilee.”</p><br /><br />
<p>According to Abraham Mitrie Rihbani (1870 – 1945) , Syria was the original home of Jesus. In The Syrian Christ, published in 1916 and reprinted 17 times between 1916 and 1937, Rihbani conducts us “into the inner chambers of Syrian life”, describing the social habits of Syria and the cultural milieu in which Jesus lived. At the start of his journey, however, he asserts, like many, that Jesus, as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit and as a preacher of God: the Father, and His heavenly kingdom, is a man without a country or nationality. He states: </p><br /><br />
<p>As a prophet and seer Jesus belongs to all races and ages. Wherever the minds of men respond to simple truth, wherever the hearts of men thrill with pure love, wherever a temple of religion is dedicated to the worship of God and the service of man, there is Jesus’ country and there his friends. </p><br /><br />
<p>Before he presents a charming account of Jesus’ life and his characteristics as well as his teachings, Rihbani emphasizes that his modest purpose in publishing his book is “to remind the reader that, whatever else Jesus was, as regards his modes of thought and life and his method of teaching, he was a Syrian of the Syrians”. Rihbani adds: </p><br /><br />
<p>According to authentic history Jesus never saw any other country than Palestine. There he was born; there he grew up to manhood, taught his Gospel, and died for it.</p><br /><br />
<p>It is most natural, then, that gospel truths should have come down to the succeeding generations – and the nations of the West-cast in Oriental moulds of thought, and intimately intermingled with the simple domestic and social habits of Syria. The gold of the Gospel carries with it the sand and dust of its original home. </p><br /><br />
<p>In search of Jesus’ identity, scholars may provide rival answers and a multiplicity of dazzling images of Jesus. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Jesus of history, the real Jesus, was born in Palestine; there he grew up, walked and taught. He never identified himself as a Jew and never designated himself the Son of David, but the Son of God. Sa´adeh asserts that Jesus himself refused to be called “Son of David” as the Jews wished. He adds:<br /><br /><br />
Jesus rejected all attempts to regard him a Jew related to David, in accordance with the Jewish tradition. It is not right to say the Messiah was Jewish. He is the son of the Syrian environment.'](https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p206x206/11080977_424522407730720_1948613435464871858_n.jpg?oh=a3d7cc0c7fd1d2d9b7a658eac18628a2&oe=55B4B219&__gda__=1436820551_c0b225f206936387c379e767b88a82ed)
Jesus was Syrian
Was Jesus really a Jew as some scholars refer to him?
According to Antun Sa´adeh, Jesus was not a Jew, but he was Syrian, a product of his Syrian social environment. Sa´adeh clearly states:
Jesus was not Jewish and he had no Jewish fathers; as claimed by the composer of the Instigatory [Al-Qarawi], who denigrated him. Jesus was Syrian, who used to address people in Aramaic.
(Antun Saadeh is the founder and leader of the Syrian National Social Party, established in 1931. Saadeh was executed by firing squadby the Lebanese government in 1949 after a quick trial that didn’t last 24 hours.)
In his book, Life of Jesus, Renan, asserts that “the real mother-tongue of Jesus was the Syrian dialect mingled with Hebrew, which was then spoken in Palestine”.
By the Syrian dialect Renan meant Aramaic, which was the spoken language in Palestine, particularly in the Galilee, during the lifetime of Jesus.
The Dutch Roman Catholic scholar Edward Schillebeeckx was certain about the Aramaic hypothesis when he wrote: “On historical grounds it is quite certain that he [Jesus] conveyed his message in Aramaic”.
Günther Bornekamm offers a similar view that “Jesus’ mother tongue is the Aramaic of Galilee.” (Galilee was within Tyr district jurisdiction and Herod was denied taking Jesus to court and Jesus lived all his life in the district of Tyr)
According to Abraham Mitrie Rihbani (1870 – 1945) , Syria was the original home of Jesus.
In The Syrian Christ, published in 1916 and reprinted 17 times between 1916 and 1937, Rihbani conducts us “into the inner chambers of Syrian life”, describing the social habits of Syria and the cultural milieu in which Jesus lived.
Jesus was as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit and as a preacher of God: the Father, and His heavenly kingdom, is a man without a country or nationality. Abraham Mitrie Rihbani states:
As a prophet and seer Jesus belongs to all races and ages. Wherever the minds of men respond to simple truth, wherever the hearts of men thrill with pure love, wherever a temple of religion is dedicated to the worship of God and the service of man, there is Jesus’ country and there his friends.
Before he presents a charming account of Jesus’ life and his characteristics as well as his teachings, Rihbani emphasizes that his modest purpose in publishing his book is “to remind the reader that, whatever else Jesus was, as regards his modes of thought and life and his method of teaching, he was a Syrian of the Syrians”. Rihbani adds:
According to authentic history Jesus never saw any other country than Palestine. There he was born; there he grew up to manhood, taught his Gospel, and died for it.
It is most natural, then, that gospel truths should have come down to the succeeding generations – and the nations of the West-cast in Oriental moulds of thought, and intimately intermingled with the simple domestic and social habits of Syria.
The gold of the Gospel carries with it the sand and dust of its original home.
In search of Jesus’ identity, scholars may provide rival answers and a multiplicity of dazzling images of Jesus.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Jesus of history, the real Jesus, was born in Palestine; there he grew up, walked and taught.
He never identified himself as a Jew and never designated himself the Son of David, but the Son of God.
Sa´adeh asserts that Jesus himself refused to be called “Son of David” as the Jews wished. He adds:
Jesus rejected all attempts to regard him a Jew related to David, in accordance with the Jewish tradition. It is not right to say the Messiah was Jewish. He is the son of the Syrian environment.
Read: https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/the-virgin-mary-is-from-the-town-of-qana-in-lebanon-book-review/#comment-1492
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