Dr. David Carey Dixon - September 17, 2023
Growing in Christ vs. Traditionalism (Matthew 23:1-12)
Did you ever get in a rut? Ruts were created in stone pavement on Roman roads by the repeated passage of cart wheels; but a rut can also be created in our behavior when we fall into habits that are hard to break. The Pharisees in the NT are sometimes seen as being in the “rut” of religious traditionalism. Is this an accurate perception? Claude Goldsmid Montefiore (1858-1938), known as founder of ”Progressive Judaism” in England in the early 20th century, was one of the first to challenge the standard notions regarding the Gospels’ portrayal of the Pharisees. Were they indeed the awful hypocrites and self-righteous legalists that the New Testament often portrayed them to be? Since then, the debate on this topic has never stopped, but perhaps only recently has it begun to reach the attention of Christians beyond the academic world.
Scripture References: Matthew 23:1-12
