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.
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.
