"Nevertheless there is indeed a continuity between Abraham and Netanyahu – but it is only on the natural level. Netanyahu is related by his national descent, i.e. his blood, to the figure of Abraham. The Mosaic Covenant was based on blood – i.e. nature[4] – whereas the New Covenant is based in baptism – i.e. supernature." It remains a question that I have alwasys wondered about, how does any present day person holding to jewish identity know that they meet the requirements of that believe given that from the natural perspective descent from Abraham ceased to be possible with the distruction of the geneologies, which occured with the distruction of the temple in 70AD. St Paul for example was able to say that he was a Hebrews among Hebrews and that he was from the tribe of Benjamin, this because all Jews at his time had access to the geneologies. We see in the Gospel of St Mathew the geneology of Our Lord, yet no one claiming to be Jews today can made the same claims. From a genetic perspective Arabs, Samaritains and other can lay claim to similar DNA in fact more than most jews whose semetic DNA is around 3%.
I'm not sure how they determine it, but I know that Orthodox Jewish law says that you are a Jew if your mother is a Jew. However, since it is matrilinear, that seems to be at variance with the patrilinear geneology in the Bible, so I don't know where that comes from. In any case, the DNA is only part of the ethnic identity. The main thing is the reality of the "nation," since non-Jews can be grafted in, even among the Orthodox Jewish law.
"Nevertheless there is indeed a continuity between Abraham and Netanyahu – but it is only on the natural level. Netanyahu is related by his national descent, i.e. his blood, to the figure of Abraham. The Mosaic Covenant was based on blood – i.e. nature[4] – whereas the New Covenant is based in baptism – i.e. supernature." It remains a question that I have alwasys wondered about, how does any present day person holding to jewish identity know that they meet the requirements of that believe given that from the natural perspective descent from Abraham ceased to be possible with the distruction of the geneologies, which occured with the distruction of the temple in 70AD. St Paul for example was able to say that he was a Hebrews among Hebrews and that he was from the tribe of Benjamin, this because all Jews at his time had access to the geneologies. We see in the Gospel of St Mathew the geneology of Our Lord, yet no one claiming to be Jews today can made the same claims. From a genetic perspective Arabs, Samaritains and other can lay claim to similar DNA in fact more than most jews whose semetic DNA is around 3%.
I'm not sure how they determine it, but I know that Orthodox Jewish law says that you are a Jew if your mother is a Jew. However, since it is matrilinear, that seems to be at variance with the patrilinear geneology in the Bible, so I don't know where that comes from. In any case, the DNA is only part of the ethnic identity. The main thing is the reality of the "nation," since non-Jews can be grafted in, even among the Orthodox Jewish law.
Sir, I think you mistakenly said "St John Climacus" instead of "St John Cassian." Thanks so much for the article
Hey thanks Joseph - but actually it is Climacus. That's from the Ladder