Another 'Aspies & Religion' question

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Matthew 5:17-20 (New International Version)

The Fulfillment of the Law
17"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

This is very confusing to me. Are we still supposed to obey the words of the old testament or not? If we are not supposed to obey everything in the old testament anymore, then what are we supposed to obey and not obey?

Here is an example.

Scripture: Matthew 15:1-20

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat." 3 He answered them, "And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, `Honor your father and your mother,' and, `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die.' 5 But you say, `If any one tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father.' 6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God.7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'"

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, "Hear and understand: 11 not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?" 13 He answered, "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit." 15 But Peter said to him, "Explain the parable to us." 16 And he said, "Are you also still without understanding?17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

So, are we still supposed to obey the dietary laws or not? If we're not then part of the law has been abolished has it not?

I do not understand at all.

In Matthew 15:1-20 verse 15 even Peter had to ask for clarification. I bet his disciples had to ask Jesus for clarification many times. If I was Peter, I would've kindly responded back with this question. "Why didn't you just say this the first time and I would've have had to ask you to explain the parable?"

It seems Jesus talks in convoluted ways.

I don't understand Jesus at all.

CubeDemon

I don't think all of us would have a more literal slant with respect to printed religious literature of the spoken word. I for one have been in the process of actually doing my own interpretation of the old testament since I never trust anybody and want to find things out for myself. So far it has been an interesting way to spend time.

As a poet, my understanding of the written language is that it can be twisted and formed into whatever message you desire. This is particularly present in modern American Christian organizations. Not that I am bashing any one religion, they all have their abusers, but I happen to be an American Christian, and write about what I know. But, like I said, I have always had a notion of flexibility in every word.

-Nate

This is a great question!

I'm a practicing Jew and I have always approached Judaism metaphorically and mystically. Of course, there are spiritual practices that I do according to the written text--like keeping kosher and observing shabbos (the Sabbath)--but each practice has to have its own personal, spiritual meaning for me or I see no sense in doing it. So I'm very eclectic with my practice. My friends who are Orthodox consider me pretty much non-religious, and my friends who are atheists think I'm ultra-religious. So I guess I must be doing something right, as I am pleasing no one, except myself, and, I hope, G-d.

Judaism also lends itself to non-literal interpretation, because there are always four levels to any scriptural text, the literal level being only the first one. Then you descend deeper into the words with your imagination and wordplay and mystical stuff and it gets really interesting.

I fear fundamentalists of any variety with every fiber of my being. I respect people of strong belief, as long as they leave open the possibility that there are many ways to understand the Great Mystery of Being, and that more than one belief system can be right (or that they can all be wrong). I can see all paths as equally valid ways of approaching the Divine. When it comes down to it, I'm a mystic, because that's where the lines start blurring and you start seeing the commonalities in the strivings and struggles and beliefs of different groups of people.