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author Franklin Schmidt <fschmidt@gmail.com>
date Fri, 19 Sep 2025 21:56:59 -0600
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19 <p>Reading the Old Testament is much like reading a math book. The commandments of the Old Testament are the formulas. Derivations are not provided but are left as an exercise to the reader. To derive the commandments, one needs an understanding of history, anthropology, primate behavior, and evolutionary biology. Once one understands the reasons behind the commandments, the commandments themselves are no longer so important. It is the reasoning behind them that matters. This reasoning provides a moral framework in the same way that mathematical reasoning provides a logical framework.</p> 19 <p>Reading the Old Testament is much like reading a math book. The commandments of the Old Testament are the formulas. Derivations are not provided but are left as an exercise to the reader. To derive the commandments, one needs an understanding of history, anthropology, primate behavior, and evolutionary biology. Once one understands the reasons behind the commandments, the commandments themselves are no longer so important. It is the reasoning behind them that matters. This reasoning provides a moral framework in the same way that mathematical reasoning provides a logical framework.</p>
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21 <p>For those who don't think that God is supernatural, this approach should make sense. But if you believe in a personal supernatural God, you may object and say that it isn't our place to try to understand God. To which I respond, why not? If God made man in His image, why shouldn't we try to understand Him? It seems like the least we can do in an attempt to follow His will. So I ask you, believer in a personal supernatural God, why does God give us commandments? Are these commandments for His benefit or for ours? Is God an egomaniac, like a bad king or a bad boss, who wants us to follow senseless rules just to show allegiance to Him? This kind of God makes no sense to me and doesn't at all appear to be the character of God portrayed in the Old Testament. I see the opposite kind of God, one who wants justice and morality for OUR benefit. So the commandments of the Old Testament are for our benefit, not for God's benefit. If this is the case, then all the commandments can be understood by asking why/how the commandment benefits us. When we can answer this question, then we understand the commandment in the same way that we understand a mathematical formula that we derive. So this is the way to understand and follow biblical law. Actually, the Hebrew word "Torah" doesn't mean law, it means "instruction" or "teaching". Properly studying the Torah will teach you to understand morality. The rest of the Old Testament after the Torah can be considered applied examples of Torah thinking that will deepen your understanding of the Torah.</p> 21 <p>For those who don't think that God is supernatural, this approach should make sense. But if you believe in a personal supernatural God, you may object and say that it isn't our place to try to understand God. To which I respond, why not? If God made man in His image, why shouldn't we try to understand Him? It seems like the least we can do in an attempt to follow His will. So I ask you, believer in a personal supernatural God, why does God give us commandments? Are these commandments for His benefit or for ours? Is God an egomaniac, like a bad king or a bad boss, who wants us to follow senseless rules just to show allegiance to Him? This kind of God makes no sense to me and doesn't at all appear to be the character of God portrayed in the Old Testament. I see the opposite kind of God, one who wants justice and morality for OUR benefit. So the commandments of the Old Testament are for our benefit, not for God's benefit. If this is the case, then all the commandments can be understood by asking why/how the commandment benefits us. When we can answer this question, then we understand the commandment in the same way that we understand a mathematical formula that we derive. So this is the way to understand and follow biblical law. Actually, the Hebrew word "Torah" doesn't mean law, it means "instruction" or "teaching". Properly studying the Torah will teach you to understand morality. The rest of the Old Testament after the Torah can be considered applied examples of Torah thinking that will deepen your understanding of the Torah.</p>
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23 <p>On this website, I apply this approach to understanding the Old Testament to specific examples. One example is <a href="http://www.biblicjudaism.org/Diet-td5.html">dietary law</a> which is clearly a health law. The reason behind the law is that eating bad food makes you sick. The application of this reasoning is to avoid bad food, an example of which today would be trans-fats. Another example is the commandment to wear <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzitzit">tzitzit</a>. The reasoning behind this is to wear something to remind yourself and others that you are different from those who don't follow biblical law.</p> 23 <p>On this website, I apply this approach to understanding the Old Testament to specific examples. One example is dietary law which is clearly a health law. The reason behind the law is that eating bad food makes you sick. The application of this reasoning is to avoid bad food, an example of which today would be trans-fats. Another example is the commandment to wear <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzitzit">tzitzit</a>. The reasoning behind this is to wear something to remind yourself and others that you are different from those who don't follow biblical law.</p>
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25 <p>Is everyone intellectually capable of understanding math and the Old Testament? I think most people are. In college, I tutored math. There was a room where tutors and students who needed help went to work together. Two types of students typically went to be tutored, pre-meds (who wanted to get into medical school) with B's and football players with F's. The pre-meds would come to me and ask me for the formulas. I told them that I didn't know any formulas and they looked at me with horror and went on to the next tutor. But the football players were innocent, not having learned to be obedient robots. So I taught the football players to understand math and they did well. The football players were capable of understanding because their minds hadn't been destroyed by school, but the pre-meds were a lost cause and seemed to me to be permanently incapable of understanding anything because their minds had been destroyed by school.</p> 25 <p>Is everyone intellectually capable of understanding math and the Old Testament? I think most people are. In college, I tutored math. There was a room where tutors and students who needed help went to work together. Two types of students typically went to be tutored, pre-meds (who wanted to get into medical school) with B's and football players with F's. The pre-meds would come to me and ask me for the formulas. I told them that I didn't know any formulas and they looked at me with horror and went on to the next tutor. But the football players were innocent, not having learned to be obedient robots. So I taught the football players to understand math and they did well. The football players were capable of understanding because their minds hadn't been destroyed by school, but the pre-meds were a lost cause and seemed to me to be permanently incapable of understanding anything because their minds had been destroyed by school.</p>
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27 <p>One of the challenges of those who insist on taking the commandments of the Old Testament as formulas is that sometimes the commandments no longer apply well because times have changed. A famous Jewish example of this is a problem faced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder">Hillel</a>. The problem was with Torah law about debt which says:</p> 27 <p>One of the challenges of those who insist on taking the commandments of the Old Testament as formulas is that sometimes the commandments no longer apply well because times have changed. A famous Jewish example of this is a problem faced by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder">Hillel</a>. The problem was with Torah law about debt which says:</p>
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