The other day, while scrolling through the endless stream of Memes, Political posts, and News articles on social media, I happened across an interesting thought on a particular religious page.
The post began by making mention of the writings of political commentator Tom Wolfe. In particular, an Essay called “The Great Relearning” outlined a common thought among people of a particular ideological mindset in the 60s that humans just need to go back to “Year Zero” and start over from scratch.
This belief presumes that by starting over from scratch in this theoretical “Year Zero'' scenario without technology, industrial advancements, or anything else they consider to be developments of modern society, humans can navigate their way to a purer society. In his Essay, Wolfe expounds on encountering doctors from the Haight-Ashbury free clinic who were treating patients from a particular “Hippie” commune in San Francisco that attempted this theoretical year zero restart. Among the developments of modern society which were abandoned was Hygiene. Social boundaries such as not using someone else’s toothbrush or not sleeping on someone else’s mattress without changing the linens were cast off and as a result, the people of this commune were seeing a resurgence of illnesses and afflictions so old that no doctor alive at the time had ever encountered before and thus struggled to know how to treat them. These illnesses were so old, that they predated the incorporation of the Latin language as a means of naming and categorizing medical terminology. Illnesses called the 'itch', the 'grunge', and the 'rot'.
The author of this post brought up this citation from Wolfe’s essay because they found it analogous to a phenomenon they had observed within Christianity as of late. An attempt among some Christians to “return to year zero” theologically speaking. To abandon the doctrinal positions of modern Christianity meticulously developed by biblical scholars and theologians throughout Christianity's 2,000 year history, and attempt to interpret the bible independently for every man.
The resulting illnesses which haven’t been seen by any living doctor in this analogy were concluded to be Heresies so old that no living Christian had ever encountered them and thus struggled to know how to combat them.
Naturally, this analogy is a light jab at the modern exodus from Christianity happening en masse across every denomination of Christianity in recent years. Those who have found the path of the Torah clearly laid out in the Gospels and Apostolic writings.
Is this analogy truly accurate?
To be sure there is a fair amount of truth in this analogy, though, unfortunately, not any truth that would support the initial intention of the author of this analogy. Consider what “Year Zero” would actually be for mankind within a biblical frame and this will inherently influence the analogy and how we understand it.
Mankind today is not the same as mankind at creation. There is a specific event and focal point in time which separates one from the other. The Fall of Genesis 3.
Mankind after the fall was and still is inherently different from mankind before the fall.
Given that today's mankind is the same mankind from after the fall, “Year Zero” for mankind can only refer to the immediate status of mankind after the fall and not before. This simple fact by its very nature cripples any notion of a utopian society that could come from any return to “Year Zero”. Post Fall mankind is flawed and imperfect. The very source and starting point that any human today might look back to as “year zero” is poisoned. Any attempt to build a utopia on this foundation is bound to yield only sickness and disease.
The theoretic ideal would presume to be starting from the point of perfection when mankind was in the Garden of Eden, communing with the creator. From such a starting point, there could certainly be hope. But we are separated from that source by the fall of man.
If this understanding is applied to the analogy of Christian attempts to return to a theological “Year Zero”, what must be understood is that the analogy inherently suggests a pre and post-fall faith relationship with the creator in order for the “Year Zero” comparison to maintain consistency.
That prior to Christianity even in it’s earliest documented form, there was a perfect covenant and relationship with Hashem which was established by Hashem Himself. That there was another religion from which those who proclaim Yeshua “fell,” thereby initiating this “Year Zero” of Christianity.
While the author of the analogy likely presumes the apostolic era of the New Testament Assembly which was within the timeframe of the lifetime of the disciples of Yeshua themselves, is this “Year Zero”, that would actually be more consistent with perfect pre-fall mankind in the Garden of Eden. We know from his own teaching that Yeshua never intended to start a new religion, and the religion that he and the apostles practiced was Pharisaic Judaism.
Thus it is only the period of time in which digressions from Pharisaic Jewish philosophy and Theology begin to rise from within the body of the assembly which resulted from a “fall” from Pharisaic Judaism that can be concluded as the Christian “Year Zero”.
Certainly, any attempt to return to this year zero and start from scratch to rebuild a more pure Christianity would only result in sickness and disease(heresies) again in this case, the source is poisoned. Separated at the root from the pre-fall status of the relationship with the Almighty that was taught and experienced by Yeshua and his disciples.
The analogy of a Christian “Year Zero” doesn’t exactly condemn a return to Torah as an initial first look at it might suggest. It certainly can be seen in that light, especially when considering the sects of Torah observance that still build themselves on core principles which are at their root, un-Jewish. Sects that are essentially still foundationally Christian. They exist and can in fact be observed today to be accepting of things that can be called heretical in the sense that they are either not found in the Torah or the rest of scripture, or are blatantly in opposition to the Torah and the rest of scripture. Sects that still retain an animus against Judaism and its theology taught to them by Christianity. From such sects we see a number of examples of doctrines and practices that are heretical as per the Torah.
But more importantly than that, a deeper look at this analogy of a Christian “Year Zero” brings to our attention the importance of having the humility to look to those who still practice the faith Yeshua taught and practiced, to look to our older sibling of faith, the very people from whom Yeshua sprouted, and ask for proper instruction.
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