War between christian humanism & jewish materialism
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| ****Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. Midrash is a way of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal or moral teachings. It fills in many gaps left in the biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at. There is a Greek (Hellenistic) way of thinking and there is a Hebrew (Hebraic) way of thinking. Paul used both. When Paul spoke to the Hebrews he used the Hebrew way of thinking, but in Athens when he was preaching the gospel to the Areopagites (Acts 17:22-31), he used the Greek way of thinking. Hebrews seek a sign, Greeks seek wisdom. There is validity in both, if they are used biblically. If you look at the way the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, it is clear that the apostles did not use western Protestant methods of exegesis or interpretation. Jesus was a rabbi. Paul was a rabbi. They interpreted the Bible in the way other rabbis did-according to a method called Midrash.
In Christian tradition, Saint Paul frequently engaged in midrashic argument in his letters by justifying his views with the words "as it is written," followed by a verse of Jewish scripture (Romans 9:13, Romans 11:26, 1 Corinthians 1:19, and so forth). Jesus engaged in a halakhic midrashic exercise in his famous Sermon on the Mount when he said, for example: "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery." (Mt. 5:31-32) Gospel writers used midrash as they referred to Old Testament prophets. Later and contemporary Christian commentators on Old Testament texts may also be said to be engaging in a "Christian midrash." For example, the traditional Christian midrash on Isaiah 53 interprets the Suffering Servant as Jesus, while the Jewish midrash of the same chapter sees the servant as Israel. Revelation may be an expansion of Psalm 2. It enthrones the Crucified Messiah as King of Israel, protects against persecution, and shows through history that God is in control. Just as Psalm 2 sets up the Anointed King as God’s king, defends the sovereignty of Israel, and warns the others that God is in control.  Gnosticism: Pure Gnosticism was Manicheanistic with equal good versus evil forces and numerous intermediaries added. Medieval and modern Christianity continued a few of these beliefs, such as Satan and God were equal powers. Islam continues this belief with a good and bad power on each shoulder. Many recent discoveries of Biblical era documents have been labeled as Gnostic, whereas they are not. “It is a noteworthy fact that heads of Gnostic schools and founders of Gnostic systems are distinguished as Jews by early church fathers. Some derive all heresies, including that of Gnosticism, from Judaism. The principle elements of Gnosticism were derived from Jewish speculation. Since the second century BC, Gnostic thought was bound up with Judaism, which had accepted Babylonian and Syrian doctrines” (Jewish Encyclopedia, “Gnosticism,” p. 681)
 According to their own account of their origins, Gnostics traced their sacred tradition back to Seth, one of the sons of Adam. Sethian teachings emphasize the power of the Divine Sophia and even downplay the Christos in the mythic scenario of Sophia's fall. One of the essential claims of the Sethians was to preserve the teaching of True Humanity, the Anthropos, not to be confounded with the image of perfect humanity in Jesus Christ. (Adam and Seth, miniature from the Royal Chronicles of Cologne, 1238 CE. National Library, Brussels.)
 Mary Magdalene is often pictured reading a book to indicate that the Gnostics were intellectuals and teachers who taught literacy and maintained the high culture of the pre-Christian world. The Magdalen Reading by Roger van der Weyden, c. 1435.
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