re: #8 Sergey Romanov

You’re agreeing with me on how the misunderstandings begin.

Two of the classic proofs for the necessity of the Oral Torah pertain to the construction of Tefillin, and how to properly slaughter an animal for food. The descriptions are not mentioned at all in the Torah, and yet the Torah states that these must be done in accordance with the way that has been told to you. So, where are these descriptions?

The Oral Torah is seen as the entire body of teaching, whereas the Torah is closer to the cliff notes, but some amazing cliff notes.

It’s not simply a commentary on the Torah but also a method of inquiry, a template for our internal dialogue, a means to awaken our curiosity, and using that curiosity as a tool for the development of the self, defines the structure of knowledge—I could go on for a while on this point. And it does all of this in the disguise of the most boring compilation of discussions ever put together.

It also puts the Torah itself into such a large context that there is no way one could draw the conclusions regarding meaning that the video has drawn and that Randall has footnoted.

You are also correct that discarding the Oral Torah does indeed make all of the difference when talking about Christian claims of moral authority. I think that this discarding makes Christianity as much as the existence of Jesus.