What did Jesus Believe about the Canon

[charleychacko]

Actually, the question of the Canon did come up for Jesus -- in the way he treated the Samaritans. From what I remember, the Samaritans only accepted the five books of Moses as scripture and rejected the rest of the Old Testament. This is why they worshiped on Mt. Horeb (wasn't it? I don't have my sources in front of me.) rather than in Jersualem. They rejected all the books that eventually moved the temple to Jerusalem. And yet . . . In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus says that the Samaritan who loved the wounded man was more Godly than the Pharisee (i.e., the believer in the "right" scripture) who ignored him. And when the woman at the well confronted him directly with the question, did he argue her over to his posiiton? No. He said what he believed, then immediately said it didn't matter because from then on people would worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Clearly, Jesus is saying that loving God and loving your neighbor is far more important in having a right relationship to God than believing in certain scriptures. So who are we to argue?