Brant Pitre > Quotes

“For, as any ancient Jew would have known, the Passover sacrifice was not completed by the death of the lamb, but by eating its flesh. Five times the Bible states that they must "eat" the lamb; five times it emphasizes the sacrificial meal. The Passover was not completed by the death of the victim, but by a "communion" of sorts--by eating the flesh of the sacrifice that had been killed on your behalf.”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper

“In ancient Jewish tradition, as far back as we can tell, the Song of Songs was not interpreted as a love poem or as an allegory of the individual soul; it was interpreted as an allegory of God's spousal love for the people of Israel.”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

“in its deepest mystery, all of salvation history is in fact a divine love story between Creator and creature, between God and Israel, a story that comes to its climax on the bloody wood of a Roman cross.”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

“According to Jesus, it is not just his resurrection from the dead that will be a reason for believing in him. It is also the inexplicable conversion of the pagan nations of the world—the Gentiles.”
― Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ

“Love transforms suffering into sacrifice.”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper

“Fascinatingly, we have evidence that, in the first century A.D., the Passover lambs in the Temple were not only sacrificed; they were, so to speak, crucified. As the Israeli scholar Joseph Tabory has shown, according to the Mishnah, at the time when the Temple still stood, after the sacrifice of the lamb, the Jews would drive “thin smooth staves” of wood through the shoulders of the lamb in order to hang it and skin it (Pesahim 5:9). In addition to this first rod, they would also “thrust” a “skewer of pomegranate wood” through the Passover lamb “from its mouth to its buttocks” (Pesahim 7:1).”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper

“fasting is firstly about reversing the effects of the Fall by training the desires of the body to obey the will of the soul. If a person can learn to control cravings for good things, like food, he or she will more likely be able to control cravings for evil things, like sin.”
― Brant Pitre, Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus

“If Jesus himself prayed both memorized vocal prayers (like the Psalms) and spontaneous vocal prayers (like his prayer in Gethsemane), then disciples of Jesus should practice both.”
― Brant Pitre, Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus

“/Theology/ abhors a vacuum.”
― Brant Pitre

“From the ancient Christian point of view, not only was the tomb empty. Not only did Jesus appear to many disciples after he died. He also saved what is in many ways the greatest miracle of all for last. The Gentiles began to repent, and convert, and convert. And they are still converting today. The Church is still here, after two thousand years, spreading throughout the world. What began as a little stone “cut out by no human hand”—with one Jew from Nazareth and his tiny band of followers—has indeed become, as the prophet Daniel foretold, “a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Daniel 2:34-35).”
― Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ

“If you find your heart very desolated and afflicted at the loss of property, believe me, you love it too much. The strongest proof of love for a lost object is suffering over its loss... We must never allow money or possessions to have any place in our hearts.
On Avarice vs. Generosity”
― Brant Pitre, Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus

“In short, according to the Old Testament and ancient Jewish tradition, the hope of God’s people was for the restoration of Israel from exile, the ingathering of the Gentile nations, and the renewal of creation itself. It was a hope that God, by means of a new exodus, would one day “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper

“The reason Jesus celebrates the Last Supper with the twelve disciples is that together they represent the bride of God -- the people of Israel. This is a prophetic sign whose symbolism would have been recognized by any Jew familiar with the prophecies of God's future wedding. Just as YHWH wed himself to the twelve tribes of Israel at Mount Sinai through the blood of the old covenant, so now Jesus unites himself to the twelve disciples through the blood of the new covenant, which is sealed in his blood.”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

“Let nothing trouble you Let nothing frighten you Everything passes God never changes Patience Obtains all Whoever has God Wants for nothing God alone is enough.”
― Brant Pitre, Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus

“concupiscence”
― Brant Pitre, Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus

“From a biblical perspective, salvation is ultimately about union with God. The God of Israel is not a distant deity or an impersonal power, but the Bridegroom who wants his bride to "know" (Hebrew yada') him intimately, in a spiritual marriage that is not only faithful and fruitful, but "ever-lasting" (Hebrew 'olam).”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

“We are accordingly left with the result: that the concluding verses of the Acts of the Apostles, taken in conjunction with the absence of any reference in the book to the result of the trial of St. Paul and to his martyrdom, make it in the highest degree probable that the work was written at a time when St. Paul’s trial in Rome had not yet come to an end.”
― Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ

“Despite the darkness of the book, however, believers through the ages have found solace and catharsis in its pages, and spiritual writers have continued to recommend meditation on it as an aid to detachment from the temporal world and its fleeting pleasures.”
― Brant Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament

“translated”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah

“People were not to consume blood because "the life" or "the soul" (Hebrew nephesh) of the animal is in the blood. As Leviticus states, "It is the blood that makes atonement, by the power of its life." While scholars continue to debate exactly what this means, one thing is clear: in the ancient world, the Jewish people were known for their refusal to consume blood.”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper

“The LORD our God, the LORD is one; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-6)”
― Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ

“Redeemer.… For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. (Isaiah 54:5–8, 10)”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

“Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate … there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD.”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

“¿Qué esperaban los judíos del siglo i, en concreto, de Dios?”
― Brant Pitre, Jesús y las raíces judías de la Eucaristía (Patmos nº 302)

“Nothing that precedes justification, neither faith nor works, would merit the grace of justification; for “if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Rom 11:6). —Council of Trent”
― Brant Pitre, Paul, a New Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology

“The disciples of Jesus, having no undoubted fact on which to rely, devised the fiction that he foreknew everything before it happened…. The disciples of Jesus wrote such accounts regarding him, by way of extenuating the charges that told against him. (Celsus, Against the Christians)”
― Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ

“Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ” (Mark 12:28–30)”
― Brant Pitre, Introduction to the Spiritual Life: Walking the Path of Prayer with Jesus

“the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am; and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
― Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ

“The Dead Sea Scrolls: an ancient collection of Jewish manuscripts copied sometime between the second century B.C. and A.D. 70. This collection contains numerous writings from the Second Temple period, during which Jesus lived. The Works of Josephus: a Jewish historian and Pharisee who lived in the first century A.D. Josephus’ works are extremely important witnesses to Jewish history and culture at the time of Jesus and the early Church. The Mishnah: an extensive collection of the oral traditions of Jewish rabbis who lived from about 50 B.C. to A.D. 200. Most of these traditions are focused on legal and liturgical matters. For rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper

“Finally, it is worth noting that according to Exodus, the Passover was not an “open table” but a covenant feast. Only Israelites could eat of it. Any Gentile “foreigner”—that is, a non-Israelite—who wanted to eat the flesh of the lamb first had to be circumcised and become a member of Israel (Exodus 12:43–49). In other words, this was no ordinary meal, but a sacred family ritual. Only members of the covenant family of God were able to partake of”
― Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper