Trying to Answer Jews for Jesus
I saw this in an article from a Washington, D.C. Jewish newspaper.
I can only ask, is this the best they can do?
"According to Judaism..." Well, no kidding. But the question is whether or not the teachings of traditional Judaism are true. According to is not a good form of argumentation.
Christians believe in a non-corporeal God as well. Go read Genesis 18. I'll wait here. Back? Ok.
God appeared as a man, in the Torah, to Abraham. He even ate dairy and meat together! Does this mean God is non-corporeal? No. But according to this form of argumentation, we would be forced to conclude that.
"By believing that Jesus is co-equal to God the Father, Jews for Jesus crossed an unbridgeable chasm by accepting a belief idolatrous for Jews."
But apparently the belief is OK for Gentiles.
The statement assumes that Jesus is merely a man and not the pre-existant Son of God. Biblical evidence can and should be offered for this belief. But the general impression I get is that this group simply assumes their belief and isn't giving much of a defense. But I'm not sure they assume their beliefs are true or are just for Jews.
For instance, in response to the question, "Did you know that believing in Jesus is the most Jewish thing you can do?" the flier states that "According to Judaism the Messiah will not be divine or eliminate the obligation to observe Torah."
It continues: "Jews believe in a monotheistic system of a non-corporeal God" and that "by believing that Jesus is 'co-equal to God the Father,' Jews for Jesus have crossed an unbridgeable chasm by accepting a belief idolatrous for Jews."
I can only ask, is this the best they can do?
"According to Judaism..." Well, no kidding. But the question is whether or not the teachings of traditional Judaism are true. According to
Christians believe in a non-corporeal God as well. Go read Genesis 18. I'll wait here. Back? Ok.
God appeared as a man, in the Torah, to Abraham. He even ate dairy and meat together! Does this mean God is non-corporeal? No. But according to this form of argumentation, we would be forced to conclude that.
"By believing that Jesus is co-equal to God the Father, Jews for Jesus crossed an unbridgeable chasm by accepting a belief idolatrous for Jews."
But apparently the belief is OK for Gentiles.
The statement assumes that Jesus is merely a man and not the pre-existant Son of God. Biblical evidence can and should be offered for this belief. But the general impression I get is that this group simply assumes their belief and isn't giving much of a defense. But I'm not sure they assume their beliefs are true or are just for Jews.
Labels: anti-missionaries
1 Comments:
Hi Geoff,
Rabbinical Judaism, to a great extent, does not consider a literal translation of the Scriptures as valid. That is why they run amuck on a lot of these issues.
A Jew for Jesus.
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