James W (J. Wisdom) I never got a chance to talk to you about God, but here's a starting point for discussion.

Question

What do you think about these sites, and the Jewish belief system. Do you find it strange that their beliefs about God are so different from christianity?

What are your thoughts about them saying that Jesus didn't fulfill the prophecies of the Messiah as written over a thousand years before Jesus was born? I'll leave this question open for a few days so you can do your own research into the belief.

http://home.att.net/~fiddlerzvi/j4j_no.html
http://www.virtualyeshiva.com/counter-index.html
http://www.messiahtruth.com/response.html#education

All are encouraged to answer, but I actually want an honest discussion about the topic and not flippant off-the-cuff remarks or simple bible-thumping. I want reasoning. I wish this was an open discussion forum, but it isn't so I have to make due with what it is. Thanks in advance.

I would email, but my personal lord and savior (my wife) doesn't like me getting or sending emails to strangers on the internet. You know the old saying, hell hath no fury... well, I know that one for a fact. I'm sure you can understand.

Answer 1

Jesus most certainly failed to deliver what he and his cultic followers hoped for. That he suffered the standard Roman response to insurrection is firmly established, and now forms the foundation of another resurrectionist cult; Christianity. Naturally Judaism rejects the divinity of Jesus - they were there, they were "in the know". This denial has always caused problems with Christianity, who in the main consider that Judaism in some way betrayed and denied the Messiah. Blaming the Romans was not an option for an evangelising belief system desperately needing the `clout` of Roman power,culture,and influence. The expansion of Christianity and its corporate message later had little use for a defeated Israel, they had the truth, and were up and running with it ! In practical terms he did not restore and cleanse the Temple, remove the sons of darkness, restore the true priesthood, or restore the kingship of the line of David.

Answer 2

"I would email, but my personal lord and savior (my wife) doesn't like me getting or sending emails to strangers on the internet. You know the old saying, hell hath no fury... well, I know that one for a fact. I'm sure you can understand."

If you use the Yahoo! Answers mail your actual e-mail address is hidden. It's a very different system. Of course, he has to have chosen to receive e-mail from YA, or you wouldn't be able to.

Answer 3

The Jews rejected Jesus because He failed, in their eyes, to do what they expected their Messiah to do--destroy evil and all their enemies, in this case the Romans, and establish an eternal kingdom with Israel as the preeminent nation in the world. The prophecies in Isaiah and Psalm 22 described a suffering Messiah who would be persecuted and killed, but they chose to focus on those prophecies that discussed His glorious victories, not His crucifixion.

The commentaries in the Talmud, written before the onset of Christianity, clearly discuss the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 and puzzle over how these would be fulfilled with the glorious setting up of the Kingdom of the Messiah. After the Church used these prophecies to prove the claims of Christ, the Jews took the position that the prophecies did not refer to the Messiah, but to Israel or some other person.

The Jews believed that the Messiah, the prophet which Moses spoke about, would come and deliver them from Roman bondage and set up a kingdom where they would be the rulers. Two of the disciples, James and John, even asked to sit at Jesus' right and left in His Kingdom when He came into His glory. The people of Jerusalem also thought He would deliver them. They shouted praises to God for the mighty works they had seen Jesus do, and called out "Hosanna, save us" when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey (Matthew 21:9). They treated Him like a conquering king. Then when He allowed Himself to be arrested, tried and crucified on a cursed cross, the people quit believing that He was the promised prophet. They rejected their Messiah (Matthew 27:22).

Note that Paul tells the Church that the spiritual blindness of Israel is a "mystery" that had not previously been revealed (Romans chapters 9-11). For thousands of years Israel had been the one nation that looked to God while the Gentile nations generally rejected the light and chose to live in spiritual darkness. Israel and her inspired prophets revealed monotheism--one God who was personally interested in mankind's destiny of heaven or hell, the path to salvation, the written Word with the Ten Commandments. Yet Israel rejected her prophesied Messiah, and the promises of the kingdom of heaven were postponed. A veil of spiritual blindness fell upon the eyes of the Jews who previously were the most spiritually discerning people. As Paul explained, this hardening in part of Israel led to the blessing of the Gentiles who would believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord and Savior.

2000 years after He came to the nation of Israel as their Messiah, Jews still (for the most part) reject Jesus Christ. Many Jews today (some say at least half of all living Jews) identify themselves as Jewish but prefer to remain “secular.” They identify with no particular Jewish movement, and have no understanding or affiliation with any Jewish Biblical roots. The concept of Messiah as expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures or Judaism’s “13 Principles of Faith” is foreign to most Jews today.

But one concept is generally held as universal: Jews must have nothing to do with Jesus! Most Jews today perceive the last 2000 years of historical Jewish persecution to be at the hands of so-called “Christians.” From the Crusades, to the Inquisition, to the pogroms in Europe, to Hitler’s holocaust – Jews ultimately believe that they are being held responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, and are being persecuted for that reason. They, therefore, reject Him today for this reason and for the other historical reasons mentioned above.

The good news is that many Jews are turning to Christ today. The God of Israel has always been faithful to keep a “remnant” of believing Jews to Himself. In the United States alone, some estimates say that there are over 100,000 Jewish Believers in Jesus, and the numbers are growing all the time.

Recommended Resource: Salvation is from the Jews: Role of Judaism in Salvation History from Abraham to the Second Coming by Roy Schoeman.

Answer 4

as for the truth of prophecy check this site
http://www.christian-thinktank.com/baduseot.html
scripture compared to local writing and torah


Understand what Christianity is as opposed to pointing differences. "The veil of the Temple was rent in the midst."
This was the first open sign of the spliting of the Law and Grace. The basic difference is Jesus

www.GotQuestions.org



Question: "What is the difference between Christianity and Judaism?"

Answer: Of the major world religions, Christianity and Judaism are likely the most similar. Christianity and Judaism both believe in one God who is almighty, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, and infinite. Both religions believe in a God who is holy, righteous, and just - while at the same time loving, forgiving, and merciful. Christianity and Judaism share the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament) as the authoritative Word of God, although Christianity includes the New Testament as well. Both Christianity and Judaism believe in the existence of Heaven, the eternal dwelling place of the righteous, and Hell, the eternal dwelling place of the wicked. Christianity and Judaism have basically the same ethical code, commonly known today as Judeo-Christian. Both Judaism and Christianity teach that God has a special plan for the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.

The all-important difference between Christianity and Judaism is the Person of Jesus Christ. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah / Savior (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Micah 5:2). Judaism often recognizes Jesus as a good teacher, and perhaps even a prophet of God. Judaism does not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Taking it a step further, Christianity teaches that Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1,14; Hebrews 1:8). Christianity teaches that God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ so He could lay down His life to pay the price for our sins (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Judaism strongly denies that Jesus was God or that such a sacrifice was necessary.

Jesus Christ is the all-important distinction between Christianity and Judaism. The Person and work of Jesus Christ is the one primary issue that Christianity and Judaism cannot agree upon. In Matthew 15:24 Jesus declared, "He answered, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.' The religious leaders of Israel in Jesus' time asked Him, 'Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?' Jesus replied, 'I am,' ... And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:61-62).

I strongly believe that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Hebrew prophecies of a coming Messiah. Psalms 22:14-18 describes an event undeniably similar to Jesus' crucifixion, "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."

I can think of no more of an accurate summary of Jesus than Isaiah 53:3-6, "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

The Apostle Paul, a Jew and a strict adherent of Judaism, encountered Jesus Christ in a vision (Acts 9:1-9) and proceeded to become the greatest witness for Christ and the author of almost half of the New Testament. Paul understood the difference between Christianity and Judaism more than anyone else. What was Paul's message, "I am not ashamed of the gospel (of Jesus Christ), because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (Romans 1:16).

Answer 5

don't you know you can make people uncomfortable when you call them out like that? why not email him?

added: i see. and i sure do know it lol.