Introduction: If Paul and the gospels reflect the struggle with Judaism for identity and survival, the writings between the second and fifth centuries reflect a rear-guard defense against the continuing attraction of Judaism for early Christians.
Paul of Tarsus is regarded by most forms of Christianity as the father of the religion. In the previous blog, Anti-Judaism and the Origins of Christianity the roots of future anti-Judaism were noted in several of Paul’s epistles. Easily the most damaging in influence was 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16, where “the Jews” are blamed for the death of Jesus: “the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets… The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” Paul died before the first written gospel appeared but his influence upon the later literature is clear. Matthew 27:25 directly refers to 1 Thessalonians 2, but with far more drama. This gospel, and that of John, would provide inspiration for centuries of anti-Jewish persecution, resulting in the murders of millions of Jews long before the 20th century and the Holocaust. In Mein Kampf Hitler justified his extermination program as, “by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”
Anti-Judaism and the Gospels: Historically Rome was the ruling authority in Judea. If Gospel accounts are assumed accurate then Jesus was tried, convicted and executed under Roman law as administered by its procurator, Pontius Pilate. But in the struggle for Christianity’s survival it was necessary to appease Rome. And so a man described as a beast by multiple historical sources emerges in the gospels as a man of conscience, sympathetic to the accused. Pontius is even portrayed washing his hands, a Jewish custom, after the mob “overrules” his judgment. By gospel accounts it is “the Jews,” battling the pagan occupation, who are pronounced guilty.
According to Paula Fredriksen, whose writings are said to have inspired the Vatican’s Nostre Aetate, the gospels “function as community-building documents. They offer religious proclamation, not simple history.” Three of the four gospels included in Christian cannon, those attributed to Mark, Luke and Matthew, are dated between 70 and 100 C.E., following the fall of Jerusalem. The fourth gospel, John, was written or compiled in the early second century. While there is disagreement among scholars today regarding how the gospels are to be interpreted, for most Christians no guidance is needed: the gospels are the inerrant “word of God.” No room for question or debate.
All four gospels refer to “the Jews” disparagingly; agree that “the Jews” are responsible for the death of Jesus. But two gospels, those attributed to Matthew and to John, go much farther in drama and graphic description. Where Paul’s polemics were subdued, with the gospels the gloves came off.
The Matthew Gospel: According to “Matthew” the Jews are described something akin to a lynch mob, not only demanding Jesus’ death, but demanding responsibility and blame for all future Jewish generations.
“Which of the two will ye that I release unto you? And they said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What then shall I do unto Jesus who is called Christ? They all say, Let him be crucified. And he said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out exceedingly, saying, Let him be crucified. So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands [a Jewish, not Roman tradition] before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it. And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”
What’s not to hate?
Records dating from Pilate’s governorship actually paint a very different picture of the governor as not only contemptuous of Jews, but going out of his way to provoke confrontations and riots. He was recalled by the emperor for fanning the fires of rebellion.
The John Gospel also presents the “the Jews” at Jesus’ trial in an incendiary fashion, but where this gospel surpasses the others is in its incessant characterization of Jews as demonic antichrists.
“I know,” John has Jesus say, “that ye are Abraham’s seed: yet ye seek to kill me… I speak the things which I have seen with my Father: and ye also do the things which ye heard from your father… Ye are of your father the devil…” (John 8: 37-47)
This association of the Jews with Satan is repeated throughout the gospel, and John has far more accusatory references to “the Jews” than all three earlier gospels combined.
St. John Chrysostom (c. 344-407): The impact of these scriptures on the future of theological and popular anti-Judaism are graphically represented by the sermons of John Chrysostom (Golden Tongue), a fourth century Archbishop of Antioch. According to John Parkes, author of the classic 1934 study implicating Christian anti-Judaism with antisemitism and the future Holocaust, Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue, referred to Chrysostom’s sermons as “the most horrible and violent denunciations of Judaism to be found in the writings of a Christian theologian (perhaps Dr. Parkes, a Catholic priest but, was not familiar with the writings of Martin Luther).” Chrysostom’s sermons built on Matthew’s condemnation of the Jews as the “deicide people” and provide a bridge from gospel to Augustine and beyond.
I had written a closing paragraph to this submission, then came across a better summary by Paula Fredriksen. In her contribution to her collection, Jesus, Judaism and Christian anti-Judaism she explains why anti-Judaism grew increasingly strident in the fourth century:
“It spread, I think, because of the Diaspora synagogue. Although we might expect that Jewish communities, now persecuted, should be shriveling up… [they] are thriving… monumental [in some places].Gentiles keep dropping by, cocelebrating Sabbaths and holidays, picking up the occasional Jewish practice… Fourth-century Gentile Christians, despite the anti-Jewish ideology of their own bishops, kept Saturdays as their day of rest… indeed, still celebrated Easter according to when the Jews kept Passover… made the effort to take oaths in front of Torah scrolls… had rabbis bless their fields, and let their children marry one another. Occasionally, and despite heavy penalties [eventually death], these Christians even converted to Judaism. We can still hear the [bishops] frustration and plaintive anger… Bracing for the imminent onslaught of the autumn high holidays-Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot – Chrysostom cried out to his synagogue-going congregation, “Don’t you know that if the Jews’ way of life is true, then ours must be false?”… As long as Mediterranean social life was still intact… Jews and Gentiles still mixed and mingled… When this changed, in the early Middle Ages, this tradition of civility changed too, and Christian anti-Judaism led more directly to violence, even murder.”
David Turner was the first director of the organization Justice for the Pollards; he created Jews United to Defend the Auschwitz Cemetery (JUDAC…
Christians as the “real” Jews:
A christian reader said he was “surprised, shocked, and saddened” when I said that eating jesus’ body and drinking his blood constitutes ritual human cannibalism, and is a pagan practice; and that, in fact, all of the christian beliefs and practices stem from paganism, not Judaism. He said that I don’t show christianity the “respect it shows the Jews”.
So look at this, from the “new” testament, which christians say has replaced the Torah (the “old” testament).
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
The gospel writer himself describes how our holy Jewish ancestors were as revolted by this then as we still are now. Can anyone imagine the Jewish G-d, who created the universe from nothing, actually saying these things?
Yet, the christians insist that they are the “real” Jews. They say that when we Jews sit down to the Pesakh Seder and drink the four cups of wine and eat matzot, we are fooling ourselves when we think we are celebrating HaShem rescuing us from slavery in pagan, gentile Egypt, so that we could receive His Torah, the Laws of Life, and be his Special People. Instead, the christians say that, if we were “real” Jews, like they are, we should be eating jesus’ body and drinking his blood!
And apparently, the “reason” I, as a Jew, can’t see that, is because jesus has “hardened my heart like he did to Pharaoh”, and as a result, I will burn in hell for eternity.
Conclusion: traditional christians (orthodox, catholics, lutherans, anglicans, etc.) hate Jews and want to kill us because we killed their man-god jesus. In contrast, our christian zionist “friends” pity us because we are “blind to the light of jesus”, and they want to “kill us with love”. But, either way, christians want to forever eliminate Jews who believe in HaShem and reject jesus and the trinity as pagan beliefs.
Yet, we can still be allies with the christian zionists against our common enemies (muslims and liberal humanists), but Judaism and christianity are not two sides of the same coin. If Judaism is true (and it is), then christianity is false (and it is). It is the christians who are blind to the Truth of HaShem, and eventually, they will realize it: “Many nations will come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of HaShem, to the House of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” For Torah will go out from Zion, and the word of HaShem from Jerusalem.”
Andrew Said:
You’d think that the words of someone who claims to be god and knows in advance every word that will be worshiped as holy for eternity by his followers would have been extra careful in what he mutters. So much for divinity and compassion and mercy and blah blah blah. Jeeeez!
EDIT: This is an example why a schmuck like Mel Gibson is more consistent than all of you apologizing christians.
I can’t deny history. The pogroms. The forced conversions. The inquisition. Richard I. Edward I. Russia. The Spanish expulsion. To say I am sorry would be trite. What I am saying is, or trying to say, is you can’t sheet all this home to the gospels. Anyway. I am very sorry, again.
Andrew Said:
Grow up. Read the context of chapter 8. Pig-headed jesus’ verbal harangue is against the Jews who he “seek to kill me”.
As all you christians ask: “What would jesus do?”. And that is how christianity has behaved for 2000 years, from Rome to Wittenberg. Thanks a bunch.
Shy. This is old ground. That quote was directed at a clique not all Jews. You know that as well as I do.
Andrew Said:
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. – John 8:44 (KJV)
Can’t wait for the next shuttle back to Mars! Over and out, Andrew earthling.
O man. This article is really puerile. If you came from mars or North Korea and read the gospels for the first time. You would be struck by the whole emphasis on Israel and the Jews. Anti-semitism – nah.
@ yamit82:
You forgot Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. 🙂
@ Dr. Fay:
This says it all.
It is a belief based on faith but not history, facts or truth.
Compare to Judaism which is based on a national revelation where every Hebrew man woman and child some 3 million heard G-d speak, dropped dead and were brought back to life.
The Torah is aware of its uniqueness and unabashedly offers this challenge to every Jew and non Jew who has lived since Sinai:
Compare with: Buddhist writings tell us that Prince Siddhartha Gautama launched Buddhism after his solitary ascendance through the eight stages of Transic insight; Islamic texts tell us that Muhammad founded Islam following the first of many personal, prophetic experiences; Christian writings reveal that Paul first met Jesus, converted to Christianity, and spread the faith more than three decades after Jesus’ death; Joseph Smith, Jr., and his partner, Oliver Cowdery, launched the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints (the Mormon church) after the two men were visited by angels and long-dead disciples of Jesus; and Sun Myung Moon launched the Unification Church after privately receiving direct orders to do so from Jesus himself. The beginnings of Children of God, Christian Science, Eckankar, Elan Vital, I AM, and Theosophy — in fact, the beginnings of all world religions — are equally unverifiable. Never does a large, clearly identifiable group of people experience prophecy and live to tell others about it.
Only the Jews have the Chutzpa to claim that all 3 million Jews heard G-d speak.
This is not true.
@ Catarin:
Unlike your opinions of Obama, Here you got most of the points pretty correct.
I firmly believe that Jesus was not looking to start a new religion but was preaching to his fellow Jews. He was angry about the foreign forces of Romans and Greeks altering the Jewish way of life, and he would be soooo pissed today to see how everything turned out.
The Gospels were written in Greek and except for the Gospel of John and Revelations written by John, we don’t know who the other writers were. The Gospels were assigned random names by the Church when they were being collected by Iranaeus, the Bishop of Lyon, who threw out the writings he didn’t like, going on 200 CE. It’s said the first Gospel (probably assigned the name Mark) was written about 70 CE, but we know fully well that by the time the church accepted it, it could have been changed dozens of times.
The Jews who followed Jesus considered themselves Jews, and after Jesus was crucified, we know nothing else about them except for the apostles, whose stories the New Testament continues. Maybe the others had to get out of town to save their lives, but they soon died out. Paul takes over and spreads the word in Asia Minor and the West. Scholars say he quarreled with James, Jesus’ brother, over what to teach (should gentiles be circumcized?), then went off on his own and preached whatever he wanted. So it is Paul who founds Christianity in Turkey, and it no longer is part of Judaism.
Scholars say the Christians of the early church were determined to set itself apart from Judaism, so the lies about it being the Jews’fault for Jesus’ crucifixion (Jesus was probably one of thousands of Jews the Romans crucified on that day) were added to the Gospels, and you know that whatever else they wanted to say was also thrown in. The Greeks added in it’s own philosophy, and the Roman Emperor Constantine decided that Jesus was a g-d.
It was easy to convert people to Christianity because of its emphasis on the wondrous Heaven that lie ahead, and it’s message of justice for all people. But the religion should have been named after Paul, something like Paulpaulity…
@ Samuel Fistel:
I can understand misunderstandings about Christianity but not outright lies. Christians believe in one triune God, manifested as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” this is what He was referring to.
Christians believe that Jesus was both God and man – that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, a virgin, who conceived. Mary was still a virgin when Jesus was born because Joseph did not have sex with her until after Jesus’ birth. Jesus’s death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. There is, of course, no ritual human sacrifice or cannibalism in the Christian religion.
Paul was a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin and was a Roman citizen because he was born in the Roman province of Cilicia. Paul’s mission was to extend the gospel (good news) to the Gentiles. The gospel was given first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.
The New Testament was not written to replace the Torah. The gospels were written to document Jesus’s life on Earth and His ministry. The Letters of the Apostles to the churches were written to encourage and teach those who at that time were new Christians and to serve as a source of teaching for Christians of all generations to come. The Book of Revelations was written by the Apostle John about prophecies given to him while he was in exile on the Island of Patmos.
Christians read and study the Old Testament (from your Torah) as well as the New Testament. They consider both to be God’s Word. The difference is that Christians believe that the Messiah promised in the Torah has already come and that He died and rose from the dead, and then appeared to his followers before ascending into Heaven to be with His Father. Christians believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ when He comes to do battle with the enemies of Israel and herald in 1000 years of peace before the Final Judgment.
Gentile Christians live by the teachings of the Old Testament (as well as the New Testament) but do not practice the rituals of the Old Testament. Many of the Jewish holidays, which were observed by Jesus and his disciples, have special significance for Christians.
As you well know, among both Christians and Jews are those who are diligent in practicing their faith and those who are not. And there are many who pretend to be religious but are not. In fact, religion and faith can become two different entities.
This is a dangerous world for both Christians and Jews and is becoming even more so. We need to respect our differences and not attack each other. And certainly not make up myths about each other’s faith.
Agreed. This whole exercise is Ted’s fault, by the way. First, he straitly warned Christians not to mention the scriptures. Then he brought them up himself, to present his own arguments. If that isn’t “stacking the deck”, then there is no such thing. It’s all so stupid and boring. I’m glad somebody finds it entertaining.
@ Samuel Fistel:
But you are at least a more amusing entertainer than Yamit 🙂
Jesus was Jewish, so christianity must be Jewish, too. Not!
This is called a logical fallacy. First you state something that everyone knows is true, then you try to slip something past them that is not necessarily true.
Everyone agrees that, if jesus existed, he was an Aramaic-speaking, Torah-observant, Israeli Jew. As such, he would never say that he was a god in the flesh, that god came down from heaven and had sex with his virgin mother, and that the Torah was no longer valid (HaShem forbid).
At most, in keeping with Jewish beliefs, he would say he was fully human (with brothers and sisters), was a descendant of King David through his biological father Joseph, and was the long-awaited Jewish messiah.
He was soon killed (a false messiah), but told his Jewish followers he would soon return from death as a true, all-conquering Jewish messiah. Jesus had few followers among the Torah-observant, Aramaic-speaking Israeli Jews, and they soon disappeared.
Christianity should also have quickly disappeared at that time, but it was rescued by “saint” paul. Paul was a Greek-speaking Roman citizen living in what is now muslim Turkey. He claimed to be Jewish. He never met jesus, but “saw” him in a vision. This vision led him to a “gentile version of Judaism”. In the gentile version, the Torah was replaced by a belief that jesus was the ultimate human sacrifice, who died for your sins; and if you believed this, you would go to heaven, and if not, to hell.
This gentile version of Judaism was never intended for the real Jews; namely, the Aramaic-speaking, Torah-observant Jews of the Land of Israel. Instead, it was directed towards the Greek-speaking Jews living outside of Israel among the majority pagan gentiles.
The crucial event was the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jewish Jerusalem by the Romans, thirty five years after jesus’ death. This was a devastating occurrence for all Jews, both in and outside of the Land of Israel. Paul’s followers took advantage of this event by composing the “new” testament to replace the Jewish Torah with jesus. It was a propaganda document written in Greek for Greek-speaking Jews living in gentile lands, with the intention of converting them. As such, it never stated outright that jesus was a god made flesh.
Between 70 and 135 CE the Jews and christians fought for followers. The christians composed the “new” testament, and the Jews countered with Birkat HaMinim (the prayer cursing Jewish heretics).
In 135 CE, the Roman pagans thoroughly and savagely defeated the Israeli Jews in the second Jewish Revolt. Judaism entered a holding phase, while christianity transformed into a totally pagan religion with three gods, the man-god, the virgin mother goddess, ritual human sacrifice, and ritual human cannibalism. It was violently anti-Jewish, and opposed every single Jewish belief and practice. It became the exact opposite of Judaism, while amazingly still claiming to be the “new, true, and real” version of Judaism.
Conclusion: it is impossible for a Jew to try to explain to a believing christian what Judaism really is. Christians have their own version of Judaism, which they insist is the “real” Judaism; and that we Jews no longer know what Judaism really is, only christians do.
@ yamit82:
There is little new to learn about anti-Semitism in what you present, but it may be important enough for those who are unaware, if any of them read this blog. But this “debate” is not about anti-Semitism. It has turned out to be about Semitism, which is anti-Semitism turned upside down. People do not get your point.
@ Per:
All you are saying is it ain’t so Joe.
Try this on for size and it ain’t from the Jews
Anti-Semitism: 2000 Years of Christian Love
Any wonder American Jews seek to any side that weakens the power of Christian dominance. Jewish Liberalism is (mostly subconsciously) predicated on anti Christianity and denying a strong Christian political influence. Flooding America with unlimited immigrants is also tied to Jewish fears of being singled out as a weak minority.
THE ABOVE OVERVIEW OF PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS BY CHRISTIANS SINCE THE 1ST CENTURY IS ONLY THE TIP OF OUR HISTORICAL ICEBERG. You can claim that those persecutions mass murders expulsions rapes forced conversions and Theft were not done by real Christians.
Tell that to all the dead Jews murdered by those not real Christians who murdered Jews in the name of Jesus and those crossed planks you revere.
@ Ted Belman:
If you search for truth, then you should first of all consider not to start from untruth. There is no “debate” following your vilifying campaign against alleged “Christianity.” What we se here are attempts to apply classical methods of anti-Semitism to what is believed to be Christians. There is no thuth to be gained in the combatment of anti-Semitism by pretending that the Jew hatred among Roman emperors, Seleucids and Egyptian faraos originated with Christianity. Christianity needs no defense against theological nonsense, any more than Judaism needs defense against Islamist rantings.
Ted:
You present yourself as a lousy historian as well as theologian, and even a worse debater when you refer to anonymus “scholars” as your authorities and source of belief. This campaign has too much in common with the “Protocols of the Elders of Christianity” to be taken seriously. There could have been interesting questions to be debated, but your article and David Turners political campaign are non-starters.
There is no reason for you to worry that the support for Israel among Christians will fail. There is therefore no reason to “defend” it. That relationship has already withstood more serious “attacks” than all your pagan “scholars” put together can muster. You have every right to express veird theories about history and bizarre delusions about Christians and the origin of Christianity, but please do not expect it to be taken seriously by others as a basis for “open debate.”
I started my article The Historical Jesus with the following:
It is entirely appropriate for both scholars and students to delve into the birth of Christianity or the origin of antisemitism. This involves a minute dissecting of the Gospels and other Christian texts and any other texts that would shed light on either topic. The purpose is not to offend Christians. Nor should Christians be offended that the roots of their faith are being challenged by Jews or by anyone. Jews have every right to understand the basis of both Christianity and antisemitism. We call them as we see them. Christians see them differently. No problem with that. But the few Christians who have participated in this thread seem to want to deny our right to do so because we see things different than they do. If Christians debate only themselves, they will be poorly served. If they open themselves to the arguments of the other,truth will be better served even if it gnaws away at their roots.
Rest assured, we are not distorting things in order to malign you. We are searching for the truth. Your defence of Christianity is welcomed here. Please welcome our “attack” on Christianity. Its all part of the debate. Unless you don’t want to have an open debate. There can be no dialogue without honestly.
Totally aside from that, we recognize that the Christian Zionists or Evangelicals are our best friends regardless of our thoughts on Christianity. At the same time we are strongly opposed to those among you who want to convert us or spread the word among us. We also worry that your current support may be fleeting. Time will tell.
@ kim segar:
After reminding our people that “I am HaShem, your God, Who has taken you out of the Land of Egypt, from the House of Slavery” (Exodus 20:2; and Deuteronomy 5:6), God immediately thunders:
“You shall not recognize the gods of others in My Presence.” (Exodus 20:3; and Deuteronomy 5:7).
By agreeing that the G-d of Israel, and the Father who sired Jesus, and Allah are one and the same Creator, we Jews transgress this Commandment and thereby cause a great Chillul HaShem (desecration of G-d’s Name).
G-d has deigned, through the Hebrew Bible (the first five books of which are collectively denominated as the Torah), to reveal to us His Eternal Attributes, His Message and that which He expects of us as His Chosen People. Consequently, it stands to reason that the Teaching that G-d gave to His Chosen People is both complete and final. As a result, our Sages’ understanding of G-d is based exclusively on His Words and Actions, as related in its pages alone. If we were to accept that the G-d of Israel subsequently bestowed upon the Gentile nations Revelation concerning His Nature, His Message and His Expectations, as expressed through the Christian New Testament and/or the Islamic Koran, each of which seek to annul, modify and add neologisms to the passages of the Hebrew Bible, then we would be transgressing yet another Commandment of the Torah. For, as the G-d of History, in anticipation of this Day, long ago warned His people:
“The Entire Word that I command you: that shall you observe to do; you shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it.” (Deuteronomy 13:1).
And just to reveal a bit of the Future to our people, G-d immediately added to the preceding Admonishment this specific Prophetic Warning:
“If there should stand up in your midst a prophet or a dreamer of a dream, and he will produce to you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes about, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us follow gods of others that you did not know and we shall worship them’ — do not hearken to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of a dream, for HaShem, your God, is testing you to know whether you love HaShem, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul. HaShem, your God, shall you follow, and Him shall you fear; His Commandments shall you observe, and to His Voice shall you hearken; Him shall you serve, and to Him shall you cleave.” (Deuteronomy 13:2-5).
And just so that doubt should not creep into our souls about G-d’s Faithfulness to His own Word, the Prophet Samuel reminds us that:
“‘Moreover, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie and does not relent, for He is not a human that He should relent.'” (I Samuel 15:29), echoing the earlier words of the Gentile prophet Balaam that: “‘God is not a man that He should be deceitful, nor a son of man that He should relent. Would He say and not do, or speak and not confirm?'” (Numbers 23:19).
Since Hebrew Scripture warns us that the nations’ Scriptures, even if otherwise attractive and compelling, are nevertheless False, we are certainly required to treat the deities described in their Scriptures as False, and we are most certainly prohibited from intellectually merging or identifying their deities with the G-d of Israel.
Furthermore, Hebrew Scripture not only warns the Jewish people against merging or identifying the false gods of others with the G-d of Israel, but it also sends the very same warning to the Gentile nations; for, the Prophet Isaiah says to them:
“For thus said HaShem, Creator of the Heavens; He is the God, the One Who fashioned the Earth and its Maker; He established it; He did not create it for emptiness; He fashioned it to be inhabited [and then declared]: ‘I am HaShem and there is no other. I did not speak in secrecy, some place in a land of darkness; I did not tell the descendants of Jacob to seek Me for nothing; I am HaShem Who speaks Righteousness, Who declares Upright Things. Gather yourselves, come and approach together, O survivors of the nations, who do not know, who carry about the wood of their graven image, and pray to a god who cannot save. Proclaim and approach; even [let your leaders] take counsel together: Who let this be heard from aforetimes, or related it from [times] of Old? Is it not I, HaShem? There is no other god besides Me; there is no righteous god besides Me, and no savior other than Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all ends of the Earth; for, I am God and there is no other. I swear by Myself, Righteousness has gone forth from My Mouth, a Word that will not be rescinded: that to Me shall every knee bend and every tongue swear.'” (Isaiah 45:18-23).
Grafting??? We don’t want you and you didn’t ask us.
yamit82 Said:
If only the translators were consistent in their Greek translation!!! The important part of this passage is the last two clauses: “[the food goes] into his stomach and out into the latrine, thus ________ all foods.” That blank is HUGE. The translators insert Jesus (as indicated by the [] marks because they don’t know what to do with the Greek participle that doesn’t have a subject…in other words, there is an -ing verb without anyone doing the action. Literally, the Greek says “cleaning all foods”. So, who is cleansing the food? And what does it mean “cleansing”? There isn’t a subject that matches the participle anywhere around, so the translators do the best they can do–without turning over their own bias–and insert Jesus as the subject even though he is some 11(?) verses prior in the Greek text. Subjects and participles are NEVER that far apart. So what is doing the cleansing? Well, it really isn’t polite to say, which is why it isn’t specifically spelled out, but the proper subject of the cleansing action is the colon. the food goes into the stomach, out into the latrine, thus cleansing all foods [from the body via the action of the colon]. Because the Greek word mistranslated as “declared clean” is used in the Lxx of the priest declaring a leper clean, the translators grasp that single use to make sense of a grammatically difficult passage. But, if they are honest, the really difficult part of this passage is that if they translate it at face value, then the translators have to stop eating ham at Easter because Jesus DID NOT declare unclean foods to be clean nor would He ever make such a declaration.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19 ESV)
Obviously, according to Jesus’ own words the translators and Christian teachers will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven since they are relaxing the commandments and teaching others to do the same.
Now that is just a plain vulgur abuse of the genre of the parable–by you, not by Jesus. The parable is a picture of life used to convey a story about God. Everyone knows that human king whose subjects reject him and attempt to have him removed from power, if they fail, will be executed by the king. How much more so the King of the Universe. Humanity attempted insurrection when Adam sinned and tried to become like God, and the penalty of sin is death–read Genesis/Bereshit.
That being said, the key to the parable of the Ten Minas is in verse 11 “…because He was near Jerusalem…”. The Judean leaders (that is the priests and Sadduccees) were the focus of his criticism in this parable and many others. Even the Jewish literature speaks of the wickedness of these false priests–buying their office from the Romans?! and using their office to extort money from the people who came to offer sacrifices? They were entrusted by the King with Torah and the Temple service and they squandered it. Do you expect that the King of Heaven will be any less harsh with those who usurp His authority than the human king would be with the servant who let the money languish and then accused the king of being a liar and a cheater?
As for Matthew 23:35–who is it that killed Zechariah (not all texts include “son of Barachiah”)? King Joash–leader of the Judeans who ruled from Jerusalem. Sensing a theme yet? Jesus was calling the wicked Judean leaders in Jerusalem, well, wicked. And they were.
No, not as a demigod. At least give Jesus credit for claiming what he really did claim–Yes, Jesus did really claim to be Y_H_V_H in the flesh. You don’t have to believe him, but don’t misquote him–it’s just plain rude. But, if what he claimed is true then why would you expect anything less than “a hellish existence” if you refuse to believe him and obey him? If a doctor tells you that you have a disease and will die without surgery, but you don’t believe him and refuse the surgery, if he was truly a doctor should we be surprised if you die? No–if he was really a doctor. So, when Jesus declares that those who don’t believe in him and refuse to obey him will face the wrath of God, that is at the very least consistent with his claim to be Y_H_V_H in the flesh. Whether anyone is actually condemned to such a “hellish existence” depends solely on the accuracy of his authority to make such a claim. Since you are so convinced that he is not who he said he is, why are you so worried about the rest of his claims?
No, he did NOT tell “a gathering of Jews” that they were Children of Satan, he told the people gathered in the Temple for Sukkot that the wicked priests/Sadduccees and scribes and Pharisees were the Children of Satan. Jesus had many harsh things to say about the corrupt leadership in Jerusalem–but no more harsh than the things written about them in the Mishnah. You should read about the seven kinds of Pharisees–only one was good. If the Pharisees don’t have anything good to say about 6 out of 7 of themselves, why should Jesus? And, not everything that Jesus says to or about the Pharisees is bad, but he has nothing good to say about the Saducceess. Kind of makes me think he agreed with Hillel and the others who criticized those six types of Pharisees.
I’m sure you had a point with this, but it escapes me. According to the text, he had authority over disease, nature (stormy sea), death and demons. Sounds an awful lot like Y_H_V_H which means he either was who he said he was or the text is written to make you believe that he was Y_H_V_H in the flesh. At the very least, the story is consistent in its claims.
Actually, this passage doesn’t appear in any of the oldest manuscripts and is likely not original–the only passage in all of the Apostolic Writings about which that can be said. It doesn’t agree with anything else that is written, especially the words of Jesus himself.
No, the objective criteria for knowing his true followers is two-fold:
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 ESV
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15 ESV
Believe whatever you want about Jesus, but at least make your decision based on what he actually said and not what someone else said he said–especially if that someone is wearing his collar backwards. And judge the people who claim to be his followers according to the two criteria above, not some criteria that they came up with years later. Do they love one another and do they keep his commandments (that would be Torah)?
My comment was in response to Dr Fay’s comment of 9.09 pm. @ Dr. Fay:
kim segar Said:
Hold your breath
Alav Ha’knubl
Dumb Christian Said:
Hey, Dumbo, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Try drawing a timeline with crayons on the subject and maybe you’ll see a pattern.
lulz
What a surprise. Dumb christian quotes dumb karaite!
@ Dr. Fay:
This is an obvious attempt to undo all the goodwill between Christians and Jewish believers. I agree with all that you said and can?t improve on your comments and just feel very sad that Ted has allowed this article to be included on his page. So many of us Christians have championed the Jewish / Israli cause for many years. this was done at great cost in some cases. Going to Israel in times of great uncertainty, speaking up in political arenas and public forums. Do they want us to withdraw our support?? One wonders who or what is behind this latest attempt to alianiate Israel?s strongest supporters. This is not that we Christian’s can’t take truths. We know some of the past religious leaders left a lot to be desired,nespecially Luther . This is about fairmindeness we won’ t judge them by some of the Talmudic writings that would shock a warfie and we hope that they will desist from judging us by some misguided so called church fathers who we would not want to own.. Also Paul is not the Father of Christianity…he was a Jewish believer even taking a Nazerite vow. He was not against the Jews himself beign from the tribe of Benjamin. Why he encouraged the early messianic believers to keep Torah. Do your homework without such determination to keep the rift going…and to justify your hatred . I pray that These detractors will change tactics and llearn to thank Abba for the new cooperation and relationships being developed between people of good will from both groups and fthat they will find The real enemy perhaps it is lurking within themselves.. .. Also they have plenty of legitimate external ones to choose from.
Am Yisrael chai. A non Jewish supporter.
better headline would be “Talmud source of anti-christian and antisemitic sentiment” Source: Nehemiah Gordon
It is written,,it is better to believe G-d than man ! G-d , Paul writing in Romans 9 10 and 11 tells us that the Jews were blinded for us heathen so we would have the power to become sons of G-d. How sick to think that the gentiles replaced the Jews..they did not and never will. It is plain that we were grafted into the Jews family..and Jesus was and is a Jew. Many wonder how so many apostasy churches can say they replaced the Jews and that they love Jesus but hate the Jews. Jesus said: NO ONE killed Me,,I came to lay down my life. The time of the gentiles is over, Jews are opening their eyes. they will also be the 144,000. preaching the gospel, the light of the world. I would think that looking at how G-d tells us in Genesis 12:3 and many verses that thosw who do not bless Israel is cursed. even the ones who have no opinion. G-d does not change, no shadow of turning and tells us He tells us the end FROM the begining. I change NOT , no shadow of turning. When HE stands on the Mt of Olive they will see who they have peirced and mourn,( tey will see the natil prints) every knee will bow and tongue will confess HE is G-d. G-d is coming with redemption for them just like it is written and tells us HE will take away their sin forever. And then add’s…ALL ISRAEL will be SAVED..IN that same chapter it says He will bring up the dead..they will stand with the living and be saved. Quit listening to men. G-d is clear in what HE said..Israel is my heart. will always be my heart and the heart of G-d..HE IS COMING
This is fascinating. Everything hinges on interpretation. There is ample evidence actually dating the New Testament, and all of it was completed before the end of the first century AD (or Christian Era -CE) if you prefer.
All of the original disciples of Jesus were Jews. All the first converts to Christianity were Jews.
All of the Jewish disciples and converts continued to practice Judaism until well into the third century. They just practiced with the idea that Messiah had already come.
I think one of the most misrepresented verses in the New Testament is the one that has Jesus saying one did not have to observe dietary laws anymore. I doubt that interpretation. If Jesus was “Sinless”, then He was sinless under the Laws of God. If He broke the dietary laws, He was no longer sinless. If He encouraged anyone else to break the law, He was no longer sinless.
As a Christ follower, I believe Jesus died for me, and whoever else is willing to accept Him as their atonement offering. I don’t believe Jews killed Jesus. I believe I did.
What each of you believes is up to you, but it should be based on fact.
The disciples taught Jesus from the Old Testament, the Torah, and the Prophets. I doubt the Romans and Gentiles could have done that.
Not all the Christian Church Fathers were honest. Not all Jewish Rabbis are honest. That doesn’t mean there is no truth. It merely means you have to weigh it carefully, and that is not done in this article, and some of these responses.
@ yamit82:
I don’t believe that. Much of this stuff was made up by Constantine and his henchmen (see my posting above) about 300 years after the death of Jesus. In my opinion, the words on Kashruth are simply a nod to the pagans who were about to receive Constantine’s form of Christianity. Like I said, all good PR. You can’t force people to worship someone who came from amongst the people you (the Romans) proclaimed as your enemies (ie – the folks who killed him), so the best approach is to form your dogma into something exactly the opposite to what he actually did and how he lived (as an enemy; the Jew). That way, the little group at Nicea were able to totally dissociate Jesus from Judaism.
@ Dr. Fay:
Jesus sought to abolish the Torah laws of Kashrut, by which G-d of Israel declared to the Jewish people those creatures which are spiritually clean and, consequently, permissible to eat, and those creatures which are spiritually unclean and, consequently, prohibited to eat (“He [Jesus] said to them [his disciples]: ‘Are you also lacking in understanding? Are you not aware that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and [then] goes out into the latrine?’ Thus, he [Jesus] declared all foods clean.” — Mark 7:18-19); and
Jesus ordered (by means of a parable, known as the Parable of the Ten Minas, concerning the advent of the Kingdom of god) the murder of those Jews who did not accept his kingship and who, consequently, deserved punishment, not only for their own sins, but also for the sins of the entire World — retroactive to the dawn of Humanity (“‘But these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here, and slay them in my presence.'” — Luke 19:27; and: “‘And so upon you [Jews] will come all the righteous blood poured upon the Earth from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar.'” — Matthew 23:35); and
Jesus condemned to a hellish existence those who refuse to worship and obey him as a demigod (“‘The Father loves the Son, and has committed everything into his hand. He who believes in the Son has Eternal Life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see Life, but the Wrath of god rests upon him.'” — John 3:35-36); and
Jesus declared to a gathering of Jews — who had described themselves as the Children of Abraham and regarded Jesus as a mere mortal — that they were really the Children of Satan (“‘You belong to your Father, the Devil, and you want to carry out your Father’s desire; He was a Murderer from the Beginning, not holding to the Truth; for, there is no Truth in Him; when He lies, He speaks his native language; for, He is a Liar and the Father of Lies. Yet because I tell the Truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of Sin? — if I am telling the Truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says; the reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.'” — John 8:44-47); and
Jesus exorcised demons from humans; and, in one case, he even granted such expelled demons permission to enter a herd of swine (“Jesus asked him [the demon-possessed man]: ‘What is your name?’ — ‘Legion’, he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they [the demons] begged him [Jesus] repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside; the demons begged Jesus to let them [the demons] go into them [the herd of swine], and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.” — Luke 8:30-33); and
Jesus declared the objective criteria by which his true followers would be identified (“He that believes and is baptized will be saved, but he that does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those that believe: in my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with tongues, and with their hands they will pick up [poisonous] snakes, and if they drink anything deadly it will not hurt them at all. They will lay hands upon the sick and they will recover.” — Mark 16:16-18).
@ Dr. Fay:
Notice the implied threat?
What happened to Gen 12:3??
Suggestion, try sourcing Christian history and theology from non Christian sources who don’t have an agenda of keeping the Jesus myths alive.
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!!!
“As far as the Gospel is concerned, they [the Jews] are enemies on your account; but as far as Choice is concerned, they [the Jews] are beloved on account of the [Hebrew] Patriarchs. For, God’s Gifts and His Calling are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:28-29)
“The woman said to him [Jesus], ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for Salvation is from the Jews.'” (John 4:19-22)
“… ‘So said HaShem, “My first-born Son is Israel.”‘” (Exodus 4:22)
“O nations: Sing the praises of His People, for He will avenge the blood of His Servants; He will bring retribution upon His adversaries, and He will appease His Land [and] His People.” (Deuteronomy 32:43)
“Sacred is Israel unto HaShem, [being] the first of His Crop; all who devour it will be held Guilty; Evil shall come upon them — [this is] the Oration of HaShem.” (Jeremiah 2:3)
“For, behold, in those Days, and in that Time, when I shall overturn the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all of the nations, and I will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat [Valley of God’s Judgment]; and I will issue Judgment against them there concerning My People and My Heritage Israel, whom they have scattered amongst the nations, and My Land that they have divided [amongst themselves].” (Joel 4:1-2)
Your article is so biased against Christianity that I don’t know where to begin. First of all, Paul is not considered the “father of the religion.” He was an important leader of the early Church and took the gospel to Rome, where he gave his life for his faith in Jesus Christ. The gospels, which were written by the Jewish apostles of Jesus Christ, who was born into a Jewsish family, do not speak disparagingly of the Jews. They do hold a Jewish mob responsible for choosing Jesus over Barabbas to be released. When asked what should be done with Jesus, they shouted, “Crucify him!” That is historical fact.
It was not Pilate’s conscience, but that of his wife, that caused him to offer clemency for Jesus. Matthew 27:19 reports, ‘While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”’ But all these things that happened to Jesus had already been prophesied centuries before – see http://www.cbcg.org/franklin/SA/SA_28prophecies.pdf. Altogether, there are 333 prophecies about Jesus that were fulfilled during his life.
Christians do believe that all Scripture, including the Old Testament, is divinely inspired: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Timothy+3%3A16-17&version=NKJV. The late Dr. D. James Kennedy of then Coral Ridge Ministries did a TV special on the accuracy of Scripture and how minor the changes in them have been over the centuries. Christians believe that Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for the sin of all mankind, for which the blood of animals was an insufficient sacrifice. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
The Apostle Paul anguishes over Israel in Romans 9: “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!” In Romans 11:17, Paul describes Christians who are Gentiles as being grafted branches of an olive tree (Israel). http://bible.cc/romans/11-17.htm
Christians and Jews have been targeted for their faith over the centuries. About 120,000 Christians are now being martyred each year in Muslim countries. Unlike the Koran, there is nowhere in the gospels or the apostles’ letters to the Church that command mistreatment or killing of the Jews. As I’ve said before, not everyone who claims to be a Christian truly is. The devil often uses the cloak of religion to attack mankind, whom he hates because God loves us. Religion and true faith are not always the same. That is what Jesus was referring to when he accused some Jews of being children of the devil.
I don’t understand what you are trying to do with this series of articles. It is one thing to present history, but to stir up animosity against Christianity is not wise when most Christians, especially evangelicals, are very pro-Israel. Why alienate those who care about you when you are surrounded by a hostile world there in the Middle East?
But if you’re a Roman, it’s great PR.
The truth is, God is nowhere in the picture; only a bunch of power-hungry people who made up fascinating stories so that the barbarian pagans would eat it up as being the “words of God” and at the same time have an enemy on whom they could vent their animalistic inclinations. And they certainly did.
When you read the story of how Helen, the mother of Constantine, went to “the holy land” where she acquired both a piece of wood from the original cross, and the robe worn by Jesus at his crucifixion, you wonder what level of mental discrimination these so-called rulers actually had. And in the Catholic Church one wonders if there has been any real improvement despite the efforts of some wonderful men who happened to be called Popes…