answering Jewish objections 1

Table of Contents * Title Page

Contents
Preface
Introduction

The Facts and Nothing but the Facts
General Objections
Historical Objections
Theological Objections
Objections Based on Messianic Prophecies
Objections to the New Testament
Objections Based on Traditional Judaism
A Summary of the Major Issues
This Book is for You!

Part 1: General Objections

Objection 1.1: Jews Don’t Believe in Jesus
Objection 1.2: I Was Born a Jew and I Will Die a Jew!
Objection 1.3: A Person is Either Jewish or Christian. I’m Jewish
Objection 1.4: Doesn’t Belief in Jesus Mean You’re No Longer Jewish? As I Understand It, Belief in Jesus and Jewishness in Any Form are Incompatible
Objection 1.5: Messianic Judaism, or Hebrew Christianity, is Just One Big Deception, Designed to Lure Unsuspecting Jews into Christianity. Half of the People Involved are Not Even Jewish. Most of Those Who are Jewish Were Christian Ministers Who Changed Their Names to Sound More Authentic
Objection 1.6: You Have Your Religion, and I Have Mine. Jesus is for the Gentiles, and If He Helps Them, Great. In Fact, Judaism Teaches that the Righteous of All Nations Have a Place in the World to Come. But for Us, the Jewish People, We Have the Torah. That is Our Portion
Objection 1.7: The Fundamental Problem with Christianity is that It is Not Judaism. Therefore, All Your so-Called Proofs from the Hebrew Scriptures are Meaningless. They are Simply Your Interpretation Not Ours
Objection 1.8: If Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, Why Don’t More Jews Believe in Him?
Objection 1.9: I Won’t Betray My Ancestors! I Won’t Forsake the Faith of My Fathers!
Objection 1.10: What Happens to Jews Who Do Not Believe in Jesus—Especially Those Who Never Heard about Him? What Happened to My Wonderful Jewish Grandmother Who Never Hurt Anyone in Her Entire Life? Is She in Hell?
Objection 1.11: What Would Happen to a Nazi Murderer Who Believed in Jesus before He Died? Would He Go to Heaven, While the Jewish Men, Women, and Children He Killed, Many of Whom Were God-Fearing People, Would Go to Hell?
Objection 1.12: No Religious or Educated Jew Would Ever Believe in Jesus
Objection 1.13: Those Educated or Religious Jews in the Past Who Did Convert to Christianity Did so for Monetary Gain or Because of Social Pressure. It Had Nothing Whatsoever to Do with Intellectual Arguments or Honest Theological Convictions
Objection 1.14: Those Religious Jews Who Did Become Followers of Jesus Always Had the Tendency to Stray. If You Study Their Lives, You’ll See that Most of Them Threw out Their Traditional Values and Beliefs before They Ever Considered Nonsense like Christianity
Objection 1.15: Missionaries like You Target the Sick, the Elderly, the Ignorant, and the Young and Uninformed
Objection 1.16: I’m Not a Very Religious Person, but I’m Certainly Not a Bad Person. I’m Basically a Normal, Middle-of-the-Road, Good Person
Objection 1.17: If Jesus Really is the Messiah, Why are There so Many Objections?
Objection 1.18: Christianity Simply Doesn’t Work. It Doesn’t Produce What It Promises. Deep down, You Know What I’m Saying is True
Objection 1.19: You Missionaries Always Use the Same Old Arguments and Proofs. Your Faith Can’t Be Very Deep!

Part 2: Historical Objections

Objection 2.1: If Jesus is Really the Messiah, Why Isn’t There Peace on Earth?
Objection 2.2: Why Have Wars, Famines, and Human Suffering Only Increased since Jesus Came?
Objection 2.3: There Was No Jewish Expectation in the First Century that the Messiah Would Be a Great Miracle Worker, so All of Jesus’ Alleged Miracles Were of No Interest to the First-Century Jewish Leaders, and They are of No Interest to Me
Objection 2.4: Jesus Cannot Be the Messiah Because More Jewish Blood Has Been Shed in His Name Than in Any Other Name or for Any Other Cause
Objection 2.5: Christianity is Actually a Religion of Hate Not Love. Its Bad Fruit Proves that It is a Bad Tree, Even According to Jesus’ Own Criteria (See Matt. 7:15–20; Luke 6:43–45)
Objection 2.6: Jesus Himself Taught that He Did Not Come to Bring Peace but a Sword. We Jews Have Felt the Edge of This Sword for More Than Fifteen Hundred Years Now!
Objection 2.7: Christians Have Always Hated and Persecuted the Jewish People
Objection 2.8: The Origins of Anti-Semitism Can Be Traced to the Pages of the New Testament. From the Negative Depiction of the Pharisees to the Charge of Deicide, Anti-Semitism is a Christian Plague
Objection 2.9: Without the Long, Ugly History of Christian Anti-Semitism, the Holocaust Would Never Have Occurred
Objection 2.10: Why Did God Allow Six Million Jews to Die in the Holocaust? Before I Could Even Think about Believing in Jesus, I Need an Answer to This Question
Objection 2.11: The Main Reason Christians are so Zealous to Convert Jews to Their Beliefs is to Legitimize Their Faith. The Fact that Jesus’ Own People Rejected Him is a Real Problem for Christianity
Objection 2.12: Although Jews Have Been Forced to Hold Public Debates with Christians in the Past, Jews Have Won Every Debate. You Can Even Check the Christian Records for Verification
Objection 2.13: Within Two Generations, the Jewish Followers of Jesus (under the Influence of Paul) Had Largely Given up Their Jewish Practices, Setting a Precedent that Has Remained the Same Right up until Today: Jews Who Become Christians Lose All Connection to Judaism Within Two Generations
Objection 2.14: Just Look at the Church! Who’s Right? The Protestants, the Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, the Mormons, the Messianic Jews? Even so-Called Christians Can’t Agree Among Themselves
Objection 2.15: Christianity is Just Another Great World Religion, like Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism. It is Certainly Not the True Messianic Faith and the Only Way to Find God. In Fact, I Find It to Be the Height of Arrogance that Jesus Claimed to Be the Only Way to the Father. This is Small-Minded Conceit at Its Worst
Objection 2.16: We Dealt with Christianity Nineteen Hundred Years Ago. There Were Great Jewish Leaders Alive in Jesus’ Day and in the Decades Following. They Watched Him, They Watched His Followers, and They Rejected the Whole Thing for Good Reason. There’s Nothing to Discuss

Glossary
Subject Index
Index of Ancient Writings