tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-374945593972878840.post8842607947267453470..comments2023-09-22T06:24:01.470-04:00Comments on Libertarian Jew: Jesus Was Not the Messiah! Can We Lay This One to Rest?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-374945593972878840.post-68785102511013776412014-04-09T11:00:55.452-04:002014-04-09T11:00:55.452-04:005) Your statement of Judaism being a dualistic rel...5) Your statement of Judaism being a dualistic religion is ill-informed, to say the least. Judaism believes in one, Infinite G-d, plain and simple. It is the second of the <a href="http://www.aish.com/jl/p/mp/48923872.html" rel="nofollow">Thirteen Principles of Judaism</a> expounded upon by Maimonides. As for your H2O example, water, ice, and steam are still three distinguishable, finite entities, which shows how much you do not understand the concept of <a href="http://libertarianjew.blogspot.com/2009/12/jew-reflecting-on-jesus-birth-and.html" rel="nofollow">Infinite Oneness</a>, i.e., monotheism. Much like your H2O example, your Scriptures are replete of examples showing that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three separate entities (e.g., Mark 10:18, 13:32, 15:34; Matthew 12:32, 19:16, 20:23, 27:26). Since you believe the Christian idea of a triune deity is based on the erroneous premise that 1+1+1=1, you are hardly in the position to lecture me about the meaning about monotheism (“mono-“ does mean “one”, not “three").<br /><br />Although “worship” doesn’t mean “recognize,” that’s not the case when you look at the text in the original Hebrew, which I will actually use to make my point. In Isaiah 11:9 and Jeremiah 31:33, the verb לדעת (“to know”) is used. לדעת means that one conceptually understands, in this case, the idea that G-d is one. The fact I have to have this conversation with you, as well with many other Christians, shows that we are nowhere near that conceptual understanding, or that messianic fulfillment for that matter. Even better is Zephaniah 3:9, which explicitly uses the verb לעבד (“to worship”) in reference to one G-d. <br /><br />(Just as a side note, the early Christians believed that Jesus was merely a prophet. It was due to the Nicene Creed in the 4th century C.E. that Jesus became deified under Christian theology, which was the point where Christianity went from being an offshoot of Judaism to becoming an entirely different religion.)<br /><br />The concept of a triune deity (or even the Hindu concept of deities) does not line up with monotheism. At best, it has become so diluted that it is no longer recognizable as a form of monotheism (unless you want want to strip words of their meaning, at which point, why bother discussing such matters?). To summarize my comments, I am well aware of what Christianity teaches, mainstream Christian theology does not teach monotheism, and Jesus did not fulfill any of the messianic prophecies. <br /><br />L’shalom,<br /><br />The Libertarian JewLibertarian Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07063486300815461137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-374945593972878840.post-91155112955534593032014-04-09T10:53:52.803-04:002014-04-09T10:53:52.803-04:00To Anonymous:
I am going to address all your poin...To Anonymous:<br /><br />I am going to address all your points, but I want to address the most egregious of comments first, which is you think that I was brainwashed because my Jewish upbringing allows me to have an inaccurate view of Christianity. I hate to break it to you, but I was raised as a Roman Catholic and converted to Judaism in my early twenties. If any brainwashing was going on here, it was taking place by a Christian institution. I thank G-d that I was smart enough to see through all the lies in Christian theology, so believe when I say I know <b>exactly</b> what Christianity teaches. Now that we got past that your <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_fallacy" rel="nofollow">genetic fallacy argument</a> , let’s begin with my point-by-point response.<br /><br />1) Much like I stated in the postscript of my blog entry, if Christians are going to claim that Christian Scriptures are a continuation of Hebrew Scriptures, then you need to fulfill the criteria that are in Hebrew Scriptures. Making up new criteria and claiming that you have followed what is in Hebrew Scriptures is merely your own fulfillment of self-prophecy. Hebrew Scriptures states that lineage is determined through the father….end of story. In Christian Scripture, Jesus’ disciples attempted to determine Jesus’ genealogy through his father, and not through Mary. Even your own scripture recognizes this fact, and having to bring up Mary shows just how much you are grasping at straws. <br /><br />2) If you read the paragraph before the postscript, I can most definitely assure you that I do not believe in the second coming of Jesus. The idea of a second coming was a coping mechanism for those who could not deal with the fact that Jesus did not fulfill a single messianic prophecy during his mortal, human life. As for whether I think Israel is “re-formed,” there are still plenty of Jews living in the Diaspora, so the fact that we’re waiting for this messianic requirement to be fulfilled means that Jesus failed to fulfill yet another messianic requirement.<br /><br />3) No need to respond.<br /><br />4) Aside from the fact that Jesus said “he did not come to send peace but the sword,” this goes back to my point of the second coming being a coping mechanism. There is no explicit mentioning in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Messiah needing a second coming. Let’s just accept that Jesus came, he died, and that he didn’t fulfill any of the messianic prophecies.Libertarian Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07063486300815461137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-374945593972878840.post-37773129103809052102014-04-09T06:26:15.450-04:002014-04-09T06:26:15.450-04:00Hello,
Just wanted to help with your confusion. ...Hello,<br /><br />Just wanted to help with your confusion. I have no intentions of converting you, but just think you should be aware of what Christianity purports - so you, perhaps, criticize it more accurately in the future.<br />1) The bloodline of David was said to have been of Mary, Jesus' mother. There is a difference between what "is," and what is "known to be." Just because the RECOGNITION of the bloodline goes by father, it doesn't matter either way (mother or father) from a genetic standpoint.<br />2) This one confuses me. Do you mean that Christians think Jesus' SECOND coming is soon, because Israel has re-formed? Otherwise, what you said makes no sense.<br />3)You got me on the third temple! :-) Since many Christians, including myself, believe Jesus will be here about this time next year (per Revelations, and Joel, OT), perhaps he will build it. <br />4)Once Jesus kills 'evil' with his SWORD, then there will be PEACE.<br />5)I love this one - pure monotheism. Again, the fact that you do not recognize that Christianity is pure theism is just part of the brainwashing you grew up with. But it's easy to answer - in two ways. First is by stating that H2O is ALWAYS H2O. Two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. YET, depending on it's environment it can take THREE forms...WATER, ICE, AND STEAM. Such it is with God. Plus, jews already have 2 of the 3 parts of the trinity...so do you call yourself a dualist? No, of course not. You recognize only ONE GOD. Your hebrew word (that I can't remember) for the energy which is everywhere, invisible, indivisible, in plants, etc. I'll have to look up the word again, but that would be the equivalent of the (holy spirit), God the Father (HaShem), and then the third part...God comes in the form of a man. People saying we are not monotheists would be like you saying that because we believe God can take any form (like Native American Indians believed), so when we say he can become a deer, lion, bunny, or eagle...we MUST WORSHIP 4 GODS. How dumb. It is only the evangelicals (3% of ALL Christianity), who seem to think God had a son and one needs to be "saved." But that is new to America, and never part of any other kind of Christianity. Jesus was JUST GOD. He became a human to teach men a better way (Judaism for non-jews, really). THAT'S IT. You have to remember evangelicals are too crazy for the 97% 'normal' Christians to deal with. They writhe around on the floor, speaking gibberish, drinking poison, and handling snakes to test their faith.Most people just consider them a cult (whose members spend alot of time on the internet). Christianity does vary a great deal, but it is in the details. The main backbone of Christianity, that Jesus was simply a form God took, is common among all.<br />And the fact that all Abrahamic religions are monotheistic (5 billion) and even Hindus have followed this Judaic trend, and even though they have hundreds of gods, they refer to God, with the capital G. Perhaps the other gods have been relegated to worker bees.<br />The only folks that have no God, are east Asians/Buddhists en masse. And they have the INTERNET, and are aware of the singular God concept. You must remember that 'recognize' doesn't not mean 'worship,' or even 'revere.' It simply means to be aware of something.<br />ShalomAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com