Wednesday 1 January 2014

Anti-Semitism in the NT? Examining the claims of Uri Yosef 8

This is another article dealing with the subject of Anti-Semitism raised by Uri Yosef, this one will focus on the summary statement that has been made in his article. I am aware of his quotations by Roy Eckhardt and the Lectionaries, but that is not the focus of this article itself. Let's begin shall we?

"The "Christian love for the Jew", of which so much is heard these days, turns out to 
be conditional in an overwhelming majority of cases. Christians, evangelical 
Christian missionaries in particular, view the Jews as a blind people in need of being 
made into "believers". When their missionary efforts fail, or when their deceptions 
are exposed, their professed love for the Jew quickly turns into hatred and contempt. 
Today's hand-clapping Jew-loving "new Christians" are evangelical Christian 
fundamentalists in disguise, some of whom even profess to be "Torah Observant". 
They teach the same anti-Semitic doctrines as have been taught by "The Church" 
throughout the Common Era. And while their tactics may have changed, their 
agenda and message remain the same."

In my occasional conversation with the Rabbinic communities on Facebook mostly, Though I address their points, another point is raised. Maybe there were cases with individuals where they have hatred and contempt for the Jews, but this is not so with me. I can't speak on behalf of every Christian but I can say that there are Christians who are willing to pray for a Jew despite how good or bad the interaction has been.

There are Messianics that do profess to be Torah Observant, but this is hardly teaching anti-semitism of any kind, nor is it a "new tactic or agenda". Perhaps Yosef has had an unfortunate run with Christians in the past, it is quite possible I don't know, but that doesn't mean every Christian he has met was a genuine believer in Jesus.

I dare and challenge any Jew to go through my writings and see where I have spoken hatefully of Jews. When I say challenge I don't mean in a nasty way obviously. Obviously Yosef is not making the claim that I am anti-semitic.

"The number of Jewish people who have been adversely affected, maimed, and murdered in the name of Jesus throughout the history of Christianity significantly exceeds the six million who were massacred by the Nazis during the Holocaust."

No question about this at all, there have been those who called themselves Christians who have killed in the name of Christ, which I find strange, considering Jesus himself was Jewish. For that matter, I would seriously question the testimony of those "Christians" who have such venomous hatred towards Jews. As for the quotes recently presented to me by the Church Fathers, I would need to look at the quotations before commenting.

"Yet, there are Jews who, for various reasons, have chosen to overlook this fact and 
have joined themselves to "The Church" with its built-in anti-Semitism. Shmuel 
Golding, who founded the Jerusalem Institute of Biblical Polemics and directed it for 
many years, summarized his opinion on this in the following way “Any Jew who can pay homage to the New Testament or allow himself to believe in it, is, in my opinion in the same category as a Jew who tries to justify Hitler's Mein Kampf or, as one who covers up for the deeds of the Nazis."

Jews who join themselves with the church do not overlook Anti-Semitism, that's garbage, People like Fruchtenbaum and Brown have spoken out against Anti-Semitism quite frequently. Jacob Prasch of Moriel Ministries, while not considered to be Jewish according to a Rabbinic standpoint but that's besides the point, has spoken out against Anti-Semitism as vocal critic of Stephen Sizer, of whom I think is on dangerous ground in his kind of work.

There is no comparison between Mein Kampf and the NT at all and those who try to establish a connection are engaging in red herrings and not reading the context of the NT. Not to mention some fail to mention that Hitler gave LIP SERVICE to Christianity.

"Jews who are approached by Christian missionaries should realize that, in order to 
be "loved" by these Christians, they will have to embrace and accept the New 
Testament as part of their Bible. Therefore, whether still a member of the Jewish 
community or one who has already joined a Hebrew-Christian organization, a Jew 
must consider the following two important questions:
Can the New Testament, which has led to the persecution and murder of millions 
of my Jewish ancestors throughout the Common Era, truly be the breathed word 
of G-d, or be inspired by Him? 
Am I ready to embrace this New Testament, which spouts hatred and lies against 
the Jewish people and, therefore, against me as a Jewish person, and accept it as 
part of my Bible?"

1. Yes, you can be Jewish and be faithful to Jesus, DON'T LET ANY PERSON tell you otherwise. Ask your self when reading the NT, Are the claims about the NT being Anti-Semitic true? or is it a form of propaganda that is being spread?
2. The choice of embracing the NT is up to you, but should you choose to accept it, you are not supporting any "Jew Hatred" of any kind.

"The desired outcome is, of course, that the honest and objective answers to these 
questions will motivate the affected individuals to return to traditional Judaism. 

The analysis presented above, for which only Christian scholarly sources were used, 
can be summarized in terms of the following question and answer: 

Question: What is the source of the common thread of anti-Semitism that 
 connects the historical acts of persecution of the Jewish people? 
Answer: The New Testament."

Lectionaries are not scholarly sources. AS for this Roy Eckhardt, I am curious to know as to whether he is a recognised authority or liberal or something like that, although Yosef's article does tell me what he is and what qualifications he has.

"Professor A. Roy Eckhardt [former Professor of Religion at both Lehigh 
University (PA) and Oxford University (UK), and an ordained minister] "

This is what was said about him. There are other authorities such as Frank G Kilpatrick and Norman A Beck but I don't have any further comments on these men for the time being.

That's all in this article I have to say.

Answering Judaism.

3 comments:

  1. I wanted to comment on an older post made last November about "seed". I think you are incorrect in the examples you chose. You have not proven Rabbi Singer wrong in his analysis.

    Even when used by Isaiah to call Israel "a zera of evildoers," and a “zera of an adulterer," and "a zera of falsehood,"(Isaiah 1:4; 14:20; 57:3-4) the prophet is speaking of the physical nation of Israel as being that zera!

    The Hebrew grammar here clearly indicates that a plurality is being addressed. To help you see this, here is an annotated translation of the verse:

    Isaiah 57:4 - Against whom will you [plural 'you'] take delight, against whom will you [plural 'you'] open wide your mouth, you [plural 'you'] stick out a tongue? Aren't you [plural 'you'] children of iniquity, seed of liars?

    The reference to "the seed" in Psalms 22:31 is a reference to the offspring/descendants of Israel, the Jewish people, who have served God and have passed it on to their future generations. This is an additional reference to that made in v 24:

    24. You who fear the Lord, praise Him; all the seed of Jacob, honor Him, and fear Him, all the seed of Israel. כד. יִרְאֵי יְהֹוָה | הַלְלוּהוּ כָּל זֶרַע יַעֲקֹב כַּבְּדוּהוּ

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    Replies
    1. Regarding the Zera issue, I had been rethinking that previously. One of the posts I did mention about it being physical. As for the section that looks at Tovia Singer's claim, the section I quoted was from Nakdimon's page.

      But going back to being the physical in Psalm 22:31, that's a valid interpretation. Which post were you referring to? The seed post or the response to Uri Yosef on Isaiah 53?

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  2. seed post either in October or November

    I find this statement irresponsible:

    Yes, you can be Jewish and be faithful to Jesus, DON'T LET ANY PERSON tell you otherwise.

    Being faithful to Jesus means focusing worship on an entity not revealed to us at
    Sinai. Being faithful to Jesus means accepting concepts such as trinity, incarnation, the virgin birth, original sin, blood sacrifice as the only means of atonement and other theological beliefs which are either antithetical or unheard of in the Tanakh.. You have every right to practise your religion as you see fit, but please be respectful of mine.

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