judaism

“Jewish Christians” invariably emphasize the existence of proofs in the Hebrew Bible for everything they believe about Jesus. It is this claim that justifies the entire enterprise of “Jewish Christianity”, and although it is no longer as fashionable among other Christians as it once was, it really is central to the entire development of Christianity. After all, if the Hebrew Bible is the word of God, it must refer to the most basic religious truths, and we’ve already seen that without the discov

The claim that Jesus was the Messiah is one of the beliefs separating Judaism from Christianity. We have explained the Jewish understanding of the Messiah, especially that Judaism never understood the Messiah to be anything more than a human being chosen by God to bring the era of peace and love foretold by the prophets of Israel. We have also explained that Judaism could not accept a reinterpretation of the messianic promise into a purely spiritual state without any historical and political co

Let us begin with the fundamental belief that Jesus was – and is – the Messiah. Since the very word Christ means Messiah, this belief lies at the heart of the Christian faith. But how do we go about testing the claim that Jesus was the Messiah? The first thing to remember is that the term Messiah gets its basic meaning from Biblical prophecy; it is only because of such prophecy that people expected the Messiah in the first place. Any person claiming to be the Messiah must, therefore, be able t

You were born a Jew. You may have gone to Hebrew school for some years and had a Bar Mitzvah or a Bat Mitzvah. Whether you had a good Jewish education, a poor one, or none at all, you are now a teenager, in your twenties, thirties, or any age. And you have a problem. Your problem is Jesus of Nazareth. For a long time, he meant nothing to you. You knew that you were a Jew and Jews didn’t believe in Jesus. But at some point, that began to change. You may have read something or heard a speaker say

Jews And “Jewish Christianity” A Jewish Response to the Missionary Challenge by David Berger and Michael Wyschogrod Contents Preface to The First Printing A Note to the Reader 1. Introduction 2. Jesus and the Messiah 3. Jesus and God 4. “Proofs” of Christianity in the Hebrew Bible 5. The Forgiveness of Sin 6. On Jews, Gentiles, and “Jewish Christians” 7. A Final Word 8. Suggestions for Further Reading Preface To The First Printing The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York s