literature

Here is a list of suggestions that you could use for further reading on the topic - Jews and Jewish Christianity 1. Berger, David. The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages: A Critical Edition of the Nizzahon Vetus with an Introduction, Translation and Commentary. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1978. The introduction and commentary present a history and analysis of almost all the major arguments from the beginnings of Christianity through the thirteenth century. 2. Bleich,

In this book we have tried, sincerely and respectfully, to explain the Jewish point of view concerning Jews who have embraced or are thinking of embracing Christianity. In the final analysis, it is you who must make the decision. In the course of our discussions, we have concentrated on the major theological issues. Could Jesus have been the Messiah? What is the Jewish conception of God? Does the Hebrew Bible demonstrate the truth of Christianity? How does God forgive sins? Is devotion to “Jewi

Several times in the course of our discussion of Judaism and Christianity we have distinguished between Jews and gentiles. At the outset, we emphasized that this book is directed in part at Jews who are thinking of converting to Christianity. In the chapter dealing with the divinity of Jesus, we explained that for a Jew to believe that Jesus was God constitutes idolatry, while the same trinitarian belief is not idolatry when held by a gentile. These points may have raised certain questions. Wha

Contemporary Christianity appears in various forms. While there was a time when almost all Christian churches were engaged in missionizing Jews, in recent times most churches have discontinued special efforts directed at Jews. There are various reasons for this change. Let us read about the forgiveness of sin. How is it for Jews? One of the most significant is the widespread conviction among many Christian thinkers that Judaism stands in a special relationship to Christianity and, therefore, th

“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