For almost 2,000 years, Christian missionaries have been trying
to convince the Jew to accept their beliefs, and for just as long,
the Jew has resisted. The ones who resisted most strongly were
those who sought G-d with the most fervor. What was their
motivation? Why did we never give in to the missionaries?
WHY ARENT WE CHRISTIANS?
By Aryeh Kaplan
We hear quite a bit today about a movement called Jews for
Jesus.
A small number of Jews seem to be finding the teachings of
Christianity very attractive. The vast majority of Jews, however,
still reject
these teachings in the most emphatic terms.
For almost two thousand years, the Christians have been trying
to
win over the Jew. And for the same period of time, the Jew has
resisted all
such overtures. But why? Why dont we accept Jesus? In short: Why
arent
we Christians?
In order to understand this, we must look at the origin of
Christian
beliefs. Christianity began with a Jew. Jesus lived as a Jew,
around the
same time as many of our greatest Talmudic sages. The great Hillel
lived
just a generation earlier, and Rabbi Akiba, a generation after. Our
own
sources, however, record very little about Jesus life. Everything
that we
know about him is found in the Gospels of the New Testament, a
book
written by and for the early Christian church. This book, however,
was
written primarily to further the cause of Christianity, and it is
therefore
impossible to separate the historical person of Jesus from the
Christ
required by early Christian theology.
Soon after the death of Jesus, we find a marked change in the
teachings
of his followers. Christianity as we know it began during this
period in the
work of Paul of Tarsus. Paul, or as he was earlier known, Saul, was
a
disciple of the great Talmudist Rabbi Gamliel, and he began his
career by
actively opposing the early Christians. In a dramatic incident on
the road
to Damascus, Paul converted to Christianity, and later became one
of its
foremost leaders. Although he had never seen Jesus alive, he
claimed to
have spoken to him in spirit. Under Pauls leadership, many of the
distinctive
doctrines of Christianity were first proclaimed, and, for the most
part,
they have never changed. His teachings are recorded in his
Epistles, which
form the second part of the New Testament.
WHY ARENT WE CHRISTIANS? 3
Among Pauls major teachings, we find the following:
1) Jesus was the Messiah or Christ predicted by the Prophets of the
Bible
and awaited by the Jews. He is also the Son of G-d, and like any
son, is
essentially the same as his Father.
2)Man is evil and sinful. All mankind is damned because of Adams
sin.
The Torah cannot save man, since its many commandments make
it
too difficult to keep. The only thing that can prevent mans
utter
damnation in hell is the belief in Christ.
3) The Jews were originally G-ds chosen people, but they were
rejected
when they refused to accept His son, Jesus. The name Israel,
G-ds
chosen people, is no longer carried by the Jew, but by those
who
accept Jesus as the Messiah. Only these share G-ds love. Everyone
else
is damned in hell.
4) There is only one law now that Christ has come, and that is
love. One
must follow the example of Christs sacrifice, and patiently hope
that
G-d will be gracious in return.
It is enough to state these articles of Christian faith to see why
the Jews
could not accept them. Taking them one by one, the Jewish
viewpoint
would be:
1) Jesus could not have been the Messiah. The Prophets predicted
a
world of peace and love after the Messiahs coming, and this
certainly does not exist today. Furthermore, any talk of the
Messiah
as being the son of G-d is totally unacceptable. In no place do
the
Prophets say that he will be anything more than a remarkable
leader
and teacher.
2) Although the Torah does speak of Adams sin, it teaches that man
can
rise above it. Man might not be able to perfect himself, but it was
for
this reason that G-d gave us the Torah. It is absurd to think that
G-d
would give a Torah that was impossible or too difficult to follow.
In no
place does Judaism teach that one can be saved from damnation
by
mere belief. Any true belief in G-d must lead a person to also
follow
His commandments.
3) It is impossible to imagine that G-d would ever reject the
Jewish
people. In many places, the Bible clearly states that His covenant
with
them will be forever.
4) In many places, the Bible says that the Torah was given forever.
It is
therefore impossible to say that it has been replaced by a new law
or
testament. Love alone is not enough, for one must know how to
express
it, and for this, we need the Torah as a guide. Love is only one of
the
Torahs commandments, and good deeds are its necessary
expression.
Why do we believe these ideas rather than the ones expressed by
Paul
and Christianity?
For one thing, we see no evidence that Jesus was indeed the
Messiah
expected by Israel. The Messianic promise included such things as
perfect
peace and unity among men, love and truth, universal knowledge
and
4 THE REAL MESSIAH? A Jewish Response to Missionaries
undisturbed happiness, as well as the end of all evil, idolatry,
falsehood
and hatred. None of these things have been fulfilled by
Christianity.
The Christian answer to this is the simple assertion that all
things have
indeed changed by the coming of Jesus. If the change is not
visible, it is
because man is evil and has not truly accepted Jesus and his
teachings.
Thus, the Messiah or Christ will have to return in order to prove
his victory.
The Jew refuses to accept the excuse that the major
prophecies
concerning the Messiah will only be fulfilled in a second coming.
He
expects the Messiah to complete his mission in his first attempt.
The Jew
therefore believes that the Messiah is yet to come.
But there is also another more important issue at stake than the
mere
identity of the Messiah. Christianity teaches that Jesus was also
G-d in
human form. The Jew sees this as a totally mistaken idea about G-d.
It
makes G-d too small, for in stating that He can assume human form,
it
diminishes both His unity and His divinity.
We disagree with Christianity not only with regard to belief, but
also
with regard to what man must do. Christianity tends to deny that
mans
actions are ultimately very useful. The only thing that can save
man is his
utter despair in his own sinfulness, and total dependence on G-d.
The
Jew, on the other hand, believes that man can come close to G-d
by
obeying Him and keeping His commandments.
Christianity thus starts with one idea about man, while Judaism
starts
with the exact opposite idea.
Judaism starts with the idea that man is created in the likeness
of
G-d. He therefore does not have to go very far to discover the
divine,
both in himself and in others. There is always the opportunity to
awaken
the divine in oneself by obeying G-ds commandments. The Jew
begins
with this opportunity.
Christianity, on the other hand, begins with the basic assumption
that
man is depraved and sinful. Left to himself, man is utterly damned.
He is
naturally involved in evil, and must therefore do something to be
saved
from it.
The first question that the Christian asks is, What have you done
to
be saved? To the Jew, this question is almost meaningless. This is
not the
Jewish way of thinking at all. The Jew asks, How can I serve G-d?
How can
I keep His commandments? The central focus of Judaism is obeying
the
commandments of the Torah. We look at man and see his greatness,
for
he can obey these commandments and fulfill G-ds will.
Christianity teaches that man is so evil that he can never really
serve
G-d. The Torah is too difficult for man. The only thing that man
can do is
believe in Christ and wait for salvation.
The Jew replies that the very fact that G-d Himself gave us
commandments and told us to obey them teaches us that we can
indeed
serve G-d and fulfill His will. It is unthinkable that G-d would
give His
people a Torah if it were impossible to keep it.
WHY ARENT WE CHRISTIANS? 5
Although all of Jesus disciples were Jews, they could not
convince
their fellow Jews of their teachings. The early dogmas of
Christianity
seemed closer to those of the pagan gentiles than to those of the
Jews.
More and more, Christianity was rejected by the Jews and accepted
by the
gentiles. It thus gradually developed into a gentile church, and
its attitude
toward the Jews became more and more unfriendly. It may have
constantly appealed to the Jews to convert, sometimes even
resorting to
cruelty and force, but the Jew stood firm. Christianity may have
changed
human history, but it could never win over the Jews. The Jew stood
by his
Torah and walked his own way.
In essence, there were two Christian teachings that the Jew
could
never accept. Christianity taught that G-d had assumed human form
in
Jesus, and that the Torah no longer mattered. The Jew rejected
these two
dogmas, even under pain of death.
In rejecting Christianity, Judaism therefore did not reject
anything that
it needed spiritually. There was nothing in all the teachings of
Jesus that
would have added even one iota to the strength of the Torah. If
Christianity
made any contribution at all, it was to the non-Jewish world.
The Jew knew that his Torah provided him with a unique
relationship
with G-d. Everything that he saw in Christianity seemed to
contradict
this relationship. It is for this reason that throughout the
centuries, the
Jew has found it impossible to accept the teachings of
Christianity. He
believed with perfect faith that G-d had shown him the way, and he
had
no intention of ever leaving it.
