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Jews for Judaism's Assertions/Rabbinical Judaism's Challenge:
This guide is intended to teach you about the tactics used by missionary groups and cults.
The tactics of missionaries and missionary groups may vary, but there are some basic guidelines to keep in mind that will be helpful in dealing with them.
CAMOUFLAGE
Some missionaries attempt to develop a rapport with their subject without divulging their own religious affiliation. If you are not sure about the religious identity of the stranger who begins talking to you about religion, ask him directly if he is a believer in Jesus. Be suspicious of an indirect answer.
Don't be deceived by any outer signs of Jewishness, such as a "Chai" necklace or a Star of David. They are worn to make Jews feel more comfortable by making the speaker seem less "Christian". For the same reason, missionaries are coached by their superiors to avoid using words such as "Christ" or "saved" or "baptize" when speaking to Jews, in order not to arouse suspicion.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
Jews for Judaism assumes that, just because someone chooses to wear a Star of David on their person, it automatically means they are out to deceive Jewish people? There is a word for that: paranoia. If we display any "outer signs of Jewishness, it's probably because we either ARE Jewish, or want to show that we are grafted in via the atoning blood of Messiah Yeshua.
(1) "They are worn to make Jews feel more comfortable by making the speaker seem less "Christian". (2) ....missionaries are coached by their superiors to avoid using words such as "Christ" or "saved" or "baptize" when speaking to Jews, in order not to arouse suspicion." Why would Christians or Messianic believers want to seem "less Christian" while they are trying to lead someone to the Lord? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? We want to arouse the Jews to jealousy - to make them want what WE have! If we avoid using words such as "Christ" etc., it's because we identify with our Jewish Savior, not because we are trying to keeping from "arousing suspicion"!
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ASSUMING SUPERIORITY
When talking to a Jewish person about religion, a missionary may attempt to elicit as many "I don't know" responses as possible, in order to establish his superiority in matters of religion. Don't allow yourself to be intimidated!
Remember, the missionary has studied Jewish beliefs for the sole purpose of leading Jews to Christianity. Keep in mind that he is not speaking to you in order to exchange ideas, but rather to lead you away from your religion. If you want to learn more about the Jewish Bible, do so from someone who doesn't have hidden motives. Therefore, feel free to simply end the conversation and walk away.
However, some of you may want to listen to their arguments and then learn the Jewish response, in order to be better prepared for future encounters. The following pointers should give you a basic idea of what to look for.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
"Remember, the missionary has studied Jewish beliefs for the sole purpose of leading Jews to Christianity." Do you KNOW this for a FACT? Can you see into the minds others? I challenge you to PROVE your extremely presumptuous comment!
"Keep in mind that he is not speaking to you in order to exchange ideas, but rather to lead you away from your religion." Again, you are playing God by pretending to KNOW the motives of every Christian or Messianic Jewish believer. Are Jewish people really dumb enough to be "led away" from their beliefs? If so, then they are also dumb enough to believe the things you've espoused in these passages!
"If you want to learn more about the Jewish Bible, do so from someone who doesn't have hidden motives." It seems as though you desire to teach your Jewish brethren to become schizophrenic; to be suspicious of everyone they meet. It also sounds as if you believe that your Jewish brethren don't have enough sense to listen to the ideas of another, and then to make up their own minds as to what they choose to believe.
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DECEPTION
The missionary may tell you that he (or a Christian friend or acquaintance) was once an Orthodox Jew, or that he had a solid Jewish education, a traditional Jewish family life, etc. This is almost always a lie, so don't let him fool you. The hidden message that he is attempting to convey is that he came to believe in Jesus after knowing and overcoming all of the Jewish objections, and therefore, why should you bother to check it out?
He may drop certain Yiddish phrases or talk about the details of his "traditional" Jewish upbringing, in order to lend more credence to his story. In fact, his "memory" is often the result of careful coaching.
Usually, all that is necessary to expose this type of hoax is to ask him about various small details of Jewish life that any observant Jewish child would know, and see how he responds. In almost all cases, he will begin to hedge about the extent of his "background" and "Jewish knowledge". Unfortunately, most Jews are themselves not knowledgeable enough to be able to expose this type of deception.
In the same vein, the missionary might tell you that he knows the Jewish objections to his arguments, and will then proceed to show how such objectives are ill-founded. Don't expect to hear the real Jewish response from such a source.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
"This is almost always a lie, so don't let him fool you. The hidden message that he is attempting to convey is that he came to believe in Jesus after knowing and overcoming all of the Jewish objections, and therefore, why should you bother to check it out?" Again - do you KNOW this to be a fact? How? If you can read minds, please tell me what I am thinking right now!
"In fact, his "memory" is often the result of careful coaching." Ditto.
"In almost all cases, he will begin to hedge about the extent of his 'background' and 'Jewish knowledge'." Ditto.
"Unfortunately, most Jews are themselves not knowledgeable enough to be able to expose this type of deception." This is about the ONLY true statement you've made thus far!
You want to talk about DECEPTION??? Read my article called Dialog with a Jewish Scholar which shows exactly what REAL deceit is!
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LOVING US TO DEATH
Don't be taken in by the "good cop - bad cop" routine. This routine involves a "bad cop" who threatens the subject, and a "good cop" who protects him from the "bad cop". The subject is so grateful to the "good cop", and so worried about losing the good-will of his protector, that he invariably shows his appreciation by telling the "good cop" what he wants to hear. In similar fashion, the "good" Christian talks about how much he loves Jews, Israel, bagels and lox, etc., while denouncing the "bad" Christians who hate and persecute Jews. A Jew with any knowledge of Christian anti-Semitism will feel grateful to the "good cop", and may automatically judge him to be a friend and reliable ally. Watch out for hidden motives behind such "friendship".
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
... The "good cop - bad cop" routine? Where on earth did you dig this stuff up? Whoever wrote this seems to have either a good imagination, or a severe psychiatric problem! If a Jewish person does NOT wish to be approached OR "converted", all they have to do is tell us to get lost. No one is holding a gun to their heads....
May I remind you that the Christians and Messianic believers are probably the ONLY people in the world who truly DO love the Jews? We are the ONLY ones in the world who KNOW that the Jews are God's "Chosen" and that anyone who goes up against Israel or the Jews will basically be "zapped" in the end-time scenario. So WHY are you biting the very people who are fighting for YOUR cause?
It's not like we're trying to convert you to Islam or Buddhism or some competely "off the mark" religion; we are trying to make you realize that you are ignoring your very own TANACH by refusing to accept YHVH's New Covenant!
Honestly, we at The Refiner's Fire EMPATHIZE with your plight to protect your viewpoint and your Jewishness. We empathize with your anger, apprehension, and reluctance to let go of your deeply-rooted belief in Torah-centered Judaism. After all, YHVH, the God of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob gave the Torah to all of Israel - His Chosen People - and sternly warned them against having "other gods". But that same God also gave us the New Covenant in the form of Yeshua Ha'Maschiach. This is a fact that our people simply refuse to grasp - and understandably so, as "Christians" have historically done nothing but persecute us in one way or another.
Most people do not realize there was a vital connection between Christianity and Judaism that was severed by the Christian church centuries ago. Once that severing took place, biblical Judaism and biblical Christianity - which God intended to be one - went their separate ways with tragic consequences for both.
We are living at a time when the Lord is calling both Jews and Christians back to their biblical roots. The biblical root of Christianity grew from an everlasting covenant God made with Abraham. Christians became part of that covenant through faith in Jesus (Yeshua). The time has come for us to stop the animosity and allow GOD to be in control once more......
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COVER-UP
At the outset, the missionary will talk about his belief that Jesus is the messiah. Many Jews don't find out until later, often after they have joined a Hebrew-Christian group, that their fundamental belief is that Jesus is G-D. Any talk about "the messiah" or "son of G-D" is merely a cover for that belief, basic to both fundamentalist Christianity and Hebrew-Christians. However, since such a concept is repugnant to most Jews, this most basic belief of Christianity is glossed over as much as possible when missionaries talk to Jews.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
That whole paragraph makes no sense, whatsoever, and doesn't even merit an attempt at a response...
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THE NUMBERS RACKET
Don't be impressed by the claim that Christians have 50, or 100, or 300 "proofs from the Jewish Bible" that they are correct in their claims about Jesus. As proof after proof is shown to be meaningless, the missionary will hide behind his numbers, as if to say: "Well, we have so many more proofs, what's the difference if you can disprove some of them". He will attempt to "split the difference" with you: "Well, even if half our proofs prove nothing, we still have another 25 or 50, or 150". Remember, all of their proofs can be shown to be untenable. Keep in mind that a faulty point is not worth 50% of a good point, or 25%, or 10%. It is worthless. The simple mathematics are: 50 x 0 = 0, 100 x 0 = 0, 300 x 0 = 0.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
"As proof after proof is shown to be meaningless.... This is an outright lie by people who are blinded to the TRUTH! Our proofs are NOT "meaningless"; we have the entire Tanach and the New Covenant (ALL of God's Word - which YOU are knocking yourselves out to disprove) as proof! The bottom line is, Yeshua IS GOD, and there really ARE hundreds of proofs in the Bible. Read our Messianic Judaism page to find out more. IF, after you finish reading the articles, you STILL choose to believe Yeshua is a hoax, and Messianic believers are a bunch of kooks, that's your prerogative. Believe what you want. At least on Judgment Day you won't be able to say "I didn't know."
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CIRCULAR REASONING
Very often, the reasoning used by Christian missionaries is circular. That is, the "proof" only points to Jesus if you believe in him in the first place, and therefore is no proof at all.
Let us take as an example the words of Isaiah 11:2; "And the spirit of the L-rd will rest upon him (the messiah), the spirit of wisdom and understanding...". This verse refers to the messiah, but it does not identify him. The followers of Jesus chose to attribute this verse to him, and it subsequently became one of the "proof-texts" to support the claims of Christianity.
One way to test such verses is as follows: Pick a figure that neither you nor the missionary believes to be the messiah. (It can be George Washington, Reverend Moon, or your great-grandfather.) Then see if the "messianic prophecy" would point to the figure in the eyes of anyone who believed him to be the messiah. If it can be used that way, the verse obviously proves nothing.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
"Very often, the reasoning used by Christian missionaries is circular. That is, the "proof" only points to Jesus if you believe in him in the first place, and therefore is no proof at all." To coin a cliche, it takes "circular reasoning" to KNOW "circular reasoning", doesn't it? The truth is, the entire Tanach points to Yeshua. You have simply chosen to be blind to it. The things YOU say are circular, as well. Take, for example, Isaiah 53, which is conveniently skipped over and ignored. Why are the 52nd and 54th chapters of Isaiah read aloud every year in the synagogues, but the Isaiah 53 is never read? This chapter seems to describe the life, trial, death and resurrection of Yeshua. The anti-missionaries have come up with dozens of reasons why this particular chapter could NOT be referring to Jesus, yet they've never come up with PROOF positive to the contrary.
"This verse refers to the messiah, but it does not identify him."That is a perfect example of a circular statement, right there! Messiah Yeshua was foreshadowed throughout the entire Tanach; he fulfilled dozens of prophecies, including those of His birth and death, etc., and everything points to Him, including Isaiah 11:2. You people even ACKNOWLEDGE that "this verse refers to the messiah", yet you are falling all over yourselves to prove that Yeshua ain't him! Why is that you are so adamant in this effort? What are you afraid of?
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MISTRANSLATION
Be aware of the problem of mistranslation. A person who is not familiar with Hebrew (or with the Hebrew text of the Bible) can be lead to accept a mistranslation of the Bible which puts a Christian "twist" on a verse that never had such a meaning in the original. If you can't check it out yourself, talk to a reliable person who can. Remember, it is no coincidence that the Jews of past generations, who were much better versed in the original Hebrew Bible, never had any serious problems refuting Christian missionary arguments.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
We agree: beware of mistranslations! Check and double-check things for yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into a proper decision. Don't ever blindly believe what man says.
"If you can't check it out yourself, talk to a reliable person who can." And that "reliable person" would be an Orthodox Jew who will be able to put a Hebrew "twist" on a translation? Someone who, like you, twists, side-steps, or omits whenever it suits his purposes?
"...it is no coincidence that the Jews of past generations, who were much better versed in the original Hebrew Bible, never had any serious problems refuting Christian missionary arguments." Yeshua was the original Messianic Jew and He had plenty of Jewish and Gentile followers, none of whom refuted the things He said! What was refutable after awhile, was that man began ignoring God and the Bible and going off on tangents and forming their own versions of "Christianity".
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QUOTING OUT OF CONTEXT
Often a verse will be quoted to you that has been taken entirely out of context. When the entire chapter that contains that verse is read, it becomes clear that: 1) that the verse is not a messianic prophecy, and/or 2) the prophecy could not possibly refer to Jesus.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
What's that old adage about people who live in glass houses? That verses might NOT be "messianic prophecies" is very subjective, especially when people set out to prove their respective points. And let's be honest here: Orthodox Jews are MASTERS at taking Scripture out of context, as evidenced by all their supposed "proof" against Yeshua....
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USE THE PROPER RESOURCES!
Most rabbis spend their time studying the positive aspects of Judaism to teach to their congregants, and therefore may not be familiar with the "curve-ball" approach of missionaries. If you need advice concerning a problem of this sort, get in touch with people who are familiar with the tactics being used and who know how to deal with them.
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Messianic Judaism's Response:
Have you ever considered the fact that those "curve-balls" could be the Holy Spirit trying to get you to realize the possibility that Yeshua just MIGHT be the Messiah, after all?
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