Back to question Answer 2,627 of 2,884See all answers

Discuss Yechielshlipshon's answer to: Best Religion

Which religion should I convert to?

Dear Friends;

There is a lot of conversation on these postings about Jewish beliefs of what G-d has said, regarding salvation. I shall post a series of articles over the nest few weeks, for those who read our postings and may wish for a clearer idea, and less bias one, on what we do believe

Essay #10: The "Jewish Roots" or "Hebraic Roots" of Christianity?

IN SHORT... The newest technique used by Christian missionaries and some other Christian clergy is to be found in what they teach when they use the terms, 'The Jewish Roots of Christianity,' or 'The Hebraic Roots of Christianity.' One might think this means how, in their opinion, Christianity began with Jews, or developed from Judaism. However, this is not what they mean by 'the Jewish Roots.' The way these people try to show that the roots of Christianity are to be found in Judaism is by putting a Christian theological interpretation into a Jewish ceremony or ritual. They then claim that this planted Christian theological interpretation, having been 'found' in something Jewish, demonstrates that Christianity was a natural outgrowth of Judaism.

A MORE COMPLETE EXPLANATION...

A Story:

David had a garden that was absolutely beautiful. In it, he grew the most perfect tomatoes that you have ever seen! One day, Matthew came along and planted cucumbers right in the middle of David's garden. When the cucumbers started sprouting, Matthew told everyone that the tomatoes were the root of his cucumbers. In other words, that the cucumbers had developed from the tomatoes, and were the natural result -- the goal -- of the tomatoes as they grew to maturity.

The above story may seem to you to be ridiculous, but this is exactly what many people who teach 'The Jewish Roots' or 'The Hebraic Roots' of Christianity actually do. They plant Christian cucumbers, so to speak, in the midst of the Jewish tomatoes, and then claim that what they planted there sprouted naturally from the tomatoes that were already growing there. In other words, they put a Christian theological interpretation into a Jewish ceremony or ritual. Then they claim that this planted Christian theological interpretation, having been 'found' in something Jewish (it was planted there by them in the first place), shows that Christianity came from Judaism.

This clearly does not make any sense. It is merely an effort to claim Jewish legitimacy. Let me give you an example:

Most people are aware that there are three pieces of matzah on the Passover Seder plate. Most people know that the middle matzah is taken out, broken into two, and one of the two pieces is then hidden away, brought out at the end of the meal, and is called the Afikoman. The matzah has stripes and lines of holes on it. Some Christians will claim that the matzah as well as the ritual with the Afikoman is symbolic of Jesus, and therefore indicates that the basic theology of Christianity can be found in Jewish rituals. They will claim that the stripes and holes represent the marks on Jesus from the scourging he received, and the holes represent those on Jesus that were caused by the crucifixion. They will claim that the three pieces of matzah represent the trinity of 1. the Father, 2. the son, and 3. the Holy Spirit. Please take note that it is the middle matzah, the 'son' in the trinity, that is taken out and broken (crucified), hidden (buried), and brought back out (resurrected).

The problem with this is that it is an absolute fabrication, wedged into its ill-fitting place by the Christian agenda. There was no Seder, no Haggadah, no three pieces of Matzah on any Seder plate, at the time of Jesus. There was not even so much as a Seder plate. The entire ritual developed hundreds of years after Jesus lived. The first discussions of a Passover ritual describe only one and a half pieces of matzah. The half piece is itself broken in half, then one of these two smaller pieces is set aside, to be eaten as the last part of the meal. It is not hidden, it is merely set aside, remaining in plain view. The idea of hiding it came in the middle 1600's, in Germany, as a way to keep the children interested in the service, a very successful idea that eventually caught on throughout the world. The reason the matzah has stripes and holes is that it is machine made. The machine causes the stripes and the holes as it pulls the dough through the machine. This machine was invented only about 150 years ago, in the middle of the 1800's.

How can something invented many hundreds of years after an event be considered a foreshadowing of an event that occurred before it? The answer is, it cannot, without ignoring the rules of logic.

Of course, Christian missionaries, and those who want to see Christianity as coming from Judaism, can interpret anything at all in a Christian way. But that does not mean that Christianity developed from whatever they are interpreting.

One might ask, 'But weren't the first Christians actually Jews?' Yes, but this is irrelevant. The first Protestants were Roman Catholics. Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic Priest. The Roman Catholics do not consider Protestant Christianity to be merely another form of Catholicism.

If you read the Apocryphal Book of I Maccabees, you will see that the first person killed in the Maccabee rebellion was a Jew. He was willing to go ahead and sacrifice a pig to Zeus, which Mattathias had refused to do. Obviously, he had to have been a very secular, assimilated Jew. Had he survived Mattathias' attack, and later formed a religion that was dedicated to the worship of Zeus and Zeus' half-human sons, would that make his newly formed faith just another form of Judaism? Would that mean that his new faith had 'Jewish Roots' since the founder of this faith was originally a Jew?

Just because it is a Jew who creates something, does that mean that what was created is Jewish? Just because a Jew holds to an idea, does that automatically mean that the idea the Jew holds to is a Jewish idea?

Christian missionaries, including 'Jews' For Jesus, Messianic 'Jews,' and 'Hebrew' Christians, will go to amazing lengths to get even one real Jew to convert. They will claim that, since they can now find Christian symbolism in a Jewish ritual, this proves that Christianity developed as a natural outgrowth of Judaism, that Judaism was the source of Christian theology, and that the Jews are too stubborn to see how Christian theology is what Gd wanted to lead them to in the first place.

However, this convenient trick can be done with a thing that is not Jewish as well.

Let's take pizza.

Pizza has three basic elements to it, the bread, the tomato sauce, and the cheese. The middle element is the tomato sauce, which is red. One could easily give a Christian interpretation to these three elements that define pizza.

The bread:

Jesus is called the bread of life. The dough is kneaded. This image of kneading the dough is the same as someone being beaten which could represent Jesus being scourged. The dough to make the bread is rolled over with an instrument, which pokes holes in the dough to allow air to escape during baking. This could be likened to Jesus receiving the holes in his body from the crucifixion, just as certain people erroneously say of the matzah.

The tomato sauce:

The sauce is red like Jesus' blood, and it is spread all around the dough like the blood of a sacrifice is put on an altar.

The cheese:

The cheese covers the rest, like the death of Jesus 'covers the sins of the people.'

From this hypothetical interpretation, you can easily see how even pizza could be used to symbolize Jesus. But this clearly does not mean that the symbolism one could find in pizza indicates The Pizza Roots of Christianity.

Although Jesus himself was Jewish, and preached to Jews, the religion that now considers him the messiah is clearly not Jewish.

While there may be historical Jewish Roots to Christianity, there are no theological Jewish Roots to Christianity because the theology that supports Christianity is antithetical to what the Bible says, and diametrically opposite of what Judaism believes.

Shalom;

Yechiel

Posted 9 months ago
Helpful (2)

Comments (25)

Helpful? (2)

Add your own answer

Liked this answer? Tell your friends about it

Facebook Windows Live Yahoo Twitter Digg Google del.icio.us Reddit

Link

Embed

Copy and paste the text above to share this Q&A

25 Comments About This Answer

Add your comment

Yechielshlipshon

Dear Mike;

I forgot to mention; we are chosen to do a job, not becuse we are so good. G-d, by Torah, sees all Humans as equally good, or have the potintial to be good. There is no original sin in Torah, and we each have free will.

Several chapters and boks illestrat this. as Neniva in Jonah, and the Book of Job, a Gentile who held a special place with G-d.

Shalom;

Yechiel

Tobug

What god chose you Julius? You WERE chosen at one time, HOWEVER, you rejected God and hung your savior on the cross.SO, AFTER KILLING YOUR SAVIOR, What god chose you Julius, what god do you do a job for, Julius? IT SURE ANT THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY JESUS CHRIST you do a job for, Julius.

Anonymous Comment

So we see that the JEW here is a lie. What else is new

Tobug

Like many Jews, Julius, who do not believe in God,(Jesus Christ) you forgot one important word; Eternal. ETERNAL DEATH of your soul, Julius.

Anonymous Comment

The Jewish people where chosen above all others to bring the light and knowledge of God to the world.

THE JEWS REJECTED GOD and hung their savior in the cross.

THE JEWS REJECT GOD (JESUS CHRIST) TODAY.

Yechielshlipshon

Dear Friends;

We did not reject anyting; the Gentiles who first came to accept Jesus also acepted G-d as Jews, encluding Jesus, knew Him to be. It was later, when the "Church" fathrs rejected His way, that the real problems started. Tobug and other pests on these pages illistrate this very well with their negativity and their egotisical bull. othing new here, and I personally have no concern for them; to many decent people out there who know the truth, anad more learning it evreyday. Why so many are coming to Torah.

As for Jews being beter than anyone else? We do not accept this, as it goes against G-d's word. What He said is that we have a job to do, but all people are equal. Maybe why so many of us join in freing people, while so many of the so-called Christians work hard to suppress others. And why the true Christians often get hurt or killed by these fakes.

Read what G-d has to say about decency and respect for each other. this is not ego; it is His word.

As for killing any savior? If you mean Jesus, as the Gospel reads, he was crusified. Only the Romans used this form of punishment. After you understand how the Gospel was modified by some of your Church "Fathers", you will see how you have ben lead to believe so many lies. Get over it and stop going against G-d. Copying me is a form of flatery, but I do not need your flatery, i hae G-d.

Shalom;

Yechiel

Anonymous Comment

We know why Yechiel-Julius has to cling to religion to fight his demons but what about the rest of you?

Yechielshlipshon

Dear AC;

What aboutyou returning to your Human side?

Shalom;

Yechiel

MikeC

Yechiel You have only conjecture on who the Messiah will be, the Jewish people after 2700 years after Isaiah are still waiting for the Messiah. On the other hand, Christians believe He, (the Messiah) has already come. I believe your case is much harder to prove because you are predicting something to come and in predictions always comes conjecture. On the other hand Christians go by apparent fact that you can only try to disprove.

What Jesus said, (A jew) Jesus was transparent and is a historical fact, and he was a Jew. He was predicted by Isaiah and on top of all that He(Jesus) was accepted throughout the world by the peoples of the world who you call gentiles. There is not one name on earth that is as well known as the name of Jesus. Jesus the Jew and the same Jew who was Yahweh in the flesh. God kept his promise to the Jewish people and in my mind, just as the Jewish people rejected the one true God on mount Sinai before Moses came down from the mountain the first time after all he had done for them, (The Jews) getting them out of Egypt. With the plagues, death of the first born, etc. What makes you think we should trust anything the Jewish people believe when they could not even get past a few day's that Moses went away to talk to God ? The Jewish people reflect on Sinai a lot but they always seem to forget what happened when they first arrived at the bottom of the mount. The Jewish people embarrassed Moses and rejected God. That generation of Jews never where able to go to the Promised land for a reason. The children of those same Jew's also had to suffer the consequences of there parents rejection of God up to a point. (Another story at another time)

Remember the words to Moses by God ? " Go down at once to your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. The plea by Moses was heard by God to save his people but that does not mean that there was not some kind of penance to be served. In all the past history since then, there has been a relenting of punishment but punishment none the less. It is obvious to me what had happened. You should thank God for the appeals by Moses not to destroy all of you at that time. God let you live, multiply and gave each of you the opportunity to reflect on the life he has given you. To me the Messiah has come and just as in the past, you have rejected Him. The crimes of Mt Sinai are not forgotten and never will be.

I have to be clear here, no matter your faith, it is the will, the motive, the honest pursuit (seeking) of the one true God that will be God’s judgements on who and what we are.

Buddy

God kept his promise to the Jewish people. That promise was the Messiah, it was Jesus Christ.The Jews rejected Jesus Christ as they do today.

Galatians 3:6-29 [Apostle Paul speaking]
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness [from Gen 15:6].
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed [from Gen 12:3].
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them [from Duet 27:26].
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith [from Habk 2:4].
12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them [from Lev 18:5].
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree [from Duet 21:23]:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed [from Gen 21:12], which is Christ.
17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. KJV

We are not to attack these people, but we are also not to shield/hide them—enabling them to the hurt of the faithful; we are to know them, know of them; and perhaps, God willing, plucking a few of them out of the fire. Even 99% of so-called "Jews" (both religious and secular/atheist) are completely unaware that they are impostors—they have been lied to since their birth that they are "God's Chosen people" and that they are guaranteed a free ticket to Heaven regardless of their faith or deeds because of that. Who wouldn't love to believe a lie as sweet as this? But putting sugar on a bitter lie does not make it true. And God is not bound to honor lies in His name.

He plainly told us of this phenomenon:

Jeremiah 23:19-21
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. KJV