Thursday, January 18, 2018
Why be an observant Jew when you don't have to - Yisro Parsha Lessons:
(Originally written by us for Kol Habirah newspaper)
There are so many lessons to take from Parsha Yisro, it’s overwhelming, It is said that this is possibly the most important Parsha. The word Parsha means a portion of the Torah. I find this claim to be interesting since this week's Parsha happens to be named after Yisro (Jethro), who is a very important, yet not a very well known character in the Torah. He was Moshe’s father in law, and a Midianite priest. He had seven daughters, one of whom became Moshe’s wife (Tzipporah). He gave Moshe some great leadership advice and is used as an example to this day. Yisro was also one of Pharaoh’s advisers during the time when they were trying to figure out what to do with the Jews. One of the advisers suggested the final solution, the second said nothing, and Yisro advised them to live in peace with them. We all know which adviser Pharaoh listened to. That is when Yisro fled to Midian. Lastly, despite the fact that Yisro was originally an idol worshiper, he eventually became the first Jewish convert.
We have a special place our hearts for Yisro, being converts ourselves. That, and the fact that Yisro knew how to celebrate. When Moshe told him what Hashem did, saving the Jews from Egypt, he made a feast and invited people to eat with him.
Coming from a Christian background, we can relate to have taken part in idol worship, and more fatteringly, being a truth seeker, and rejecting falsehood once we discovered what the truth was. Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe sums it up nicely, "This Parsha is named Yisro to teach us that the way to acquire Torah is to follow the ways of Yisro. Search for truth and be critical. Reject falsehood. And when you discover truth, be ready to sacrifice everything for it!"
People might not be so thrilled at this kind of adventure. One reason, might be that our priorities are of order, or just wrong. Yisro taught the value of making choices based on truth, and also the value of taking care of ourselves by getting help when we need it. Knowing our limitations and taking care of ourselves is a priority that is easily forgotten. So often, we forget to put ourselves on our list, despite it being so important.
After Yisro heard all of all the miracles that Hashem performed for the Jews, he went to look for Moshe. He found Moshe speaking with a long line of Jews answering questions that they had. When he saw this he said, “Why do you sit alone with all the people standing by you from morning to evening. You will surely become worn out… as well as this people that is with you.” ~ Exodus 18:14-17. He essentially advised Moshe to delegate. He had other knowledgeable people be the ones to answer smaller issues, while Moshe would be the ones to discuss only the more complicated big issues. This method of delegation is used in most big organizations such as the military in order to run efficiently. I remember when I was in the military, we were taught this system. We were always supposed to try and solve cases at the lowest level possible first, before any cases went to the higher-ups. Moshe listened to Yitro (which I think shows Yisro’s importance when you see the greatest prophet who ever lived listened to his father-in-law’s advice (he also asked his permission to go back to Egypt to free the Jewish people). I think we live in a rat race culture of always running running running. A car, if it’s not maintained and taken care of, will eventually break down and run out of gas. The same things goes for people. You can’t give what you don’t have.
The next priority lesson Yisro taught is living up to the truth, which is the foundation priority of which one should base all of their life decisions on. The big question we most frequently get as converts is, “Why did you want to convert? It's so hard!” One reason the question is the most interesting to people I think, aside from the obvious difficulties that converting to Judaism brings, is it’s not a requirement to be a righteous person. Judaism teaches there are 7 Noahide laws that Hashem gave to the Gentiles to follow. If non-Jews follows those, they are considered righteous people who have a share in the world to come. Also, why sign up to a group where there is so much hatred toward them that it has its own word? I think “why” is a fair question to get from people. We have had people tell us that they don’t think they would convert given the option. I think an important question for people to ask themselves is, if they had the choice, would they still choose to be a Jew?
This goes back to Yisro and priorities. What do we really care about in life? Rabbi Akiva Tatz says that if you want to know who someone is, ask them what they want in life. When we stop and think, what do we really want? Ease and comfort, or meaning and purpose? If we think of what we want to see in our lives when we look back on our lives after 120 years, what do we want to have accomplished? What do we want people to say about us? Who do we want to have been? Selfish, arrogant, honor seeking, entitled, lazy gluttons, or the kind of hero with character that people want to teach their kids about? The people in the Torah are probably the most famous people in the world, and have had the most impact on the world, and yet none of their lives I would say would be labeled easy and comfortable.
The Jewish people have spent the last 3,300 years teaching ourselves and the world that no matter who you are, man is subject to a Higher Power who demands morality and character from every individual. Could there be a bigger purpose? The all-powerful, all-knowing, loving Creator of existence cares about every second of your life and created eternity to spend it with you. Could there be a bigger meaning? I think what is unique to being a Jew, rather than a Noahide, that makes us feel like we would be missing something is, the opportunity to be as close to the Almighty as possible, and the amazing community that Orthodox Judaism creates. We are required to consciously choose good in every action we take, from being grateful and feeding our animals before we eat ourselves, to wasting time at work, improving ourselves continuously, sacrificing parts of ourselves and our desires that we once held dear in order to be truly good human being. Could there be a greater heroism? Hashem made the Jews his chosen people to be a light unto the nations. How could we miss out on that?
References:
http://www.aish.com/tp/b/lp/48942676.html
https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=141
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Our First Shabbos As Israeli Citizens:
7/8/2017, Motzie Shabbos:
Our first eruv Shabbos started off sweet. We received several invitations to go to people's houses for Shabbos meals which was so nice. However, we decided we wanted to stay home our first Shabbos in Israel, since we were still getting adjusted and tired from jet leg. A bunch of families came by and dropped all kinds of goodies for us to enjoy for Shabbos. Everything from home made Challah, to salt, and cookies made out of Israeli flags that a mother and her kids made for us along with some adorable "welcome to Israel" pictures for us.
One of my favorite things about getting to celebrate Shabbos is Israel is candle lighting time. In Israel, sirens go off around the Jerusalem area to alert people that it's almost candle lighting time. When it goes off the kids running in from outside the house with looks of excitement yelling "it's time for candle lighting" and makes the experience of lighting candles and much more epic sort of experience.
Some of the highlights for our first Shabbos in Israel was my husband, Stephan discovering how much he loved the dovening at Shul Friday night. He said that if we would have gone to that shul last year during our pilot trip he would have demanded that we go to beit shemesh because of how much he loved the dovening. We both love music and at shul there was a lot more singing then he's seen in any shul. Someone was keeping the beat on the bimmah, the acoustics were nice, and they were picking a lot of his favorite tunes. The weather was hot but comfortable. One of the ladies who was making a meal told me they have Tehillim at the park for kids at 10:15am Shabbos morning so we went to that. It was cute, at the end they give the kids popsicles and other treats so of course the kids like it then. We went to Shul afterwards for the kiddush which was nice. There were a lot of people coming up to us and introducing themselves. We feel we really lucked out on being in Beit Shemesh since we are really comfortable here already in the community because of the people. Later that Shabbos Cyrus had two boys show up and ask him if he wanted to play easing my fears of him making friends. It was a great first Shabbos as Israeli citizens in Israel for everyone.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
You don't have to be Jewish
In Judaism, one thing I learned which I liked was that you don't have to be Jewish in order for G-d to love you or be considered a righteous good person. He gave mankind 7 laws to follow because of how essential they are for humanity to live in peace. These laws are called "Noahide" laws because all of mankind are derived from ancestors of Noah, and so the laws.
The laws are as follows:
1.) Do not worship false gods
2.) Do not murder
3.) Do not steal
4.) Set up courts and bring offenders to justice
5.) Do not curse G-d
6.) Do not be sexually immoral
7.) Do not eat a limb removed from a live animal
Anyone (Jew or Non-Jew) who live up to these laws has a proper place in heaven (Maimonides). The Torah includes many more laws that Jews are commanded to uphold, but most of them are also noble and beneficial (but not obligatory) for the rest of humanity. Some Noahides choose to adopt some of these, such as keeping kosher, honoring parents, and daily prayer.
There are many active groups of non-Jews today who observe the Seven Noahide Laws faithfully called "B'nai Noach” (children of Noah).
http://noahide.org/
http://www.en.noahideworldcenter.org/
http://www.noachide.org.uk/
The laws are as follows:
1.) Do not worship false gods
2.) Do not murder
3.) Do not steal
4.) Set up courts and bring offenders to justice
5.) Do not curse G-d
6.) Do not be sexually immoral
7.) Do not eat a limb removed from a live animal
Anyone (Jew or Non-Jew) who live up to these laws has a proper place in heaven (Maimonides). The Torah includes many more laws that Jews are commanded to uphold, but most of them are also noble and beneficial (but not obligatory) for the rest of humanity. Some Noahides choose to adopt some of these, such as keeping kosher, honoring parents, and daily prayer.
There are many active groups of non-Jews today who observe the Seven Noahide Laws faithfully called "B'nai Noach” (children of Noah).
http://noahide.org/
http://www.en.noahideworldcenter.org/
http://www.noachide.org.uk/
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Mt. Carmel National Park and Kosher McDonald's:
6/7/2016:
- Today the big thing on our agenda was to go to Mt Carmel National Park and a Kosher McDonald's for lunch and my Rosh Chodesh gift of not having to cook (a tradition in our house).
- The Carmel Forest National Park was was beautiful. We saw an amazing view of mountains and the sea at the same time. A cute chubby beagle/corgy looking dog came up to us. He was super friendly. Chana is crazy about dog and wants to pet and take home every dog she sees so she was beside herself. Both kids were extra excited when he decided to follow us the whole way. This is the part of "adventure" I actually like. The nice kind of surprises. The kids and I wanted to take him home with us, but we knew we couldn't and also he had a collar so he probably belonged to someone. We also saw some beautiful purple wild flowers that were neat because they were as tall as the kids(and I have tall little ones).
Unfavorable adventure:
- It was not easy to find the Forest part the National Park.
- Next we headed off to the University of Haifa because there is a kosher McDonald's in it, but by the time we got there the security wouldn't let us in because we were not students. Apparently you have to be a student to be able to park or eat at McDonald's. So...on to plan B.
- Plan B was to find another McDonald's or another burger pace. We couldn't find parking for another McDonald's that we knew was kosher for sure. Thank G-d for our phones, google maps, and the internet. We found another kosher burger place, but it wasn't open until 11:45. (It was 10:30 at the time, not sure what we were thinking). We were about to give up and go home, until I came across another Kosher McDonald's in the Rambam hospital and was 17 minutes away. So with a hope and a prayer we headed that way.
- Parking at the Rambam hospital was a nightmare. First in the parking garage there was no parking, and it took us forever to even find where you go up and down. By this time we had almost been driving around for 2 hrs with 2 little kids in the back seat who were bickering at each other. We just left the parking garage and I was about to give up, but we found a place to park on the opposite side of the hospital and eventually got in.
Favorable Adventure:
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| Happy Meals = Happy Kids! |
- There was also a Kosher Schwarma place which looked more up my alley since while I think it's great there is a Kosher McDonald's, I was in the mood for some real food with more veggies. So I went to the Schwarma place since I had been craving one, while Stephan and the kids went to McDonald's. I figured I could at least have a bite of some of Stephan's to see how Kosher McDonald's measures up to the real thing. Turns out, it tastes the same (minus the cheese). By the way, why don't other places adopt similar "happy meals?" They are genius and must be one of the main reasons why McDonald's is still in business. Affordable kids meal that comes in a cute take home box and a toy. What kid wouldn't love that? Oh and the Schwarma was delicious.
- Lastly, packing our things for Yerushalayim tomorrow! :)
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Monday, July 8, 2013
Rationality and Religion
Why does it matter whether or not there's any logical evidence for my religious beliefs? Isn't limited human logic unworthy of being used for our thoughts about the infinite and the divine? Why should I care if there's a heap of rational proofs against them?
The idea that religious views aren't subject to rationality is a very comforting one. It absolves a person from the fear of their religious critics, the feeling of doubt and irresponsibility, and the guilt of morally questionable parts of their religion, and the effort that it would take to read and think. It's a very handy tool for the layman's comfort and the leader's ability to manipulate - but is it true?
Truth is something that we can't escape from. You hear the sound of shattering glass from the other side of your house. Either someone is breaking into your house, or it was something else. Whether your close your eyes, hide in the closet, call the police, go investigate, yell out your window at the neighbor kids for playing baseball, or go on eating your sandwich, there either is or isn't someone breaking into your house. If there is, then all the disbelief and apathy in the world won't make him disappear. If there isn't, then all of the belief and fear in the world won't make him appear. Why does this matter? It matters because you have a practical choice of action ahead of you, and you will choose your action based on what you believe. If your belief is aligned with truth, then you can choose wisely. If your belief is not aligned with truth, then your choice can end in tragedy.
With religious beliefs, we have practical choices, too. There either is or there isn't a G-d. If He does exist, He either does or doesn't want you eat pig. There either is or isn't a harem of virgins waiting for us if we blow up that school bus. There either is or there isn't a lake of fire waiting for us if we reject Jesus. What greater tragedy can there be than to spend your life with mistaken beliefs about G-d and your purpose, only to realize at the end of your life that you wasted it by ignoring your entire purpose for existing, that you missed out on eternal bliss, that you committed heinous crimes which you thought were the will of G-d, or that you will burn forever in an eternal lake of fire? Certainly then, it's extremely important to have our religious beliefs aligned with reality. The only problem left is: how do we do that? We use logic, because it's our only useful tool for separating truth from fiction.
But hey! Isn't limited human logic incapable and unworthy of being used for our thoughts about the infinite and the divine? I agree that no amount of thinking can ever give a person the full understanding of the nature of G-d, or what it would be like to experience eternity. There are truly some things that our mind can't understand, but what are our other options?
· You could base your religious views on what you grew up with, but to do is is to let a roll of the dice determine your destiny, and the odds are not in your favor. Would you drive on the left side of the road in America because that's how you learned to drive growing up?
· You could base your religious views on the first compelling argument you find... If you were a judge, would only hear the first side of a case to give their arguments and then make a decision?
· You could base your religious views on whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside... Would you ever eat dish soap because looking at it makes you feel happier inside than the cereal box?
· You could base your religious views on whatever makes you most socially accepted among your friends or peers... Would you become a Nazi because your buddies are all Nazis or because Nazis are well respected in your profession?
You know better than that. If you would use your brain for finding the truth about what is best to eat for breakfast, or which side of the road to drive on, how much more important is it to use logic to find the truth about your purpose in life and your eternal fate?
The first, and most difficult step to using your mind is to open it to the possibility that you might be wrong about some of your religious beliefs (maybe even all of them), and even more so about the beliefs of other religions. After admitting that possibility, and realizing the need for logical research, it's also necessary to equip yourself with the compass of understanding how logic works before setting out to explore the sea of religious views. It's full of every imaginable kind of illogical fluff (I may do a post for this).
With these skills in hand, you'll be ready to look objectively and logically at what evidence there is for and against your current religious beliefs, the different views within your current religion, and the beliefs of other religions. Of all the people I've talked to, only a handful are willing to open their mind more than a tiny crack before getting scared and closing it. May you have the strength to overcome your fear of the unknown and climb to a place where you can see more truthfully.
The idea that religious views aren't subject to rationality is a very comforting one. It absolves a person from the fear of their religious critics, the feeling of doubt and irresponsibility, and the guilt of morally questionable parts of their religion, and the effort that it would take to read and think. It's a very handy tool for the layman's comfort and the leader's ability to manipulate - but is it true?
Truth is something that we can't escape from. You hear the sound of shattering glass from the other side of your house. Either someone is breaking into your house, or it was something else. Whether your close your eyes, hide in the closet, call the police, go investigate, yell out your window at the neighbor kids for playing baseball, or go on eating your sandwich, there either is or isn't someone breaking into your house. If there is, then all the disbelief and apathy in the world won't make him disappear. If there isn't, then all of the belief and fear in the world won't make him appear. Why does this matter? It matters because you have a practical choice of action ahead of you, and you will choose your action based on what you believe. If your belief is aligned with truth, then you can choose wisely. If your belief is not aligned with truth, then your choice can end in tragedy.
With religious beliefs, we have practical choices, too. There either is or there isn't a G-d. If He does exist, He either does or doesn't want you eat pig. There either is or isn't a harem of virgins waiting for us if we blow up that school bus. There either is or there isn't a lake of fire waiting for us if we reject Jesus. What greater tragedy can there be than to spend your life with mistaken beliefs about G-d and your purpose, only to realize at the end of your life that you wasted it by ignoring your entire purpose for existing, that you missed out on eternal bliss, that you committed heinous crimes which you thought were the will of G-d, or that you will burn forever in an eternal lake of fire? Certainly then, it's extremely important to have our religious beliefs aligned with reality. The only problem left is: how do we do that? We use logic, because it's our only useful tool for separating truth from fiction.
But hey! Isn't limited human logic incapable and unworthy of being used for our thoughts about the infinite and the divine? I agree that no amount of thinking can ever give a person the full understanding of the nature of G-d, or what it would be like to experience eternity. There are truly some things that our mind can't understand, but what are our other options?
· You could base your religious views on what you grew up with, but to do is is to let a roll of the dice determine your destiny, and the odds are not in your favor. Would you drive on the left side of the road in America because that's how you learned to drive growing up?
· You could base your religious views on the first compelling argument you find... If you were a judge, would only hear the first side of a case to give their arguments and then make a decision?
· You could base your religious views on whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside... Would you ever eat dish soap because looking at it makes you feel happier inside than the cereal box?
· You could base your religious views on whatever makes you most socially accepted among your friends or peers... Would you become a Nazi because your buddies are all Nazis or because Nazis are well respected in your profession?
You know better than that. If you would use your brain for finding the truth about what is best to eat for breakfast, or which side of the road to drive on, how much more important is it to use logic to find the truth about your purpose in life and your eternal fate?
The first, and most difficult step to using your mind is to open it to the possibility that you might be wrong about some of your religious beliefs (maybe even all of them), and even more so about the beliefs of other religions. After admitting that possibility, and realizing the need for logical research, it's also necessary to equip yourself with the compass of understanding how logic works before setting out to explore the sea of religious views. It's full of every imaginable kind of illogical fluff (I may do a post for this).
With these skills in hand, you'll be ready to look objectively and logically at what evidence there is for and against your current religious beliefs, the different views within your current religion, and the beliefs of other religions. Of all the people I've talked to, only a handful are willing to open their mind more than a tiny crack before getting scared and closing it. May you have the strength to overcome your fear of the unknown and climb to a place where you can see more truthfully.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Converting to Judaism, Chapter 2 - First steps:
After
our flight from Vegas, Stephan and I stayed at an extended stay hotel
for about a month while we looked at apartments to rent for a year.
Living in the hotel was kind of fun. I don't know what it is about
staying in a hotel that always has sort of a fun feel to it, but we
enjoyed our time there. It's probably because whenever we've stayed
in hotels in the past it was associated with vacation and being in a
new neat place that serves free fresh baked cookies at night with
coffee. A true adventure isn't really an adventure without bumping
into some rocks along the way. We experienced our first power outage
living in the hotel with our 3 month old. It was summer time and
being in a hotel with a 3 month old with no AC was not a pleasant
experience. Thankfully, our little one handled everything very well.
I would bring him downstairs sometimes to the lobby to cool off and
would always get comments on how calm he was. Thankfully we were able
to check into the hotel next door which had power and the hotel we
originally stayed at gave us our money back for the days that the
power was out.
Once
we survived the power outage and another rock we bumped into was
figuring out where to live. In the short term, we ended up picking an
apartment in Rockville, MD and started the process of getting our
things together and seeing how to start the process of converting to
Judaism. My husband started his new job at GEICO and that's where he
met his first observant Jew. He asked him if he had any problems with
the company being Jewish and all and he told him they should set up a
time to meet to talk more. Anyway, they hit it off and Yaacov called
a friend of his who recommended 2 rabbi's who do conversions -
one in Rockville, and one in DC.
We
wanted to make sure we went with a credible Bes Din because we wanted
to do things right. We have heard sad stories of people who wanted to
convert and went with people who were not credible and had to find
out the hard way. For instance if you want to move to Israel to
become a citizen as a Jew, they need to know you converted with a
credible Bed Din otherwise your conversion will be considered
invalid. So we, not knowing this when we moved, ended up going to the
one Bes Din who's head Rabbi actually worked with the Chief Rabbi of
Israel on coming up with a standard for converts in the U.S, to be
accepted in Israel. So we were so happy to find that out and knew we
were in good hands.
The
Rabbi in Rockville held weekly classes about the Torah portion of the
week, Jewish history, and other things that we needed to know. Just
as important was the Shalosh Seudos every Shabbos, giving us our
first taste of kiddush, challah, Shabbos songs, and davening
(praying). We met lots of Jews, many who were on a similar path
as us, not being raised as observant Jews. We also met another
Rabbi who substituted for the Rockville Rabbi when his voice went
out, who we liked.
It
was to expensive to buy a house in Rockville though, so we looked
for where the best place for us to live would be after factoring in
things like, affordability, Jewish schools for our kids, distance
from work, how many shuls(aka synagogues) were in the area.
Stephan's little spreadsheet indicated that Silver Spring was
the place to be. It had a good sized Jewish community with 4
different shuls we could go to if we wanted, the most affordable
housing, and was next to a few kosher restaurants and grocery stores.
We
eventually got around to calling up the Rabbi who is head of the Bes
Din and set up an interview for our conversion. On the day we went
down there, there was traffic (we weren't aware of how bad D.C.
traffic can be at the time) so we were late for our first meeting
which we were not happy about. Luckily, the Rabbi was still
there. We apologized and the first question he asked us was "Why
do you want to do this crazy thing?" We laughed and told him our
story. When we told him about the article that we found online about
"A Primer: Why Jews Can't Believe in Jesus" the Rabbi asked who
wrote it and we told him it was Baruch Gershom and he said he knew
the author, who was using that as a pseudonym, and he lives in Silver
Spring. We were stunned and thrilled that the community we had
already picked is the same community that the guy who wrote the
article which started this whole thing.
Anyway
the only problem was we were having trouble finding a sponsoring
Rabbi. A sponsoring Rabbi is required in order for you to convert. He
is the one you study with and basically teaches you how to be a Jew
and vouches for you to the Bes Din that you are in fact doing
everything you are being taught. I was actually told by a Rabbi that
there is no way we would find a sponsoring Rabbi in Silver Spring or
really anywhere because it requires so much work and it's not really
an obligation on any Rabbi to do so, so why would they do it? The
only other option to convert was to for Stephan to take a year off
work and study with the Rockville Rabbi. That was definitely not
possible for us since were not Rockefellers and couldn't afford to
take that long off of work.
Feeling
defeated and restless with how hard it was to just be able to find a
sponsoring Rabbi, I called one of the Rabbi's on the Bes Din and
vented to him about how frustrating it was. That Rabbi was really
understanding and told me he would help me find a Rabbi in Silver
Spring. Being the pessimist that I am, not really thinking it
would happen, I still didn't feel any better about it. However he
ended up calling me back and gave me a number to a Rabbi that said he
wold be willing to help us. The rabbi invited us over to meet and
talk and as we were driving there, I said, "Wouldn't it be neat
if it was that nice substitute Rabbi we met in Rockville?", and
Stephan laughed and agreed. The door opened and sure enough, it was.
I think they were surprised to see it was us too. Finally we could
move forward in our conversion and live in the place we felt we were
meant to live in.
Now
it was time to start house hunting! YAY! We found a nice Jewish agent
who helped us out a lot with the house hunting process and ended up
with a really great deal on a great house with only a 5 minute walk
to the Shul we wanted to go to. We packed up all of our things for
the 3rd time in 2 years and moved on over to our new house. We met
some people from around the neighborhood and most of them seemed to
go to the same minyan(Prayer service). Stephan decided to try
out that minyan. His first time there, he was looking around to see
where he should sit and the Gabbi(usher/coordinator) noticed that he
looked lost and suggested that he sit by his father-in-law who could
help him out. The father-in-law came over and reached out to
shake his hand and introduced himself, and guess who it was... It was
Baruch Gershom! Stephan shook his hand in disbelief. Now every
Shabbos, Stephan davens right next to the guy who wrote the article
that got everything started for us. I think it's safe to say we're in
the right place now.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Why I'm Sure Enough to Risk Eternal Damnation
(By Stephan)
Disclaimer: I believe a person is better off spiritually and mentally as a Christian than as an Agnostic/Atheist, so I suggest getting a good foundation in rational belief in G-d before going through this. My favorite source is Rabbi Dr. Dovid Gottlieb’s Living Up to the Truth. Easy/free to download, not that long, packed with useful info, and from an Ivy League philosophy professor turned Rabbi.
The purpose of this is to give a short (under 8 pages), clear, biblical summary of the most notable evidence against Christianity that I know of, which I would have loved to have had when I was evaluating the truth of Christianity. The positive evidence for Christianity, which I’d like to write about later, is out of scope for the purpose of this article. If you want to learn about that, you can find answers from Rabbi Singer or Skobac. All quotations are from the most literal, honest Christian translation that I know of (ESV). I think most Christians can settle on the following statements as essential to the truth of Christianity:
1) Jesus is a part of G-d Himself, not created by G-d the Father, not lower than G-d the Father in any way, and placed into the womb of a human mother, and born into human form
2) Jesus' sinless death alone paid for the sins of all of mankind, and acceptance of this sacrifice is the only way to obtain forgiveness of sins
3) The Christian scriptures ("New Testament") are flawless works written by holy men, but inspired and/or authored by G-d, being absolute truth (Protestants Only; the Catholic church admits many flaws, and has its own authoritative structure to compensate)
4) The Jewish scriptures ("Old Testament") are flawless works written by holy men, but inspired and/or authored by G-d, being absolute truth
Since these 4 beliefs are part of the foundation of Christian beliefs, then if any of these beliefs are independently false, then Christianity as a whole is false. Also, if any one of these implies that another is false, then at least 1 fundamental belief is false, and therefore Christianity as a whole is false.
Jewish Scriptures vs. Christian Scriptures
I’m going to skip the textual and factual contradictions, and just skip to the major theological contradictions.
Is the Torah eternal, wonderful, delicious, and achievable? Or is it an impossible, worthless burden to be thrown away?
Deut 5:29) Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their children for ever!
Deut 30:9-14) For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
Psalm 119) This is the longest chapter in all of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. The entire thing is an intense love song for the Torah (law). This is an excerpt, but seriously, you should read the whole thing.
Therefore I love your commandments
above gold, above fine gold.
Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
I hate every false way.
Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
I open my mouth and pant,
because I long for your commandments.
It’s very clear in the prophetic writings (especially the 3 main later prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) that the Temple will be rebuilt, and the Torah will be kept, intact, even in the messianic age:
Isaiah 2:2-4) It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
Ezk 37:24-28) “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
As a bonus, even Jesus confirms this teaching:
Matt 5:14-20) “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matt 19:16-17) And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Now, let’s see what Paul and Peter have to say about this wonderful Torah:
Gal 4:9-10) But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years!
2 Cor 3:5-8) Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that he Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
Heb 7:18-19) For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
Rom 4:15, 5:20, 6:14, 7:5-11, 10:4) For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression… Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more… For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace… For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me… For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
1 Peter 1:18) knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold
So Did G-d give us a wonderful way of life that brings us righteousness, prosperity, and life forever, like the the prophets and G-d Himself said? Or did He give us a weak, futile, slavemaster to kill us with and then throw away, like Paul and Peter claim?
Common Sense vs. Sacrifice of Jesus
If there’s one central idea to all of Christianity, and the original thought that separated the earliest Christian groups (who were still completely Torah observant) from mainstream Judaism, it’s the idea that Jesus’ death was the final atonement for the sins of all mankind.
Rom 3:23-25) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith…
Heb 9:24-26; 10:14-18) For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
What a gift, right? Let's see how well off people were before and after Jesus, according to Christianity. To keep this short and obvious, I’m going to skip the whole concept of the Levitical sacrificial system, and just focus on the non-Jewish world. "Without blood there is no remission of sin" is a Christian idea (Heb 9:22), not Jewish. Before Jesus, every non-Jew in the entire world could be forgiven for their sins and considered righteous by merely turning away from obvious evil and idol worship, with no obligation to follow the Torah or any sacrificial system, just like Adam, Noah, Enoch, Melchizedek, and even the people of the wicked city of Ninveh [Jonah 3:4-10] (Judaism still holds this view, and values righteous non-Jews greatly). After Jesus, every person had to either believe in Jesus, or burn in hell for eternity (John 14:6; Matt 25:30; Mark 9:44; 2 Thes 1:9). So why would G-d, if He loves the world so much, go from letting good people of the world be forgiven, to condemning the good people of the world to eternal damnation? Take Lee for example. Lee was born in 10 BCE in ancient China. He had never heard of Jews, or Jesus, but he recognized that there was one Creator in the world, who he appreciated. Lee was a good husband and father, worked hard, fed the poor, and was always nice to others, and said his own prayers every day thanking G-d for everything he had. He died around 35 CE after living a good life. He goes to hell to burn in agony in a lake of fire forever.. and ever... and ever... If only he had died 5 years before, he would have been fine! This is not love - just a threat added to make people afraid to question Christianity, or leave if they are questioning it.
Jewish Scriptures vs. Sacrifice of Jesus
G-d specifically forbade human sacrifice (Lev 18:21), and said that nobody will die for another's sin - each person dies for his own sin (Jer 31:29; Ez 18:2-4). Pretty much everything about the concept of Jesus being a sacrifice that enables forgiveness for the sins of other people goes against what G-d says about sacrifices and forgiveness in the Jewish scriptures, but this gets a pass in Christianity somehow. What would be the real killer of this idea that Jesus’ death was the final sacrifice, and there “is no longer any offering for sin” though? How about if all of the longer prophetic writings describe not only the Torah being kept, but the Temple being rebuilt in the end times with sacrificial system being re-established by G-d’s direction, and accepted for atonement of sins, exactly how things were before Jesus’ death?
Zech 14:9,16, 20-21) And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one… Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths… And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.
Jer 33:10-11, 17-18) “Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord… For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.
Ezk 44:9, 11, 24) “Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary… They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ... In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
Maybe these are just Jews offering sacrifices in vain out of ignorance of Jesus’ sacrifice. According to Christianity, surely G-d could not accept these sacrifices, since they go against the very core of Christianity! Isaiah would agree with Christianity, right?
Isaiah 56: 6-7) And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Since G-d approves of these sacrifices, maybe they’re just memorials for the sacrifice of Jesus, as the original sacrifices were, and not meant to actually atone for sins?
Ezk 45:13-20) This is the offering that you shall make: ... And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.
Not only will the Torah be kept in the end times by the Jewish people, but they will continue to offer sin sacrifices for atonement in the final Temple, which G-d commands of them, and accepts. Since the future Temple sacrifices perform the exact same function before and after Jesus’ death, then Jesus’ death either didn’t have any value at all, or had some value that doesn’t overlap with Temple sacrifices (which is the best defense of this that I have found). Unfortunately for the Christian view, the author of Hebrews states “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” (see above), explicitly stating that Jesus’ death supersedes the Temple sacrificial system, not that it adds to it. In addition, the NT overall states many times that the Torah overall is to be done away with (see above). To make matter worse, he also quotes Jer 31 as the basis of his ideas, even though Jeremiah says that the Temple sacrificial system will be reinstated only two chapters later (see above). This completely ruins the idea that Jesus’ death had any lasting sacrificial significance, undermining the very core of Christian belief and purpose.
Common Sense vs. Divinity of Jesus
One thing about the nature of G-d is obvious to Jews and Christians alike - there is no explicit, obvious mention of a god-man, or a trinity anywhere in the Jewish scriptures. No amount of verses that could be suggested as hints can add up to an explicit statement. He described extreme details about what to do with skin lesions, and which kind of bugs were ok and not ok to eat, so why in the world would G-d would not let the Jewish people in on this trinity idea? Instead, Christianity claims that G-d only told them ⅓ of the story, then sentenced them to eternity in hell once Jesus came for the crime of actually listening to what He had told them earlier. This is a much smaller scale atrocity than arbitrarily sentencing the vast majority of humanity into an eternal lake of fire, but a much more tragic betrayal.
Jewish Scriptures vs. Divinity of Jesus
The Jewish Scriptures are actually very clear that G-d is alone (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 83:19; Psalm 136:3-4), that there is no one beside Him (Isaiah 45:6,21-23), and even that He is not a man (Num 23:19; 1 Sam 15:29; Hosea 11:9)! What else could G-d have added beside explicitly stating “I’m also not divided into pieces either, in case you were wondering”? There is no limit to the number or severity of contradictions and meaningless words that mainstream Christianity has been willing to accept on behalf of deifying Jesus over the past 2 millenia, so I don’t see the point in going into detail on passages about the unity of G-d or that the Messiah is supposed to fear G-d (Is 11) in detail, since they can be swept under the rug as “divine mysteries”. There are some things that I think most Christians would be completely unwilling to accept and still believe in the divinity of Jesus though. Fortunately, Ezekiel clarifies these things for us. For some background, the establishment of a final Temple with a king of the Davidic dynasty (A.K.A. “the messiah”) leading the Jewish people is common through all the longer prophetic writings. Ezekiel refers to him as a prince:
Ezk 34:22-24) I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
Ezk 37:25) They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.
A few chapters later, he makes reference to “the prince” during his vision of the final Temple, as if you should know who this prince is already, since you should have read the previous chapters by this point:
Ezk 44:3,26-27) Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way… After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.
Ezk 45:21-23) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.
Twice, Ezekiel describes the messiah as offering an animal sin sacrifice for himself. G-d does not sin, and according to Christianity, Jesus was also sin-free. This is more than just the theological problems and nonsensical ideas that can be tolerated with enough blind faith. This is the messiah sacrificing an animal for his own sins, completely destroying at the same time, the idea that the messiah will be G-d or even without sin, and that Jesus’ death was a final sacrifice for all sin.
The authors of the New Testament have relied on the ignorance and fear to get their followers to believe a religion that goes completely against its own roots in Judaism, and even common sense. In the Internet age, ignorance of these texts can only come from apathy, and the only fear of Christian hell comes from ignorance. Why am I sure enough to risk eternal damnation? I decided that truth is more important than comfort, and lost my apathy, which led me to read the Bible in context and listen to debates between disagreeing viewpoints. This made me lose my ignorance, and the NT writings were no longer able to twist the meaning of the original Jewish texts for me, so I lost all fear of the threat of burning hellfire. This lead me to look for the objective evidence of all major religions and see that Judaism, the parent religion of my original belief, stands far apart from the rest.
Disclaimer: I believe a person is better off spiritually and mentally as a Christian than as an Agnostic/Atheist, so I suggest getting a good foundation in rational belief in G-d before going through this. My favorite source is Rabbi Dr. Dovid Gottlieb’s Living Up to the Truth. Easy/free to download, not that long, packed with useful info, and from an Ivy League philosophy professor turned Rabbi.
The purpose of this is to give a short (under 8 pages), clear, biblical summary of the most notable evidence against Christianity that I know of, which I would have loved to have had when I was evaluating the truth of Christianity. The positive evidence for Christianity, which I’d like to write about later, is out of scope for the purpose of this article. If you want to learn about that, you can find answers from Rabbi Singer or Skobac. All quotations are from the most literal, honest Christian translation that I know of (ESV). I think most Christians can settle on the following statements as essential to the truth of Christianity:
1) Jesus is a part of G-d Himself, not created by G-d the Father, not lower than G-d the Father in any way, and placed into the womb of a human mother, and born into human form
2) Jesus' sinless death alone paid for the sins of all of mankind, and acceptance of this sacrifice is the only way to obtain forgiveness of sins
3) The Christian scriptures ("New Testament") are flawless works written by holy men, but inspired and/or authored by G-d, being absolute truth (Protestants Only; the Catholic church admits many flaws, and has its own authoritative structure to compensate)
4) The Jewish scriptures ("Old Testament") are flawless works written by holy men, but inspired and/or authored by G-d, being absolute truth
Since these 4 beliefs are part of the foundation of Christian beliefs, then if any of these beliefs are independently false, then Christianity as a whole is false. Also, if any one of these implies that another is false, then at least 1 fundamental belief is false, and therefore Christianity as a whole is false.
Jewish Scriptures vs. Christian Scriptures
I’m going to skip the textual and factual contradictions, and just skip to the major theological contradictions.
Is the Torah eternal, wonderful, delicious, and achievable? Or is it an impossible, worthless burden to be thrown away?
Deut 5:29) Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their children for ever!
Deut 30:9-14) For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
Psalm 119) This is the longest chapter in all of the Jewish and Christian Bibles. The entire thing is an intense love song for the Torah (law). This is an excerpt, but seriously, you should read the whole thing.
Therefore I love your commandments
above gold, above fine gold.
Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right;
I hate every false way.
Your testimonies are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
I open my mouth and pant,
because I long for your commandments.
It’s very clear in the prophetic writings (especially the 3 main later prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) that the Temple will be rebuilt, and the Torah will be kept, intact, even in the messianic age:
Isaiah 2:2-4) It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be lifted up above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
Ezk 37:24-28) “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
As a bonus, even Jesus confirms this teaching:
Matt 5:14-20) “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matt 19:16-17) And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.”
Now, let’s see what Paul and Peter have to say about this wonderful Torah:
Gal 4:9-10) But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and years!
2 Cor 3:5-8) Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that he Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
Heb 7:18-19) For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
Rom 4:15, 5:20, 6:14, 7:5-11, 10:4) For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression… Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more… For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace… For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me… For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
1 Peter 1:18) knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold
So Did G-d give us a wonderful way of life that brings us righteousness, prosperity, and life forever, like the the prophets and G-d Himself said? Or did He give us a weak, futile, slavemaster to kill us with and then throw away, like Paul and Peter claim?
Common Sense vs. Sacrifice of Jesus
If there’s one central idea to all of Christianity, and the original thought that separated the earliest Christian groups (who were still completely Torah observant) from mainstream Judaism, it’s the idea that Jesus’ death was the final atonement for the sins of all mankind.
Rom 3:23-25) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith…
Heb 9:24-26; 10:14-18) For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
What a gift, right? Let's see how well off people were before and after Jesus, according to Christianity. To keep this short and obvious, I’m going to skip the whole concept of the Levitical sacrificial system, and just focus on the non-Jewish world. "Without blood there is no remission of sin" is a Christian idea (Heb 9:22), not Jewish. Before Jesus, every non-Jew in the entire world could be forgiven for their sins and considered righteous by merely turning away from obvious evil and idol worship, with no obligation to follow the Torah or any sacrificial system, just like Adam, Noah, Enoch, Melchizedek, and even the people of the wicked city of Ninveh [Jonah 3:4-10] (Judaism still holds this view, and values righteous non-Jews greatly). After Jesus, every person had to either believe in Jesus, or burn in hell for eternity (John 14:6; Matt 25:30; Mark 9:44; 2 Thes 1:9). So why would G-d, if He loves the world so much, go from letting good people of the world be forgiven, to condemning the good people of the world to eternal damnation? Take Lee for example. Lee was born in 10 BCE in ancient China. He had never heard of Jews, or Jesus, but he recognized that there was one Creator in the world, who he appreciated. Lee was a good husband and father, worked hard, fed the poor, and was always nice to others, and said his own prayers every day thanking G-d for everything he had. He died around 35 CE after living a good life. He goes to hell to burn in agony in a lake of fire forever.. and ever... and ever... If only he had died 5 years before, he would have been fine! This is not love - just a threat added to make people afraid to question Christianity, or leave if they are questioning it.
Jewish Scriptures vs. Sacrifice of Jesus
G-d specifically forbade human sacrifice (Lev 18:21), and said that nobody will die for another's sin - each person dies for his own sin (Jer 31:29; Ez 18:2-4). Pretty much everything about the concept of Jesus being a sacrifice that enables forgiveness for the sins of other people goes against what G-d says about sacrifices and forgiveness in the Jewish scriptures, but this gets a pass in Christianity somehow. What would be the real killer of this idea that Jesus’ death was the final sacrifice, and there “is no longer any offering for sin” though? How about if all of the longer prophetic writings describe not only the Torah being kept, but the Temple being rebuilt in the end times with sacrificial system being re-established by G-d’s direction, and accepted for atonement of sins, exactly how things were before Jesus’ death?
Zech 14:9,16, 20-21) And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one… Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths… And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.
Jer 33:10-11, 17-18) “Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord… For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.
Ezk 44:9, 11, 24) “Thus says the Lord God: No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the people of Israel, shall enter my sanctuary… They shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the temple and ministering in the temple. They shall slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before the people, to minister to them. ... In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
Maybe these are just Jews offering sacrifices in vain out of ignorance of Jesus’ sacrifice. According to Christianity, surely G-d could not accept these sacrifices, since they go against the very core of Christianity! Isaiah would agree with Christianity, right?
Isaiah 56: 6-7) And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Since G-d approves of these sacrifices, maybe they’re just memorials for the sacrifice of Jesus, as the original sacrifices were, and not meant to actually atone for sins?
Ezk 45:13-20) This is the offering that you shall make: ... And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.
Not only will the Torah be kept in the end times by the Jewish people, but they will continue to offer sin sacrifices for atonement in the final Temple, which G-d commands of them, and accepts. Since the future Temple sacrifices perform the exact same function before and after Jesus’ death, then Jesus’ death either didn’t have any value at all, or had some value that doesn’t overlap with Temple sacrifices (which is the best defense of this that I have found). Unfortunately for the Christian view, the author of Hebrews states “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” (see above), explicitly stating that Jesus’ death supersedes the Temple sacrificial system, not that it adds to it. In addition, the NT overall states many times that the Torah overall is to be done away with (see above). To make matter worse, he also quotes Jer 31 as the basis of his ideas, even though Jeremiah says that the Temple sacrificial system will be reinstated only two chapters later (see above). This completely ruins the idea that Jesus’ death had any lasting sacrificial significance, undermining the very core of Christian belief and purpose.
Common Sense vs. Divinity of Jesus
One thing about the nature of G-d is obvious to Jews and Christians alike - there is no explicit, obvious mention of a god-man, or a trinity anywhere in the Jewish scriptures. No amount of verses that could be suggested as hints can add up to an explicit statement. He described extreme details about what to do with skin lesions, and which kind of bugs were ok and not ok to eat, so why in the world would G-d would not let the Jewish people in on this trinity idea? Instead, Christianity claims that G-d only told them ⅓ of the story, then sentenced them to eternity in hell once Jesus came for the crime of actually listening to what He had told them earlier. This is a much smaller scale atrocity than arbitrarily sentencing the vast majority of humanity into an eternal lake of fire, but a much more tragic betrayal.
Jewish Scriptures vs. Divinity of Jesus
The Jewish Scriptures are actually very clear that G-d is alone (Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 83:19; Psalm 136:3-4), that there is no one beside Him (Isaiah 45:6,21-23), and even that He is not a man (Num 23:19; 1 Sam 15:29; Hosea 11:9)! What else could G-d have added beside explicitly stating “I’m also not divided into pieces either, in case you were wondering”? There is no limit to the number or severity of contradictions and meaningless words that mainstream Christianity has been willing to accept on behalf of deifying Jesus over the past 2 millenia, so I don’t see the point in going into detail on passages about the unity of G-d or that the Messiah is supposed to fear G-d (Is 11) in detail, since they can be swept under the rug as “divine mysteries”. There are some things that I think most Christians would be completely unwilling to accept and still believe in the divinity of Jesus though. Fortunately, Ezekiel clarifies these things for us. For some background, the establishment of a final Temple with a king of the Davidic dynasty (A.K.A. “the messiah”) leading the Jewish people is common through all the longer prophetic writings. Ezekiel refers to him as a prince:
Ezk 34:22-24) I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
Ezk 37:25) They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever.
A few chapters later, he makes reference to “the prince” during his vision of the final Temple, as if you should know who this prince is already, since you should have read the previous chapters by this point:
Ezk 44:3,26-27) Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way… After he has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.
Ezk 45:21-23) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering.
Twice, Ezekiel describes the messiah as offering an animal sin sacrifice for himself. G-d does not sin, and according to Christianity, Jesus was also sin-free. This is more than just the theological problems and nonsensical ideas that can be tolerated with enough blind faith. This is the messiah sacrificing an animal for his own sins, completely destroying at the same time, the idea that the messiah will be G-d or even without sin, and that Jesus’ death was a final sacrifice for all sin.
The authors of the New Testament have relied on the ignorance and fear to get their followers to believe a religion that goes completely against its own roots in Judaism, and even common sense. In the Internet age, ignorance of these texts can only come from apathy, and the only fear of Christian hell comes from ignorance. Why am I sure enough to risk eternal damnation? I decided that truth is more important than comfort, and lost my apathy, which led me to read the Bible in context and listen to debates between disagreeing viewpoints. This made me lose my ignorance, and the NT writings were no longer able to twist the meaning of the original Jewish texts for me, so I lost all fear of the threat of burning hellfire. This lead me to look for the objective evidence of all major religions and see that Judaism, the parent religion of my original belief, stands far apart from the rest.
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