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False Christendom & The Jews:
Heading for a Clash!
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Friday, August 21, 2009
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www.bibleinthenews.com Audio & Print versions
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When Christendom begins to show its true colours to the Jews, and when the Jews--especially those in Israel--begin to resist the religious and political pressures being brought to bear, then we know that we are on the home straight to "the battle of that great day of God Almighty."
Well, this is Paul Billington bringing you one more edition of the Bible in the News. And the news that I am going to focus on this week will barely be noticed by the main-stream media, although it does appear in the Israeli media. It concerns a row that has developed between the Roman Catholic Church and several American Jewish organizations.Apparently a recent statement by Bishop William Lori of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, reflects the well-known Roman Catholic position which states that salvation is not possible outside of the Church. The recent statement by the bishops emphasizes the importance of the Church "sharing the Gospel" with Jews. Jewish groups have said that they interpret the new document to mean that the bishops view interfaith dialogue as a chance to invite Jews to become Catholic. According to one report the Catholic bishops have said that they see it important to share the Christian Bible--by which they would mean the New Testament and the Apocrypha.
For their part, the Jews are not buying this. They say that "if the goal is to persuade Jews to accept Christ as their saviour" dialogue becomes "untenable." But the Catholic Christ is not the Biblical Christ!
One group of Jews in Israel are currently mounting a strong resistance to the attempts of Christian missionaries to convert them to their Christ. They put up a strong case against orthodox Christian beliefs and will debate with evangelical ministers on a variety of topics--such as the inspiration of the New Testament and its authenticity,whether or not Jesus is the true Jewish Messiah fulfilling Old Testament prophecies--and so on. It has to be said that most Christians would not be able to refute the arguments that are leveled against their beliefs by these Jews--they would walk all over them.
The reason for this is quite simple. For one thing, many Christians today do not know their Bibles--either Old or New Testaments! There are few real Bible students out there. Many evangelical Christians rely on the supposed "holy spirit" feeling, and not on Scripture.
For another thing, they do not know the real Christ. It was the apostle Paul who predicted that the minds of early Christians would be corrupted, and that they would preach what he called "another Jesus" and "another gospel." His words are found in 2 Cor. 11:3-4.
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
This "other" Jesus, John says, would be one that would be promoted by false teachers. In 1 John 4:1-3 we read:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."
This false Christ is the one that most Christians believe in--and it is one that Jewish apologists will find easy to refute--along with the doctrines that attach to him: the Trinity, the pre-existence of Christ, as well as aspects of the atonement. Most Jews and their Rabbis today have never heard of the real Jesus who came in the flesh and had the same nature as you and I. They are yet to learn of him!
When it comes to the authenticity of the New Testament the Jewish arguments against it are largely a re-hash of the arguments brought forth by textual critics over many years. Both the so-called "higher critics" and the lower critics have been plagiarized by Jews who want to discredit the writings of the apostles. But the New Testament is quite able to defend itself from those critics whose arguments are based upon textual theories and are comparable to those theories that put evolution in place of creation. They do not stand up to scrutiny.
What interests us in the current wrangle, is the mounting feud between Christendom and the Jews. We can expect this to become more intense over time, and eventually it will result in a Christian crusade against the State of Israel--a crusade that will have the political and military backing of Russia, Europe and many other nations. And so God says through the prophet Joel Chapter 3:1-2,
"For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land."
This situation is reflected in Revelation 16:16, " And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."
A false Christendom will thus be brought to judgement. At this time the real Christ will be revealed as the Deliverer and Redeemer of Israel, and the kingdom will be restored again to Israel (Acts 1:6) in harmony with the true Gospel, called by Paul "The Hope of Israel" (Acts 28:20).
Join us again next week for another update on the Bible in the News. www.bibleinthenews.com
Printed: Friday, August 21, 2009
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