The Truth About The BNP

(originally posted April 16th at original blog site)



Something scary is happening in British politics: the British National Party (BNP) is gaining support.

The group recently gained a seat and is clearly luring voters who are fed up with the mainstream parties.


And with its catchy – albeit unoriginal – slogan ‘British jobs for British people’, it’s easy to see why the BNP appeals to the thousands who are livid over British companies awarding huge contacts to foreign firms.

Watch a BNP spokesman on TV and you’re likely to see an articulate, smartly dressed man; his hair, suit and indeed his language will be immaculate. He’ll dismiss any suggestion that the BNP discriminates against non Whites. As for links between the BNP and neo Nazi groups, all of which have been well documented by the media, well, ‘that’s ‘all in the past’, he’ll assure you earnestly.

And chances are, you’ll be tempted to believe him.

But here’s the thing: no matter how much the BNP has tried to whitewash – no pun intended – its past, the fact remains: BNP policies are racist and the BNP is a neo Nazi group.

Please, examine the evidence, and ask yourself if you really want people like this running the country. Britain fought the Nazis in WW2. To now support the BNP is a slap in the face to every single British soldier who lost his life battling the Germans.


BNP: Background


According to the BNP general election manifesto, “native Britons”, who they claim can only be white, would be given priority in the job market. “Non-whites” would instantly become second class citizens in Britain.

Any black person who commits a crime would also be thrown out of the country, even those who were born here.

Mixed race relationships would be outlawed.

The BNP constitution says that anyone who cannot prove a link to Britain before 1948 can never be considered British.

The BNP says:
“The British National Party stands for the preservation of the national and ethnic character of the British people and is wholly opposed to any form of racial integration between British and non-European peoples.

It is therefore committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration.”


- BNP constitution



And despite their attempts to appear ‘non racist’, BNP leaders have continued to slip up and express their true views.
“All black people will be repatriated, even if they were born here”, BNP leader Nick Griffin told Wales on Sunday in 1996. “We must preserve the white race, because it has been responsible for all the good things in civilisation”.

Former National Organiser Richard Edmonds was convicted for his part in a vicious bottle attack on a mixed race couple in a pub in East London 1993

BNP supporter Stuart Kerr was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for firebombing an Asian shop in Chichester, Sussex

BNP leader Nick Griffin was convicted of incitement to racial hatred in April 1998. The magazine he edited, ‘Rune’, was full of hatred towards Jews, not to mention Holocaust Denial.

The BNP organiser for Waltham Forest, Alan Gould, was convicted of racially abusing people in a pub in 2000

Former BNP member David Copeland was sentenced to six life sentences after planting bombs in London. He wanted to start a ‘race war’.



The BNP has a nasty habit of glorifying racist attacks. In 1991, the BNP newspaper gloated after several BNP supporters stabbed an African immigrant at London Bridge station. The victim had his “kidney surgically removed “kidney surgically removed”, the paper boasted.

In the same year, the BNP leadership stirred up a racist riot in Bermondsey, London, and led an attack on an anti-racist meeting that was protesting against the BNP headquaters in Welling. Thirteen people required hospital treatment.

A BNP presence has almost always culminated in “race hate”. When Derek Beackon was elected as a BNP councillor in Millwall, racist attacks in the area soared by 300%



BNP and Holocaust Denial


BNP leader Nick Griffin has always tried to deny the Holocaust. Indeed, he actually condemned notorious Revisionist David Irving, British Holocaust denier, for daring to admit that ’some people might have died in the Holocaust.’

Specifically, Griffin wrote:

“True revisionists will not be fooled by this new twist to the sorry tale of the Hoax of the Twentieth Century”.

Star witness as Harrow Crown Court on Griffin’s behalf was Robert Faurisson, the famous French Holocaust denier.

In the 1990s the BNP hosted a number of revisionism seminars that were addressed by some of the world’s most infamous Holocaust deniers. They included David Irving.



The BNP’s Criminal Activity


The ranks of the criminals extend to the very highest level of the party. They include:


Nick Griffin (Party Chairman) Received a two-year suspended sentence in April 1998 for inciting racial hatred. His magazine The Runecarried obscene anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial material as well as crude racism.

Tony Lecomber (Group Development Officer). In 1985 he was convicted on five counts for offences under the Explosives Act, including possession of homemade hand-grenades and electronic timing devices. Sentenced to three-years imprisonment.

In 1991 he was sentenced to another three years imprisonment for unlawful wounding for his part in an attack on a Jewish schoolteacher whom he caught trying to peel off a BNP sticker at an underground station. He has a total of 12 convictions.

Colin Smith (South East London organiser). Has amassed a total of 17 convictions for burglary, theft, stealing cars, possession of drugs and assaulting a police officer.

John Tyndall (founder of the BNP). Six convictions. In 1962 he was jailed for organising a paramilitary organisation. Four years later, he was again sent to prison for possession of a loaded gun. In 1986, he was convicted for incitement to racial hatred under the Public Order Act and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

Warren Bennett (Chief Steward). Supposed to keep order in the party yet has convictions for football hooliganism. In 1998, he was deported from France with over 50 other Scottish hooligans, including several BNP members.

Steve Belshaw (East Midlands BNP organiser. Was convicted in 1994 for assaulting a lawyer in his home-town of Mansfield. At the time, Belshaw combined his BNP membership with Combat 18 activity.

Kevin Scott (North East Regional Organiser). Was convicted in 1993 for hurling a glass at a black customer in a pub.

Alan Gould (Waltham Forest Organiser). Was convicted in 2000 for racially abusing people in a local pub. He told the court that it was the drink getting the better of him.


Robert Bennett. A leading activist in Oldham BNP during the 2002 elections campaign, Bennett has served five years in prison for the gang rape of a woman. He has also served seven years for armed robbery and has over 30 convictions in total.

Mick Treacy. The Oldham organiser has five convictions for violence, theft, and handling stolen goods.

Darren Dobson. Found guilty of racially aggravated assault at Oldham magistrates in November 2001. Fined £300. Connected to football hooligans in the Oldham area, and has links to the nazi terror group Combat 18

Darren Hoy. April 2002, the BNP supporter was sent to prison for 3 months for racially abusing people as they left an anti-fascist rally in Oldham.



And what does the BNP say when confronted with these facts?

When interviewed by the BBC Panorama team in September 2001 on the convictions of its leading members, party leader Nick Griffin just lied. He claimed Tony Lecomber, his deputy, merely had a conviction for handling fireworks. He also claimed that party chief steward Warren Bennett had a minor conviction “some 15 years ago” but had not been in trouble since. The truth is that Bennett has been named in the Scottish press for violence as recently as 2002. Griffin also tried to claim that Colin Smith had no convictions.


The BNP’s International Neo Nazi Links


The BNP is linked to some of the most extreme and fanatical nazi, fascist, and racist groups around. They include:

National Alliance, the foremost nazi group in the United States. NA speakers regularly address BNP meeting in the US and, in 1995, it founder and leader, William Pierce, spoke at the BNP annual rally in London. When Pierce died in the summer of 2002, the BNP posted an obituary on its website.

Pierce was the author of The Turner Diaries, the fictional account of a Race War. The book proved to be an inspiration for the Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, and the London nailbomber David Copeland.


David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux, is very close to Nick Griffin and the BNP. Griffin has regularly shared platforms with Duke and the American’s antisemitic and Holocaust denial material is sold through the BNP. Duke is currently living in Russia in a bid to avoid the US taxman.


National Democratic Party, Germany’s leading nazi group. NPD leaders deny the Holocaust took place and revere Adolf Hitler. The NPD shares many of its activists with the outlawed Blood and Honour skinhead movement. Griffin addressed a NPD rally in August 2002. NPD activists have attended BNP events in Britain.

Front National, the French fascist group led by Jean-Marie Le Pen. Le Pen was convicted for dismissing the Holocaust as a “mere detail” of the Second World War and for violence. BNP supporters are regular attendees at the FN’s annual summer festival and Griffin has publicly stated his admiration for the group. A member of the FN leadership addressed the 2002 BNP Red, White and Blue festival.



Holocaust deniers.

The BNP, and especially Nick Griffin, are close to many of the world’s leading Holocaust deniers. Robert Faurisson, one of the foremost Holocaust deniers, was a star witness at Griffin’s trial for racial hatred in 1998. The German Gunter Deckert, who has been to prison for denying the Holocaust, spoke at a London BNP meeting in 2001. Even the British Holocaust denier and antisemite, David Irving, has addressed BNP meetings.

American Renaissance. A far right US based publication that supports the notion of the biological superiority of white people. Each edition is packed with the theories of race-science, and grim statistics showing the moral degeneracy of black people. Griffin spoke at their annual conference in February 2002 on “Racial friction in Britain and Europe”.

Blood and Honour.
Blood and Honour is the openly nazi skinhead organisation in Britain. Many of its leaders are BNP members and Blood and Honour nazi bands have raised money for the BNP.

Speaking to a private nazi meeting in the US in 2001, Nick Griffin admitted that the party’s new-found respectability was simply a tactic to con the British people. “My politics have not changed,” he told the audience of racists and nazis. “I still believe in fighting for this,” he added, pointing to his white skin.

And here are some very recent incidents from the excellent ‘Hope Not Hate’ campaign, which is trying desperately to expose the BNP’s true colours. Visit their site here.


The wonderful Searchlight magazine is also working hard to expose the BNP. Check out Searchlight HERE



Check out this recent story from The Guardian:


A FRIGHTENED mum-of-two has been left too scared to leave her home after she was allegedly called a ‘n*****’ by a British National Party (BNP) canvasser during a racist tirade in front of her five year old son.

Shirlene Tobin, of Wanstead, has refused to leave her house since the incident – on Tuesday evening – during which she alleges the female BNP activist told her to ‘come to me because I don’t come to n*****s’ when she tried to hand back a political leaflet that was posted through her front door.

The 43 year-old – who works as a nurse at Whipps Cross University Hospital – called the police immediately after the alleged attack at about 7.30pm – which she said has left her fearing for her family’s safety.

She said: “I couldn’t believe what this woman said to me in the middle of the street in front of my son."

“I walked after her to try and give the leaflet back but got a load of racist abuse.

Original story here.



And from SEARCHLIGHT:


BNP deputy leader addresses international fascist rally

Home news
credit: HOPE not hate / Searchlight by Sonia Gable on: Sunday, 5 April 2009



The deputy leader of the British National Party has spoken at an international fascist rally alongside a man convicted of a terrorism offence and a convicted Holocaust denier.

Simon Darby claims he addressed a 400-strong audience in Milan today (5 April). Representatives of extreme-right parties in Germany, France, Romania, Hungary and Cyprus were expected to take part in the meeting.

Darby, who flew out to Italy this morning, heads the BNP’s European election candidates’ list for the West Midlands, a region in which the party could win a seat. He has a “Mr Clean” reputation in a party in which many leading activists have criminal convictions, a Nazi past or both.

The rally was titled: “Our Europe; Peoples and Traditions Against Banks and Big Powers”, a change from the original, “Our Europe; Peoples and Traditions Against Banks and Usury”. The term “usury” is traditionally used by Nazis against Jews and it may have been altered to avoid accusations of antisemitism.


BNP threatens prominent anti-fascist trade unionist

Home news
credit: Morning Star on: Tuesday, 3 February 2009

Source: Click here for original article


UNION activists condemned BNP threats against prominent anti-fascist and Merseyside TUC leader Alec McFadden on Tuesday.

Some 20 BNP thugs were reported to have delivered thousands of leaflets at the weekend to homes in the area in Liverpool where Mr McFadden lives, exhorting his neighbours to confront him for organising anti-nazi protests in the city.

The leaflet tries to hijack the current unofficial energy workers’ strikes by claiming that the workers’ demands in the dispute are the same as the BNP’s, and declares that Mr McFadden needs “coaching” to understand this.

Almost three years ago, Mr McFadden was stabbed on his doorstep in front of his daughter by a fascist thug and fellow union activists were quick to respond to the new threats.

North-west TUC chairman Steve Farley said that this “targeting and attempted intimidation” by the BNP “of committed trade unionists like Alec shows the true nature of this so-called political party.

“Union members will continue to oppose the BNP lies and will continue to reject their divisive and opportunist attempts to divide workers on the basis of nationality or race,” he declared.

National Union of Journalists Merseyside rep Mike Studley branded the nazi threat “an apalling act of political intimidation” and local Labour MP Angela Eagle has given Mr McFadden her support.

Mr McFadden courageously dismissed the fascists’ threats against him, but highlighted reports of BNP activists joining picket lines during the unofficial strikes to point out that unions should not be “complacent” about the nazis.

“The far-right is on the rise and they are attacking trade unionists because they know that we are organised and strong,” he stressed.


Also, from HOPE NOT HATE:

“This recently shot DVD reveals the true nature of the BNP – in their own words. It shows them behind closed doors when they think the public are not watching. It proves that they are still nazis.

The sign on the door says No Blacks. Inside, BNP members sing racist and pro-Nazi songs. They glorify the Holocaust, and call for blacks to be killed. They give nazi salutes as they chant the names of Hitler’s henchmen.

This is the real face of the BNP – the one that they try to hide from voters.

One of the people giving a Nazi salute is Scott McLean, who was until recently the deputy leader of the BNP. Another person present is Kenny Smith, who until the recent personal feud was the party’s Head of Administration.

When pressed about this video, the BNP dismissed it by claiming that the men were just messing around. It now emerges that Nick Griffin attended a similar event a few years before with many of the same people as in this video. Like now, he too gave a Nazi salute. No wonder he wasn’t keen to expel the Nazis in this video from the BNP.



The BNP say they have changed. This DVD proves they are the same Nazis they always were. “



To view the DVD, just click HERE





Still think the BNP may be the perfect party to rule Britain…?

Muslim Cleric 'Explains' That Everyone 'Hates Jews'

Ah... yet more love from the 'religion of peace'...!

An Egyptian cleric has cheerfully 'explained' to millions of Muslims that Jews are hated by everyone and everything. Apparently trees and animals also loathe Jews. Egyptian cleric Amin Al-Ansari made the claims two weeks ago that on Egypt's Al-Rahma satellite network.

"People hate (Jews). They don't like them. We are not talking only about people. The same goes even for trees and animals."

The program was translated from Arabic by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Al-Ansari stated:

"You know, there is rather peculiar footage, in which an Arab man who has a camel loves it and kisses it, and the camel kisses him back. Along comes a Jew and wants to kiss the camel, just like the Arab. What do you think the camel did? Let's watch."

The network then cut to what appeared to be staged footage of a man dressed in Arab garb kissing a camel while another man wearing a white yarmulke attempts to kiss the camel - prompting the animal to try to bite the 'jew'.

"Animals can sense things," explained Al-Ansari.



He continued:

"god has filled people's hearts with loathing for these Jews. Let's take a look at the field of sports. Let's see how the Jews are hated in the field of sports. They are abhorred. Let's take a look."

The Al-Rahma program cuts to footage of an English league soccer game showing a Chelsea player kicking the Israeli soccer player Yossi Benayoun, who plays for Liverpool.

Al-Ansari 'explains':

"Look at this Jew being kicked. People hate them. They don't like them,"

The cleric then goes on to quote Mohammed:

"The proof is that the Prophet Muhammad said that when Judgment Day draws near, the final war between the Muslims and the Jews will take place. The Prophet said that the Muslims would kill the Jews. 'Judgment Day will not come before the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.'

He added, citing from a hadith, a collection of the sayings of Muhammad:

"The Muslims will kill the Jews. Be patient. All the trees and all the stones will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him – except for the Gharqad tree.' Only one kind of tree will not call [the Muslims]. It is the Gharqad tree."

Hard to believe that Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, isn't it...? You'd never know it from the Egyptian news media, which includes government-run newspapers and television networks. They regularly feature anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda.

Islam. The religion with so much lurve.


 

Scripture

This basic guide is not just for Jews. It is for anyone who would like to counter the arguments used by Evangelical Christians. As most of these debates do focus on the Jewish texts, however, this article will be especially relevant to Jews.


Most Missionaries will try and engage Jews in debate about Scripture. Beware: unless you know some basics about the Jewish Tanakh, it's easy to be taken in by the so-called 'proofs' that Missionaries will offer you.

Here are some basics about Jewish scriptures, and also some responses to use when the Missionaries come calling...!



The Torah

The Jewish holy text is the Torah. This comprises the five books of Moses:


Bereshit (Genesis)
Shemot (Exodus)
Vayikra (Leviticus)
Bamidbar (Numbers)
Devarim (Deuteronomy)

In every Synagogue across the world, the Torah appears in scroll form. For Jews, it is the direct word of G-d. Traditional Jewish belief is that G-d spoke to a huge gathering of Jews at Mount Sinai, and all present heard his voice. G-d dictated the Torah to Moses, who wrote it down.

This is the view of Orthodox Jews. Less religious Jews, members of Conservative and Reform Judaism, may not agree that the Torah comes from G-d, literally. Rather, they may argue that the Torah was compiled over a long period of time, with several authors. Some support for this idea comes from the different writing styles apparent throughout the five books.

Either way, all Jews recognise the Torah as their holy text, and all Jewish boys, and many Jewish girls, learn a portion of the Torah, in Hebrew, for their bar/bat mitzvahs.

The Torah is not something which can be taken literally, nor understood at face value. Jews believe that every single letter is full of meaning. In short, we view the Torah as a message written by G-d to us as Jews. The word ‘Torah’ means ‘instruction’. Thus the Torah is G-d’s instructions to us, for Within the Torah are the commandments and teachings of Judaism.

But the Torah is also a history book. It contains within it the earliest history of the Jews. So although we might not always take it literally, we hold that much of the Torah is essentially true.





The Talmud - The Oral Torah

The actual word ‘Torah’ refers also to the Oral Torah, which was given along with the written Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai.

The Oral Torah comprises explanations of the written Torah, as well as extra bits of advice and wisdom offered by Moses.

Originally, Jews did not commit the Oral Torah to written form. Instead, it was taught by fathers to their sons, generation after generation. But eventually, the Jewish leaders realised that there was a risk of all the knowledge being lost, because Jews were being attacked and killed with increasing frequency.

So in the second century CE, the Jewish leader at that time, Judah HaNasi, wrote down a basic outline of the fundamental aspects of Oral Torah. This was then divided into six parts – known as the Mishnah (’repetition’). This ratified the Oral tradition.

After this, over several generations, Rabbis and sages met to discuss and debate the Mishnah, to clarify its principles and to add other oral teachings that had been part of Judaism since Mount Sinai. These additions are known as the Gemara (’completion’).

Together, the Mishnah and Gemara make up the TALMUD.


The Talmud, then, illuminates and clarifies the written Torah, the five books of Moses. The Talmud comprises a series of volumes, full of discussions and debates, rulings and proverbs, with some folklore and humour in addition. Almost every topic under the sun is covered, for the Talmud shows us how to apply Torah to life.

As one Jewish author puts it: ‘The Torah is G-d speaking to us. The Talmud is us answering!’



Frequently asked questions about Jewish texts:



Q: Is it true that there are insultings things written about Gentiles in the Talmud?


Answer: Sadly, this rumour appears to be a popular one. There is no truth whatsoever to it. The Talmud is primarily concerned with Jewish religious law and how to apply it. Where non Jews are mentioned, it is certainly not in a negative light at all. Judaism holds all humans as being equal. It makes no difference which faith a person follows. ‘Love thy neighbour’ is a Jewish teaching, found in the Torah thousands of years before Christianity also began using it.



Q: Is the ‘old testament’ the same thing as the Tanakh?

Answer: No. The ‘old testament’ is a purely Christian text. It was produced by the Church, thousands of years after the Tanakh. Some versions of the OT are very accurate and reliable. But some are not, and in these we find significant mistranslations and misinterpretations of the original Hebrew. In addition, the OT is organised differently to the Tanakh, with ‘chapter breaks’ inserted that do not appear in the original Jewish text.

Jews don’t study the OT at all. In fact, the very name ‘old’ testament illustrates it is a Christian document. Why would Judaism label its OWN scriptures as ‘old’?!

It is rather frustrating for Jews; our scriptures have been taken on by another faith, changed, and then, historically, used by Christianity to ‘prove’ that Jews are ‘wrong’ and that Jesus is ‘foreshadowed’ in the Jewish scriptures!

*Some* Christians argue that they understand the Jewish texts better than Jews themselves. Yet Jews study the Tanakh, for the most part, in the original Hebrew. Most (not all) Christians study the OT, which is a translation OF a translation OF the Tanakh.



Q:But what about the Septuagint?


The Septuagint refers to the Greek version of the Tanakh. But what many people don’t realise is that only the Torah part (five books of Moses) was actually translated by Jews. All the rest was translated by non Jews. And if we compare, for example, Isaiah in the Tanakh, with Isaiah in the Septuagint, it is clear that the Septuagint does not reflect the original Hebrew at all.

Ultimately, the entire Septuagint was revised by the Church, and ceased to have any link to Judaism.

Here is a particularly interesting comment on the Septuagint, by Rabbi Tovia Singer, from the excellent website Outreach Judaism.

“… the Septuagint in our hands is not a Jewish document, but rather a Christian one. The original Septuagint, created 2,200 years ago by 72 Jewish translators, was a Greek translation of the Five Books of Moses alone.

It therefore did not contain prophetic Books of the Bible such as Isaiah. The Septuagint as we have it today, which includes the Prophets and Writings as well, is a product of the Church, not the Jewish people. In fact, the Septuagint remains the official Old Testament of the Greek Orthodox Church, and the manuscripts that consist of our Septuagint today date to the third century C.E.

The fact that additional books known as the Apocrypha, which are uniquely sacred to the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church, are found in the Septuagint should raise a red flag to those inquiring into the Jewishness of the Septuagint.

Christians such as Origin and Lucian (third and fourth century C.E.) had an enormous impact on creating and shaping the Septuagint that missionaries use to advance their untenable arguments against Judaism. In essence, the present Septuagint is largely a post-second century Christian translation of the Bible, used zealously by the Church throughout the centuries as an indispensable apologetic instrument to defend and sustain Christological alterations of the Jewish scriptures.

The fact that the original Septuagint translated by rabbis more than 22 centuries ago was only of the Pentateuch and not of prophetic books of the Bible such as Isaiah is confirmed by countless sources including the ancient Letter of Aristeas, which is the earliest attestation to the existence of the Septuagint. The Talmud also states this explicitly in Tractate Megillah (9a), and Josephus as well affirms that the Septuagint was a translation only of the Law of Moses in his preface to Antiquities of the Jews.

Moreover, Jerome, a church father and Bible translator who could hardly be construed as friendly to Judaism, affirms Josephus’ statement regarding the authorship of the Septuagint in his preface to The Book of Hebrew Questions.2 Likewise, the Anchor Bible Dictionary reports precisely this point in the opening sentence of its article on the Septuagint which states, “The word ‘Septuagint,’ (from Lat septuaginta = 70; hence the abbreviation LXX) derives from a story that 72 elders translated the Pentateuch into Greek; the term therefore applied originally only to those five books.”

In fact, Dr. F.F. Bruce, the preeminent professor of Biblical exegesis, keenly points out that, strictly speaking, the Septuagint deals only with the Pentateuch and not the whole Old Testament. Bruce writes, “The Jews might have gone on at a later time to authorize a standard text of the rest of the Septuagint, but . . . lost interest in the Septuagint altogether. With but few exceptions, every manuscript of the Septuagint which has come down to our day was copied and preserved in Christian, not Jewish, circles.“

Q: What are some of the specific differences between the Christian Old Testament, and the Jewish Tanakh?


Answer:  Below I provide a partial list. I’d like to first reiterate: some versions of the OT have been revised and are pretty accurate and reliable. Others are not. Below are some of the discrepancies which appear in some versions of the OT:


1. Zechariah 12:10 − The Hebrew Tanakh: “and they shall look upon me whom they have stabbed/ thrust through [with swords”)



The King James Version of Zechariah changes one word [stabbed] to “pierced.”



BUT John 19:37 (New Testament) misquotes Zechariah to change the entire meaning by saying, “They shall look on him (instead of ME) whom they pierced.”



2. Isaiah 7:14 − The Hebrew Tanakh says “Therefore, the Lord, of His own, shall give you a sign; behold, the young woman (alma) is with child, and she will bear a son and she shall call his name Immanuel.”



**Take note, this was written in the present tense.



But the Greek Septuagint changed “alma,” saying “Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (Matthew 1:22-23). The church changed the entire verse from present to FUTURE tense and then went further to change the Hebrew alma, meaning a young woman to virgin.



3. Isaiah 53:10 − The Hebrew Tanakh says “And the Lord wished to crush him, He made him ill; if his soul makes itself restitution (acknowledge guilt) he shall see children, he shall prolong his days and God’s purpose shall prosper in his hand.”



But the KJV says:: “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he had put him to grief: when thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand”..



4. Psalm 16:9-10 − (KJV) “Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. (10) For thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer thine Holy One to see corruption”. Why not continue to the next verse? Christians can not because David wasn’t talking about Jesus; David was talking about himself. (Psalm 16:11) “You will show me the path of life, in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”



Psalm 16:9-10 in the Hebrew Tanakh says “Therefore, my heart rejoiced and my soul was glad; even my flesh shall dwell in safety. (10) For You shall not forsake my soul to the grave; You shall not allow Your pious one to see the pit.”



Where is ‘Hell’, and ‘Corruption’ as the New Testament stated? It did not exist! .



The Hebrew translation of Psalm 16:10 tells of David again talking to God, rejoicing that God will not forsake his soul to the grave. While David is alive he will dwell in safety because God will protect his flesh from injury, and G-d will show him the way. Does verse 11 relate to Jesus? If Jesus is part of the godhead, as Christians say, how can G-d show him the way?



5. Isaiah 9:5 − The Hebrew Tanakh reads: “For a child has been born to us, a son has been given us and authority has settled on his shoulders. He has been named “The Mighty G-d” Isaiah was referring to King Hezekiah, son of Ahaz.



Again, in an attempt to insert a Jesus prophecy, the KJV changed the tense from the present to the future, making it, “A child is born, a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty G-d”. [In Hebrew Hezekiah means “the mighty G-d.”]



6. In John, the New Testament author tries to make Jesus as the perfect sacrificial lamb of God (who then supposedly takes away the sins of the world) and relate this to the Jewish Passover. [John’s writings have Jesus die on Passover, while the other Gospel authors say he died the day after.] John 19:32-36 tells of soldiers breaking the legs of the crucifixion victims to hasten their deaths, yet sparing Jesus because he was already dead. To this end the author of John supposedly quotes Hebrew Scripture saying, “For these things were done, that the Scripture should be fulfilled, a bone of him shall not be broken.” The New Testament “fulfilled prophecy” supposedly refers to Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12 and to Psalms 34:20.



Notice how conveniently John changed the entire meaning by simply changing of Exodus 12:46 by changing one word: “it” to “him.” Exodus 12:46 refers to the PASSOVER-offering, “…and you shall not break a bone in it (the animal).”



Numbers 9:12 again refer to the PASSOVER-offering, “…nor shall they break a bone of it”. Again, by changing one word, the original message is lost.



Psalms 34:20 refers to David saying no one becomes truly righteous and great without his share of mishaps,



CONTINUATION:He guards all his bones, even one of them was not broken.” Nothing ever shows that this Psalm was intended as prophetic, certainly not applying to the future fictitious character of Jesus.



(NOTE: Jesus would have been disqualified as a Passover ’sacrifice’ because the female lamb had to be “without blemish.” Jesus was wounded, whipped and mutilated.)



7. Psalm 2: 11-12. By simply leaving off one Aramaic word, Christians altered the entire verse. The KJV reads, “Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish from the way”



The original Hebrew Tanakh records the verses as “Do homage in purity (nash-ku bar) lest He be angry and you perish”. The meaning of the Hebrew word “bar” is pure or clear. Yes, in Aramaic, the word “bar” does mean son, but it is used only as a combination of two words – SON OF. If in Aramaic, the author wanted to mean just the son, he would have used the phrase “ber’a with the letter alef at the end. (Psalm 2:11-12).



8. Matthew 2:23 − “And he (Jesus) came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets”



Which prophets said that?



According to scholars, rabbis and historians, the city of Nazareth did not exist during the writings of Hebrew Scriptures.



The word “Nazareth” does not appear anywhere in Hebrew Scriptures. This is even verified by the New Testament Concordance!



Therefore, Nazareth and Nazarene are Christian words, not Hebrew words. Nazareth is not mentioned in non-Christian sources until the third or fourth century.



Nazarites are not a sect. but rather it is an individual oath taken by a person to be in effect for a time period. During this time the person is not allowed to cut their hair, go near a corpse, eat grapes or drink wine. Afterward he must bring special offerings to the Beith Hamikdash and shave his hair.



9. Psalm 22:16 from the Hebrew Tanakh when correctly translated reads “They surrounded my hands and feet like a lion” (the word “ka’ari clearly means like a lion, as evident from its use in Isaiah 38:13 and other writings, even in the KJV).



David was pursued by his enemies and often referred to them as “lions” (see Psalms 7 & 17).



Yet, when read out of context the KJV dmistranslates: “They pierced my hands and feet.” The passage was altered to indicate Jesus.



10. Using Isaiah 59:20, Christians again misquote Hebrew Scripture. The New Testament in Romans 11:26, has Paul supposedly saying, “And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written. There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”



The Tanakh recorded a different event. Isaiah:“A redeemer will come to Zion, and to those of Jacob who repent from willful sin. Is it in or out of Jerusalem? Just change “to Zion” to “out of Zion.”



11. Hosea 6:2 − The Christian Bible has the authoress of Luke (24:46-47) telling that Jesus rose on the Third Day: “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” This could have only been designed to satisfy a prophecy in Hosea 6:2. The New Testament has Paul writing in I Corinthians, “and Jesus was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” Further 1 Corinthians 15:4.says “After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight.” Which Hebrew Scriptures are these authors talking about?



As usual, the source documents, The Hebrew Scriptures, say something entirely different:



Hosea 6:1-2 “They will say, Come let us return to God for He (God) has mangled us and He (God) will heal us; He (God) has smitten and He (God) will bandage us. He (God) will heal us after two days; on the third day He (God) will raise us up and we will live before Him. ‘We’ refers to the nation of Israel.



The last verse in Chapter 5 sets the scene and explains the situation very clearly: “I (God) will go, I will return to My place until they will acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their distress they will seek Me (Hosea 5:15). Hosea explains in verse 5 that God sent a clear-cut message to Israel through My prophets; you heard and refused to repent, so My offer resulted in your death sentence. How could I vindicate you after such defiance? Then Hosea explains: “Come let us return to God”!



Does this refer to Jesus?



Answer: No.



And a few more…



Psalm 2:11-12. This passage is cited often by Christians seeking to prove the Trinity. In the King James Bible, it reads:



“Serve the L-rd with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”



But the verse is mistranslated. The word rendered “the Son” is “bar”. In Hebrew, the word means “pure” and is correctly translated in Psalm 24 (”clean hands and a pure heart”). The Hebrew word for “son” is “ben”.



Confusion results from the fact that the word does mean “son” in Aramaic; but there is no Aramaic in any of the Psalms. In fact, verse 2:7, just a few verses before this passage, reads, “I will declare the decree: the L-rd hath said unto me, Thou art my Son [beni]; this day have I begotten thee”, proving that the word “ben” was known and used by the composer of Psalm 2. Verses 11 and 12 should read, “Serve the L-rd with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Desire what is pure, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”



This rendering makes it clear that the pronouns in verse 12 all refer to the L-rd, with no hint of a Trinity.



Even if we assume that “bar” means “son” here, that still doesn’t give us a Trinity. G-d has many sons. Israel is G-d’s firstborn son (Exodus 4:22; see also Hosea 11:1). The sons of G-d took wives from among the daughters of men (Genesis 6:1-2). The sons of G-d appeared before His throne, and Satan was among them (Job 1:6; 2:1).



Even Jesus says, “Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of G-d” (Matthew 5:9). There is nothing in Psalm 2 which makes the “bar” any more G-d’s son than the sons mentioned above.



Isaiah 53:8 in the Christian bible reads “…for the transgression of my people he was stricken.”



Is this the correct translation from the Hebrew bible?



No. The correct translation of Isaiah 53:8 (from the Hebrew bible) is: “as a result of the transgression of my people, they were afflicted.”



The correct translation is THEY, not He! This Hebrew word for “they” appears over 40 times in the Hebrew bible – always translated as “they”!



ISAIAH 53



As all of my fellow Jews will no doubt agree, if there is one part of the Tanakh that many Christians use to ‘prove’ to us that Jesus is mentioned/referenced, it is this!



The problem is, they are not only mistranslating but also misinterpreting it.



Isaiah 53 actually starts with Chapter 52:13. In Hebrew, the scripture portions are divided by “stumas.” A space of several letters can be found at the closing of a passage before the next passage begins.



This can ***only*** be found in a Hebrew Bible. A Torah scribe has to strictly follow these rules. By reading the passage in its entirety, you learn that God is speaking to his servant and that the servant shall prosper and be exalted and be very high (Isaiah 52:13).



And who is the ’suffering servant’?



Christianity claims it is Jesus.



But in fact, it is Israel, as clearly shown in Isaiah 41:8 & 44:1-2 & 45:4. These verses continue to describe the amazement of the world when they see the Jewish people redeemed. In particular, they are written in an exclamatory fashion to describe how the nations “despised” the Jewish people and gave “no regard” for them. The reason it is written in the singular is because the Jews are regarded as one body, called “Israel.” There are many instances of the Jewish people being referred to with a singular pronoun throughout the Torah.



————————————–…



It’s also interesting to compare what is said in the Christian bible, *about* the Tanakh, to what is actually written in the Tanakh.



We find things that contradict the Tanakh:



Matthew 1:2-15 – His list of generations does not agree with Torah l Chronicles Ch. 1-3



Matthew 1:16 – he forgot Jewish law. The Jewish Scriptures state that a person’s genealogy and tribal membership is transmitted exclusively through the **biological** father (Numbers 1:18 Jeremiah 33:17)



Matthew 5:43 – Jesus says: “thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy which You have heard that it hath been said”.



But in the Tanakh, Leviticus 19:18 does not mention any ‘enemy’.



Matthew 1511 – ‘Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.’ Contradicted by all the dietary laws in the Tanakh.



Matthew on Isaiah:



Matt 1:23 – Mistakenly uses the Septuagint word for virgin instead of Hebrew “Almah” (young woman)



Matthew 1:23 – Misquotes Isaiah 7:14, “they” will call Jesus Immanuel, whereas Isaiah wrote “his mother” would call him Immanuel – not “they”.



Matthew 3:3 – Misinterprets and alters Isaiah 40:3 – “Prepare the way of the Lord”. Not so.



Matt 4:15 – Added “Galilee of the Gentiles” to Isaiah 9:1-2. Not in the Hebrew Tanakh.



Matt 8:17 – Took Isaiah 53:4 out of context – Isaiah was relating to a leper (nagua).



Matt 12:17-21 – Taking Isaiah 42:1-4 out of context – the Servant was Israel 4 times



Matt. 13.14-15 – Took out of context Isaiah 6:9-10 of people being “blind”



Matthew also misinterprets the Jewish Prophets:



Matthew 2:5-6 – Misinterprets Micah 5:2 – the Messiah coming from Bethlehem. It was David a Bethlemite, born in Bethlehem and from his seed would come the messiah.



Matthew 2:15 –Taking Hosea 11:1 out of context, Jesus being called out of Egypt



Matthew 2:17-18 – Distorts meaning of Jeremiah 31:1-17 of Rachel weeping.



Matthew 11.10: By changing the pronoun in Malachi 3.1 “before me” or “before you”?



Matthew 13:35 – The Christ will speak in parables – distorting Psalm 78:2



Matthew 21:1-7 – Jesus riding on two donkeys at the same time – ???????? – (Zechariah 9:9)



Matthew 22:43-44 – Capitalizes the second lord – altering the meaning of Psalm 110:1



Matthew 23:35 Mistakenly gave Zechariah’ father the wrong son. Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada, not Barachiah. II Chronicles 24:20–21



Matthew 27:9 – Quoted the wrong prophet – was not Jeremiah but Zechariah



Matthew 27:9 – Book of Zechariah was never about any “potter’s field”



————————————–… Are the ‘covenant’ and the ‘testament’ synonymous? Remember that Jeremiah wrote in Hebrew. So when Greeks–not fully understanding the correct Hebrew definition of the word “Bereeth–interpreted the Hebrew word “Bereeth”, they interpreted it as Covenant and also Testament,” They failed to realize that “Bereeth” also means a “promise.”



The Hebrew word “BEREETH” or covenant signifies a promise between God and the Jewish people. It may be made official by any number of symbolic acts such as circumcision (bris), offerings (sacrifice), etc. Bereeth binds living persons to certain behaviour. In the case of the ‘new’ Contract (Covenant), the parties involved were God, Israel, and Judah. The New Covenant is to be made with both Israel and Judah (Jeremiah 31:31).



‘Bereeth’ is a promise from God that he will never abandon the Jews as is revealed over and over again in His Torah and Tanakh.



Christianity statesJeremiah says that God replaced the old covenant with a new one. “Behold the days are coming says the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the House of Judah”.(Jer 31:30-31 quoted in Heb 8:8-12, 10:16).



Christians claim this clearly proves that the old covenant will be abolished for the new one of Jesus. Well, maybe, if you stop right there with verse 32. But continue: The very next verse 33 says,



“I will put my Torah within them.”



It does not say new Torah – instead, it is the same Torah which will become a permanent part and will not be forgotten as in the past. Verse 32 in the Jewish Bible says;



“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My Torah in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Jesus - A Nice Jewish Boy...?

So, let’s talk about Jesus.



It’s not a topic that comes up when Jews talk. Jesus does not feature in Judaism – not at all. But as many of us are asked by our Christian friends and colleagues what we ‘really think’ about him, let’s clarify:

Jesus occupies the same place in Judaism, as Mohammed does in Christianity. In other words: you could go to every synagogue on Earth, and I guarantee, you would never hear Jesus mentioned.

Many people find this strange; after all, millions of Christians proclaim Jesus as their ‘messiah’ and ’saviour’. Why on earth don’t Jews themselves attach any importance to this vital, most famous, and above all Jewish historical figure?

Well, let’s consider the context:

Back when Jesus was busy gallivanting around Judea, declaring himself as ‘'maschiach’, the Jews were living under Roman oppression. And it was rough. The Romans had a nasty habit of crucifying people – mainly Jews. Sometimes up to 100 Jews in a single day.

And as at other tough times in Jewish history, the Jews longed for their maschiach. They knew full well he could be right there, in their midst. After all, the Torah makes it clear: the Jewish maschiach is a normal, mortal man – he’s not ‘divine’ and he doesn’t have supernatural powers.

In short: he wouldn’t look any different from any other Jewish man.

So where was he?

Numerous young Jewish blokes believed themselves to be the maschiach. They too sauntered around Jerusalem, their faithful believers scuttling after them and hanging on every word. There was nothing unique about Jesus, he was one of many. Contrary to the way he’s portrayed, Jesus was not some ancient David Beckham of the middle east, known and adored by all!

Indeed, the vast majority of Jews had no awareness of Jesus. He simply led one of numerous small sects, there on the fringes of Judaism.

Christianity claims that Jesus fulfilled various messianic prophecies. It points to the ‘old testament’ in a bid to ‘prove’ this. There’s just one problem – the OT is not the Jewish bible. It never has been.

Think about it logically: why would Judaism define its own scriptures as ‘old’?

The OT is a Christian text.

It is a Church-approved, rearranged, and sadly often mistranslated version of the actual Jewish bible, the Tanakh. No Jew reads nor studies the OT.

So when Jews and Christians discuss the ‘Jewish bible’ they are usually referring to two entirely different texts. Many Christians assume, for the most part, that the OT is ‘jewish’. Jews then have to break the news that in fact, it is not anything to do with Judiasm.

And since, for the most part, Jews read the Tanakh in the original Hebrew, we are bemused when some Christians state that we are somehow ‘misinterpreting’ it, when we explain to them that no, Jesus does not appear in the Tanakh.

Historically, Christianity has also ignored something else when it insists that Jews have ‘rejected’ Jesus.

It has ignored that the very idea of ‘messiah’ originated with Judaism. The messianic prophecies and description of the Maschiach were written in Hebrew, by Jews, for Jews.

It seems logical to conclude that the people who first described the messiah, the people who studied the Hebrew scriptures, the people who read the messianic prophecies in Hebrew, were sufficiently intelligent to identify their own messiah!

But historically, Christianity has suggested that Jews managed, bizarrely, to misunderstand the Jewish bible!

One of the most well known examples of this is when Isaiah – according to Christianity – describes a ‘virgin birth’. A clear reference to Mary and Jesus, insist Christianity. A clear prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus. A clear example of Jews ‘ misinterpreting’ their own bible.

But the original Hebrew says nothing about a 'virgin birth'. Why would it? There is no such concept in Judaism.

What does Isaiah actually say, then...?

Isaiah uses the word ‘almah’. This means ‘young woman’. It has always meant ‘young woman’. It has never meant ‘virgin’.

If Isaiah had wanted to say ‘virgin’ he would have used an entirely different Hebrew word: ‘betulah’.

Recently, a few Christian bibles have been amended and brought into line with the original Hebrew. Here they are:


Recent altered Christian Translations of Isaiah 7:14

Revised Standard Version: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Revised English Bible Because you do, the Lord of his own accord will give you a sign; it is this: A young woman is with child, and she will give birth to a son and call him Immanuel.

New English Bible Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: A young woman is with child, and she will bear a son, and will call him Immanuel.

New Revised Standard Version: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures(Jehovah Witnesses) Therefore Jehovah himself will give you men a sign: Look! The maiden herself will actually become pregnant, and she is giving birth to a son, and she will certainly call his name Immanuel.

Good News Bible: Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: A young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him “Immanuel.”

The Jerusalem Bible: Readers Edition The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: The maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.

The Bible: A New Translation An omen you shall have, and that from the Eternal himself. There is a young woman with child, who shall bear a son and call his name “Immanuel” (G-d is with us).

The Bible: An American Translation:Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold! A young woman is with child, and is about to bear a son; and she will call him “G-d is with us.”

The International Critical Commentary:Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a damsel is with child, and shall bring forth a son, and call his name Immanuel.

The New Jerusalem Bible: The Lord will give you a sign in any case. It is this: The young woman is with child and will give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel.

The Layman’s Bible Commentary: In reply, Isaiah says that the Lord will provide a sign. It will be a most unusual and remarkable event. A young woman shall bear a son and name him “Immanuel."

World Biblical Commentary: Therefore my Lord himself will give you (pl) a sign. Behold, the woman shall conceive and bearing a son — she shall call his name “Immanuel.”

The Bible in Basic English: For this cause the Lord himself will give you a sign; a young woman is now with child, and she will give birth to a son, and she will give him the name Immanuel.



Thus many Christian authorities now admit that there is nothing about a ‘virgin birth’ in Isaiah – or indeed anywhere else in the Tanakh. Why would there be? The idea is totally alien to Judaism.

The Jewish G-d never, ever takes human form – and certainly doesn’t pop in to planet earth to impregnate a Nice Jewish Girl…!


Above all, though, Jesus did not fulfill any of the Jewish messianic prophecies.

Among other things, the Jewish Maschiach must:


- usher in world peace

- unite all Jews in Israel

- bring Torah to all the nations

- rebuild the temple

- REJECT doing miracles

- redeem Israel, and the world

- be from King David’s line

- create G-d’s kingdom, here on earth.


And the Jewish maschiach must achieve all 23 prophecies before he dies - in one normal, mortal lifetime. No 'second coming' in Judaism.

Now, did Jesus fulfill any of these before he died?

Answer: No.



Conclusion: Jesus was not – indeed could not have been – the Jewish maschiach.


To reiterate a key point: the concept of ‘messiah’ is a Jewish concept. Judaism was the first faith to articulate the idea. Christianity has revised the definition of ‘messiah’ so much that now, many Christians don’t even know that their messiah bears no relation to the original Jewish Maschiach.


So, what do Jews think about Jesus, when the topic arises?

Well, there’s no official line on him. Some Jews probably doubt he ever existed at all – remember, Jesus is not mentioned by any contemporary writers of his own time.

Many Jews regard Jesus as a young, charismatic preacher who sought to reform Judaism – but who never intended to ’start’ a new faith. Jesus taught basic Judaism. ‘Love Thy Neighbour’ appears first in the holy Jewish text, the Torah.

Yet he did apparently break the Jewish shabbat, which no truly observant Jew would do. And if he claimed to be ‘god’ that also violates Torah. Yet more reasons which prove he was not our maschiach.

In short, then, Jesus was just a Nice Jewish Boy. And let’s face it – if ever he should somehow return, he’d head straight for the nearest synagogue...!

MESSIANICS 3: Exposing Messianic Lies

For anyone who is involved in countering the lies told by Messianics, here are some additional facts, and some background information,  that may be of interest. 

If anyone has extra info, please do submit it!

 
Some Christian Evangelicals Now Posing As ‘MESSIANIC MUSLIMS’  As Well As ‘messianic jews’: 

  Radical Missionary Approach Produces ‘Messianic Muslims’


SOURCE: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0204/104.html


“Thus, for instance, Churches might be called “messianic mosques” – and may be designed to look like Muslim places of worship, with worshippers being required to remove their footwear before entering.

“Worship services might be designed on the lines of Sufi zikr and sama sessions, with regular Christian Sufi orders in place. Certain Muslim festivals may be celebrated by Christians after being suitably adapted.

“By thus presenting themselves as little different from Muslims in external appearance, Christian missionaries will find it easier to win Muslim friends, and, hopefully, converts.” 


SOURCE: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0204/104.html
 

“Become like the Muslims to reach the Muslims. Be all things to all men, George suggests to potential Christian missionaries.  

Hence, George suggests, in their encounters with Muslims, Christian missionaries must insist that they alone are the true Muslims.
 
This, he says, promises to have an impact on potential converts. In order to further convince Muslims of their claims to true ‘Islamicity‘, Christian missionaries could formulate their own version of the Muslim Shahada.

“Christian missionaries, too, might adopt taqiya, concealing their faith when occasion demands, focussing more on what unites them with the Muslims rather than on what divides them, while at the same time trying to spread Christianity among the Muslims through subtle means. “

http://www.hvk.org/articles/0204/104.html

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2000/04/Radical-Missionary-Approach-Produces-Messianic-Muslims-Who-Claim-To-Retain-Their-Islamic-Identity.aspx
 
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/spirituality/lighthousetrails/08/10-oakland-missions.htm


A May/June 2000 issue of Watchman’s Trumpet magazine explains what this new missiology really entails:

“Several international missions organizations, including Youth With a Mission (YWAM), are testing a new approach to missionary work in areas where Christianity is unwelcome.

A March 24, 2000, Charisma News Service report said some missionaries are now making converts but are allowing them to “hold on to many of their traditional religious beliefs and practices” so as to refrain from offending others within their culture.”
 
The Charisma article in which Watchman’s Trumpet reports elaborates: “Messianic Muslims” who continue to read the Koran, visit the mosque and say their daily prayers but accept Christ as their Savior, are the products of the strategy, which is being tried in several countries, according to Youth With a Mission (YWAM), one of the organizations involved.
 
The so-called “C5 missionaries” whom Phil had met advocate that it is okay to affirm Muhammad as a genuine prophet of God; that Muslim background believers should attend the mosque perpetually; and that Christians should consider legally converting to Islam to win Muslims as Muslims.
 
More here:

http://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=v&id=8769 
 




MAINSTREAM CHRISTIAN MOVEMENTS RECOGNISE THAT MESSIANICS ARE THEIR FELLOW CHRISTIANS:


“messianic jews” are evangelical Protestants, so we evangelize them as Protestants 

Source: 

‘How Catholics Can Evangelise’ 

http://www.secondexodus.com/html/evangelization/evangelizingjews.htm

 

 

ALL RABBIS IDENTIFY MESSIANICS AS NON JEWS

 

The Central Conference of American Rabbis has stated:

“Anyone who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is now an Apostate. Through that belief they have placed themselves outside the Jewish community, and outside of Judaism.

 

Whether the person  defines himself as a Christian or as a ‘fulfilled Jew,‘ or ‘messianic jew,’ or any other designation is irrelevant; to us, they are EX Jews.”

And:

 ’ In acknowledging Jesus and the Christian Scriptures, these congregations are accepting many other theological concepts contrary to the Jewish belief system, including:

original sin

the devil and demonology

vicarious blood atonement

the trinity.

 

Messianic congregations are Christians portraying themselves as Jews,” said Rabbi Richard Margolis, the leader of Temple Beth Sholom in Melbourne and a member of the Jewish Federation board of Brevard.

In an e-mail, he added:

 

“The issue is deceit. This is a deceptive missionary movement, organized and heavily funded by evangelical Christians whose sole purpose is to convert Jews to (fundamentalist) Christianity. There is nothing Jewish about any of this.

I have great respect for the authentic Christian tradition and maintain an ongoing program of interfaith activities in our community. But I cannot countenance couching fundamentalist Christianity in Jewish symbols.”

Countering A Common Messianic Claim:

 

The Messianic movement insists that since the original followers of Jesus were Jews, they are not engaging in a deception.

 

They maintain that Jews who embrace Jesus don’t cut themselves off from their heritage–on the contrary, they become ‘completed’ or ‘fulfilled’ Jews…!

 

However, it is misleading to suggest that Christianity is a legitimate Jewish option simply because Jesus’ first disciples were Jews. After all, those who built and worshipped the Golden Calf were also Jews.

 

Furthermore, the beliefs and practices of these original followers ultimately morphed when the movement was taken over in the 2nd century by non-Jews who were never part of the original movement.

They developed ideas about the nature of G-d and how to relate to Him and the concept of Messiah and sin that veered dramatically from Judaism. They finally canonized a different set of scriptures and became a completely different religion.

ANALOGY:

 

The United States may have been a British colony at one time. However, it would make no sense to tell people living in England today that they can be more British by becoming American citizens.

 

Ultimately, England and the United States had a parting of the ways. So, too, Judaism and Christianity once split into two different religions with very different belief systems.

 

It is absurd to suggest that one can become more Jewish by embracing Christianity and the Christian worship OF Jesus!

———————————————————————————————

Messianic Groups Openly Admit They Target Jews For Conversion To Christianity:

 

Every major Christian evangelical denomination is now preaching the same message: we love the Jews, and therefore want them to become Christians!

 

And they are putting their money where their mouth is:  Over 300 million dollars annually to bankroll the “Messianic Jewish” conversionary campaign.  

 

Here are some examples:

“We are committed to the god-given Mandate of communicating the essential Gospel of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah to the Jewish people…We owe it to Jesus, the King of Israel, and to every living Jewish person to present the Gospel to him or her.” -Assemblies of god “Jewish” Ministries

 

“As evangelical Christians, we want to express our genuine friendship and love for the Jewish people… It is out of our profound respect for Jewish people that we seek to share the good news of Jesus Christ with them, and encourage others to do the same, for we believe that salvation is only found in Jesus , the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the World.” – World Evangelical Alliance, New York Times ad, March 28, 2008  

 

 

"Whereas our evangelistic efforts have largely neglected the Jewish people, both at home and abroad, and there is evidence of a growing responsiveness among the Jewish people in some areas of our nation and our world; now, therefore…be it finally resolve, that we direct our energies and resources toward the proclamation of the gospel to the Jewish people.

  — Southern Baptist Convention Source: “Resolution on Jewish Evangelism” (June 1996) 

 

"However difficult it may be for some Jews to understand, Christian love constrains the church to share the Gospel of salvation with them.  

 

Martin Luther, in his last sermon, said concerning the attitude of Christians toward the Jewish people, ‘We want to treat them with Christian love and to pray for them, so that they might become converted and would receive the Lord.’…

 

"Therefore, the church should continue to share the Gospel with them for it is the only means by which they may be saved. –Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod “Excursis Regarding the Jews”

 

 

———————————————————————————————-

 

USE THIS FOR EXPLAINING THE AIM OF THE MESSIANIC MOVEMENT TO PEOPLE UNFAMILIAR WITH THIS TOPIC:

 

 

 

Messianics Within The Context Of Christianity:

 

 

For over 2000 years, some Christians have made it their life’s work to convert Jews. At times, these Missionaries have used torture, and other coercions, to achieve this – i.e. Spanish Inquisition. More recently, Christian Missionaries have been using a different strategy.

 

They have started using Jewish names, Hebrew songs, and even posing *as* Jews themselves. They now claim that the only ‘complete jew’ or ‘fulfilled jew’ is a Jew who worships Jesus and practises….yes, Christianity!

 

Thus we have the rise of the “messianic jews” – who are Christian Missionaries. Judaism respects the right of Christians to worship as they please. It, however, condemns those who try to impose Christianity on Jews through deceit or any other way.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“jews for jesus” 


This group was formed by Martin Meyer – an ordained Baptist Minister! All of the leaders and top staff members are evangelical Christians.  

This was the first Messianic group and is arguably one of the most well known and aggressive.

COUNTERING THE LIES OF 'jews4jesus':

“jews for jesus”  maintains that a Jew can keep their religious identity, even after converting to Christianity. 

 “jews for jesus” is appealing because it claims that its converts can believe in Jesus, partake in baptism, celebrate Christmas, and remain Jewish, all at the same time. 
 
The group preaches a weird hybrid of Judaism and Christianity. The Torah itself argues against this idea of Judeo-Christian combination. While all Jews are considered members for life, a person who worships another god or idol is no longer considered Jewish (I Kings 18:21). 

 
Worship of Jesus as the “lone son of god” is considered belief in a foreign god, and the convert would not be considered Jewish. 

Judaism does, however, always allow a converted Jew to return to the faith when they again accept the oneness of G-d.
 

”jews for jesus” claims that Jews must put faith in Jesus as their savior from sin. Original sin is an inherently Christianbelief and, according to Judaism, “sin is an act, not a state of being”

 The Torah does not teach that humans are born with sin, but that individual repentance is necessary when a person strays from the commandments of G-d. 

In other words, Jews do not believe that one person (namely, Jesus) is capable of repenting for all of humanity’s sins through his death. Likewise, Jews do not believe that one must pray to Jesus for G-d to hear. G-d, according to the Tanakh, can hear every individual’s prayer. 
 
As it is written in Psalms 145:18, “G-d is near to all who call unto Him.” Christians feel that they must pray to Jesus in order for G-d to hear their words. The most important argument against “jews for jesus” is the fact that Jews do not believe that the messiah has arrived. 
 
According to the Torah, the messiah must be a descendent of King David. Jews do not consider Jesus to be a direct descendent. 

More importantly, the messiah is supposed to bring peace to all humanity. As is stated in Isaiah 2:4: “And nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” 

Jesus’ coming did not bring about peace and, therefore, Jews cannot accept him as the messiah. In response, “jews for jesus” might refer to the ’second coming’ of Jesus. 

 
The gospels predict that Jesus will ascend Earth again to fulfill his messianic prophecies. Of course, there is no mention of a ’second coming’  in the Torah. Therefore,”jews for jesus”  is unable to use Jewish textual evidence to prove that Jesus is the messiah and will come again.”


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Christian Responses To Messianics:

 

Many Messianic leaders are ordained clergy of various Christian denominations. 

 

A growing list of Christian denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention and the Assemblies of god movement, actively plant Messianic congregations as part of their efforts to evangelize the Jewish people. 

 

At the present time, more than ten different Christian denominations count Messianic congregations as members of their denomination. Their theology, as reflected in their statements of faith, is solidly within the ambit of Evangelical Christianity. 

 

They believe in the New Testament ,  salvation by grace through faith in Jesus alone, the divinity of Jesus whom they believe is Christ, and the Trinity.

Apart from Jewish terminology and cultural practices, believers of this school have a much closer affinity to Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity than to any recognized branch of Judaism. They regard observance of the Sabbath and the Jewish dietary laws as entirely optional.

 

 

Many Evangelical and Pentecostal groups have welcomed the movement and have actively founded Messianic congregations, but many more liberal Christians have been more critical.

Some Christians, mostly liberal, feel that Messianic groups are guilty of false advertising. 

 

In 1997 , for example, the Board of Governors of the Long Island Council of Churches (New York) accused “jews for jesus” of “engaging in subterfuge and dishonesty,” and of “mixing religious symbols in ways that distort their essential meaning.”

 

Another organization critical of the Messianic Movement is the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington .

 

In 1997 this group, comprising liberal Christian, as well as Jewish and Muslim leaders, put out a strongly worded statement condemning the proselytization efforts of the Messianic Movement.

The statement read:

 

 

“We condemn proselytizing efforts which delegitimize the faith tradition of the person whose conversion is being sought. Such tactics go beyond the bounds of appropriate and ethically based religious outreach.  

 

Examples of such practices are those common among groups that have adopted the label of  “messianic judaism”   or “jews for jesus”.

 

 

These groups specifically target Jews for conversion to their version of Christianity, making claim that in accepting Jesus as the savior/messiah, a Jew ‘fulfills’ his/her faith.  

 

Furthermore, by celebrating Jewish festivals, worshipping on the Jewish Shabbat, appropriating Jewish symbols, rituals and prayers in their churches, and, sometimes, even calling their leaders ‘Rabbi’, they seek to win over, often by deception, many Jews who are sincerely looking for a path back to their ancestral heritage.

 

 

Deceptive proselytizing is practiced on the most vulnerable of populations – residents of hospitals and old age homes, confused youth, college students away from home. These proselytizing techniques are tantamount to coerced conversions and should be condemned.” 

 

(Summer, 1997, Washington, D.C., Interfaith Connector” Vol. 8, No. 2)