Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus: Theological Objections Vol. 2

I am not biologically a Jew. However, as a Christian I deeply value the deep roots our faith has in the Jewish messiah and in the Torah given from God. Michael Brown has invested incredible effort to illuminate not only how Yeshua is the Jewish messiah to the Jew but also how Christianity is deeply rooted in Judaism and the Torah. I don’t feel that Christianity was ever intended to be the separate religion that it has turned into today. Most Christians today lack understanding of history, the Bible itself, the oracles of God given to the Jews and that our messiah, Yeshua the WORD (Torah, Law, Old Testament) made flesh, came to uphold the Law not abolish it.I read a lot of scholar level books on history and religion and this book is one of my favorites!Be prepared as a Jew to see the scriptures come alive in your Jewish messiah Yeshua. As a Christian, be prepared to see your faith and the practice of it revolutionized to reflect what the Bible actually teaches when you focus on the whole council of the word of God.

Michael Brown does an excellent job of answering questions Jews or anyone else may have about Jesus as a Jew and as the Son of God. He may get a little long-winded in some of his answers as many do who are trying to explain something that is heartfelt to others who don't get it but it's all worth it. He's well thought out and this is a book worth having, especially if you deal with people who have questions or wonder about the realities of Jesus' life.

Brown is the foremost Christian expert on Judaism, and I highly recommend this 4-volume set. This volume centers on theological objections. It can either be read as a reference source (looking up different objections in the book is not hard using the index) or read all the way through. I have chosen the former method, so I haven't read every page...but they're on my shelf whenever a question on Judaism arises. The thing about Judaism is it is so different moving from Orthodox all the way to Reformed. But the general ideas in this book cover all the branches. Every Christian should be able to talk to their Jewish believer friends, family, and co-workers, because the topic is of utmost importance.

I wish I had found this book many years ago when I was spending a lot of time with Israelis. They asked me pointed questions, like about the Trinity, and I did not know how to respond in a way that would not sound superior or condemning.I hope my sincere friendship opened doors for future discussion and one day I will have more opportunities now that I have a better grasp on Jewish theology. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the theological differences between Judaism and Christianity.

Dr. Brown has done an amazing job of responding to theological objections about the Messiahship of Jesus of Nazareth. His arguments are well thought out and thoroughly documented from authoritative sources. To his credit, he doesn't hesitate to correct cheesy Messianic scholarship when correction is needed. Also, perhaps surprisingly (for such a scholarly work), the book is very readable. With a little effort, a layman can easily read and absorb the material. I'm buying both print and digital versions to provide search capability.

Excellent book for a Jewish person who is honestly seeking to find the Truth about who Jesus is. Dr. Brown is a great writer and communicates the truths in this book with a heart full of love and humility for his people. His scholarship is a true blessing!

Ez to read and understand

Simply amazing. Dr. Brown covers a wide array of subjects with great attention to detail. For anyone wanting theological answers to Jewish objections to Jesus this is the book they should read.

I do not think there is another resource like this series. Although Dr. Brown speaks a lot of later Judaism and his views are influenced by further development of Christianity I would say his books take readers back to the first century when Christians (many of them Jews themselves) had to figure out how to explain their faith to their neighbours and friends. He backs up everything he says and is very careful when it comes to original resources.Not too many objections are particularly Jewish. The author deals with questions many Christians and even non-Christians have and sometimes struggle with. I am not a Jew and do not claim be an expert on Judaism. Nevertheless, when I shared some of Michael's thoughts with my Jewish friends they found them really amazing. Should I point out a single issue it would be the way the Trinity is explained (esp- Vol. II, Chapters 3.1 - 2). Other books are full of philosophical stuff and the best you get is a bunch of rather complex terminology that boils down to 3 WHOs and 1 WHAT as Dr. White puts it in The forgotten Trinity. But Dr. Brown shows how the faith in a divine Messiah flows naturally from Tanakh (a.k.a. Old Testament) and Jewish faith. No need to worry about hypostases, consubstantional persons and things most apostles (Paul being possibly the sole exception) had no idea about.So to sum it up, this series could have a subtitle - Understanding Your Own Bible.

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Is Jesus not for Jews? This is the question of the book. Theological objections treated at length in this volume, cut to the heart of the differences between traditional Judaism and the Messianic Jewish/Christian faith. They revolve around the nature of God (the Trinity, the deity of Jeus, the person of the Holy Spirit), the nature of man and the need for salvation, and sin and the means of atonement. It is astonishing that not only the Hebrew Bible but as well the Jewish rabbinic Tradition reject the Jewish objections in their own words, these objections that claim "The religion of the New Tetament is a completely foreign religion that is not only un-Jewish but is also unfaithful to the Hebrew Bible". Nothing could be more false than this.The author starts each objection with a concise statement, followed by a concise answer, which is then followed by an in-depth answer, including citations of important sources as needed and consideration of possible objections to the answers. For those interested in more detailed discussion, substantial notes have been provided.This material could be suitable to silence many formidable objections that have been raised against the Messianic Christian faith by Jews. There is much of substantial value, including important Jewish concepts that provide background and illumination for doctrines.Here some examples how the author approaches his theme of Christian doctrines included in Hebrew thinking.Jews reject the Trinity. The Hebrew Bible has a plural noun for God. "Hebrew, along with other Semitic languages, sometimes expressed greatness, supremacy, exaltation, majesty, and fullness by means of compound plural nouns. Plurality could express prominence, ownership, or divinity, all with reverence to a single person or single deity. This means that the very concept of compound unity was part of the language of the Tanakh." Then he goes on to examine Hebrew Bible verses which are in absolute concordance with the Christian concept of Trinity.Another example: When Christians say that Christ is the Word of God it is no new concept, because the "Word of God" is in action throughout the Hebrew Bible. For example Psalm 33:6; Gen 1:3; Psalm 107:19-20 ("He sent forth his word and healed them"), Is 55:10-11, Psalm 147:15-18. "One of the important links in Rabbinic thoughts was "the Word" called Memra". The Jewish Targum even says: "the Word of the Lord will be my God". And so it goes on and on in this volume. Whatever Jewish believers state against the Christian faith, they seem to oversee more or less important facts.It is striking how Jews reject Christian teaching although they have often the same thoughts. An example is the description of the suffering servant of God in Isaia 53 which Christians relate to Christ whereas Jews relate it to the whole of Israel or an "unknown" suffering Messiah. The Jews in general believe that the Messiah has not yet come, because of the sins of Israel. But some believe that there are two Messiahs, one who is the suffering servant and another who will come to set his people free. Christians believe that both are one and the same.Another big issue is the atonement for sins. Jews believe in the necessity of bloody sacrifices following the tradition of the old covenant. But since there is no more temple, there is no atonement. Some Rabbis and Jewish scholars also believed that the atonement could be made possible by human sacrifices. For example Solomon Schlechter observed that "some Rabbis would, on certain occasions, exclaim, Behold, I am the atonement for Israel". To this day, when a leading rabbi dies, it is common for the mourners to say: "may his death serve as an atonemnet for us". The Christian concept of salvation is apparently not contrary to the Hebrew Bible and even Jewish tradition, "because the concept of salvation in the Tanakh and in the new covenant Scriptures is comprehensive, dealing with spirit, soul and body, both in this world and the world to come...It is deeply ingrained in Jewish tradition that the death of the righteous atones".This book will be of great help to understand orthodox Jewish thinking and find a clue to interchange with Jews about their religion and their objections to the Christian faith. It supports also greatly Christian doctrines because it shows that it all fits in the Hebrew Bible. The author really provides substantial answers to Jewish objections.