Rabbi warns: Some Christians are attempting to convert Jews

PJ Star.Com (Journal Star) ^ | April 1, 2003 | Sarah Okeson

[ComtedeMaistre]

Rabbi warns: Some Christians are attempting to convert Jews

Speaker says congregations should watch out for Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God

April 1, 2003

By SARAH OKESON of the Journal Star

PEORIA - Jews believing in Jesus as savior, says Rabbi Michael Cook, makes about as much sense as an International Society of Vegetarians for Meat.

"How can you eat meat and still be a vegetarian?" Cook asked.

Cook, perhaps the only rabbi in the United States with a Ph.D. in the New Testament, talked to about 60 people Monday at the synagogue shared by the two Jewish congregations in Peoria.

Cook, a professor at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, said some Christian denominations have stepped up their efforts to convert Jews in the belief it will help bring about the second coming of Christ.

"They believe the only way that glorious end of the world can happen is if enough Jews move to Israel first or accept Jesus," Cook said.

He predicted Jews have about three more decades of strenuous conversion efforts to suffer through because the last time this happened - after the first millennium - efforts to convert Jews didn’t die out until 1035.

"We have 32 years of missionary fervor to get through," Cook said.

In the meantime, Cook ran through a list of believers to watch out for including Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God, Jews for Jesus and Messianic Jews.

He said Southern Baptist and Assemblies of God are sometimes misleading in their efforts to convert Jews and that Jews for Jesus was founded by a Baptist minister.

"Their big desire is to convert Jews without Jews knowing they are leaving the Jewish fold," Cook said of Jews for Jesus.

The rabbi said Catholics and liberal Protestants stopped trying to convert Jews after the Holocaust and said Jews had a convenant with God and didn’t need to worry about being saved.

[Gurn]

Two, actually. Luke and Acts.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

AoG definately NOT of the Calvinist tradition.

[Bella_Bru]

I object to the notion of chasing after Jews for conversion. I object to evangelical groups littering synagogue ground with their fliers. Keep your crap (not you personally, the royal you) at home.

And my love of Judaism has nothing to do with sex. And my contempt of proslytizers has nothing to do with hatred for Christianity. It has to do with disgust with their methods.

But I am not that worried. Jews took death over conversion in the past, and Jews will take Judaism over the "new and improved", yet, same message from the evangelicals.

[Gurn]

I don't know. Where do Angels come from?

[laureldrive]

some of the very best Christians were Jews

including somebody named Jesus.

[Illbay]

A good point.

And you can see, from viz. the Unitarian Universalists and the Congregationalists, where a purely "intellectual" pursuit of religious truth can lead you.

There must be a balance.

[Illbay]

Where did Satan come from?

[gcruse]

I think everybody should be like me. Everybody has the right to be just like me. What I can't understand is the resistant I get when I try to change them. It's for their own good. People are really stupid, but I'm going to keep on trying. It's a free country, and they have nothing better to do.

[power2]

Some of the Catholic hierarchy told us Catholics that converting Jews was wrong. I think they made an error, but they did say that.

"Some of the Catholic hierarchy" are anti-semitic, and "Some of the Catholic hierarchy" believe there should be women priests, and "Some of the Catholic hierarchy" are waiting for the current Pope to die, so the Church can be "updated". They're wrong on every count, and what they say doesn't reflect the beliefs nor official teaching of the Church.

[Gurn]

I'll answer your question with a question: Where do angels come from?

[Quix]

AH SO.

Will only repeat what I've said otherwise on FR.

I love the story of my Best Man's Father--who's grandfather had the farm across the fence from Joseph Smith in Palmyra New York.

Smith's associates or he came up with the idea of impressing the troops by walking on water. So his associates arranged some chicken wire just under the surface of the lake. But when Smith got out a fair distance, someone undid/cut the wire and his 'miracle' suddenly fell through.

And, I'm not at all impressed with the what--3-4 convictions on the court records for Smith defrauding various none too bright farmers out of a grubstake "to buy equipment" to dig up "secret treasure" on the farmer's lands per Smith's purported "old secret map." I think the Tanners did plenty of good research on that.

And then there's my own experience with the donation to the Univ Library Special Collections dept I was acting head of--by a Mormon pioneer who died not long thereafter. He had some original journals etc. of the--I forget the term--WHITE RIVER MASSACRE??? wherein B Young encouraged 123? nonMormons to be killed--men, women and children.

The local Flagstaff congregation's elders/Bishop tried to get the University library to donate the materials to the church. Of course, we refused. Then they tried to threaten legally until they realized that was futile. Then they evidently tried to steal them. Very impressive.

I'm also not very impressed with the doctrine that some people are so evil that the Mormon does the evil person a favor by shooting them or cutting their throat or whatever so that the evil person sheds his own blood because Christ's Blood is not sufficient to cover THEIR evil. Talk about Blasphemous!

My PhD Chairman was a Mormon. Brillaint fellow. And I used Mormon George Kelly's grid stuff in my research--more brilliance. Truly.

In spite of Mormons used to insisting that the Book of Mormon was never revised--it has been through at least what--5 revisions? My Chairman was at least honest with himself most of the time. I once asked him how he dealt with himself--in his own mind the contradictions between the different versions etc.

He paused and said that life was sooooooooooooooo complex that just about any cockamaymee explanation would do.

I think that explains Mormonism quite well.

[Illbay]

Angels are spirit children of our Heavenly Father, eternal intelligences clothed with bodies of spirit. Many have already gone through the trial of mortality, and are thus resurrected beings.

Michael, the Archangel, was the man Adam. Gabriel was Noah in mortality.

Where did Satan come from?

[EternalVigilance]

The Gospel of Luke.

Doctor Luke was a Gentile.

[Bella_Bru]

How are these pro-Israel Christians being repaid for their support of Israel? With insults and denigration. Rabbi Michael Cook and those who think like him are ingrates. What we need are truly civilized Jews

And then you wonder why Jews sometimes question the motives of Pro-Israel Christians.

[tang-soo]

...said Jews had a convenant with God and didn’t need to worry about being saved.

But then I read again John Chapter 3 - oops!

[Quix]

No big argument though I don't think any of us have it all figured out exactly what God will do with any, much more, all of that.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Rigid Calvinism tends toward a kind of existentialism that most Southern Baptists eschew. ("I am what I am, and boy I HOPE what I am is saved.") Loose Calvinism (you have a valid choice, but once saved always saved) is more typical of SB.

[FITZ]

I object to the notion of chasing after Jews for conversion.

From what I've seen they don't chase after any one group ---they go after everyone ---Catholics, agnostics etc. I bought a book from a Baptist one time and in practically every-other page there was some Bible literature, I think she thought I was okay but desperately needed "saving".

[EternalVigilance]

You are so confused.

[Gurn]

Michael, the Archangel, was the man Adam. Gabriel was Noah in mortality.

My "shallow", sectarian Bible must have omitted those passages. Can you direct me to them?