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.

[ComtedeMaistre]

Evangelical and Pentecostal Christians are the most pro-Israel group of Americans around. Southern Baptists and Assemblies of God churches are not only strongly pro-Israel, but they are also the finest and most admirable Christians I have ever met.

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, like the admirable Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the Towards Tradition group.

[Illbay]

Rabbi warns: Some Christians are attempting to convert Jews

Don't agree with you about SBs and AGs--they tend to be rather shallow, my personal opinion--but it is absolutely ludicrous to worry about this, Rabbi.

If they want something else, they feel something's missing and they think they find it with Christ, then who are you to disapprove?

Why not do some prosletyzing of your own? That's how you guys got your numbers up about 1,500 years ago, after all, especially in eastern Europe.

[Illbay]

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.

Good thing the Apostles in 33 A.D. didn't adopt that attitude.

[thoughtomator]

Let them try to convert people, if done peacefully. It's a free country.

[EternalVigilance]

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

It makes perfect sense for a Jew to accept the Jewish Messiah. Shoot, all but one book of the New Testement was written by Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Annointed One.

'Completed' Jews are some of the greatest folks I've ever met.

[joesnuffy]

Hey Rabbi...you can lead a horse to water but you cant make him drink....
Only God can convert (convoit if you're Jackie Mason) man can invite..explain..pass out tracts
offer friendship...bible study ..
But actual conversion...the faith must stand or fail on its own merits and the prompting of the Holy Spirit...
other than that it aint Christian imo ..its a cult....beware....

[DannyTN]

"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."

If Moses and the other prophets told you about Jesus and you don't listen to them, isn't that a major, major violation of the Israeli covenant?

[SouthernFreebird]

Oh, the horror..... said in my best Ben Stein voice.

You've come a long way baby when this is what Jews are fretting over.

[skr]

A Jew coming to the realization of Jesus as the promised Messiah is the most natural outcome of Jewish Scripture, and it certainly doesn't stop him from being Jewish, any more than it stopped the Apostles from being Jewish.

[Cicero]

Christians believe that Jesus is the expected Messiah of the Jews.

Yes, we also believe that they are God's chosen people, and that the Covenant with Israel is forever--St Paul says as much, as well as numerous passages in the Hebrew Bible.

But why shouldn't Christians try to convert Jews? They need not listen, unless they (and God) make that choice.

[joesnuffy]

For a Jew to believe in Jesus seems logical to me...after all some of the very best Christians were Jews .. St. Stephen St Paul, St Mary, St Joseph, St John StJames StMatthew StMark etc etc..
What I find hard to fathom is a Jew who doesnt believe in G-d

[JmyBryan]

Yeah like http://www.mjaa.org/StatementOfFaith.html

[EternalVigilance]

Excellent.

[Ronzo]

Rabbi warns: Some Christians are attempting to convert Jews

I'm guilty as charged. I hope ALL JEWS come to know Jesus as their Lord & Savior. Why? Because Jesus is one of them! (Don't tell the good Rabbi...)

God bless the Jews.

[unspun]

>> 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. <<

Christians have stepped up their effors to lead Jews to their Messiah, understanding that this will bring them life.

[Quix]

HEY GROUP!

ANYONE with more spine than a slug

and

enough convictions of their beliefs to hold them with more of a grip than a drunken arctic explorer in mittens

IS VIRTUALLY ALWAYS EITHER CONSCIOUSLY OR UNCONSCIOUSLY TO GREATER OR LESSER DEGREE

speaking, acting, using body language toward moving those they care about toward becoming more like them.

It's human nature.

IF YOU HOLD YOUR BELIEFS

but

DON'T THINK/FEEL

your beliefs are important or correct enough for those you love to share them,

then your beliefs are relatively worthless or your allegiance to them is fairly worthless.

IMHO, of course.

[Quix]

LONG LIVE THE A OF G's!

Sounds like they are doing something right to get this kind of flack!

[FITZ]

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

If this is his best logic, I can see why he's worried about losing much of his congregation. Actually all religions in a free society can worry about the same thing, when people have a choice in religions, some will leave the one they were born in.

[Gurn]

Don't agree with you about SBs and AGs--they tend to be rather shallow, my personal opinion--

And that's a rather shallow, bigoted statement.

[Spirited]

Seems to me Synagogues are losing more because they are captives of the religion of materialistic Secular Humanism than converting to anything else.

I do not hear complaints about the public schools converting Jewish children to that religion. Secular Humanists do not support Israel for the most part, either.

I suspect that to the extent that the Rabbis teach their children thoroughly and parents live their beliefs they will not lose people. No person can convert anyone, anyway.