[yonif]

Ping.

[fishtank]

"I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is
the power of God to salvation,
to the Jew first,
then to the Gentile."

A famous Jewish person wrote that.

[Dataman]

"The term 'Jews for Jesus' makes about as much sense as 'Baptists for Buddha' or 'Catholics for Krishna,'" she said.

The Apostles were Jews. They were Jews for Jesus. The early Church was mostly Jewish. They were Jews for Jesus.

It seems a bit queer that an allegedly Jewish person can't (won't?) understand that.

[xm177e2]

"This isn't about free speech," said Rochelle Wilner, president of B'nai Brith Canada. "Targeted missionizing, especially when done in a manner calculated to deceive the unsuspecting, is offensive to our community. Christianity is not a branch of Judaism it's a different religion altogether, and any attempt to portray it as anything but a different religion is subterfuge. "The term 'Jews for Jesus' makes about as much sense as 'Baptists for Buddha' or 'Catholics for Krishna,'" she said.

What about "Jews for Buddha?" I don't recall the Jewish community ever getting worked up about the trend of liberal Jews to explore things like Buddhism.

Anyway, if there were "Muslims for Kali," I'll believe just about any combination of religions.

[pgyanke]

Christianity is not a branch of Judaism it's a different religion altogether, and any attempt to portray it as anything but a different religion is subterfuge. "The term 'Jews for Jesus' makes about as much sense as 'Baptists for Buddha' or 'Catholics for Krishna,'" she said.

Pop quiz:

1. Jesus was a...

a. Buddhist
b. Krishan
c. Muslim
d. Jew

2. The apostles were...

a. Buddhists
b. Krishas
c. Muslims
d. Jews

3. The prophets who foretold Jesus's coming were...

a. Buddhists
b. Krishas
c. Muslims
d. Jews

4. The many disciples who followed Jesus were...

a. Buddhists
b. Krishas
c. Muslims
d. Jews

5. Jesus taught in...

a. Mecca, Medina, and the Saudi peninsula
b. India and the far east
c. America
d. Jerusalem, synagogues and the surrounding community

[cookcounty]

How are the in-your-face tactics of Jews for Jesus "deceptive"?

A) They are (according to the rabbis) Jews. (though not very proper Jews).

B) They are "for Jesus."

---How could they possibly be more straightfoward?

[wideawake]

"The term 'Jews for Jesus' makes about as much sense as 'Baptists for Buddha' or 'Catholics for Krishna,'" she said.

If Buddha were a disciple of Charles Spurgeon who had come up with a radical persepctive on the Westminster Confession or if Krishna was a highly controversial Catholic theologian this statement might make sense.

Apparently she does not understand that Jesus and his disciple Paul were born and raised as Jews and considered themselves to be faithful Jews.

To the best of my knowledge Buddha did not think of himself as a Five Point Calvinist and Krishna was never baptized catholic.

[lews]

What is it that defines wether one is Jewish? Is it a religion or a nationality?

Is it possible to not believe in the Jewish religion and still be a Jew?

I've heard many Jewish folk refer to themselves as non-practicing Jews. According to the logic of those in this article that is not a valid position.

[tang-soo]

... but preaching Christianity under the guise of Judaism to those who are in fact seeking Judaism, is plainly wrong, ...

I have friends who belong to a Messianic Temple and their web site lists their doctrine and it is every bit as conservative and orthodox Christianity as any Evangelical church I've seen. It seems this "church leader" is himself, plainly wrong. Jews for Jesus do not practice Christianity under the guise of Judism, they are Jews that recognize Christ as Messiah. Seems like some others did this many year ago.

[Russell Scott]

Hey Jewish folks listen up. Without accepting Christ's atonement for our sins, you, me, and every other person on the planet has zero chance of living forever in Paradise.

Galatians 3
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Calling it the "Proud to be Jewish" Campaign," B'nai Brith's goal is to warn members of the Toronto Jewish community about the presence and methods of the missionary group and to advise them of their rights."

From what I've seen, "Jews for Jesus" are very proud to be Jewish, so the title of this campaign doesn't seem appropriate. And the woman's comment that the title "Jews for Jesus" is inherently contradictory is also false - the first Christians were all Jews, and regarded themselves as such until their deaths. If an atheist can still be called a Jew, so can a "Jew for Jesus." And there are many Jews who practice Buddhism - what would the woman call THEM?

[Question_Assumptions]

Actually, I think it's more like "Christians for Muhammed." While I wouldn't personally agree with it, I can imagine how a Christian might become a convert to Islam and given that Jesus is also a figure in Islam decide to adopt Islam through a Christian lens or adapt the Christian holidays to a more Muslim flavor. Given all the Jews that not only leave their faith through marriage but also those who simply stop believing (i.e., "atheist Jews"), I really don't understand the special problem that Jews seem to have with Jews for Jesus. And frankly, I wish Christianity would embrace more of its Jewish origins.

[joesnuffy]

You cant be a Jew and be a Christian?
How is it you can be an atheist and still be a Jew?
wierd imo

[LiteKeeper]

Christianity is not a branch of Judaism it's a different religion altogether, and any attempt to portray it as anything but a different religion is subterfuge. "The term 'Jews for Jesus' makes about as much sense as 'Baptists for Buddha' or 'Catholics for Krishna,'" she said.

She couldn't be more wrong. Jesus was a Jew, Paul was a Jew (even a member of the Sanhedrin), Peter was a Jew, all of the apostles were Jews...what is she talking about?

[George W. Bush]

Gee, maybe next the Bnai Brith will actually prove that Jews For Jesus actually did deceive people.

But then, as they already know, just the accusation alone can be effective.

However, since their opponents are also Jewish, they can't play the anti-semitism card so easily. They can play it. But it's harder.

[cookcounty]

Confessions of a Targeteer

What a strange relatiionship between Evangelicals and Jews. Evangelicals could stand a lot of education regarding the Jews, and, from my experience, Jews are even more in need of understanding what Evangelical Christians are all about.

As to "targeting specific groups": Jews look at evangelism efforts from a very cramped and restricted perspective. The missionary / evangelism enterprise of the evangelicals is massive, consisting of literally thousands of organizations spending many billions of dollars annually. The amount of money and effort spent on "Jewish evangelism" is, relative to the whole, miniscule. The organizations that focus on Jews (as opposed to, say those that focus on Hindus, Muslims, Atheists, Bhuddists, Taoists, lapsed "cultural christians, Quechuas, Paraguayan Guranas, etc,) are very few.

I grew up in a "Missionary" Evangelical church ( half the budget went to missionary and relief activity). Then, as now, the "jewish" agencies were always lamenting their tiny portion of the missionary pie that they subsisted on.

Add to this the fact that most "jewish missionary" agencies spend the bulk of their time NOT evangelizing, but educating gentile christians as to the jewish roots of their faith, and promoting trips to Israel, and you can see that the outreach to jews is definitely a minor emphasis. If half of 1% of missionary effort "targets jews," I'd be shocked.

That Jews see themselves as at ground zero of the missionary effort is completely crazy, indicative of the (reasonable ) fears Jews have stemming from an earlier age when christians (mostly non-evangelicals) engaged in coercive "conversions." But it doesn't comport with present facts. I'm not sure, other than this, why "targeted" evangelism is considered bad (please enlighten me). To evangelize Koreans, you speak Korean, To evangelize Portuguese, you speak portuguese,... so what?

[man of Yosemite]

How wonderful. Keep them in the dark about Judaism and then tell them Christianity is another religion. What a false shepherd this guy is. Christianity is nothing more than embracing the Jew's Messiah, entering in to the faith of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. The blind lead the blind, and both fall into a ditch.

[cookcounty]

"We want members of our community to know that they don't have to defend Judaism to Christian missionaries..... they have an absolute right to not be subjected to these ministrations in the first place."

".....this is not bout free speech."

This is the part I find wierd. These two statements are utterly incompatible. If you don't have the right to attempt to persuade people about fundamental issues ( "who is God?" " who are we?" "do we matter?" "why?"), then we do not have freedom of speech at all. So what does Ms. Wilner mean by "we have an absolute right....?

The most important freedom of speech is freedom of religious speech, because it has to do with the most basic, fundamental issues.

[keats5]

"The term 'Jews for Jesus' makes about as much sense as 'Baptists for Buddha' or 'Catholics for Krishna,'" she said.

It makes more sense than an Atheistic Jew.

[A.J.Armitage]

The Original Jews for Jesus