Are you curious about Messianic Judaism? Interested in what the movement is all about? Beth Judah Messianic Congregation is a group in Ormond Beach, Florida, which states that it is a fully Jewish organization. However, in truth, they are a completely Christian congregation. I will demonstrate this, using information from their site and other websites, providing reference links each time so you can see the evidence for yourself.
Christian Beliefs If you read through Beth Judah's beliefs, as seen in their Statement of Faith, they are identical to standard Christian beliefs. The Holy Trinity, salvation through Jesus' death...all basic Christian beliefs that do not exist in Judaism. Here is a link to Beth Judah's beliefs and Grace Community Church in California's beliefs (Editor's Note: Grace Community Church occasionally tries to quote from the Jewish Bible to support their beliefs. If you go to the sites in my section "Great Sites, Priceless Information", you will see the Biblical errors that they make). You will see that their beliefs are virtually identical-Beth Judah's beliefs are merely a "Judaicized" version of Christianity:
Beth Judah's Beliefs
Grace Community's Beliefs A real Jewish group would never have beliefs that are Christian!
What Judaism Actually Believes Beth Judah attempts to explain Messianic Judaism in their "What is Messianic Judaism?" section, however, they make a number of errors that a real Jewish group would never make. For instance, in the second section they state: " We believe in the foundation of the Torah (the Law of Moses) and the Prophets, leading us to the truth of the New Covenant (Editor's Note: the "New Covenant" is their term for the Christian Bible, also known in Christian circles as the "New Testament") and the knowledge of Yeshua as Messiah and Lord. He is the Jewish Messiah, having fulfilled the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures related to His first coming.
" There are a number of problems with this statement. First, Jesus did not fulfill Messianic prophecy. He does not even have the correct birth lineage to be the Messiah! Here is a link that reviews just a few reasons why Jesus could not possibly be the Messiah:
Click Here Moreover, Beth Judah claims that Jesus, a man, was also G-d. However, according to the Jewish Bible, no man is G-d! Here is article that reviews this error:
Click Here Overall, Beth Judah's claims to Jesus being a Messiah and being G-d are simply not backed up in the Bible, and no real Jewish congregation would make these claims. They continue to claim regarding Jesus: " He lived as a Jew, and belief in Him is perfectly consistent with Judaism." So, is the belief in Jesus consistent with Judaism? In truth, every single Jewish movement has said that this is not true, and declared "Messianic Judaism" to be a Christian movement, not a Jewish movement. Beth Judah's claim is simply false. From the most liberal to the most traditional Jewish sources, the answers are the same. Here are a few samples of Jewish answers from various Jewish movements in which the "Messianics" are declared to be practicing Christianity and not Judaism. These include answers from the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox movement: Central Council of American Rabbis (Reform Movement):
Click Here United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (Conservative Movement):
Click Here Aish HaTorah (Orthodox Organization):
Click Here But Beth Judah continues, stating: "He laid down His life as a perfect sacrifice for sin. Through Him, we experience forgiveness of sins so that we can enjoy a living, vibrant and personal relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Again, there are major Biblical problems with this argument. Human sacrifice is completely illegal in the Bible, and Jesus' death could not atone for anything. Here are a few articles that review this error:
Click Here
And Click Here Overall, it is clear that Beth Judah advocates Christian beliefs that violate the Jewish Bible, not real Judaism. Here is the link to the Beth Judah webpage so you can see the quote that was referenced, the quotes comes from the second section of the page:
Click Here
The Tikkun Connection If you look at the bottome of Beth Judah's homepage, you will see that they are a member of Tikkun International. Here is the link to their homepage so you can see the proof:
Click Here However, like Beth Judah, Tikkun is not a real Jewish group. Tikkun was founded by Dan Juster, who was ordained as a Presbyterian minister! The goal of their organization is to convert Jews to Christianity. Here is a link to a review of Tikkun-a real Jewish congregation would never be part of their organization:
Click Here
Christian Listings Since Beth Judah is a Christian congregation, it is not surprising to find them advertising events on other Christian web-sites. Here are a few Christian sites that list Beth Judah advertised with: WAPN Christian radio (advertising for "Jerusalem Day" on the 10th):
Click Here Cornerstone Connection-Christian magazine (on p. 18, under "April 6"; please note that your computer must be able to read .pdf files to view this):
Click Here
Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus There are many reasons why Jews do not accept Jesus, and the links below are some of the better explanations on this topic. Of course, if you have questions that are not covered on the links, you can always e-mail me with your questions. An Answer from Rabbi Stuart Federow Click Here
An Answer from Rabbi Shraga Simmons Click Here Ask the Rabbi from Ohr Somayach Click Here An Answer from Rabbi Tovia Singer Click Here Countermissionary Counseling
There are a number of groups that provide Countermissionary Counseling. Here are links to a few of them:
Jews for Judaism Alternatively, you can call them at 1-800-4PROOF1 with general questions about missionary claims.
Torah Atlanta
Outreach Judaism
Torah Life and Living Great Sites, Priceless Information
Here are a number of great sites that counter missionaries and explain the differences in belief between Judaism and Christianity, including addressing the Biblical verses that missionaries try to use against the Jews and explaining why the missionaries are incorrect. For the most in-depth analysis of verse by verse questions, go to Messiah Truth (sections on Counter-Missionary: Multi-media training [this can be read without being "multi-media"], Knowing Your Orchard and Judaism's Answer), Jews for Judaism (in their Reference Section (please note that the Isaiah topics tend to be under "Suffering Servant" part of the "Proof Text" section) and the Q & A section of Outreach Judaism. Messiah Page Messiah Truth Jews for Judaism Outreach Judaism Counter Missionary Reference Torah Atlanta Messianic Verses in Tanach Kosher Judaism Escape From Counterfeit Judaism Talking to Kids About Missionaries
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