Current Research in Israel in Archaeological and Text Stu...
Dr. Roy B. Blizzard
First Session – January 25, 1988
Introduction
To begin with it is essential that you wipe your mind clean like the chalk is wiped off of a blackboard. Forget that you knew anything and approach this study with the attitude of “I don’t know anything, and I’m just going to approach each of these particular issues and see what the Lord wants to write on the spiritual slate of my mind.”
The real difficult thing that I had to come to grips with was the fact that about 98% of everything that we have ever believed and have ever been taught in Christianity is wrong. A couple of years ago, a colleague of mine, David Bivin, and I were working on a manuscript, Jesus, the Rabbi and His Rabbinic Method of Teaching, and in the middle of the study he said, “Roy, let’s make a list of everything that we know is wrong in Christianity.”
They decided to put down the things that are universally taught in Christianity that are right. They couldn’t come up with one thing that is universally taught in Christendom that is right. David went back home and wrote back a letter from the Jerusalem School, where they sat down and tried to figure out something that was rightfully taught. Since they couldn’t come up with anything, they did write down a number of theological errors into which the Church has fallen, largely because it divorced itself from its original Hebraic roots.
Key Contrasts: Judaism and Christianity
1. Nature of God
Judaism: The nature of God is that He is one! (Monotheism of the Scriptures).
Christianity: The nature of God is Trinitarianism, Tritheism, or Dualism.
2. Nature of Man
Judaism: The nature of man is the same as the nature of God. If God is one, then so is man. God is a unity of the sum and total of all of His parts, and man, therefore, is a unity of the sum and total of all of his parts.
Christianity: If God is a triune being, then man also has to be a triune being. Thus, we talk of the Trinity of man. In some instances, you’ll find those who will speak of the duality of man. Basically, the Christian concept of man is that he is a triune being of body–soul–spirit.
3. Nature of Sin
Judaism: Man is born good and he is what his parents are, which is the reason the parents are enjoined to bring up a child in the way that he should go, and when he comes to the age of accountability (the time for bar mitzvah) when the boy and girl become a son or daughter of the covenant, they are what their parents are. At the age of accountability, they make a public declaration that they will continue to walk in the ways of their fathers.
Christianity: Basically, it teaches the doctrine of original sin proposed in the fifth century by Augustine. This declares that man is not just born evil, but that he is conceived in evil. From the moment of conception, when the sperm unites with the egg and cellular division begins, that which is formed within the womb is evil, a sinner that is in need of redemption. Man is a victim of original sin and therefore has no choice but to sin.
4. Forgiveness of Sin (Atonement)
Judaism: There are two (2) categories of sin:
Willful sin – for which there is no provision made for atonement. The person who commits it is just cut off. That person could have at one time been in fellowship with God. This means that the Jewish view completely cuts the foundation right out from under the Christian idea of eternal security, which is totally foreign to the Hebrew mind. It’s not even a concept that the Hebrew mind can identify with.
Weakness of the flesh (missing the mark) – for these sins, provisions for atonement were made.
Christianity: Man may sin in this life and still be saved if he believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that one of the greatest heresies perpetuated in Christianity today is the heresy of “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” This leads to the doctrine of eternal security. So as long as you believe, you can do whatever you want to and you’ll ultimately be saved. You may even sin in this life and be pardoned by God in the next life if you’ve got enough concerned relatives who will pray and pay to get you out of Purgatory. This view results in all kinds of unbiblical doctrines relative to eternal security, Purgatory, etc.
5. The Devil
Judaism: He is a created being who was created by God and is subject to God. God also created hell and He owns it, and He decides who goes there. The Devil is subject to God.
Christianity: In most cases, unconsciously, our concept of God—and therefore the Devil—is dualistic. The Devil has power, and there are two equal forces in the world (good and evil) warring against one another, but ultimately good is going to prevail over evil.
6. Organizational Structure of the Community of God
Judaism: The community of God is an autonomous, self-governed organism. The functionaries are equally involved in religious life as well as secular life. There is no ecclesiastical hierarchy, no paid clergy. It is a community that emphasizes the priesthood of all of its members. The highest spiritual authority in the community is the community itself.
Christianity: We have a concept of church as opposed to community. Church is a building, a denomination, or something one does on Sunday, like a religious service. It does not have the same organizational functionaries as the community of God revealed in the biblical text. It is ecclesiastical and hierarchical.
7. Mission of the Community–Church
Judaism: There is an emphasis upon two things that are intricately interwoven and inseparably linked together:
Study – the highest form of worship is study. The pious in Judaism would ask: “What is the purpose of study?” The purpose is not just an intellectual exercise, but to lead men into action and service to the community. Biblical faith can be summed up in two words: Study and Action.
Christianity: A strong emphasis upon preaching the gospel, evangelizing, etc. Usually, those evangelized are part of other denominations, so preaching and evangelizing are often directed toward those who are already saved instead of serving as instruction for spiritual growth.
8. Salvation
Judaism: The Rabbis desired that the rule of God, in the lives of these people, might be extended over all the earth. Their concept of mission is to extend that kingdom. But, they believe that the righteous of all nations will have their part in the world to come, even though they don’t happen to be members of the community.
Christianity: If one is not a member of the church, and often a particular denomination, they will go to hell. What does it mean to be saved? We throw out all of these theological catch terms, and most of us don’t have any idea of what they mean. What does it mean to be saved? Does that mean that we’ll get to go to heaven? Is it something that keeps us out of Hell? Saved, according to Biblical faith, is not something that gets you into heaven, and sin is not something that causes you to go to hell. Just about all of the words that we use, like sin, salvation, and righteousness, are words that have completely different meanings in Hebrew than they do in English.
9. Spirituality
Judaism: Saved is not something that gets you into heaven. The concept of Biblical faith is a concept in which all life is sacred and in which one is living in eternity today. Spirituality is a thing of this world rather than otherworldly.
Christianity: The whole focus of one’s life is basically otherworldly, rather than seeing spirituality as an aspect of one’s life in the here and now. This has two implications:
In Christianity, we tend to compartmentalize our lives. There are those aspects that are secular and others that are spiritual, like going to church, etc. A secular activity would be going to the toilet. Nobody would think that would be very spiritual. Did you know that there is a prayer that you pray when you go to the toilet? You thank God that you are able to go.
Basically and fundamentally, Christianity is a religion of death! People are just waiting to die to get their reward. “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.” “Mansions over on the hilltop.” If I can just struggle through this world, I’ll get to the pearly gates, streets of gold, etc. People get excited about being able to die and getting to go to heaven. Much of our preaching has to do with what heaven is going to be like and staying out of hell. Because of this concept of spirituality, it influences our concept of benevolence.
10. Benevolence
Judaism: We can sum up the whole of Biblical faith in one word: tzedakah (צְדָקָה). In English, it is translated as “righteousness,” but it really doesn’t mean that. In Hebrew, tzedakah is used in two senses:
In the broad sense of the meaning of the word, it refers to God’s salvation. Many times it is used synonymously for salvation.
In the narrow sense of the word, and in the practical application in daily life, tzedakah can be translated as “charity” or “almsgiving.”
In this concept of Biblical faith, benevolence is something one does for his fellow man (poor, naked, sick). And it is not just limited to those of the community—it is for all! That’s the reason why no other people on the face of the earth, who were themselves impoverished, would go to such lengths, at great expense and cost of human life, to assist others from completely different faiths who were impoverished and threatened with annihilation, than the Jews.
The great sacrifice they have made in Lebanon when the rest of the Christian world couldn’t have cared less, when 200,000 Lebanese Christians were slaughtered by the Muslim Arabs—no one said a word, not one religious organization or denomination—until the Israelis started beating the poor Arabs over the head.
Christianity: Benevolence is giving to ministries.
11. Identity
Judaism: There are just two classes of people:
Those who are a part of the family of God.
Those who aren’t.
Those who are a part of the family of God are called Jews, and those who are not are called Gentiles or pagans. One is either born into the family of God or becomes a part of the family by a process known as proselytization.
Christianity: The church is Gentile. It has no part in Israel. The Jews have been rejected, cut off, because they crucified Jesus, rejected their Messiah, and they have now been replaced by the Church, which is the new Israel. Israel is spiritualized, and references to Israel in Scripture are basically referring to the Church when blessings are concerned, not physical Israel. Christians have lost, basically, all concepts of Jewish identity or the Hebrew foundations of their faith.
12. Nature of This Life
Judaism: This life is preparation for the world to come. This is the Biblical perspective. Trials and temptations come from God’s hand and are often blessings in disguise to correct or refine our character.
Christianity: One can basically order God around! God becomes a servant who is subject to the whims of the individual Christian. One can write one’s own ticket by speaking to God. Trials and temptations are a curse. They don’t come from God but the Devil, and there is no reason that we should ever experience any of them if we just use positive confession.
13. Bible
Judaism: It is basically a Hebrew document. It is referred to as the Written Word. But, as the Written Word, it is not all of the communication of God to His people. There is a vast volume of material that equally comes from God that was communicated orally as opposed to written form, known as the Oral Law.
Christianity: Part of the Bible is a Hebrew document, but the New Testament is basically Greek, a Hellenistic document. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God.
14. Prophecy (and the Time of the End)
Judaism: One cannot know the coming of the Lord nor the time of the end, nor should one even speculate about these things. But one should continually keep his garments through repentance because His coming is going to be sudden, like a thief in the night.
Christianity: Have an unbalanced fascination in Bible prophecy. We are interested in the signs of the times, end-time events, etc. The coming of the Lord will be soon! He really won’t be unexpected since the believer will be able to interpret the signs of His coming.
15. Faith
Judaism: Faith equals action or faithfulness.
Christianity: Faith equals belief.
16. Response Towards Evil
Judaism: Has legitimacy in defending oneself. Defense of one’s person and property is not just proper but expected.
Christianity: Passive resistance or the belief that there is religious merit in suffering and persecution (turning the other cheek).
17. Marriage and Sex
Judaism: Marriage is a partnership. Husband and wife are considered equals, and the sexual relationship is good and not evil. It is so good that it is called “sanctification” or “holy.” The injunction is that a man should have sexual relations with his wife on the Sabbath, for a thing of holiness should be done at the time of holiness by holy people.
Christianity: The woman is seen as an inferior and subservient individual who is to be in forced submission to her husband. Sex is inherently sinful, and there is the erroneous Christian view that abstinence from sex is meritorious. Even marital sex is at the very least a “venial” sin, or one that can be forgiven, as opposed to a “mortal” sin.
18. Science in the Bible
Judaism: There is no conflict between the two. The Bible and the words of the Bible are couched in such abstract terms that it is really impossible to translate these ambiguous concepts into English. The Hebrew, the nature of the language itself, doesn’t contain the mechanism to express itself in scientific terms. Narratives in the Bible relating to scientific accounts, such as creation, are just simple narratives. When lined up against the very best that we know in science, there are no fundamental conflicts.
Christianity: We look at the Bible as being literal and infallible. So we have to go to great lengths to explain how the earth was created in six literal days of 24 hours each. So we have constructed all kinds of theories (Reconstructionism – “the gap theory,” Creationism). These are the two most popular.
