Audio Series: 26 Answers to 26 Reasons

Judaism teaches that a person should keep the commandments to inherit the world to come, but Christianity teaches that a person only needs to believe in Jesus. How do we reconcile these two very different salvation programs?

Did Jesus change the Torah by declaring all foods clean and by forbidding divorce? This class discusses reason number five of Asher Norman's book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don't Believe in Jesus.

Was Jesus fallible? Reason number seven of the anti-missionary book Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus alleges that Jesus "was not a perfect being who never sinned, and his teachings and behavior were morally problematic." This class examines seeming mistakes of the Master and sayings and actions which might be misconstrued as beneath the dignity of a tzadik (righteous person). Why did Yeshua call Gentiles "dogs," curse a fig tree, speak so harshly to the sages, and wrongly identify Zechariah son of Berechiah as Zechariah son of Iddo? These and many more questions are explored.

To qualify as the Messiah Israel, a person needs to be a descendant of David and Solomon, be anointed king of Israel, return the Jewish people to theland of Israel, rebuild the Temple, bring universal peace to the world, and fill the world with the knowledge of God. Has Yeshua fulfilled all of these criteria? Is he really the Messiah?

This lesson concludes the discussion on Reason Number Eight of Twenty-Six Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus: "Jesus Failed to Fulfill Any of Six Authentic Jewish Messianic Criteria." Did he really fail to fulfill any Messianic criteria? If so, why do we consider him the Messiah?

In Deuteronomy 13, the Torah warns against miracle workers who might entice Jews to worship other gods or to forsake the laws of the Torah. Reason 12 of the anti-missionary book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don’t Believe in Jesus claims that Jesus fits the description of just such an enticer.

Reason 13 argues that the New Testament misquotes, misuses, and even fabricates proof texts from the Old Testament. This lesson takes a look at one example: Matthew 1:23’s quotation of Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel."

This important teaching covers a wide variety of subjects, reveals the reason Beth Immanuel and congregations like it need to exist, and warns against sawing off the limb on which we are seated.

Was Paul an apostate to Judaism and a traitor to the Jewish people? Reason Sixteen in the book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don't Believe in Jesus states that "Paul was the Source of Christian Opposition to the Jewish Law," but the allegations against Paul go much further, accusing him of being a Gentile, of being a closet Sadduccee and of collusion with Rome. This teaching challenges the pseudo-scholarship of popular anti-Paul writers.

What happens when we find a discrepancy or a contradiction between the Gospel narratives? What do we do if Matthew says one thing but Luke says another? Do the discrepencies undermine the credibility of the New Testament? Asher Norman's reasons number eighteen and nineteen attempt to discredit the Gospels on the basis of seeming contradictions in the birth narratives and the names of the twelve disciples.

In Matthew 27:9–10, the Gospel of Matthew quotes a passage from Zechariah but attributes it to the prophet Jeremiah. The book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don’t Believe in Jesus uses this apparent blunder to undermine the credibility of the gospels. A closer look at the text, however, reveals an ancient and long-lost gospel-source behind Matthew’s error which offers us insight into the world of apostolic midrash.

Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me." (Matthews 27:9-10)

This lesson includes the original class-notes in a downloadable pdf format.

Reason number twenty-three in the book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don't Believe in Jesus states, "The historicity of Jesus is problematic." According to this claim, no historical evidence exists to prove that Jesus of Nazareth really existed or that he is anything but a literary fiction. This teaching answers that bold assertion by examining the testimony of Roman historians and considering the evidence of the believing community. Includes discussion on passages from Roman-era historians.