More about Messianic Jewish apologetics

The path of discipleship is a narrow one and the cost of discipleship is high. Before committing to the path, Yeshua tells us to count the cost. Here's a teaching about the conflict between our value system and that of the world around us that asks the question, "Why are you religious?"

The End of the Law

In Romans 10:4, Paul declares that "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." Does this verse mean what most people think that it means? Does Paul mean to contradict Yeshua's own statement that he did not come to cancel the Torah? Unravel the riddle of this difficult saying in the midst of Paul's continuing discussion about the election of Israel despite the Jewish rejection of Yeshua.

Was Jesus a Zealot?

Was Jesus crucified for being an anti-Roman zealot who was agitating against Rome? Does the Torah provide an avenue of personal salvation, thereby rendering the atonement of Jesus unnecessary? This anti-climactic lesson concludes our study of Asher Norman's book, Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don't Believe in Jesus by briefly considering the closing arguments of reasons number twenty-five and twenty-six, including another tedious tour of duty through the wild-eyed claims of junk scholars.

Is the story of Jesus based on pagan mythology?

Reason 24 of the book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don't Believe in Jesus claims that Jesus and the narratives about him were created by combining elements from the Bible with pagan mythology and mystery religions of the ancient world. Critics of the Gospel claim that the stories of Yeshua are recycled myths and pagan tales, but are their criticisms accurate? This teaching takes the time to explore a few of the alleged parallels between the story of Yeshua and stories from mythology, revealing a loaded agenda of junk scholarship which intentionally twists the truth.

Did Jesus really exist?

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.

Why do the Resurrection Stories Disagree?

Reason 22 of Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don't believe in Jesus states, "The resurrection accounts in the Gospels are deeply conflicted." This teaching explores those conflicts to determine if discrepencies between the gospel narratives damages the credibility of their testimony. This teaching addresses the problem of the passion chronology, the last words of Yeshua from the cross, and other difficulties while also addressing the mysterious resurrection of the pious in Matthew 27:51.

Did Matthew quote the wrong prophet?

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.

Did Jesus get a fair trial?

Did the church invent the story of Jesus’ betrayal, trial, and death to vilify the Jewish people? Reason Number 20 and Reason 21 of the book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews Don’t’ Believe in Jesus claim that the stories of the betrayal by Judas are not consistent, that the gospel narratives contain irreconcilably discrepancies, and the story of the Jewish trial of Jesus lacks credibility. This teaching examines discrepencies in the story about Judas Iscariot's death and considers discrepencies between the Sanhedrin's judicial procedure of the trial of Yeshua.

Gospel Discrepancies and Inerrancy

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.

Who wrote the New Testament?

Was the New Testament written by eye-witnesses, or was it written generations after the life of Jesus? Reason Numbers 17 of Asher Norman’s book Twenty-Six Reasons Jews do not believe in Jesus states, “The Epistles and the Gospels were not written by the actual witnesses to the events they describe.” The argument attempts to prove a late date for the composition of the gospels, more than one hundred years after the events they purport to describe.