How can I help my friend?

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I went to dinner with a close friend yesterday. She began to tell me that for about a year, she has been researching Judaism. She grew up Southern Baptist, however, she has been struggling with Jesus’ divinity. She is not able to talk to anybody else, because she is afraid her family in particular will judge her and get upset.
So I am glad that she had the trust in me to confide this, however now it is a great responsibility for me to prove to her that Jesus was truly the Messiah. And that all the books of the Bible are truly inspired, not just the first five.
She has been getting on to Jewish websites, which refute the divinity of Jesus. What do I tell her?
Any (name removed by moderator)ut is appreciated! :confused:
 
May Peace and Truth be with us always !

It is hard for us to dcide where to go with this if you do not bring us specific things to address.

However, I can offer a coupel of things like REV 2:8

8"And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:

The first and last is known to be God, and He says He died and has come to life (must be Jesus then eh ?)

Both Peter and Paul call Jesus “God and savior” in their epistles.

However, if your friend doesn’t consider the NT is inspired by God, then it seems it might carry no weight. In the OT we find Isaiah saying that the messiah name will be emmanuel , which translated means “God with us”… how appropriate then that we are callign Jesus divine !

There are other exmples also.

Still, I think it is best if you bring the specific issues, and they can be addressed on a point basis. Just my thoughts, and I hope I managed to give you somthign to work with.
 
Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut. One big problem is the fact that the Jews do not recognize Jesus being a direct descendant of David. I remember her bringing that up. What are your thoughts? Also, is there anything in the first five books of the Bible that points directly to Jesus? I think if I can convince her of that, she will accept the rest of the Bible again.
 
Offer her the book “Why I Became a Catholic” by Israel Zolli, the former Chief Rabbi of Rome who converted to Catholicism. Other than that, pray.
 
katholisch said:
I went to dinner with a close friend yesterday. She began to tell me that for about a year, she has been researching Judaism. She grew up Southern Baptist, however, she has been struggling with Jesus’ divinity. She is not able to talk to anybody else, because she is afraid her family in particular will judge her and get upset.
So I am glad that she had the trust in me to confide this, however now it is a great responsibility for me to prove to her that Jesus was truly the Messiah. And that all the books of the Bible are truly inspired, not just the first five.
She has been getting on to Jewish websites, which refute the divinity of Jesus. What do I tell her?
Any (name removed by moderator)ut is appreciated! :confused:
Click to expand...
Some of the excellent articles at this site on the topic should be of help:

bringyou.to/apologetics/apolog.htm
 
Katholisch,

Deuteronomy 18:15ff speaks of the Lord raising up another prophet like Moses. This was “the prophet” that John the Baptist denied being. I’m not sure whether the Church officially recognizes Jesus as being that “prophet” but I don’t think the Jews believe that anybody else has filled that role.

I find it noteworthy that she is restricting the “approved Bible” to the Torah and is not accepting the Prophets or the Writings. The reason for this, of course, is that the Prophets are full of prophecies about Jesus. What she is doing, then, is “stackign the deck” by refusing to consider most of the available evidence.

Outside the Jewish Scriptures, there is also the minor fact that the crucifixion and resurrection are, objectively speaking, the two best-established events in history of more than a thousand years ago.
  • Liberian
 
Thank you guys so much for all the info. These are great links.
I think the problem is that she has been doing onesided research, the Jewish side.
So I am on a mission now, trying to bring her back. And with all your great suggestions I should be a lot closer to that goal.
Thank you so much!

In Christ katholisch
 
Hi katholisch ( a protestant perspective for you from one who attends synagoguge himself ). Your friend has hooked up with what is called anti-missionaries or counter-missionaries. Jews for Judaism is their main group. jewsforjudaism.org/ jdstone.org/truth/pages/anti.html

The link in the post above is too Hebrew Catholics hebrewcatholic.org/ a group that has not even started to address the counter missionaries.

Jews for Jesus has experience in dealing with them
jewsforjesus.org/

Michael Brown’s books are directly addressing counter missionary objections along with some common Jewish objections in the mix.

Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus ( 4 volumes )
by Michael L. Brown

A Jewish book worth reading is The Messiah Texts
Jewish Legends of Three Thousand Years by Raphael Patai, one of the many things he points out is that Jewish religion was expecting two messiahs. Jesus fits both with his incarnation and second comming.

jesusplusnothing.com/messiah/messiah.htm#Messiah%20would%20be%20the%20LORD%20God

Walter Riggans in his books ( about 6 ) answers the anti-missionaries on his side of the pond.
Yeshua Ben David
Yeshua Ben Joseph
bible comentaries

Judaism does accept the prophets as inspired
jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=554&letter=P&search=prophets

What the Rabbis Know About the Messiah: A Study of Genealogy and Prophecy
Rachmiel Frydland

store.jewsforjesus.org/ppp/index.php?catid=1&subcatid=1

amazon.com/Answering-Jewish-Objections-Jesus-vol/dp/0801064260/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_2_txt/002-2844841-1470447?ie=UTF8

Lineage
Isaiah 9:6-7 Born as a human Male Luke 2: 7. Historical fact
Genesis 3:15 Born of a woman Luke 2: 4-11, Galatians 4:4,Matthew 1:20
Isaiah 7:14 Born of a virgin Matthew 1:18, 23
Isaiah 7:14 Named Immanuel Matthew 1:23
Genesis 17:19 Numbers 24:17 From Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Luke 3:34; Matthew 1:2
Genesis 49:10 From the Tribe of Judah Luke 3:23,33
Isaiah 11:1-5 ,10 From the house of Jesse Romans 15:12, Matthew 1:1-2, 5-6, 16
Isaiah 16:5 From the house of David Matthew 1:1-2, 6, 16
teachinghearts.org/dre17hdan09b.html

Over 300 Mesaianic prophecies
believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=1144
 
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