How do we know Jesus is the Messiah?

[kohai]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

 

[Hatikvah]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

Hi! I’ve seen you around before but I have not said it yet.

Well, Christians always go by Sacred Scripture, which clearly informs us that Jesus is the Messiah. A powerful affirmation of that belief, perhaps the most famous, is in Matthew 16:16 (where St. Peter says “you are the Christ, son of the living God”).

A secondary “source” of sorts for many Christians is the attestation of the Holy Spirit. He reminds us of what Jesus has said and of Himself (John 14:26). I’m sure you know about Jews for Jesus (their theology is probably closer to that of Evangelical Protestantism, though, so it’s not all-agreeable here), and they have a source that may interest you: jewsforjesus.org/answers/jesus/proofessay

If you don’t mind my asking, and it’s fine if you wouldn’t want to answer, what has gotten you this far in exploring Christian beliefs and questioning things?

 

[kohai]

Hi! I’ve seen you around before but I have not said it yet.

If you don’t mind my asking, and it’s fine if you wouldn’t want to answer, what has gotten you this far in exploring Christian beliefs and questioning things?

I grew up in the independent fundamental baptist church and left it around the age of 14. I later became Jewish and somehow feel drawn back in. I am a classical musician and absolutely love church music and some of the classical music written for the church

 

[Hatikvah]

I grew up in the independent fundamental baptist church and left it around the age of 14. I later became Jewish and somehow feel drawn back in. I am a classical musician and absolutely love church music and some of the classical music written for the church

Well, it’s good that you’re exploring. Always pray for guidance in this because it can be hard dealing with certain doctrines, even the most mainstream ones like the Trinity or original sin.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

Pick up Lee Strobels book “the case for Christ”. He makes a extremely compelling case.

Some of his points are that there are over 300 fulfilled Messianic prophecies. And that all the eye witnesses of the Lord were martyred for what they believed in less the apostle John. These guys knew that what they saw with Jesus was the real deal. Also, the New Testament is 99.5% textually pure and can be trusted.

God bless you on your journey

 

[PRmerger]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

Best answer: because He rose from the dead, after the atoning death as the Lamb of God.

 

[PraiseChrist]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

Don’t know if this will help:
Maybe if you want, you can study the life of Venerable Hermann Cohen, who was a renowned (studied under Franz Liszt) Jewish (though mainly worldly) pianist who later converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite priest.

You can also read this (very helpful) article called Pillar of Fire Pillar of Truth that basically summarizes what Catholicism is (basically a mini Catechism)

 

[meltzerboy]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

The Christian viewpoint is that Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The Jewish viewpoint is that Jesus did not fulfill any prophecies in the Hebrew Bible. Of course there is more to it than that on both sides of the argument. Have you read the conversations/discussions/debates of Dr. Michael Brown and Rabbi Tovia Singer? I believe some of them are online, and they are very informative. Best wishes on your faith journey.

 

[po18guy]

Pick up Lee Strobels book “the case for Christ”. He makes a extremely compelling case.

Some of his points are that there are over 300 fulfilled Messianic prophecies. And that all the eye witnesses of the Lord were martyred for what they believed in less the apostle John. These guys knew that what they saw with Jesus was the real deal. Also, the New Testament is 99.5% textually pure and can be trusted.

God bless you on your journey

I doubt that Mr. Strobel used the Deuterocanonical books, but with them included, additional prophesies were fulfilled. Example: Wisdom of Solomon, chapter two. This is one of the clearest, most well-defined prophesies of Christ in all of the scriptures. It was written about 50 years before Christ’s birth.

As well, consider that many claimed to be some form of deliverer, but all were killed and their followers were scattered. Christ was the only man (God-man) ever to be pre-announced. No other was known via the prophets well ahead of time. As with the others (Theudas, Judas the Galilean and similar), Christ was also killed - yet He was born to be killed, the only man ever to be born for the specific reason of dying. And,He prophesied His own death and resurrection. The one and only ever to do that.

After His death, look at what happened: rather than being scattered, His followers grew, and grew rapidly. They were collected into His Body, as He promised.

 

[Eliazer]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

By another fellow Jew Roy Shoeman I reccomend reading from
salvationisfromthejews.com
He also wrote a book which will help you explain more in deph. I will provide you with more concrete resources and I understand what you want, you want a connection from the Holy Tenakh, and Torah to the most current the continuation of the faith. I will show you through providing resources. I am not a Jew since my ancestors became Christian catholics centuries ago they were what you would call Sephardic Jews from the tribe of Judah. But all the old testament for us contains the Torah the Tenakh. Also I believe Roy Shoeman can show you what no one else has because he was a convert. After I show you the resources you can ask a Catholic priest and they will gladly answer your questions

 

[Monte_RCMS]

Scott Hahn has written extensively.

And he has an excellent discussion television program on EWTN.

Also check out books by Trent Horn who also appears on Catholic Answers radio:

catholic.com/hearts-and-minds

 

[truetofaith]

The Christian viewpoint is that Jesus fulfilled hundreds of prophecies in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The Jewish viewpoint is that Jesus did not fulfill any prophecies in the Hebrew Bible. Of course there is more to it than that on both sides of the argument. Have you read the conversations/discussions/debates of Dr. Michael Brown and Rabbi Tovia Singer? I believe some of them are online, and they are very informative. Best wishes on your faith journey.

I believe Jesus did fulfill all of the O.T. prophecies and I believe the people witnessed first hand all of the miracles of Jesus in the New Test., including His Resurrection.

When He comes back we will know for sure…until then, I will take the Word of Scripture.

 

[Kaninchen]

Hello all,

I am Jewish and have been exploring the Catholic Church. I am fairly convinced that if Christianity is true, then the Catholic Church is the true church. How do we know Jesus is the messiah and is who he says he is?

I have studied some of the proof texts from both Christian and Jewish homoletic standpoint and am torn on which to believe.

I’ve always thought of the ‘proof text’ business as being more Protestant than Catholic apologetics.

After a couple of decades of discussing religion with Christians, it seems to me that the problem of the proof text approach lies, partly, in the nature of the New Testament itself and, partly, in grabbing bits of Old Testament text to ‘fit’. I suspect it works better as a confirmatory process than a conversion process.

 

[Todd977]

There are reasonable arguments on both sides. Coming to a certain knowledge that Jesus is the Messiah is a matter of faith, a gift from God, to be best acquired through prayer. Jesus himself said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” (John 6:44) So, pray to God and ask Him to give you a certain knowledge of the truth about Jesus.

Personally, I was given the gift of faith that Jesus is the Messiah while reading Psalm 22.

 

[Faith1960]

Pick up Lee Strobels book “the case for Christ”. He makes a extremely compelling case.

Some of his points are that there are over 300 fulfilled Messianic prophecies. And that all the eye witnesses of the Lord were martyred for what they believed in less the apostle John. These guys knew that what they saw with Jesus was the real deal. Also, the New Testament is 99.5% textually pure and can be trusted.

God bless you on your journey

What about the .5% that isn’t? What’s that say?

 

[Hatikvah]

What about the .5% that isn’t? What’s that say?

The texts even out. For example, where an Alexandrian text may have something, two other families may have the original. They compensate for one another.

 

[Faith1960]

The texts even out. For example, where an Alexandrian text may have something, two other families may have the original. They compensate for one another.

I don’t understand. Could you please rephrase?

 

[Hatikvah]

I don’t understand. Could you please rephrase?

Okay, I’ll admit, I needed an example. We have several categories of New Testament manuscripts based off of their region (e.g., Alexandrian or Antiochian families). Sometimes, they are altered by scribes to reflect their views, and others compensate for that alteration.

Alexandrian texts are notably different from their counterparts because they emphasized mysticism or divinity. Because this verse (Matthew 6:9) is based off of Young’s Literal Translation, pretend that the YLT is the autograph or original manuscript:

Thus therefore pray ye: “Our Father who [art] in the seventh heaven! hallowed by thy name…”

Notice how it says “seventh” heaven, a key thing. But then, both a Byzantine family manuscript and an Egyptian family manuscript may have the exact original wording:

Thus therefore pray ye: “Our Father who [art] in the heavens! hallowed by thy name”

So one manuscript may be incorrect in a single verse, but another two probably have the original. This is the 0.5%, and we can get back to the originals through textual criticism. The variations are very minor, and we have a lot of manuscripts.

 

[PRmerger]

Okay, I’ll admit, I needed an example. We have several categories of New Testament manuscripts based off of their region (e.g., Alexandrian or Antiochian families). Sometimes, they are altered by scribes to reflect their views, and others compensate for that alteration.

Alexandrian texts are notably different from their counterparts because they emphasized mysticism or divinity. Because this verse (Matthew 6:9) is based off of Young’s Literal Translation, pretend that the YLT is the autograph or original manuscript:

Notice how it says “seventh” heaven, a key thing. But then, both a Byzantine family manuscript and an Egyptian family manuscript may have the exact original wording:

So one manuscript may be incorrect in a single verse, but another two probably have the original. This is the 0.5%, and we can get back to the originals through textual criticism. The variations are very minor, and we have a lot of manuscripts.

Not sure what you mean?

A verse is “incorrect” based on…what?

 

[Faith1960]

Not sure what you mean?

A verse is “incorrect” based on…what?

This is way over my head.