"A god who provides all the answers
becomes an explicable and comprehensible god, but also ceases to
be God!"
(David J. Bosch)
To introduce myself
I am a former Christian (evangelical Protestant) who, over the
past decade, has fallen in love with Judaism. I have found
pleasant refuge in Judaism through books, on the internet and on
e-mail lists, by observance of certain precepts and commandments,
and on visits to the local synagogue.
I no longer: (a) accept the teaching of the Gospels concerning
the historical Jesus or the teaching of Paul concerning
salvation; (b) acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God
or the God-man; or (c) recognize any "name above all
names" but God's name singular. As Israel proclaims that God
is One, incomparable Sovereign and only Savior, so do I.
"True, the God of the universe is our King, the Rock of
Jacob is the shield of our salvation. Generation after generation
he endures and his name endures.... True, you are the First and
you are the Last, and apart from you we have no king, redeemer,
or savior." (Shema blessing)
The initial attraction to Judaism came through "classical
Reform" views, which is not surprising for one who had
doubts about his own religion's foundations but had been
thoroughly indoctrinated since childhood to see observance of
"The Law" through the negative lenses of the New
Testament. In any case, I must give credit to Reform Judaism for
meeting me at my point of departure from Christianity, and for
offering a Biblically-based monotheism to accommodate my devotion
to the God of the Hebrew Scriptures. Since then I have found much
to appreciate in the entire community of Israel, especially in
the direction toward observance, i.e., in the way of Torah.
The way of Torah is more than what Christians denigrate as
"The Law." The way of Torah is walking before God
humbly and honestly while being renewed and strengthened, warned
and comforted, disciplined and delighted, by the light of God's
precepts. "I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought
out your precepts." (Psalm 119:45) So following the way of
Torah goes deeper than mechanically counting off the commandments
observed in one's day or week or lifetime. As the Talmud puts it,
"You are not required to finish the task, but you are not
free to neglect it." (Pirke Avot 2:21) Now that is a
principle one can live by.
Where I am now
I have not formally converted to Judaism. For the present I
remain a sebomenoi ton theon (Greek for: worshiper
of God), a Gentile who worships and serves God through the
perspective and teaching of Judaism, a Jew-at-heart,
which to me means....
*celebrating the goodness of the God of Israel, who is the source
of blessing: "majestic in holiness, awesome in praises,
working wonders." (Exodus 15:11)
*looking to the Hebrew Bible and other Jewish writings for
instruction in "the law of life and the love of good, and
righteousness, blessing, mercy, life, and peace."
*offering the One God praise, acknowledging his sovereignty and
receiving his holiness into my daily life.
*as a student of Judaism, seeking to identify with the community
of Israel in their worship and service, according to the promise:
"As for the sons of foreigners who attach themselves to the
LORD, to worship him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his
servants, all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who
hold fast to my covenant, these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings
and sacrifices will be welcome on my altar, for my house will be
called a house of prayer for all peoples." (Isaiah 56:6-7)
In practical ways, this means I pursue (with emphasis on the word
pursue)....
*Torah study. "Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Lord,
and teach out of your Torah." (Psalm 94:12)
*Daily prayers and blessings. "May my prayer be considered
as incense set before you, the lifting of my hands as the evening
sacrifice." (Psalm 142:2)
*Observance of the Sabbath. "Three acts of God denoted the
seventh day: He rested, He blessed and He hallowed the seventh
day (Genesis 2:2-3). To the prohibition of labor is, therefore,
added the blessing of delight and the accent of sanctity. Not
only the hands of man celebrate the day, the tongue and the soul
keep the Sabbath." (A.J. Heschel, The Sabbath)
*Precepts such as: love of my neighbor as myself, g'milut
chasadim (deeds of kindness), teshuvah
(repentance), and honor of parents.
How I got here
I came to the realization that almost everything Christianity
claims to offer in the name of Jesus was already available
through the house of Israel, both to those born in it, to those
who chose to join it (Is. 14:1), and universally to those who
lived uprightly before God. In more detail....
*First, the nature and character of God is distorted by the focus
on Jesus as the image and fullness of God. Christianity says:
'God is love, yes, but the love of God is shown supremely in the
person and the sacrificial death of Jesus. Until Jesus came the
wrath of God was upon all mankind. Likewise, the grace of God is
found only in Jesus and by faith in him, and is received apart
from works of "The Law." We can only be righteous
through him, as if we cannot find our righteousness in God
alone.' But then I read passages such as Exod. 34:6f (which I
consider the foundation of the Torah) or Psalm 103 (which offers
as full a grace as you will find anywhere) and I wonder, don't
Christians know these passages refer to the religion of Israel?
*Second, as in the moral attributes of God, the works of God are
fulfilled only when Jesus comes as Savior, Shepherd, King, Judge,
Lord, even Creator! So what is said exclusively or ultimately of
God alone in the Hebrew Bible now comes to apply to Jesus in an
even more exalted way. Compare, for example:
1. Only Savior (Is. 45:20-25 with Phil. 2:9-11)
2. Creator (Is. 40:28 with Col. 1:15-17)
Now, of course, Christians understand Jesus to be one with God,
fully God while fully man. Nevertheless, what was said of God
alone is now said of a man, contrary to the teaching of the
Hebrew Bible.
*Third, the nature of salvation is further distorted by its
equation with eternal life. To be saved means one is going to
heaven and not hell. The entire focus on the afterlife (the
reward of heaven, the threat of hell) compromises the motivation
of ethical behavior and empties our present life (in the presence
of God) of ultimate meaning.
*Fourth, the meaning of faith (as trust and faithfulness) is
distorted by its equation with belief in Jesus. A living, active
trust in God is replaced by belief in certain doctrines of
"the faith." The faith of Abraham and the faith of a
man who "lives by faith" is identified with
acknowledging Jesus to be all that Christianity claims for him.
*Fifth, the concept of sin is distorted by Paul's theology of
original sin (man's inherited bondage to sin). As Martin Buber
made the distinction between two views of sin, those of Judaism
and Christianity, we sin "as Adam sinned and not because
Adam sinned." Adam represents (as the name means) mankind,
with the freedom to choose sin or righteousness, good or evil,
life or death. Man is tempted and even fascinated by sin, but in
Christian teaching he is also bound to sin.
In addition, I have always been, more or less, a skeptic (not
believing everything others tell me), a lover of life in this
world (not counting on the next), and an honest student of the
Hebrew Bible (fairly interpreted from within): qualities
dangerous to Christian faith.
As far as Jesus, I will venture this only as a guess: He was a
Jew who in his lifetime came to believe he was the Messiah, the
long-awaited deliverer of Israel. He was neither the first Jew to
think himself such, nor would he be the last. He was wrong, but
not as wrong as the religion which developed from interpretations
of his violent death and transformed a messianic Jewish sect into
worshipers of a man as God.
Jesus is not the answer. Jesus is the question that Christianity
begs. The question is not whether he existed (I'll grant that he
did), but whether the Jesus of the Gospels bears any resemblance
in word or deed to the historical Jesus: would Jesus recognize
himself in the Gospels?
© 2001 Charles F. Hudson