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MattY wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 10:11 amNo, most of the Jewish people did not become Christians. Not at all. That's why the early Christians had to scatter from Jerusalem. That's why Paul, after initially preaching in synagogues wherever he went, would take the gospel to the Gentiles after being rejected by most of the Jews. Furthermore, a large number of Jews - the Diaspora - were not in Jerusalem fighting at the temple, but were living elsewhere and continued doing so after the temple was destroyed, resulting in rabbinic Judaism.

Whatever people group this is, they have zip all to do with any promises in the Bible about “Israel”. The temple and Judaism in a form God recognised it ended in 70 AD. Whatever religion it is now is no different than any other pagan, false, heathen religion; rabbinic Judaism is no different than Islam, for example.

The rejection of Christianity by most Jews in the early centuries was an issue for the early church: if Christ was the Messiah, why were Jews still rejecting Him? That was a source of antagonism between Jews and Christians.

Because some people, both Jews and Gentiles, rejected Christ.

I don't know who you're reading, but anybody claiming modern Jews are ethnically something else should be avoided, that opinion has a really poor antisemitic associations.

The fact something has “poor antisemitic associations” has zip all to do with whether it is the truth or not. The truth is that Israel as a nation ceased to exist two millennia ago. Whatever diaspora people claim to be “Jews” now are in equal footing with Armenians, Romani, Ruthenians, Karen, and so on. Their claims to Palestine are no more legitimate or blessed by the Bible than claims to Azerbaijan, Ukraine, or Thailand might be.

The Bible is also clear that genealogy and blood lineage doesn’t grant us special privileges in God’s eyes. The Messiah has already come. Every promise made to Israel has been fulfilled. All that remains is for both Jew and Greek to accept the Messiah, the Christ.

joshuabgood wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2024 4:24 pm

"Political Zionism and Christian Zionism are anathema to Christian faith ... The true Israel today is neither Jews nor Israelis, but believers in the Messiah, even if they are Gentiles ..."

Agree or disagree?

Agree.

P.4:

Josh wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 11:08 pm

Judas Maccabeus wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2024 10:01 pm Interesting group. Really hard to get up there, at least when I was there. Even harder to find out exactly what they have in their "temple." My friends at Jerusalem University College think they have a priceless trove of manuscripts, that outsiders can't get access to.

Yes. They end up worshipping at a mountaintop near Nablus. It is a miracle the relevant authorities still let them do so.

At some point, scholars have been able to copy their manuscripts. They are truly amazing. They claim some of them are original (3,600 years old). They have painstakingly copied the rest, which are still in a much older alphabet than what we would think of as Hebrew. It looks like this:



Most scholars agree it is a much older text than the Masoretic.

Jan 2011 / The modern trials of the ancient Samaritans
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-12069728