Learner Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Hello, all! This is my first post after joining this forum. My story is that I never expected to deconvert but originally started out a journey of wanting to open-mindedly hear out "the other side." And here I am today! One of the most convincing reasons for me leaving Christianity was the excellent work (I'd highly recommend everyone listen to) in a series of lectures by Rabbi Skobac addressing Christian's claims to find Jesus in prophecies of the Old Testament. (Note: I am not a Jew.) He completely obliterates every argument the Christian brings up, addressing all the common "proof-texts." He ultimately shows that all the supposed prophecies of Jesus are either: (1) twisted to fit him, (2) out-of-context and have nothing to do with the topic of the Messiah, (3) are Messianic passages, but couldn't ever apply to Jesus of Nazareth. This is a long series, but it is well worth your time. Rabbi Skobac provides many useful tools for approaching these texts and explaining them to a Christian in their context, as well as showing how Jewish beliefs differ from Christian beliefs (very interesting, like how they view "Satan," etc). Before listening to this series, I was still trying to be open to allowing the Bible to be wrong on science, but somehow still accepting claims about Jesus. After listening to this series, I saw the Gospels in a much different light in the way the anonymous writers were attempting to use aspects of Jesus' life (whether actual event or legend) as proving him to be the Messiah. For instance, as a Christian, I interpreted some of these prophetic passages as "allegorical" interpretations as do several Christian scholars. For example, Hosea quoted in Matthew 2 was interpreted as referring to Christ as the "true Israel." Or take Isaiah 9 about the virgin conceiving, it was interpreted by some to not be a direct fulfillment, but an allegorical fulfillment by Jesus...hmm, either there are two virginal conceptions in the Bible per what fundamentalists say (though the word doesn't mean "virgin" but a young woman) OR king Ahaz was comforted when Assyria joined forces with Israel against him because, oh, God will be born in the flesh 600 years later...how comforting when he's about to get obliterated by a massive army!! (See the passage for what I mean) Rabbi Skobac has some good insights into better understanding how to address Christians who say: "But...but...Isaiah 53!!" I trust this will help you see through all the horsesh*t claims of XX number of propecies in the Old Testament pointing to Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah. I hope others find this series as helpful, enlightening, and freeing as I did! Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD3DF0E2817D81B0D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directionless Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Thanks for the link, Learner. Welcome to the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymistake Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Welcome to exC! It's good to have you with us. What you say about the prophesies is true. I used the SAB to go through them and they are all forced in one way or another. Judaism wasn't looking for a Messiah and they never would have expected God to save the world from original sin because they didn't believe in original sin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
★ Citsonga ★ Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Welcome! Studying the Christological prophecies is what ultimately unraveled my faith as well. I'll have to check out that video series when I get a chance, because I'm sure there's even more there than what I uncovered in my own studies. Thanks for posting it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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