Regarding Article by Jacob Neusner

As a biblical Judeo-Christian ministry promoting ‚  faith in ‚  Jesus/Yeshua to Jews and Gentiles as the Promised Jewish Messiah, Moriel plainly is at theological odds with Talmudic Judaism which we view as a false Judaism, (much as we view Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and liberal Protestantism as false Christianity). To this end we firmly disagree with Jacob Neusner, former Ivy League Professor of Judaism and an orthodox rabbi, theologically. Our prayer is that his eyes will be opened to the way of salvation in Israel’s true Messiah, Yeshua/Jesus.

From the point of view of apologetics we see an academic value in ‚  many of the books of Jacob Neusner (as well as other rabbinic scholars and unsaved Jewish academics such as Pinchas Lapide, the late David Flusser, and Gezer Vermes of Oxford University).

These authors, writing purely as academics, confirm the Jewish-ness of Jesus and of the gospels as First Century Judaic literature and affirm the historicity of early New Testament ‚  Jewish Christianity, and they do so from a Jewish perspective. Their writings therefore ‚  are of considerable value in sharing the Gospel with Jewish souls, in challenging the usual popular abject claims of most rabbis denying the ‚  Jewishness of Jesus and the New Testament as being non-Jewish (solidly Gentile) in origin.

Moriel similarly cites the writings of certain Roman Catholic theologians and saints with whom we clearly disagree when their ‚  position provides us material debunking the popular claims of Roman Catholic priests.

We also wish to educate our readers in rabbinic, Roman Catholic, Islamic, and cultic thought, as it is only by knowing what such people believe that we can evangelize them. This is something we see clearly in Scripture in the ministry of ‚  St. Paul who even cited pagan poets in 1 Corinthians and monotheistic Greek philosophy in Acts 17 as two examples).

We also find common ground with Jacob Neusner’s objections to Roman Catholicism.

We trust that the majority of our readers will understand the difference between academic value and doctrinal value. We find no doctrinal value in any unbiblical faith. But there may be scholarly value in ‚  better understanding “Sitz im Leben” (cultural and historical background) of biblical texts, and an apologetic value in evangelizing these people.

We regret if any of our readers failed to comprehend this.

Sincerely in Christ,

Moriel