God Bless hun

It's important to realize Jesus was a Jew and his disagreements with the Rabbis contemporary to his day (eg. Shammai and Hillel) was theological and not racial. Many of those Rabbis committed the unpardonable sin (attributing Jesus' power to unfamiliar spirits). Regardless of their advantage of being born among the chosen people they needed to be spiritually reborn and recognize the Messiah Yeshua.
Everyone regardless of birth is heading toward a Godless grave and until they reach out and take hold of his hand he cannot pull them out of the pit. Christ was a rope thrown to humanity to pull us from our spiritual doom, but if we don't reach out he can only reach so far.
Many Jews (and Gentiles) were heading to hell long before the holocaust and some Jews became believers because of the war. If those atrocities did not occur Israel would not be a nation today and Messianic Jews (Jews for Jesus) would not be as strong as they are. It turned the tide. Jews perished under Moses because they turned to foreign gods, and again in the desert wanderings, and on and on. It didn't begin with the holocaust and it won't end there for anyone (Jew or Gentile) that doesn't heed the one true God (Yud Hay Vav Hay).

Dude, I appreciate what you're saying and by all means you are entitled to your beliefs. But it is a very doctrinal view of the Bible. The Bible is most definitely the inspired word of God, but do you really think that we can truly understand EVERYTHING there is to know from it?? God is infinite and one book can't contain all the stuff about Him. I try to use the Bible as a way to figure out the character of God from what is written there. What I mean is that God is a loving God, and that can be figured out from the Bible. I have gotten my views because I just do not think that God has really strong set-in-stone rules about getting to Heaven. You are right that Christianity is the one true path, but there is more to it.

I'm doing a law degree, and in law, there are general rules. These rules apply to all aspects of life and they are the rules people have to play by. But, occasionally a new situation comes up. One that was not foreseen by the legislature, and strict appliance of the law would not deliver justice. So the courts use a discretionary tool called equity, which allows them to use exceptions to the general rule to achieve justice. That is what I believe it is like with God. God understands human error and although other faiths aren't the way to Heaven sometimes he will... make allowances for it. Now that is a very rough description of equity and stuff, and please forgive the wording, but I'm sure you understand the point I am trying to convey.

In any case, regardless of your belief I think the way you and a lot of Christians go about presenting Christianity on this website is a bit ineffective. I have seen much more people speak badly of Christians and Christianity because all you guys seem to do is tell them that they are going to Hell. Regardless of what we believe, telling people they are going to Hell is not going to make them become Christians. There are other ways of doing it, and that is not by annoying people. Now, that said, I think people on this website tend to get annoyed easily, but still, we should not be going out there to piss people off. We must impress the world by our actions.

SaM

Okay. This bothers me. Not because I am Jewish but because it sounds ridiculous. As Waynespiker mentioned Jesus was a Jew. Without Judaism, you have no fundamental basis for Christianity. I am not one of those Jews who believes that Jews are the chosen people and better then everyone else. I believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs . No one is ultimately right and no one is ultimately wrong.
For you to believe that the only people who will go to Heaven are those how believe in Jesus, well that is just naive of you. Just because Jesus is your god does not mean he is everyone elses. Jesus is the holy savior of the Christian fate. But is he really god? Or he is just another person people believe in? Correct me if I am wrong but gos is higher then Jesus, Jesus is the messenger of g-d.
Both my mothers parents, my grandparents are Holocaust survivors. They lost everything but their lives. They watched their family be taken away one by one. Watched their 13 and under siblings, as small as 8 be taken to the gas chambers. Gone.
They were starved, and beat and degraded.
Why the Jewish people ( along with other ethnicities and homosexuals and cripples and everyone who did not fit the mold Hitler wanted)had to go through that ordeal I do not know.
But, because of what they did you best believe that they had something spectacular waiting for them in the next world, whether it is called heaven or not. And if not, then god is cruel.
But, they did not go to hell ( if hell exists).
We can all hope that nothing burning and awful waited to greet them in the next world. They went through hell already.

If I were you, I would be careful of how you speak. Damn all the non jesus believers to hell, not the way to go.

Do not make the mistake of thinking your religion is superior to everyone elses.

Was that addressed to me or Waynespiker??

SaM

I couldn't agree with DaineRon more and i'm not Jewish, she makes many important points such as without Judaism, there would be no christian religion, no Jesus, no Moses, no Abraham, no concept of a messiah, not to mention without Judaism ther would be no Islamic religion either. I think that has been the biggest roadblock to Christanity is it's pompus assumption that they are above all others and have a "trademark" on gods son, and maybe..just maybe Jesus is gods son in the sense that we are all his children. And just maybe Jesus is not god, i mean after all Jesus NEVER claimed to be god, he said he was gods SON. Jesus always spoke of doing his fathers will(meaning someone was above him) When he was praying the night he was taken, he asked his father if the cup(death) could be removed then please make it so. Also dying on the cross Jesus cried out to his father(once again showing, Jesus was not top dog) All these acts of asking his father to intervine..shows Jesus believed in a god...and KNEW he himself was not god. When Jesus was baptized did not a voice proclaim "this is my son whom i have chosen"....whose voice was that? It wasn't Jesus's voice...it was gods, and Jesus accepted god and become a child of god(gods son) by being baptized, which by the way if Jesus was perfect and free from sin...what would be the point of a baptisim??...

And about nazi camps, maybe it would have helped if the majority of christians in Germany acted like christians, and put their faith in god..rather then Hitler, history shown to many christian churches in Germany not only flown swastikas but remained silent as Hitler was gasing people...There is a verse in the bible that states "if you have love for YOUR own, what great deed have you done even the world loves it's own"....ask how yourself how many christians in Germany displayed "love outside of their own and loved SOMEONE else"....maybe if they did..Germany would'nt have turned out the way it did.

If there is a god. i am very sure Jews are up there as well, right along with christians and muslims, Hindus and Buddhists,gays and straights...blacks and whites. What these people went through in those camps was not only on account of their race, but faith as well...and for so many to stand so firm and strong..in what they believed...is a testament to their courage and more importantly to their faith and to knock a faith that got them through an experience that the average American would crap his pants and drop dead from...these people survived...and not only survived, but rebulit...and didn't let hate for their oppressors consume them...if thats not "god like" and a ticket to heaven...then there must not be one...

If you had read my blogs you would not see anywhere that I feel I'm superior. I am extremely humble and I have said I am no better than anyone else but Christ is. Jesus said, "Salvation is of the Jews", Jesus wasn't a christian any more than Buddah was a buddhist (he was hindu) or Martin Luther who was not Lutheran (He was catholic).
Before there ever were christians there were Jews who trusted God on his own terms. God didn't save everyone in the wilderness who were bitten by the asps, only those who looked at the brass serpent on Moshe's staff were saved.
Many instances like this are in the Bible and to sugarcoat this too much is add further confusion to an already highly interpretive worldview.
For the record I don't know who is or is not going to hell. But, I do know what God has said to ensure that sinners like me have to do to bypass that judgment.
Humanity (not Jews, Gentiles, Budists, christians) are because of our human nature, incompatable with God's nature (sinless, righteous,holy) and God cannot abide us in his presence unless we are changed, forgiven, recreated by His method. If he is God and the Bible is His revelation then whether we like it or not, it's his way or the highway to hell.
This is a secondary issue to discovering whether God exists, the Bible is his revelation, the Messiah (Mashiach) was Jesus (Yeshua), etc. When these issues are shown then the other issues must out of necessity fall into place.
A literal interpretation of scripture simply means that where a verse is meant to be taken literally, it is literal and where it is meant to be figurative, it is figurative. I know that hell is separation from God (what more it is may be interpretive), for those who have no desire for God in this life that separation holds no sway.
So instead of being offended, take a big boy pill and question the basic presuppositions and please stop stereotyping me. I'm just giving an opinion, that comes from considering a very long journey of doubts and questions like everyone else. I too thought some christians were arrogant. Is it arrogant to warn someone of impending danger?
The Bible does not have all the answers! But, what answers it has are sufficient for the human condition to be reconciled to God, or God is a liar and trickster.
I'm sorry if you see me as arrogant but I live very humbly and do not force my opinions upon those who don't want to hear them. I love and respect Jews and all people for their sincerity but you have the same chance at being sincerely right as sincerely wrong, just like me. Debate the issue and avoid ad hominen arguments or condescending tones. Ask me if I'm being arrogant, don't assume I am.
I studied at the Hebrew University in Baltimore a little, I know how complex the issues are, and I am certain I will be wrong in my opinions from time to time. Certainly the presentation of the Gospel may be misunderstood, but its truths remain.
Regardless of what you think of me or my presentation please don't judge any philosophy by its abuses, judge rather whether the Bible is true, how it should be interpreted, whether Jesus was the Messiah and whether God said without his help we are doomed to a certain fate created by the human condition.
If the Bible is true and perfect and eternal as it claims, you would be more wise (I think) to interpret and set your laws with it, then you would be to interpret your theology through law principles, that in part were gleaned from the Bible and Rabbinic tradition (yeah and Hammurabi, etc).
I mean no disrespect to anyone, but you must realize EVERY WORLDVIEW IS EXCLUSIVE. Even the ones that claim to be inclusive exclude the exclusive. If you embrace any worldview you are prejudicing all others in practice if not in principle.
All worldviews have areas where they converge and no single one has all the answers. But, that doesn't mean some things cannot have the highest degree of certainty, preponderance of the proof, beyond reasonable doubt (not every shadow of a doubt), etc.
The real question is one of logic, reason, the degree of certainty (only God can have apodictic certainty), weighing the evidence, etc. not whether it leaves a bad taste in our mouths.
Supreme Court Justice Greenleaf used the evidentiary rules he helped coauthor to prove the Evangelists narratives correct and he did the brave thing which flew in the face of his atheism, he became a believer.
Anthony Flew after 85 yrs. of being a leader in the atheist community, did a brave thing which flew in the face of all his past presuppositions and prejudices, when he followed the facts wherever they led, whatever they said to faith in God.
One of the first rules of discovery is not to assume guilt or innocence. So please don't assume arrogance on my part because that simply makes you arrogant.

First off.. AMEN misledmonkey.
I was addressing you, not waynespiker.

I do not believe that my religion is superior to anyone elses. However, if I did that does not mean that only my religion is right. Correct?

I truly believe that the fundamental part to almost every religion is to be a good person, to help others, to be kind. For those who forget that key part, well to me they are not religious at all.
Forget about god, whatever you may call him, forget about Jesus, Buddah, anything or any higher power you believe in. Work on the relationships between you and your fellow peers. You can worship god and be respectful. If you worship god and forget about the rest of human kind, then I think your worshiping is a waste.
In Judaism we have to very important categories of commandments. Those between us and god and those between us and our fellow man. A lot of people ignore the second category. It is wrong.
That is not what religion is,
So please, be careful of how you treat others and of the things you say.

Yes the ten mitzvot (commandments) are as daniero says, the first four deal with the relationship between men and God and the last six between men and other men. Yeshua was asked what mitzvot was the single greatest out of the 613 Torah mitzvot and he replied from Devarim (Deuteronomy) by quoting the Shema and saying "to love God with your whole heart, soul and mind. And the second greatest is similar that you love your neighbor as yourself". Upon these two laws hinge all the rest of the Torah (Law) and the Neviim (Prophets).
Although I agree with this only a cursory understanding can say "all religions are similar" as some have said.
Misled echoes what Ghandi observed, that the so-called christian should act more like their Christ. But I cannot separate the Savior Messiah from his words. He said to love all and live peacefully where possible but he also said "speak the truth in love".
I hope I have done that and disagreed agreeably and was not inadvertently rude or disrespectful. If I came across any other way I am sorry, but I have repeated the truth matter of factly.
There are men far greater than myself in competing worldviews, so I'm glad my Saviors words do not stand on my weaknesses.
My sister is Buddhist, my daughter Jewish (and her mother), my brother Jehovahs Wittness, other brothers are atheist. I love them but there is a difference between intentional ignorance of the differences and what I am teaching. God bless us all as we struggle for the answers which I believe can only be found in God through his provision and not in race, religion, ritual or relationship.