 For the Jew, accepting Christianity involves much more than merely accepting a false Messiah. Aside from its belief in Jesus as the Messiah, Christianity has altered many of the most fundamental concepts of Judaism. I'd like to explore the consequences of a Jew who embraces Christianity according to Halacha or Jewish law. What happens when a Jew becomes a Christian? The sign shouts, Jews for Jesus. You look at the sign and wonder what's going on. You might have heard of them or read about them in the papers. Your curiosity is aroused. You decide to find out more about it and speak to one of these strange people. You strike up a conversation. He tells you that he is a Jewish Christian or Messianic Jew, one of the Jews for Jesus. Before you know it, he's asking you how you feel about your Jewishness. You might admit that you find your Judaism spiritually unfulfilling. You both agree that the synagogue in which you grew up seemed to offer anything but a religious experience. You admit that deep down you realize that there is a spiritual dimension missing from your life. He sympathizes and tells you the reason why Judaism does not fulfill this need is because you have left out an essential ingredient. Then he gives you the punchline. What you need is Jesus. He tells you that to be a true Jew you must believe in Jesus the Messiah or Yeshua HaMashiach. Only then, so he says, can Judaism provide you with that dimension you are seeking. Do not be deceived. For the past 2,000 years, Christians have been trying to convert Jews to their belief. This is a central goal of their religion. Jesus, the central object of their belief, was a Jew. He taught and preached to Jews. Yet he was rejected by them. How can Christians justify their belief when Jesus' very own people refuse to accept them? To get the Jews to accept Jesus is therefore one of their most important goals. However, in our generation, some enlightened Christian leaders have called for an end to such missionary activity. Sadly enough, these leaders are ignored by this growing missionary threat. So you might ask, so why is that so terrible? At worst, I'll believe in a false Messiah. What do I have to lose? The truth is you have a lot to lose. Let's begin by examining the basic beliefs of Christianity. Beside its basic creed that Jesus was the Messiah, the fundamental doctrines of Christianity are the Trinity. According to most Christians, God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghosts. The Incarnation. Christians believe that the Son, the second part of the Godhead, came down to earth in human form in the person of Jesus. Mediation. According to their creed, no man can approach God directly. Everyone must go through Jesus the Son. Let us carefully examine these beliefs. A basic foundation of most Christian sects is the belief in the Trinity. Christianity, according to the Nicene Creed, teaches that God consists of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father is the one who created the world. The Son is the one who redeems man. And the Holy Ghost is the member of the Godhead that speaks to the prophets. Jesus himself alluded to the doctrine of the Trinity. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that his final words to his disciples were, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. This belief in a three-part God is a basic doctrine of Christianity. Christians claim that this three-part God that they worship is the same as the God worshipped by the Jews. This is not true. The Bible states, Here, O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is one, twice every day. The believing Jews cry out these words. They are the first thing a Jew learns as a child on the last words he utters before he dies. On every Jewish doorpost, there is a mezuzah proclaiming these words. They are again found in the Tefillin, wound daily next to a Jew's heart and mind, proclaiming this most basic principle of Judaism. Worship of any three-part God by a Jew is nothing less than a form of idolatry. Idolatry does not necessarily mean worshiping a God of stone or wood. Even if a Jew worships the highest angel, it is also a form of idolatry. God is the infinite one, the creator of all things. Anyone who worships anything else is guilty of idolatry. The three-part God of Christianity is not the God of Judaism. Therefore, in the Jewish view, Christianity may very well be a variation of idolatry. Although Christianity began among Jews, it was rapidly adopted by the pagans of the ancient world. These pagans believed in an entire pantheon of gods. It was just too much for them to give up all these gods in favor of the one true God. So, early Christian missionaries compromised with these pagans by introducing the Trinity, a sort of three-in-one God. Even many contemporary Christian scholars see the Trinity as the result of pagan influences on Christianity. This might represent an improvement for the pagan, but for the Jew, it is a regression, representing a step backwards toward idolatry. This might not seem to be in the Jewish spirit of never attacking other faiths, but when missionaries are specifically targeting Jews for conversion to Christianity, the Jewish people have a right to defend themselves. Indeed, several contemporary Christian leaders have denounced the missionaries who prey on Jews. Let us now examine a second basic belief of Christianity, that of the incarnation. According to this doctrine, God, in the person of the Son, assumed human form in the person of Jesus. It is best expressed in the Nicene Creed, recited every Sunday in most churches. In it, the Christian declares, I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and he became flesh by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. Christians really believe that Jesus was God, and this is one of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity. If we accept the testimony of the Gospels, then this belief originated with Jesus himself. Among other things, Jesus said, all things that the Father has are mine, John 16.15. My Father has been working until now, and I have been working, John 5.17. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgments to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father, John 5.22.23. I and the Father are one, John 10.30. He who has seen me has seen the Father, John 14.9. From these quotes, it seems obvious that Jesus himself claimed to be God, but the missionaries, the Jews for Jesus and the Messianic Jews, do not tell you about this. They wait until you have fallen into their net, but this is one of the most basic beliefs of Christianity. If belief in the Trinity is idolatry, then from the Jewish point of view, this concept is perhaps even more objectionable. The pagan gods came down in human form, copulated with mortals and bore human children. Many Christian historians attributed to the early Christians who were attempting to win over pagans to their new religion and therefore adopted this pagan concept. But what does the Bible say about the unity of God? It says, Know this day and lay it in your heart that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below. There is none else. Deuteronomy 4.39. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Says God. Jeremiah 25.24. The whole earth is filled with His glory. Isaiah 6.3. Great is God, highly praised. His greatness is unfathomable. Psalms 145.3. God is the ultimate, the infinite, the all-powerful Creator of all things. To say that any man was God is to the Jew the height of absurdity. The Bible says in Numbers 23.19, God is not immortal that he should lie, nor a man that he should change his mind. God does not suddenly decide to visit the earth in a human body. A God who fills and sustains all creation does not have to visit our planet in human form. The Jerusalem Talmud flatly states the Jewish view, if a man claims to be God, he is a liar. The third basic belief of Christianity is that of mediation. This states that man cannot approach God except through Jesus. All prayer must be in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, or a variation of that. Here again, it was Jesus himself who is alleged to have proclaimed this doctrine. He openly said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14.6. This Christian doctrine goes against the very opening statement of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments begin with the words, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. Exodus 20, 1, and 2. When God says before me, He is stressing that you should not believe in any other deity, even if you believe in God as well. One who sets up a mediator between God and man is guilty of violating this commandment. If a man believes in God, then why should he need any other deity? But a person might think that God is so high as to be unapproachable without a mediator. The opening statement of the Ten Commandments teaches us that this is also idolatry. God is infinite and all-knowing. To say that he needs a mediator to hear our prayers is to deny his infinite wisdom. If Jesus actually made these statements recorded in the Gospel, then he was advocating idolatry with himself as the deity. If this is true, is there any wonder that Jews never accepted him, either as a prophet, rabbi, or teacher? Judaism is unique among the religions of the world. Almost without exception, the world's religions begin with a single individual, be he Jesus, or Buddha, or Mohamed, or Confucius, or Lao Tze. This individual gradually gathers a following, either through miracles or through sheer charisma. But from the beginning, the entire foundation rests on a single individual. Judaism is the one exception to this. It did not begin with an individual. An entire nation of 3 million Jews stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and heard God introduce himself. Only God speaking to an entire nation could reveal a true religion. And once God speaks, he does not change his mind or revise the truths. He proclaimed as absolute and eternal. Our most basic beliefs were taught by God himself at Sinai. The Bible says, Deuteronomy 4, 35, unto you it was shown that you might know that the Lord is God and there is none else besides him. Out of heaven, he made you hear his voice, that he might instruct you. No matter how many miracles a prophet might produce, he cannot change this basic principle. If a man tells us to commit adultery, he is a false prophet, no matter how many wonders he pulls out of a hat. God warned us about this in the Bible, Deuteronomy 13, 2. If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer, and he gives you a sign or a miracle, and the sign or miracle comes to pass, and he calls on you saying, Let us go after other gods whom you have not known, and let us worship them. You shall not listen to that prophet or dreamer, for God is testing you to see whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. God himself was warning us about movements like Christianity. Even if all the miracles recorded in the Gospel were true, we do not pay any heed to them. God has already warned us. This brings us back to our original question. What can a Jew lose by embracing Christianity? The answer is everything. Christianity negates the fundamentals of Jewish faith, and one who accepts it rejects the very essence of Judaism. If he continues to keep all the rituals, it is the same as if he abandoned Judaism completely. The Talmud teaches us, whoever accepts idolatry denies the entire Torah. A Jew who accepts Christianity might call himself a Jewish Christian, or Jews for Jesus, or a Messianic Jew, but he is no longer a Jew. He can no longer even be counted as part of a Jewish congregation. Conversion to another faith is an act of religious treason. It is one of the worst possible sins that a Jew can commit. Along with murder and incest, it is one of the three cardinal sins which may not be violated even under pain of death. The missionaries will tell you, believe in Jesus and be saved. The truth is that one who falls into their net is eternally cast away before God. A Jew must give his life rather than embrace Christianity. This is not mere rhetoric. Throughout our history, millions of Jews were given this choice, the cross or death. Invariably, they chose death. The missionaries now come and preach love and peace. But Jesus himself said, Think not that I come to send peace on earth. I come not to send peace, but to sword. Matthew 10, 34. It was this sword that the Crusaders used to wipe out hundreds of Jewish communities in the name of Jesus the Jew. It was this sword that they used when they entered Jerusalem in 1215. Their first act was to round up all the Jews to the central synagogue and burn them to death. It was this sword used by the Spanish Inquisition when they tortured Jews to death in the name of Christian love. Remember all this when the Jews for Jesus speak of peace and love. These Jews for Jesus may arouse your curiosity, but they should also arouse your pity. For they are in an inherent paradox. A Jew for Jesus is a contradiction in terms. But what about the Jew who has embraced Christianity? What about the one who has already taken Jesus as his savior and Messiah? Is he eternally cut off from Judaism? Is he lost without hope of redemption? Is he totally cut off from his people and his God? No matter how far one strays from God and Torah, he is always accepted back. The Bible says, As I live, says God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that they turn from their way and live. Ezekiel 33.11 When the wicked turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Ezekiel 33.19 That every man shall return from his way and I will forgive him. Jeremiah 36.3 If they return to you and confess your name and pray, then you will hear in heaven and forgive their sin. 1 Kings 8.33.34 Even a Jew who has embraced another religion is given a second chance. He can still return to Judaism and be re-accepted by God. He must completely disavow Christianity for all time and commit himself totally and without reservation to Judaism. He need not be formally converted back to Judaism, but a definite commitment is in order. Christianity for a Jew is a form of idolatry and must be repented as such. Our sages teach us that keeping the Sabbath is particularly effective for such atonement. If you find your life spiritually empty, devoid of religious experience, then you need the Torah of Judaism all the more. You might have been turned off by the Judaism you thought you knew, but I believe that you may never have been exposed to the true depths of Judaism, but it is there and millions of Jews are inspired by it. I can gaze at a beautiful sunset and try to describe it to you, but until you open your eyes and see it for yourself, my words are in vain. You must see it to appreciate it. I can describe the most delicious fruit, but you must taste it to appreciate it. The same is true of Judaism. The Bible tells us Psalms 34 and 9, taste and see that God is good, happy is the man who embraces him. You must actually live Torah Judaism to appreciate its beauty and wisdom. Only when you immerse yourself in a totally will you discover its full spiritual dimension.