From time to time I am confronted with the work of anti-missionaries. While there are a number of variants of this phenomena, it usually goes something like this:

Person discovers that what is taught in church doesn’t come from Scripture. Person begins seeking out other knowledge, using familiar methodologies that said person used in church.

Person latches on to titillating, sensational teacher(s) who teach many truths from Scripture that the christian was unfamiliar  with.

Teacher(s) fail to teach person that person is responsible for self-education in Scripture, History, Hebrew language studies, archaeological studies, and learning to walk in a personal relationship with the real Creator of Heaven and Earth – you know, the one defined and revealed solely in Scripture.

Person runs with this new found knowledge for a time, but doesn’t reform the deficient, irresponsible approach to faith in Messiah and the Father.

Person gets bored, hasn’t developed the mature ‘nonsense filter’ that comes from a faith-centric functional relationship with their Creator, and starts listening to anti-missionary drivel. Drivel comes from many sources, including judasim, messianic judaism, christianity, atheists, secularists etc.

Person doesn’t have the discernment nor wisdom that comes from that faith-centric, obedient, functional relationship with their Creator, and begins to entertain doubts about their recently new-found knowledge.

Person is unaware that there is a problem, with their approach and with their heart. Person follows the usual Greco-Roman pattern of seeking to share their doubts with others of perceived greater faith than themselves.

And the conversation begins….

I’ve had a few of these over the years; depending on the level of humility of said person – or perhaps more appropriately their stubbornness and lack of humility – the conversation usually goes down hill rather quickly, as the person who has the functional faith-and-obedience-centered relationship with their Creator gives appropriate warning to person who is now doubting what they once believed.

Here is a modified version of one such conversation. Names have been removed for the sake of privacy.

********Person********

This was a bit of an eye-opener for me; any thoughts?

Jesus and the Historian <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd7Lanms-gY>

********First response********

Hope this response finds you well.I listened – with much difficulty – to the first half hour. At that point I had to turn it off.

This gentleman has fallen prey to the same long running disinformation campaign that we all have at one time or another. He is but a tool in the hand of the master destroyer.

His knowledge of history, his contextual awareness of Scripture, along with his misguided sense of authority, are all signs of your typical spirit-less christian seminarian.

I wouldn’t waste your precious study time on this sort of material. It will only lead to your misdirection.

A good place for you to learn about the differences between the gospels is from Michael Rood’s The Chronological Gospels. He details the differences and why they exist.

This ‘professor’/seminarian is so poorly researched that his ‘evidence’ of the origins of the texts of the Brit Chadasha is purely anecdotal! He doesn’t even appear to be versant on the writings of the church fathers on the topic! As a seminarian!

I’ve learned far more about Messiah Yehoshua’s history from Nehemiah Gordon than from all of the church ‘historians’ combined. And he is not even pretending to be a believer in Messiah!

Anyway, stay focused on Yah’s perfect ways, achi. It always leads us to the unleavened Messiah.

Stay in touch, good to hear from you.

Shalom u’vrachot,

********Person’s rebuttal********

I have a different take on the video and found him informative to the very end.  I knew that seminary students were being taught more than just ‘inside the box’ theology.  Protestants, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Messianics, et Al., have their different takes on the Councils of Nicaea, Marcion, and even Martin Luther, but —- few consider why the Gospels were written 40 years after JC didn’t ‘soon’ return –or that Paul’s letters came first. This video adds insight to the NT that the Church hides.Like many Messianics, I found it puzzling in the Church as to why the Father was secondary to JC and rarely mentioned – especially in song.  How could the biblical path, Tanakh & NT, be one and the same?  YHVH said in Deuteronomy 13, that He gave us one path and anyone teaching a different path was a dreamer or false prophet – even with signs & wonders.

Then there’s Paul, with his misquotes and twisted conclusions.  I bought into Avi ben Mordechai’s Galatians Commentary, in hopes of salvaging Paul from the Church’s antinomian theology.  Sadly, Paul shows himself unable to rightly-divide or parse-out Tanakh, in his attempt to expound on JC.  Some say Paul used the Septuagint, which is no different then Joseph Smith using the 1611 KJV, for his prophetic enlightenment.  Translations are always an inferior text, in light of the original and Paul, being a student of Gamaliel would have used the authentic Hebrew — or he was less than a ‘B’ student.

Then, I revisited the front pages of each book of the NT, in my Study Bible.  It gives approximate dates of the writing, author and location, among other details of the book.  I was amazed that the Gospels were written so late, especially for the “journal” format presented- as though written in JC’s day.  John was written near the turn of the century, with “Revelation”.

I started reading Tanakh for what is says, without superficially inserting JC where he’s never mentioned.  Granted, it’s English translations, but I can parse-out some of the Hebrew.  Elohim is not ubiquitous in Tanakh, as some translations imply.

I think its time to teach the history of the NT.  Why are the Gospels presented in a “journal” style, as if written during the life of JC, when they were written 40+ years later?  Why were Paul’s letters, 20 years earlier, a stimulus for Mark, Matthew & Luke?  Why wasn’t the Gospel of John up front about its timing & the destruction of the Temple?

Rome, the home of many gods, gave us the NT laid-out as it choose, but not chronologically as it was written.  The Gospels are taught from within the NT.  Even the Tanakh is taught from within the NT.  Christendom cannot know YHVH except through JC and Paul.  Theology has clouded our reading of YHVH’s words; we’re given a mindset to see JC where he is not in the text.

The Church & NT have given me so many questions, that beg to know how the NT and Church were formed.  If we’re afraid to look outside, like we do with other belief systems, to know our history – what does that say of our faith?

If the NT is the pinnacle of Tanakh, we must be able to arrive there with a firm understanding of Tanakh, without NT theology clouding it, first — as the Church teaches it.

Its where I’m at in my walk.

********Second response********

I didn’t say that I didn’t find the speaker informative. It’s just that like almost all Christians, he’s completely ignorant of the vast majority of the subject matter to which he professes to be knowledgeable in.

Didn’t I warn you about becoming misdirected by the master destroyer? I said that because I have seen it too many times.

The matters that you seem to be taking issue with all revolve around the church’s misrepresentation of Messiah. And where do 99% of messianics come from? You guessed it – the church. Do you think that maybe, just maybe they brought their church thinking with them?

I pointed out that the seminarian in this video doesn’t know history nor does he have a contextual view of Scripture. To those of us who slave laboriously to learn the context and history of Scripture it is patently obvious that the professor in the video is at best a former Christian pastor and at worst the object of his own worship. Whatever the case, he is not knowledgeable in even the most fundamental of historical truths. As for his Scripture knowledge, take the level of Scripture and historical knowledge of the average Christian pastor, add in a rebellious heart & a slavish dedication to self worship, and you will arrive at the speaker’s knowledge level.

You need to separate out the issues, start doing your own research, and turn off the anti-missionary nonsense. You’ll get the truth of the matter from NEITHER Christianity nor from these. They are merely agendized men who – in the final analysis – are opposite sides of the same coin.

In other words they are all competing religionists. Whether they be Jewish, Christian or Secularist they don’t care what Scripture says – unless, of course, it appears to prop up their agenda.

Messiah Yehoshua repeatedly pointed men to the Father, deferred to His will – even unto death! – and refused to esteem himself above the Father.

That’s Scripture!

I seldom teach about the pictures and shadows of Messiah in the tanak – even though they are clearly there – because I am a talmid of Messiah. Therefore my mission must be his mission – that is, to turn the hearts of men back to the Father and His ways. If I can do that I will have demonstrated that I was tuned in to him and his purpose for my life. As opposed to sitting in the seat of scorners and mockers.

These anti-missionaries have all swallowed the poison pill. Well did Yehoshua characterize them when he said ’13  “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for you do not go in, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.’

The same can be said for the secularists of course.

You can always tell a good servant from a wicked one. The good servant will always be about his masters business.

Some – like Yehoshua and his talmidim – are in the business of turning the hearts of men back to the Father.

The rest seem to be focused on turning men into twice the son of gehenna that they are.

Please be careful achi. You appear to be swimming in a toxic pool. From an eternal life perspective, this doesn’t end well…

Blessings my dear brother.

********END OF INTERLOGUE********

Anyone who doesn’t think that the talmidim of Yehoshua have an adversary who is diligently seeking to destroy the faith of the mishpocha of Yehovah are asleep.

The workmen of the evil one come in many forms, from every culture, from every religion, from every background, every age group, and both genders.

If you take the time to study the patterns of behavior you can easily distinguish the wheat from the chaff.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?
So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit.
A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Thus you will know them by their fruits. [Mat 7:15-20 RSV]

We have been warned….

Let’s get this discussion started. Please share your thoughts; we’ll all learn from each other and grow stronger and more able to resist the wiles, tricks and traps of the evil one.

Shalom.