LOVE, NOT CONDEMNATION
We are prepared to accept that Jews in all movements in Judaism will be offended that we have labeled Judaism as a Defiled Religion. And we doubt that you will not be much comforted by the fact that we labeled Christianity as a Defiled Religion. Nevertheless, we must report that all religions are off track.

Christians with whom we once went to church will think that we are back-slidden heathens because it appears to them that we have abandoned the faith that they cherish so much. Jews will probably not have the same reaction but there will be offense nonetheless.

Jews will not be much appeased in their response to this website with the knowledge that we spent several years studying about Judaism and practicing Jewish traditions, but we are compelled to tell a little of that history. We reported our forays into Judaism at some length in Moderator’s Religious History. And, although it will probably not mean much to anyone, we will also report that we consider the years we spent reading the weekly Torah portion, weekly observance of Shabbat, annual observance of Passover, Shavuot and Succot to be very memorable and instrumental in God’s plan to bring us to the spiritual place we are today.

What we are trying to say is that we have not come to this place with an attitude of condemnation for Jews past or present. There is a soft place in our hearts for Jews and Israel that exists at least in part because of one Bible study trip to Israel in the late 90’s. For a time we stayed up to date on Jewish and Israeli issues through our subscription to the International Jerusalem Post. We found that this kept us much better informed about middle east issues than all the western new media. It also kept us current (more or less) on domestic issues in Israel. And we supplement all that with occasional Netflix movies on Israeli/Jewish themes.

In addition to all of the above we have read the following books and keep them in our personal library:

We don’t mention these books and our experience in the practice of Judaism to boast. We do mention these facts, however, as evidence that our studies of Judaism have been intentionally serious. The result of this history is deep respect and admiration for the important place Jews have had and continue to have for all nations down through the ages. Both anger and grief rise up within us whenever we read about Jewish persecution past or present.

In case it is not already obvious, what we are trying to communicate here is that we did not create this website without background and sensitivity to Jews and Judaism. Indeed we called ourselves Christian for most of our life, but there was also a period of years in which we identified more with Judaism than with Christianity. But now, applying what we have learned through the Biblical research that led us to the creation of this website, we carefully avoid labeling ourselves with anything that sounds religious — either Christian or Jewish. For our personal comfort and for the benefit of a few people who know us well, we label ourselves as followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And we take this label very seriously.

Please understand that we are not trying to say that we are Jewish and that we deserve some special consideration from Jews because we have done all these Jewish things, read stuff about Jews and traveled to Israel one time. We do not ask for nor do we expect to receive any special grace for the hard words we have reported here because of our history. We are only trying to make the point that we have done some of our homework and that we have a strong measure of affection for all things Jewish.

That is the good news. The bad news, as we reported above, is that Judaism, along with Christianity, is way off track in its theology and religious practices. For anyone who has read even a little of this website, it should be plain that we have documented our conclusions in great detail with extensive scripture from both the Old and New Testaments. We like to think that we have been very evenhanded in finding shortcomings for both religions based on what the Bible says. We have pulled no punches whenever we found disconnects between religious practices and what the Bible says.

As we read the Bible and compare what God has said with what has happened in both Judaism and Christianity, we find that both religions have stumbled over the same stumbling block: The Law. Jews stumbled first and then Christians followed suit just like God predicted. The two religions adopted different forms of law, but they both stumbled and continue to stumble. That is the bad news. The good news is that it can all be redeemed.

Our hope for what this website will accomplish is that all the children of Abraham (i.e. Jews, Christians and Muslims) will see that they have stumbled and do what they need to do to allow God to redirect them to becoming New Covenant disciples. Both religions are stuck in Old/First Covenant religion, and while they remain stuck they resist entering into the Promised Land and the fulfillment of the New Covenant.

Sincerely,
Paul and Barb