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From: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish,net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Jews for Jesus
Message-ID: <67@unc.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 16-Jan-85 21:29:29 EST
Article-I.D.: unc.67
Posted: Wed Jan 16 21:29:29 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Jan-85 13:25:48 EST
References: 
Reply-To: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Organization: CS Dept., U. of N. Carolina at Chapel Hill
Lines: 62
Xref: watmath net.religion.jewish:1283 net.religion.christian:90
Summary: 

In article  gks@vax135.UUCP (Ken Swanson) writes:

>Mr. Frank Silbermann, in regard to your reply to Julie Harazduk on
>the subject of Jews who have accepted Jesus as Messiah, thank you
>for your thoughtful and informative reply (as opposed to others.)

You're very welcome.

>Based on Frank's reply, I draw the following conclusion about Jewish
>belief:
>	God is too aloof, remote, mysterious  or holy that He would
>	venture to dwell amongst us, in person, here on Earth.
>	(Which is it?)

All of the above.  The traditional Jewish approach is that God
is to great for any of us to REALLY comprehend.  We can, however,
gain a few morsals of enlightenment through the study and practice
of His law (the five books of Moses, interpreted and explained
in the Talmud, etc.).

>Questions:
>	What is current Jewish thought as to the nature of their
>	Messiah? Does this thought vary across various lines of
>	Judaism? When will He come?
>

Yes, these ideas vary widely amoung different Jewish denominations.
I do not consider myself knowledgeable enough to speak for any of them.

>	If the idea of God sweeping down to Earth, impregnating a
>	virgin who gives birth to a divine child, smacks of Roman
>	mythology, I am curious as to Jewish thought on the creation
>	story in the "Book of Beginnings" (and other stories in
>	the early part of the Torah) which have counterparts in
>	Egyptian and Babylonian literature.
>

Perhaps this merely demonstrates that all faiths contain some truth.
I have no problem with the similarity in creation stories,
because I am not a "Bible fundamentalist", thought many Jews are,
especially amoung the Orthodox.
Actually, I personally am skeptical of the details of
all of these stories.

Though Judaeism teaches these stories to be true,
I don't think Jews are not required to believe them.
Actually, I'm not sure that Jews are "required" to believe anything.
The only real requirement is obedience to the laws.
Of course, if a Jew doesn't believe in God, then to whom
would he atone (seek forgiveness) when he slips up?

>No prosletyzing intended - I'm just interested in some answers from a
>Jewish perspective.
>

I hope that other more knowledgeable readers can help you out further.

		Frank Silbermann
		University of North Carolina
		
LORD, PLEASE BRING ME INTO THE COMPANY OF THOSE WHO SEEK THE TRUTH,
AND DELIVER ME FROM THOSE WHO HAVE FOUND IT.