Letters to the Editor

Editor,

I am writing in response to the April 13 Letter to the Editor from Rabbi Elena Stein. Stein argues that an earlier Post article on Jews for Jesus misrepresents Judaism.

As a Christian I can see Stein's point about the Christian nature of Jews for Jesus, but her claim that the organization engages in "persecutory practices" toward Jews seems doubtful. Just because the two groups do not share the same ideology does not guarantee that one is persecuting the other. When does attrition from a cause constitute persecution of that cause?

Furthermore, Christianity does not polarize the existence of a Messiah against a suffering world as Stein argues. Suffering occurs because our world is fallen, but as the Messiah, Jesus offers a spiritual hope of redemption from the very sin that contributes to the suffering. Christ offers hope from suffering, a hope that comes from faith. The problem comes when people want to associate "hope" and "faith" with the alleviation of suffering. In God's economy this is not necessarily so.

While the Jewish Passover may not specifically refer to the expectation of a messiah, Christianity does hold that Jesus is the symbolic fulfillment of Jewish Passover tradition. The angel of death passed over the Hebrews when they were in Egypt, and then God led them through the wilderness to the promised land. Similarly, because of Jesus' perfect atoning sacrifice for sin, God passes over the sin of those who accept Christ's sacrifice for themselves. Although Christians and Jews may disagree about their idea of Messiah, the Christian belief in a Messiah most certainly has its roots in Judaism.

Finally, Stein's concluding paragraph misrepresents Christianity. In John 8:44, which Stein quotes, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of a binding legalism that blinded them from seeing God's heart, which longs for compassion, grace and restoration. His anger in that verse is directed at their spiritual blindness and not at the entire Jewish population. Central to Christian teaching is the notion that by faith the Gentiles can share in the promised inheritance of Abraham; because the Pharisees did not show this faith, Jesus maintained that they are symbolically not a part of that inheritance.

Mark Rankin
Athens, Ohio