Posted by Ryan Doyle on February 27, 19101 at 14:40:47:
In Reply to: Re: conversion posted by trevor Cangelosi on November 19, 1999 at 02:24:33:
Gentlemen:
Let me first deal with the first posting that was presented here. The New Testament does NOT blame the Jews for the crucifixion of Christ. In Hebrews 9:14 the word says that Christ offered himself, Paul states in the epistles that the sins of ALL of mankind is what necessitated the death of Christ. Also, we read in the epistles that Christ was crucified before the foundation of the world, outside of time, by God himself. Isaiah 55, in what was regarded as a messianic prophecy before the time of Christ, says that it pleased the Father to bruise him. The Bible, be it New Testament or Old, does not present the Jews as the chief agent in the death of Christ.
As far as the Jews being the primary focus of Christian missions, the shift from a Jewish focus to a gentile focus was made by Paul in the book of Acts. Yes, the Jewish people, in that particular point in time, rejected Christ; yes, they cried "his blood be upon us and upon our children"; but Christ had to die because he is the sacrafice for sin, the pover lamb, the redeemer of Israel (and the whole world). The book of Hebrews outlines Christianity's position in relation to Judaism quite nicely. As it was written by a rabbi who was trained by Gamaliel himself, I consider to have no small credibility.