Thank God!
My Savior Was Not A Jew!
Part 4 of 8by Lt. Col. Gordon "Jack" Mohr, A.U.S. Ret.
A critical look at the historical Christ,
free of Jewish distort!". . . I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan." - Rev. 2:9
". . . They (Jews) shall build up, and I (God) shall throw down: and they (true Israel) shall call them (Jews), The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever . . ." - Malachi 1:4
THE DIVINE TRAGEDY!
Whenever men seek for an excuse for performing a shameful deed, in court, the validity of the charge means very little. The main point is whether the false charge can be made to stand, and the ease with which it can be accomplished. So as the hatred of the Jewish leaders grew, for this upstart named Jesus, they finally managed to bring Him before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate on a charge of "sedition against Rome." (This is one of the major accusations made against patriotic Christians by the alien government today, and one that is most difficult to defend against).
The "trumped up charge" the Jewish leaders used was that He had proclaimed Himself to be the Jewish Messiah, and hence their king, and that He was stirring up the Jews to rebellion against Rome.
We could honestly call this a "sanctimonious frame-up," since there is no evidence that Christ had any more to do with Jewish and Roman politics, than He had with the Jewish religion.
But the Talmudic representatives of Judaism, knowing that Pilate would be upset with any plot against Caesar, had been so thoroughly exposed to the public as hypocrites, that their offended dignity could stand it no longer and they were willing to bring false charges against this man who called Himself the Son of God.
The same would be true of our religious leaders today, if someone were to expose them for the hypocrites many are. But this is even more so with the Jews, who are very "thin skinned" people when it comes to criticism of any kind. Since they have proclaimed themselves to be the "Chosen People," and since many Christian leaders back them in their claim, they believe themselves to be above criticism of any kind, since they are always right in their own eyes. Have you ever known a Jew to apologize when he was caught in an illegal act? I never have! He always has an excuse for what he has done!
Finally through the treachery of the only Jew among his disciples, Judas Iscariot (and notice the Jewish trait; he did it for money), Christ was delivered into the power of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Their problem then was to get the Roman Governor to see things their way, since they had no legal right to execute this just man, who had broken no laws, yet who they were set on killing.
They also wanted to shift the blame for His murder onto the Romans, and thus discredit Rome in the eyes of all who had become Christians.
They had plenty of authority from the Babylonian Talmud to kill him in many and horrible ways, as a blasphemer and violator of the Jewish Sabbath.
But the Jews have always been "past masters," at getting others to do their "dirty work" for them, and "pull their chestnuts out of the fire." So they set about letting the Romans do the dastardly deed, thus affording, or so they thought, an alibi for themselves.
It is not at all unusual today, in so-called "free America" to have a Christian numbered among the transgressors; then have Jewish judges and attorneys (and they are in the majority in the American Bar Association), tamper with the law of the land in such a manner as to condemn them. This Jewish sense of justice is as rudimentary as that of the lowest savage - the condemning of the accused, without a trial, and the weighing of evidence through passion, rather than on facts.
The idea of subverting justice for Christians was declared in the 13th century, when a Jewish head rabbi in Aries, France, sent out a Protocol to the Jews in Europe, to "make your sons advocates of the law, so that thereby they can divest Christians of their rights in court."
Pilate had incurred the wrath of the Jewish leaders by the roughshod manner in which he had ruled the land and he was trying tb get back into the good graces of the troublesome Sanhedrin. He was anxious to please them, while at the same time his sense of Roman justice told him that Christ was an innocent man. But they clinched their case, when they told Pilate: "If you let this fellow go, you are no friend of Caesar," (John 19:12). To a Roman politician, this could well be a death blow. Pilate did not want to incur the displeasure of the Emperor, for it had cost many a Roman politician his head.
No doubt Pilate had heard reference made to Jesus as the king of the Jews. We can gather this by the questions he asked during the trial. (John 19:33) "Art thou the king of the Jews?" But notice Christ's answer, it was not in the affirmative, instead He repudiated this by saying: "Do you say this of your own volition, or did someone tell you this?"
When Pilate asked Him again in vs 37: "Art thou a king then?" Jesus answered in the affirmative. He had just finished telling Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world order, for if it were: "My servants would fight to keep Me from being delivered to the Jews." He was a King all right, make no mistake about that, but He was not "king of the Jews."
We know that Pilate did not recognize Him as a threat to Rome, for on several occasions, he told the Jewish accusers: "I find no fault in Him!" (vs 38).
But the Jewish rabble (and I'm sure there were some who had acclaimed Him the Son of David a few days earlier, when He entered Jerusalem in triumph) under the direction of the hypocrites in the Sanhedrin had already condemned Him to be put to death. The trial before Pilate was only a formality, for as in many Jewish trials, the victim was pronounced guilty before the trial was begun. It was "Judge Lynch" in the person of the High Priest who demanded that Pilate execute the Christ. Pilate tried to squirm out of it by offering the Jews a real murderer named Barabbas as a substitute. So what we really see, when Pilate finally gives in to their bloodthirsty demands, in Jewish "ritual murder," which we have reason to believe is still practiced today.
To evil men, there is nothing more infuriating, than to be confronted by a righteous life. Formal righteousness, was the only kind the satanists in the Sanhedrin understood. Their insulted dignities could not withstand the righteousness of He who said to them: "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone," (John 8:7). So just as they do today, Caiphas the High Priest, hired perjurers, who testified falsely against Him, speaking words which had been given to them by the High Priest. (We saw this same thing happen a few years ago, when the government charged some Christian Patriots with "sedition," in the Fort Smith Trial. The government hired "false witnesses," against these Christians. Only this time God intervened; all the accused were vindicated. The false charges, and the false witnesses were exposed in court, yet none of them have been prosecuted, although they lied to the court, while under oath. This, my Christian friends, is the Jewish way!
When Caiphas told Jesus: "I adjure (swear under oath) Thee by the Living God that thou tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God," Jesus recognized this as a challenge which might well condemn Him to death, yet He refused to evade it and answered in the affirmative. Matthew 26:64, tells us that Jesus replied: "...Thou hast said; nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." At this the High Priest tore his garments and shouted: "He hath spoken blasphemy, what further need have we of witnesses? Behold now ye have heard His blasphemy." And the rest of the Sanhedrin said (vs 66) "He is guilty of death!"
When Pilate had questioned Christ along political lines, He remained silent, but He would not evade the question asked by the High Priest regarding His divinity, even though he knew it would condemn Him. After a hypocritical display of offended sanctity, Caiphas twisted Christ's answer into the political charge he laid before the Governor.
Did anything happen during this trial that might indicate that Christ did not consider Himself to be a member of the Jewish race? Yes, strangely by inference! Everyone who knew Him and His disciples, knew that with the exception of Judas, who was a Jew, they were Galileans.
Even the servant girl during the trial detected this by Peter's speech (Mark 14:66-70). In Matthew's Gospel it indicates that Christ said to those who came to arrest Him: "...Are you come out against a thief with swords and staves to take me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple and ye laid no hold on me," (Matt.26:55).
All through His trial He regarded Himself and was regarded by others as a Galilean, not a Jew. What excuse do you or your pastor have to call him a Jew? You "cannot get grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles." You can't get the pure Son of God and his religion from the "pig pen of Talmudic Judaism."
It was not Christ who called Himself "King of the Jews," it was Pilate who had this inscription written above His cross to irritate the Jews, and even your precious king James Bible is wrong, for anyone who knows Latin knows that IEUS NAZARENOUS REX IUDERUM! means "Jesus of Nazareth, ruler of the Judeans!"
With the exception of a few of His followers, almost all the people at His execution were Jews, and Matthew 27:24, 25 says that when Pilate washed his hands of the blood of this innocent man, ALL the Jews, not just their leaders said: "His blood be on us, and on our children!" They condemned themselves for all time, for the murder of the Son of God, no matter how much you and your pastor seek to exonerate them.
The supreme testimony of Christ against Jewish Messiahship came during His trial when He said: "Ye call me King, and so I am; But my kingdom is not of this world (order)," vs 36. That should be enough to silence those who want to talk about Christ's Jewish Messiahship.
The modern Jewish claim that Christ came from their race, though not the Messiah they look for, is a flimsy absurdity and is an attempt to revive the heresy of the Ebionites and drag His Divinity down to a Jewish level.
So they crucified him!
THE ESCAPE FROM JUDAISM
The escape of the new religion called Christianity from the background of Judaism was most difficult. It had to be accomplished during the First Century church by men such as Paul and John and later during the Reformation period, only to have it crop once again in modern evangelistic and fundamentalist circles.
The man chosen by God to show the distinction between Judaism and Christianity was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, who was a Roman by birth citizenship, but a Jew by religion. This was the Pharisee trained Saul of Tarsus, who was one of the worst persecutors of the new belief, until his miraculous confrontation with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, as told in Acts chapter nine. It was at this point, that Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, became the missionary to the Gentilized nations of Israel in Asia Minor, who were in reality the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," who had lost their identity as Israelites. When grave doctrinal differences raised bytheJudaized Ebionites threatened the First Century Christian church and the relationship between the Apostle Peter and Paul, the spirit of the resurrected Christ prevailed and they submitted their differences to His leadership.
We need to remember that these early Israelite Christians were fallible men, rather than the infallible saints some have painted them.
Few Christians realize the importance of the Greek culture and language in shaping the early church (more properly called the "ecclessia"). It was not so much the influence of the Greek language in itself, which was enormous, but in the refusal of the early Christians to submit to Judaizing influences. As mentioned earlier, the Ebionite influence in the church, came from those Judaizers who demanded that Christians MUST first be circumcised before they could be "saved." Remember, that the vast majority of these early Christians were not Jews, but Israelites. But they had been brought up in the Jewish religion, which at the time of Christ was a "bastard religion," which had little to do with Old Testament Hebrewism. Jesus indicated this, when the Pharisees bragged to Him about how they followed the teachings of Moses, He replied: "If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me." (John 5:46.)
So persuasive was the Greek influence, not only in Galilee, but also in Judea, that the Old Testament which had been translated into the Aramaic language in Alexandria, Egypt, had to be retranslated into Greek so the Jews could themselves understand it. (Hebrew, at this time, was for all intents and purposes a "dead language.) This Greek translation became known as the Septuagint.
When the message of Christ began to spread north and west, into the lands occupied by the "true Israelites," the writers of the New Testament wrote in Greek. As a result of this, in the words of Apostle Paul, (Romans 1:23) the Gospel became a "stumbling block (Greek - occasion of falling, or offense) to the Jews, and foolishness (Greek - absurdity) to the Greeks."
It is significant that modern Jewish historians such as Prof. Graetz and Dr. Klauser, make a broad distinction between the "pagan Greeks and the Judeo-Christians." (Yes, they had them in the 1st Century too!)
Apparently there was a friendly feeling between the Ebionite, Judeo-Christians, and the Anti-Christs of the Talmud, which caused the Apostle Paul to warn Christians in 2 Corinthians 6:14, not to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness (the teachings of Christ), with unrighteousness (the teachings of the occult Talmud), and what communion hath (Christian) light, with (Jewish) darkness?"
He then asks a searching question in vs 15: "What concord (agreement) hath Christ with Belial? (this is Lucifer, the god worshiped by Jewry) or what part hath he (the Christian) that believeth, with a (Jewish) infidel?"
Here is a brief summary of the differences between Judaism and Christianity:
1) Christ showed His complete detachment from Judaism by His direct appeal to God, as the Father in heaven. He did not make this appeal on the basis of race, or that as a Jew He was entitled to it. This was a typical Jewish argument.Christ sowed the seed of the new religion, knowing that its germination power, was far beyond anything that mankind could comprehend.2) The contrast between the message of Christ and that of Judaism is so diametrically different, it should need no explanation. To those Israelites who had been brought up under Judaism, He showed kindly tolerance. It was only to the religious leaders who had been leading the Israelite people astray, that His harshest remarks were made. When they mentioned how they followed Moses, He said: (John 5:45) "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom (you say) you trust."
3) Christ was not an enemy of Judaism, or Mohammedanism, or any other religion, except as "light is the enemy to darkness." He contented Himself with showing mankind "a more excellent way," (1 Cor. 12:31).
4) Christ followed the. Hebrew customs, such as the observance of the Passover, and He honored the Sabbath Day. These were Hebrew-Israelite ceremonies, which had been stolen by Judaism. For you see, the Jews of His day, were the one's He spoke about later in Rev. 2:9; 3:9, when He spoke of the "blasphemy of those who say they are Jews (Judeans), and are not; but are of the synagogue of Satan." (Think about this, the next time your pastor tries to talk you into supporting these anti-Christ's.) He taught in the Jewish synagogues, since they were the "town halls" of that day.
5) In His parting instructions to His disciples, Christ said nothing about their dealing with the soul deadening influences of Judaism. Instead He told them to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel." (The good news of His Kingdom.) This news consisted of the fact that through Jesus Christ, ALL mankind can be reconciled to God. This made it a "non-Jew" religion, for Talmudic Judaism is for the Jew alone, with the death penalty for any "goyim," (non-Jew animal) who even reads it!
It should be repeated over and over again that the Gospels were written after most of the disciples had already suffered martyrdom. This religion, was a religion, not just for the "chosen people of Israel"; it was not an exclusive religion such as that taught by Judaism, it Was for all mamkind who would accept Christ as Savior and King The priority of presentation Was first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel," for this was His primary mission. From there the blessings of the promise made to Father Abraham in Genesis 12:3, were to spread to all who would accept His Lordship. The universality of this religion can be seen in John 1:12, which states: "But as many as receive Him (Jesus Christ) to them gave He (God) the power, to become the sons of God; even to those who believe on His name."
Though some in Identity preach that salvation is only for Israel, this is a perversion of Scriptural teaching.
Again in Galatians 4:26-29, we read: "For ye are ALL the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew (Judean) nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are ALL ONE in Christ Jesus, and if ye be Christ's, then are ye ABRAHAM'S SEED, and HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE," (Galatians 4:25-29) Some of you "racial supremists" may not like this, but there it is and I cannot change its truth!
The Jews could never have originated an all encompassing religion such as this, for the very nature of Judaism is a selfish, revengeful religion, devoid of fair play and honesty towards anyone who is not a Jew. How blasphemous it is to believe that the beauty of Christianity could have sprung from such bigotry, hatred and the "cesspool mentality" of Talmudic Judaism.
Christ did not attempt to overthrow other religions, nor did He seek to change men and women. There is no Scriptural evidence that He ever gave an "altar call" during any of His sermons. His message, as was that of the disciples, who also did not use the "altar call," was one of liberation for men and women from the power of sin, and from the "wages of sin," which Scriptures say is "death," (Rom. 6:23; Gen. 2:17; James 1:15.)
Judaism, as It appeared on the historical scene, when Hebrews came back from Babylon captivity with the occult religion of Babylon, cannot survive as a living organism. It is a vampire religion, practiced by a vampire people, which destroys everything it comes in contact with. The modern Jewish author, Oscar Levy, in the introduction to his book, THE WORLD SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, said: "We Jews today are nothing else but the world seducers; it's destroyers; it's incendiaries; it's executioners. There has been no progress, and it is our (Jewish) mentality which has prohibited all real progress, and - what is worse - stands in the way of all future natural reconstruction of this world. I look at this world and shudder at it's ghastliness; I shudder even more when I recognize the SPIRITUAL AUTHORS of this ghastliness, "(International Jewry.)
The compromise between Judaism and Christianity in the early "ecclessia," could not endure, for the two were completely unrelated and irreconcilable. One is tolerant; the other completely intolerant.
Having murdered the head of the "new faith," then known as THE WAY, the Jews set out to throttle all teachings for His doctrines. They forbade Christians to heal in the name of Jesus. One thing led to another, until at the behest of Jews, Christians were thrown into prison, were tortured and executed. In Acts 12:1, we read: "Now about this time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James, the brother of John with the sword. And BECAUSE HE SAW IT PLEASED THE JEWS, (notice this very carefully now) he proceeded further to take Peter also." BECAUSE IT PLEASED THE JEWS! it sounds almost like what is happening in Washington, DC today. "What the Jews want; the Jews get," whether it is good for Americans, and for Christians in particular, matters little. Sad to say, this utterly un-Christian and foreign attitude, is backed by the majority of our churchmen, who have become willing prostitutes of Judaism.
It was at this time of Christian peril, that Christians found friends among native elements of the Greeks, who were mostly Israelites, although, like most "true Israelites," today, they did not know this and looked on themselves as Gentiles. Even before Christ's crucifixion, some of these "truth seekers," had come to Philip and said: "Sir, we would see Jesus!" These were white Aryans like ourselves. They were cultured men. The meaning of the message of Christ made sense to them and Philip and Andrew (both of these names are Greek), carried the Kingdom message to them.
It was soon after these Greeks came to Jesus, that realizing that His mission was completed, He said: "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. (Read the entire 12th chapter of John.) It was less than a week later that He told His disciples: "Go ye into ALL the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15). The Gospel of Luke 24:47 says: "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name, among ALL nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Here the Greek word for "nations," is ETHNOS, which we have showed before, means a "non-Jewish" nation.) Matthew's Gospel (28:19, 20,) has the most complete instructions of all: "Go ye therefore, and teach ALL nations (Ethnos), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe (obey) ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you: and 10,1 am with you always, even unto the end of the world (order.)" Amen!
The new religion had a phenomenal growth and within ten years after the crucifixion there was a Christian church in Rome, and within another thirty years, a Christian church had been organized in Great Britain, very possibly by Joseph of Arimathea.
It is no wonder that the followers of THE WAY, were first called Christians at Antioch, (Acts 11:26), which was a Greek city on the seacoast.
At this time, among the Judahite believers in Jerusalem, most of whom were Israelites no doubt, there were factional disputes. Hegesippus, an early church father mentions seven of them. Probably the most destructive was that of the Ebionites who I have mentioned on several occasions. These were very probably Jews who had infiltered into the church for the purpose of causing trouble. (During the Middle Ages, in Spain, they were known as "Marranos." They were Christian by day - some even became high ranking officials in the Catholic church, but at night, in their secret enclaves, they were Jews who scoffed at the stupidity of the "goyim" Christians.)
These Judaizers came to Antioch from Jerusalem preaching the doctrine that a man could not become a Christian unless he was first circumcised. This led to a General Conference of the church in Jerusalem and the matter was settled under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Gentilized Israelites of Asia Minor did not have to conform to Judahite rites in order to become Christians.
Out of this Jerusalem Conference, rose the strong leadership of the Apostle Paul, who became the missionary to the Gentilized Israelites of Asia Minor. It is interesting to see how God's plan worked out, in spite of other plans which Paul evidently had. In Acts 16:6, we read: "Now when they (Paul and Timothy) had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia." Where were they to go? Vs 9 tells how Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia, who appealed to him saying: "Come over into Macedonia and help us!" Paul was living close enough to the Lord, that he recognized this as God's will, and went into Asia Minor, which was made up mostly of the "lost sheep of the house of Israel."
It was Paul who confronted Peter "face to face" over the issue of circumcision, and we read that out of that Conference, the church fathers wrote to the Antioch Christians, (Acts 15:24) "Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting (Greek - "to upset") your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment. (This makes me believe these were apostate Jews who had infiltrated the church). It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you, with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay on you no greater burden than these necessary things: That ye abstain from meets offered to idols, and from blood (eating) and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well."
You can read further about this conflict with the JudeoChristians in the new church in Galatians 2, and its end result.
As persecution increased against the Christian church, we read of very little progress made among the so-called Jews, although the church growth among the Gentilized Israelites was phenomenal.
In his book THE LIFE OF CHRIST, Ernest Renan, p. 123 says: "Jerusalem could never have conquered humanity. It was from the north (Galilee) alone, that made up Christianity."
Geographically, the escape from the influences of Judaism allowed Christianity to spread abroad as a world religion. Even before the martyrdom of Peter and Paul, it had been taken into all the known world.
It might be well to remind you at this point, that the Old Testament is not and was not a Jewish book, although many pastors and seminarians would have you believe this. It was the foundation of Hebrewism, which was a completely different religion from the occultism and heathenism of the Babylonian Talmud, which is today, according to their own leaders, the "heart blood of Judaism."
Moral precepts and religious convictions are not the exclusive property of one race, and Moses was not the only "law giver" of Mankind. There was Pythagoras, who taught the immorality of the soul, and Socrates who in 399 BC was executed for teaching men to purify the filth from the ancient Greek religion.
I personally believe, that some of the explicit sexual passages we find in the Old Testament, came into our Bible translations, as translators were influenced by the Jewish Talmud, since they have no place alongside the teachings of Jesus Christ. If you really want to know the truth about Judaism, I dare you to read the TALMUD, but be prepared for the shock of your life.
Paul evidently had a constant struggle against his Jewish training. (Remember, he was an Israelite by blood, but a Pharisee trained Jew by religion.) No wonder he cried out in spiritual agony:
"Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Judaism)." So while Paul's teachings did not destroy the Law, as many preachers teach today, he taught that those who became Christians and loved and followed the Lord, followed the Law instinctively, because it was engraved on the "tablets of their heart." It was not necessary to cram this down their throat through some church ritual.
This, of course, does not excuse the modern church, usually the Judeo-Christian church, which quite untruthfully teaches that the Law was done away when Christ died, and that as a Christian you can get by with almost anything! While the Christian can now approach God for forgiveness, without having to go to a priest with a sacrifice, the Law of Harvest, which says "What you sow; that shall you also reap," is as much in effect for the Christian as for the unsaved. A Christian cannot deliberately break the Law, without suffering the consequences
The Apostle John gives us a clear definition of "sin" in 1 John 3:4, he says: "Sin is TRANSGRESSION (breaking) of the Law." If there is no LAW, then there can be no SIN, yet we can look about us on every side and see SIN, and it's terrifying results, so we KNOW sin still exists, no matter what the theologians tell us to the contrary!
When Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman General Titus the Christian population, heeding the warning Jesus had given in Matthew 24, had fled to the city of Pella, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, and not one lost their life. But over a million Jews perished.
Bishop Lightfoot, in his scholarly work THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS, wrote that another exodus from Jerusalem took place about this time to Ephesus, where the Apostle John, the writer of Revelation, Philip and other Christian canons were formed. Through this all, the heresy of the Ebionites continued and it was said to have been especially strong in the refugee city of Pel Ia.
There appeared to be four major points in the Ebionist heresy, as taken from George Adam Smith's book, HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE HOLY LAND, p631.
1) Had to do with the enforcing of the Mosaic Law.It is little wonder that the writers of the Talmud were on good terms with these First Century Judeo-Christians.2) Affirmed the human birth of Christ over His divinity.
3) Abjured the Apostle Paul~as a heretic; something the "Paul bashers," within Identity are attempting to do today, and:
4) Looking forward to Christ's return to form an earthly Messianic kingdom, in which they would be the supreme rulers of the world.
Paul replied to the Ebionite's charge of heresy in Gal. 2:21, where he said: "I do not frustrate (and this is the only time this word is used in the New Testament. It is the Greek word ATHETEO, which means: 'to set aside; neutralize; reject.') the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Nearly this entire Epistle is Paul's answer to the Ebionites.
It is not necessary for us to question the sincerity of those who taught the Ebionite doctrine, nor their fidelity to Jesus Christ. But sincerity is only a "matter of intent." You can be very sincere and be "sincerely wrong." This thinking follows the thought pattern of many church liberals who say that a man or woman will be saved by their sincerity - not so. So it was with the Ebionites who went beyond facts, and in defiance of the first Apostles of the church, attempted to bind down the New Covenant with the concepts of the Old. They made a grievous error, which has continued until this day in conceiving our Savior to be a Jew, with Jewish characteristics. Along with this, of course, they must accept Christianity as a continuation of the primitive cult of Judaism.
They failed to think of Christ apart from His Jewish surroundings. Cloistered as they were, in their narrow Jewish world, they could not conceive of a religion that was open to all men. This is a failing of many who are in Identity and one which I seek to counter whenever possible.
The following excerpts from three distinguished historians agree that the Jews were at the bottom of the violent Christian persecutions during the first three centuries after the church was formed. In this they are supported by Roman historians such as Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Sactonius.
In Lancianis' PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN ROME, he says on page 311 - "The pagans despised both Jews and Christians and mixed themselves up with their affairs only from a fiscal point of view, because the Jews were subject to a tax per head, and the treasury officials were obliged to keep themselves acquainted with the statistics of the colony.
"This state of things did not last very long, it being of vita! importance that the Jews separate their cause from that of the newcomers (Christians). The responsibilities for the persecutions which took place in the first century must be attributed then, not to the Romans, whose tolerance in religious matters had become almost a state rule. The first attempt under Claudius was not a success; it ended in fact, in banishment from the Capitol (Rome) of every Jew, no matter whether he believed in the Old or New Testament. (This should be considered a "figure of speech," since there was no New Testament during the First Century.) It was however, a passing cloud. As soon as they were allowed to come back to their haunts, the Jews set to work, by exciting the feelings of the populace, and denouncing the Christians as conspiring against the State, (Exactly the same thing they try and do in 1992 with Christian Patriots.) and Roman gods. Under the protection of Roman laws, (Much like our First Amendment, "Freedom of speech," law,) which guaranteed Jews free exercise of their religion. The Roman populace, impressed by the conquests made by the Gospel among all classes of the population (and many Roman nobles became Christians), was only too ready to believe this calumny. As for the State, it became a necessity, either to recognize Christianity as a new religion, or to proscribe and denounce it.
"The great fire which destroyed half of Rome under Nero, and which was set by dissident Jewish terrorists and blamed on the Christians, brought this situation to a crisis. The first persecution began. (Remember also that at this time, Emperor Nero's wife was the Jewess Poppaea, who hated Christians with a passion. At this time the Christian church was considered to be "religio illiceti," an illicit religion. This is what the IRS recently told me, when I attempted to take tax deductions for contributions to Christian Identity cause. "We do not look on Identity as a legitimate religion." Witchcraft, yes! Satanism, yes! Secular Humanism, yes! But Christian Identity, no!). "Had the magistrates who conducted the investigation into the fire been able to prove an indictment of arson, the storm might have been short and confined to Rome. But as the Christians could easily exculpate (prove their innocence) themselves, the trial was changed to become a politicio-religious one. Christians were convicted, not on charges of arson, but on hatred for mankind. (Shades of the present Anti-Defamation "hate laws.")
"This was a formula which included anarchism (sedition), atheism and high treason. These monstrous accusations once admitted, the persecution spread beyond Rome, and it became general, and more violent in some places than others, according to the impulse of the magistrates who investigated this unprecedented case."
Note the close similarity between this Roman persecution and what we see beginning in the United States and Canada. In both countries, the persecution of Christian Patriots has been instigated by Jewish leaders, with Christian patriots being accused of "sedition and hatred," which varies with the intensity of the Jewish judges and lawyers, before whom most of these cases appear. The persecution of Ernst Zundel, Malcolm Ross, and James Keegstra in Canada, are perfect examples.
In Edward Gibbons, DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, VOL II, p.21 wrote: "We must therefore presume to imagine some probable cause which to direct the cruelty of Nero against the Christians of Rome, whose obscurity as well as innocence, should have shielded them from his notice. The Jews, who were numerous in the Capitol, and were oppressed in their own country (Judea) were a much fitter object for the suspicions of the Emperor and the people: nor did it seem unlikely that a vanquished nation (the Jews)... might have recourse to the most atrocious means of gratifying their implacable revenge.
"The Jews possessed a very powerful advocate in the palace and even in the heart of the tyrant: his wife and mistress, the beautiful Poppaea and a favorite actress of the race of the Jews, had already employed her intercessions in behalf of her obnoxious people. In their place it was necessary to offer some other victim, and it might easily be suggested that although the genuine followers of Moses were innocent of the fire, there had risen among them a new and pernicious sect of Gal leans who were capable of this horrid crime." (Christians.)
Earnest Renan in his book ANTICHRIST, page 140 says: "It is hard to believe that the idea of accusing Christians for the July conflagrations came of itself from Nero...
"From the accessions of Caligula to the death of Nero, Jewish cabals (plots) never ceased in Rome. Jews had aided in bringing the family of Germanicus into power and sustaining it . . . According to Josephus, Nero's crimes were ascribed to Poppaea, who supported the claims of the Jewish zealots, and adopted some of their rites. Nero hated everything Roman and surrounded himself with orientals.
". . . May we, perhaps, trace the hatred of the Jews for Christians, that exposed the most harmless of men to monstrous cruelty? It looks ill for the Jews, in all events, that their private interview with Nero and Poppaea, came when Nero conceived his hateful scheme against the Christians. Why should Rome, who commonly confounded Jew and Christian, now make such a sharp distinction between them? Why should the Jews, towards whom the Romans felt the same moral antipathy and religious prejudice as to Christians, suddenly be untouched by calumny? . . . a suspicion arises, strengthened by the fact that until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD the Jews were the real persecutors, and spared no efforts to exterminate Christians."
If these historians had lived until this time, they might have asked: "Which one race rejoices in the slaughter and torture of millions of Christians? Which one race has been responsible for financing and managing the Communist machine which has murdered 140-million people in the last seventy years?"
Their main objective, according to their own leaders and writers, is still the destruction of White Christian civilization and the freedom it has brought to a tired world. Are you willing to admit that your Savior, Jesus the Christ, sprang from this evil race? God forbid! This borders on blasphemy!
Continue on to Part 5 of 8:- Thank God! My Savior Was Not A Jew