Darn, I was hoping this was going so well here I hoped it would just by a "like" for a reply...That "cursing" you mention is rooted in the people of Israel being conquered by foreign powers like Babylon, Persia, and Greece. In all those cases the Jews believed that they were coming under God's judgment for sin. They reacted by seeking reconciliation with God by conducting themselves so as to be forgiven by Him. When Rome occupied Israel, many Jews again sought salvation from God, and that's why God sent Jesus to save the Jews and also the gentiles. So yes, the idea of Jews ultimately and eternally being saved by God has its roots in the Hebrew Bible.
Read a list of Nazi leaders. Read Mein Kampf. Read Marx. Read Engels. Here, read the Humanist Manifestos. I don't refuse to back them up, but to me this stuff has been proven to myself for decades after lots of research into some dark topics. Yes, I know, for the professors (not followers) of Christ, the various antiSemitic claims of the "guilt" of the Jews was pushed to keep them quiet, but if you want a trip into darkness, you can read a bunch of the source materials.May I read an example of an atheist who caused the Holocaust? Making claims about the Holocaust refusing to back them up is not likely to win converts among the Jews who may see you as lying to free Christianity from blame for the Holocaust.
I mean, the first thing to establish might perhaps be why anyone would think international socialism (which persecutes by class rather than race/ethnicity, but has been known to happily persecute based on race/ethnicity) and national socialism (which persecutes by race/ethnicity, but has been known to happily persecute based on class) with virtually identical governmental forms are somehow opposites of each other except in a limited Eurocentric context. OTOH, it is easier to say "left" and "right" as a verbal shorthand in common usage.
A truly frightful book: Ordinary Men by Christopher R. Browning
Actually not directly on this topic, but it shows some of the problems with the logistics of extermination in psychological terms. Why is this important? Because is shows how ordinary men dealt with being the instruments of genocidal atrocity.
Do you actually think that the New Testament teaches something even like the Holocaust?
That is the only valid apologetic to claims that "Christians caused the Holocaust".
They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. (Joh 8:39-47)I assume you're referring to John 8:44 which quotes Jesus as saying:
If we check the context, John 8:31, we see that Jesus is speaking to the "Jews who had believed in Him" who apparently no longer did believe in Jesus. It is those Jews at least whom Jesus said had the Devil as their father. In any event, many Christians throughout the centuries have interpreted John 8 as saying that almost all Jews, surely the Jews who never converted, as having the devil as their father.
Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (Joh 8:59)
The actual context was Jesus teaching in the Temple. (John 8:2) So the "disciples" would have been those listening to His teaching.
In the passage in question, yes, it is directed against the Jews rejecting Christ, but the further teaching shows that it addresses all of those who reject God.
Yes, I'm well aware that many who call themselves Christian have twisted Scripture to persecute all those they wish to, the Jews included.
Correct. Which is why I said many of the points on the list are obvious since a Jew who doesn't believe Jesus is the Messiah won't become a Christian.I'm not sure if you're understanding the fact I explained earlier. The list I posted in the OP offers reasons why most Jews don't accept Christ. They would answer your questions by saying Jesus isn't the Messiah, for example, and that's why they don't follow Jesus.
That would be another issue to be addressed and while I've looked that over a bit, I'm not really up to answering it. I'd have to see the exact objections, but the questions I would have (generally speaking) was: Did the Pharisees add to the Law of Moses in defining how to "properly practice" the Jewish faith?I think you're missing the point. Many Jews would respond by saying that the portrayal of the Pharisees in the Gospel simply isn't fair, and that's why Jews object to that portrayal.
Did the Pharisees act as "superior Jews" before God?
Yes, I know there are some qualifications to be had with those questions, but I said generally.
I agree with Rabbi Skobac on this subject and would not use the miracles as a necessary proof. Possibly as supporting evidence since Moses did actually perform the miracles as proof from God. My question was if the miracles prove Jesus was of God, not if the miracles actually prove that.Rabbi Skobac of Jews for Judaism holds that miracles do not prove that the miracle worker is sent by God. For instance, Pharaoh's magicians duplicated Moses' staff turning into a snake, yet those magicians were not sent by God.
I have, but perhaps I have dealt with a more sophisticated form of criticism than you have. This is why I tossed a number of the points in the OP because if we change one, then the rest fall. The central question remains, Is Jesus the Messiah?I'd recommend you better acquaint yourself with the relevant facts needed to defend Christianity from Jewish criticism.
Yes, Jew -> Christian.
No, Jew remains Jew.
I'm fairly sure we can make a similar list for most major religions.