The Strongest Case, Book 4
Christianity vs Judaism
Last reviewed:
The Strongest Case for Each Faith
Formats: Ebook, Paperback, Hardcover.
About the book
The strongest case for Christianity. The strongest case for Judaism. No thumb on the scale.
Christianity and Judaism are usually pictured as an older faith and the one that grew from it, or as ancient rivals who stopped speaking long ago. Both pictures miss something stranger. These are close kin. They worship one God, read the same Hebrew Bible, and share a covenant, a law, the prophets, and the hope of a Messiah. Then, at a single question, the road divides: has the promised Messiah already come?
So each faith makes its own case here, at its strongest. Christianity begins with a promise kept: the Messiah the prophets foretold has come in Jesus of Nazareth, God himself among us, crucified and risen, with a new covenant written on the heart. Judaism begins with a covenant never revoked: one God, a Torah given as a tree of life, a people that has outlasted every attempt to end it, and a world still waiting to be set right.
Then the two faiths turn and put their sharpest questions to each other. The oneness of God meets the claim that he took flesh. The cross meets the open gates of repentance. A kingdom announced meets a world still unredeemed. The same verses of Isaiah and the Psalms are read two ways, and the long, painful history between the two is faced honestly.
The author writes as a referee, not a judge. Both sides are given their full strength, and the reader is trusted to weigh them.
What's inside
- Introduction
- Part One: The Case for Christianity, at Full Strength
- Chapter 1: The Promise Kept
- Chapter 2: God With Us
- Chapter 3: The Cross and the Empty Tomb
- Chapter 4: Written on the Heart
- Part Two: The Case for Judaism, at Full Strength
- Chapter 5: Hear, O Israel
- Chapter 6: The Tree of Life
- Chapter 7: An Everlasting Covenant
- Chapter 8: A World Not Yet Redeemed
- Part Three: The Cross-Examination
- Chapter 9: The One and the Three
- Chapter 10: Reading the Same Book
- Chapter 11: The Coming of the Kingdom
- Chapter 12: Atonement and Return
- Part Four: The Open Questions
- Chapter 13: The Family Argument
- Chapter 14: Weighing It Fairly
- The Verdict Is Yours
Reader reviews
"Instead of trying to tell the reader which one is right, it presents the strongest arguments for both Christianity and Judaism and then lets you decide what you think. I especially liked the cross-examination section where the different interpretations are compared directly."
"I especially appreciate the focus on how Christianity and Judaism can share the same scriptures yet interpret important passages so differently. The discussion surrounding the Messiah, the covenant, and the nature of God gets to the heart of what separates these two faiths."
"This book doesn't try to sway you one way or the other. It gives you the facts about both and it is purely information based."