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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Nature of God's Revelation	Ryan	Monday, April 11, 2011
Question: Hello there. Question: how would I defend against critics of the Judeo-Christian tradition who would posit the question-- "Why did God reveal himself fully only to the Jews? If he truly had a plan for mankind and wanted the revelation to be known for all people, why did he limit it only to the Jews/Christians and not to all other people? Why did he let blood be shed for the establishment of the first civilization of the true God? In short, why are Jews the chosen people? This makes little sense to me for an omnibenevolent God and one that would like to make himself known in this world."
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r) Dear Ryan: Sorry for the delay in responding. Mr. Mathew is still on vacation, so I am standing in for him today. God did not limit His revelation to the Jews and Christians. He commissioned the Jews and Christians to be His ambassadors to all peoples. Jesus commands us to go out and preach the Gospel to all peoples and to baptize them and bring them into the faith. The hidden agenda of people who are making this argument about the Revelation of God is that they believe all religions lead to God. That is not true of course. Rather, God chose the Hebrews to carry his Word amongst themselves and to be a light on a hill of His Revelation to all nations. Today, be the way, we Christians are the chosen people, not the Jews of today. If the Jews has accepted Jesus as the Messiah as they should have, there would be no Jewish faith today. Christianity is the Jewish Faith as it was suppose to be when Jesus closed the Old Covenant and opened the New Covenant. This is really seen in the Catholic Church, which still holds many remnants of the old Jewish customs and rituals. But, why the Jews originally? Because the people from whom Abraham were apart were already believing in a "one" God, and more specifically, because Abraham passed the test of love, faith, and obedience to that One God. Choosing the Jews to be the first people to have His Revelation revealed in a direct way as a direct result of Abraham passing the test (Genesis 22:1-18). In that test, by the way, we see the archetype for the sacrifice of our Lord. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, just as God the Father was willing to Sacrifice his Son. Concerning the shedding of blood, you do not say, but I presume you are talking about God's directives to destroy the peoples who were living in the land God gave to the Jews. This was not an arbitrary judgment upon those peoples as if they had to be killed because they were in the way of the plan the Jews had to settle the area. His was a holy judgment, as nothing God does can be unholy, upon those peoples. His judgment upon them would have happened with or without the Jews. But, God tested the Jews again to see if they would obey him. He ordered the Jews to be the instrument of His justice. He is God, he can do that. The comedian Bill Cosby, in the TV show he use to have, tells his son, "Son, I brought you into the world, I can take you out." Well God brought us all into the world and He can take us out. That is His prerogative as God. He can facilitate that in any way He pleases. That judgment, and the way He administers that judgment, is always a perfect and loving justice. The Jews actually failed this test in that they did not kill all the indigenous people and instead brought some of them into their homes as slaves. As a result Israel became contaminated with beliefs of false gods and pagan practices. As you study the Bible, using good orthodox sources, you will begin to learn these things and will be able to defend these truths against detractors. Never stop learning. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Nature of God's Revelation

Ryan

Monday, April 11, 2011

Question:

Hello there. Question: how would I defend against critics of the Judeo-Christian tradition who would posit the question-- "Why did God reveal himself fully only to the Jews? If he truly had a plan for mankind and wanted the revelation to be known for all people, why did he limit it only to the Jews/Christians and not to all other people?

Why did he let blood be shed for the establishment of the first civilization of the true God? In short, why are Jews the chosen people? This makes little sense to me for an omnibenevolent God and one that would like to make himself known in this world."

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r)

Dear Ryan:

Sorry for the delay in responding. Mr. Mathew is still on vacation, so I am standing in for him today.

God did not limit His revelation to the Jews and Christians. He commissioned the Jews and Christians to be His ambassadors to all peoples.

Jesus commands us to go out and preach the Gospel to all peoples and to baptize them and bring them into the faith.

The hidden agenda of people who are making this argument about the Revelation of God is that they believe all religions lead to God. That is not true of course. Rather, God chose the Hebrews to carry his Word amongst themselves and to be a light on a hill of His Revelation to all nations.

Today, be the way, we Christians are the chosen people, not the Jews of today. If the Jews has accepted Jesus as the Messiah as they should have, there would be no Jewish faith today. Christianity is the Jewish Faith as it was suppose to be when Jesus closed the Old Covenant and opened the New Covenant. This is really seen in the Catholic Church, which still holds many remnants of the old Jewish customs and rituals.

But, why the Jews originally? Because the people from whom Abraham were apart were already believing in a "one" God, and more specifically, because Abraham passed the test of love, faith, and obedience to that One God. Choosing the Jews to be the first people to have His Revelation revealed in a direct way as a direct result of Abraham passing the test (Genesis 22:1-18). In that test, by the way, we see the archetype for the sacrifice of our Lord. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, just as God the Father was willing to Sacrifice his Son.

Concerning the shedding of blood, you do not say, but I presume you are talking about God's directives to destroy the peoples who were living in the land God gave to the Jews.

This was not an arbitrary judgment upon those peoples as if they had to be killed because they were in the way of the plan the Jews had to settle the area. His was a holy judgment, as nothing God does can be unholy, upon those peoples. His judgment upon them would have happened with or without the Jews. But, God tested the Jews again to see if they would obey him. He ordered the Jews to be the instrument of His justice. He is God, he can do that.

The comedian Bill Cosby, in the TV show he use to have, tells his son, "Son, I brought you into the world, I can take you out."

Well God brought us all into the world and He can take us out. That is His prerogative as God. He can facilitate that in any way He pleases. That judgment, and the way He administers that judgment, is always a perfect and loving justice.

The Jews actually failed this test in that they did not kill all the indigenous people and instead brought some of them into their homes as slaves. As a result Israel became contaminated with beliefs of false gods and pagan practices.

As you study the Bible, using good orthodox sources, you will begin to learn these things and will be able to defend these truths against detractors.

Never stop learning.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary