Top 5 Lies Missionaries Tell:

(adopted by Savannah Cantara from "The Jewish Response to Missionaries" by Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz)

Claim #1
"Jews can retain their Jewish identity once they convert"

Jewish Response:
Regardless of superficial attempts to sound Jewish, the term “Hebrew Christian” or “Jews for Jesus,” is an oxymoron and a theological contradiction. They argue that a person who is born Jewish can never lose their birthright or heritage. However, the Bible teaches that your beliefs do influence your Jewish status and that a person who was born a Jew can temporarily cease to be called a Jew. The Torah teaches that Jews and non-Jews are given different paths to reach G-d. A Jew is obligated to follow the Torah, while a non-Jew must observe the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah.

Claim #2
"The Jewish Bible is Full of Prophetic References to Jesus"

Jewish Response:
These so-called “proof texts” appear to be alluding to Jesus because the non-Jews misquoted, mistranslated, or took them out of context. Any written work, if mistranslated, or taken out of context, can be made to suggest meanings that which are never intended. Fundamentalist Christians readily accept the Jewish Scriptures as the inspired and “inerrant" word of G-d and as the foundation for the New Testament. If they were to be logically consistent, it would follow that, wherever the “Old” and “New” Testaments contradict each other, the "New Testament" must be admitted to be obviously the one which is in error.

Claim #3
"Spiritual Salvation and a Personal Relationship with G-d Can Only Come Through Jesus"

Jewish Response:
The notion that we are all born condemned, and that without the practice of animal sacrifices Jews cannot atone for their sins, represents a blatant misinterpretation of the Jewish Bible. The Bible teaches that sin is an act, and not a state of being. Mankind was created with the inclination to do evil, and the ability to master this inclination, and choose between good and evil. The Torah teaches that through repentance, prayer, fasting and doing what is right, everyone has the ability to return (teshuva) to G-d directly.

Claim #4
"Miracles Prove the Validity of Christianity"

Jewish Response:
Some “Hebrew Christians” argue that turning to Jesus changed their lives and that, as a direct result, they have even experienced miracles. Claims of miracles and changes in one’s life are not unique to any religion. Converts to cults even claim the experience of miracles and experiencing miraculous events in their lives. The Jewish Bible warns that supposed “miracles” may, in reality, be a test from G-d.

Claim #5
"Christian Belief in the Trinity of G-d Compatible with Judaism"

Jewish Response:
The foundation of Christian theology includes belief in the bodily incarnation of G-d, that G-d exists as a Trinity, and that Jesus was a mediator between G-d and man. “Hebrew Christian” missionaries claim that this theology is totally compatible with Judaism. As stated earlier, Judaism maintains that certain beliefs may be permissible for non-Jew, but not for Jews. The Christian triune G-d is an example of a belief that is absolutely forbidden to Jews according to the Hebrew Bible. The Shema clearly states that G-d is “one”.

 Belief Divergence

by Steven Becerra

This chart shows how the beliefs of mainstream Judaism and "Messianic Judaism" differ despite the attempts "Messianic Judaism" makes to imitate true Judaism.

The lines depicted below show Judaism and the contradictory "Messianic Judaism". In this model, the line called "messianic Judaism" can actually represent all Christian faiths that imitate or attempt to pass themselves off as Judaism such as the "Jews for Jesus", "Hebrew Christians", and and any other Messianic cult. 

The line that represents Judaism has various points upon it (marked A) which represent characteristics of the faith (attire, holidays, customs, etc.). The line on the opposite side representing "Messianic Judaism" attempts to imitate those religious points yet injects into them the belief in Jesus as messiah (their imitations of our ways are marked B). They make great effort to mimic our practices to the point where some unsuspecting Jews may be fooled at first.

Despite the multitude of practices and customs they try to copy, they reach a point where the two belief systems can never and will never meet. This point (marked C) is the afore-mentioned belief in Jesus.

At that point, the two lines go in completely different directions and become parallel. Basic Euclidean geometry teaches the axiom that "parallel lines never intersect" and this holds true for true Judaism and the faiths collectively known as "Messianic Judaism". The belief in a deity made into flesh or the mere suggestion of Jesus as a messiah creates a divide - a chasm (shown as D) which can never be crossed.

Quite simply; the belief in Jesus simply has no place whatsoever in Judaism. No amount of imitation of ritual, customs, or practice can ever change that. They may try to place more dots on their line by imitating Jewish traditions with an uncanny (and unsettling) ability but their attempts are doomed to failure since their line always meets with that event horizon (the red octagon marked C). 

The Messianic argument will include claims such as "Jesus was Jewish so we are too" and "we observe and worship just as you do" but there is no way around the fundamental difference between the two faiths. As seen in the chart, they go in completely different directions. 

One could even argue that the "A" points that are imitated as "B" points are already sites of permanent divergence since so-called "Messianic Jews" interpret all beliefs, customs, and practices through the lens of Jesus as messiah thereby creating contradictory hybrids such as "Messianic Passover" or Jewish liturgy that is blasphemously changed to include references to Jesus. This renders their attempts at facsimile into twisted versions of the original.