Jewish convert "anti-missionaries" love to quote Talmud, yet they trash the NT...Well, here's something from "our" side!

A short response by Aramaic scholar and author, Andrew Gabriel Roth (AENT:  http://www.aent.org/ ) to all the anti-missionaries who keep quoting the man-made Talmud while at the same time insisting the “New Testament” is trash:

Remember at the end of Matthew when the authorities told the Roman soldiers to lie and say the disciples came and stole Y'shua's body and that "this word has gone out among the Yehudim to this day"?

Guess what...it HAS! Rabbi Gamaliel, yes Paul's teacher, is said to have authored a parody of Matthew before his death in 73 CE. While the text of the parody has not survived, the Talmud attestations to its existence are beyond dispute, and ironically it spawns even worse stories that end up validating the Gospels.

Discussing the breadth of Talmudic literature is hard to do in a single email. I have a 2 hour teaching called "The Y'shua of History" which is on DVD that deals with the Talmudic evidence and other sources of Y'shua outside of Scripture.

These sources could not invalidate the Gospels and what countless believers adhered to. Instead, they tried to spin the facts to their advantage. Here are some examples...

1) They had to admit that Y'shua could heal (one believer did so in his name), but they say he acquired it as sorcery from Egypt (they read Matthew!) or that Y'shua acquired the power through deceit by copying a 72 letter magical name for YHWH from the foundation stone in the Temple. Why admit he could heal if they didn't have to?

2) Instead of saying Y'shua is the son of PARTHENOS (virgin in Greek) they say he is the son of PANDIRA, a Roman soldier who raped his mother, making Y'shua a MAMZER (bastard) and half Roman. Obviously they were concerned with evidence that proved Y'shua was a son of David, and they wanted to deny the VB at the same time. The Rabbis will then say people healed in "the name of Y'shua, son of Pandira". So another Gospel detail is confirmed.

3) The Talmud records at least 5 of Y'shua's disciples: Matti (Matthew), Todah (Thaddeus), Netzer (unknown), Buni/Boni (perhaps "sons of Thunder" or "Barnabbas"), Neker (unknown) and Nakdimon (Nicodemus). They also record the death of James the Just, as does the first century Jewish historian Josephus.

4) The "Toldot Yeshu" also records that many proclaimed Y'shua's resurrection. They read John's Gospel about Y'shua being mistaken for the gardener and twisted it into having Y'shua buried IN A GARDEN after being removed from the tomb.

But while the Talmud does confirm broad Gospel trends, it is NOT history. These are rabbis who feel they have been persecuted BY CHRISTIANS, so of course you can expect them to be biased. Just like Constantine twisted history to suit his circumstances, and the Roman Catholics too and so on. But the Talmud is never unanimous on ANYTHING, and that certainly is true of Isaiah 53.

Many other rabbis did in fact believe 53 was about the Messiah, but not necessarily about Y'shua as Messiah. Rashi and Ibn Ezra though believed the suffering servant was Israel, but this is ridiculous. Isaiah 53 says "for my people's sins, he was stricken". Who are Isaiah's people if not Israel? Who sinned if not Israel? Therefore since Israel sinned, how can Israel be stricken for Israel? In the Torah text it is MOSES who must intercede FOR Israel to avoid her being destroyed no less than 3 times. So if Israel didn't get stricken for herself then, how could it be true so much later?

There's much more to this than you are being told, and anyone can cherry pick for their own advantage. The fact is though the Talmud is a much later source than others like Josephus and Philo and others. Even Roman sources about Israel and Y'shua are 100 years EARLIER than the Talmud and Mishnah.