I always kind of shuddered at the “someday every knee will bow, someday every tongue will confess” songs and references, because of this “I can’t wait until you are writhing in a lake of fire” vibe.
Jesus: Someday you will be with Me in Heaven.
Most of crowd: Hallelujah!
Jesus: Certain others will be in Hell
Joel Berry: WOOOOOOO all right SUCK ETERNAL FIRE, OTHERS [pumps fist Arsenio audience style] WOOF WOOF WOOF
Jesus: . . .
Please excuse me because I am quite ignorant, but I looked back over the posts and didn't see any reference to Jews. Is there a dog whistle that I missed? I can't hear most of them.
In the Christian Bible, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, which is the part of the Bible Christians reveived from Judaism. There’s an old trope where the Jewish OT is seen as more violent & harsh, & Jesus’s teachings in the NT are seen as making Christianity more about love & kindness.
This whole thread is interesting and I'm mainly here to read the comments, but I wanted to pipe up and say that, for about 2/3 of Christians worldwide, the Old Testament ends with 2 Maccabees. Protestant Christians adhere to the Jewish canon, which doesn't include works originally written in Greek.
Ehhhh. That depends on a fairly narrow definition of "Hell" - there are verses in Navi about eternal punishment, and the concept of a place where bad people go to be punished after they die is all over the Talmud and Midrash. But we don't anticipate eagerly watching our foes being thrown into fire.
Our Sheol & Gehinnom aren’t the same thing as Christian Hell. Sheol is just an underworld, not a punishment. Gehinnom was conceived as more hell-like in Talmudic & Medieval times (the latter under cultural influence of Christianity), but the punishment was capped at 1 year, max. It’s never eternal.
"It's never eternal."
Well, that's just wrong. See Daniel 12:2 and so much discussion in the Talmud. (I strongly recommend this excellent sourcesheet by the amazing @misfittorah.bsky.social )
And when we start seeing Rabbis using Hell-like language, it’sin Medieval Europe, surrounded by Christians. It’s CERTAINLY not an idea Christians got from Jews.
Please don't say this sort of thing. While the Tanakh doesn't end with Malachi because Jews use a different order, the whole "Old Testament Bad, New Testament Good" meme is still offensive and contributes to anti-Jewish prejudice. Also, evil Christians are still Christians.
I'm not calling you an antisemite, to be totally clear. It's just wrong (morally and factually) to blame some Christians being awful on their believing in the same books Jews do.
Christians worry far too much about being called an antisemite. They don’t actually give two shits about doing Judenhass. Judenhass is an activity one does, not an identity. Except there are some twisted fucks who do make it their identity. But I don’t think that’s the case here.
Danny isn’t that type. But centering your experience of a thing without taking the time to try to see things from the perspectives of those harmed is a guaranteed all expense paid ticket to screwing up.
Important note: conservative Christians accuse Liberal ones of picking the parts of the Bible they like. In turn Liberals point out that they only like the Old Testament as a way of saying they don’t actually follow Jesus. The Old Testament is part of the Bible making it Christian.
The Book of Ecclesiastes is no less Christian than the Book of John.
Not getting on you but I really have never heard a Christian claim that the Old Testament was bad. Only that for them Christ is the truth and the light and you can’t be Christian without them
Really? Know any church history? That was the substance of an entire heresy. And, it continues. It's why some people print Bibles with just the New Testament and psalms.
Alt text: Basically a bunch of reaction images telling this ignorant antisemite to shut the hell up, he has no idea what antisemitism looks like unless it has a hood or armband
Hoo boy, there's a lot here. Have you really never heard Christians or people raised in a Christian cultural mileu talking about how Jesus is so much nicer than the mean Old Testament God?
Second, no, actually, the Tanakh is less Christian than the New Testament because the Tanakh was written for Jews in the first place (whether by Jews or by God is largely irrelevant). *Maybe* the Vulgate and subsequent Christian translations can be classed as equally Christian, but that's it.
Jews hear that crap all the time. You’re telling us you don’t know any Jews, or if you do, that they don’t trust you enough to share the shit we get from you people with you.
