One or the Other

“Jesus is either the Messiah promised in the Old Testament, or He is not. There is no real way to split the difference on such a question. If the claim is false, then Christians are guilty of perpetuating the most preposterous fraud ever. If the claim is true, then pious Jews studying the Old Testament are like Shakespeare scholars who have devoted their lives to the study of Hamlet, but who have failed to recognize the prince of Denmark. As just mentioned, it is not possible to have Jesus be the Messiah ‘for the Christians and not the Messiah ‘for the Jews.’ That might seem like a mild form of relativism, but relativism always metastasizes.”

American Milk and Honey, p. 193

A Great Parable

“Remember the parable of Chariots of Fire. In that movie, both Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell are great athletes. They both earn their medal in the Olympics. But Harold Abrahams, the Jew, runs under the law, while Eric Liddell, the Christian, runs under the pleasure of God. The Jews still run like Harold Abrahams. Americans used to run like Eric Liddell. Let the reader understand.”

American Milk and Honey, p. 186