The Will Spencer Podcast Unreached in America: Jewish Evangelism, the Talmud, and Messianic Judaism — Dr. Brian J. Crawford (Part 1)
Dr. Brian J. Crawford is the Director of Digital Evangelism for Chosen People Ministries, which has been evangelizing Jewish people for more than 130 years. He is also the author of The Scandal of a Divine Messiah: A Response to Maimonidean and Kabbalistic Challenges to the Incarnation.
In 2005, a Jewish man on a Tel Aviv beach told Brian he had no business explaining the Hebrew Bible to Jews. That challenge sent a structural engineer from Southern California on a 20-year journey into the heart of Orthodox Brooklyn — learning Hebrew, studying the Talmud, and building relationships with one of the most unreached people groups in America.
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Topics Discussed
- How a stranger's challenge launched Brian's calling to Jewish missions
- What the Talmud actually is and why most Christians misunderstand it
- What Messianic Judaism is and why the movement exists
- The lost history of Jewish sub-denominations within Protestant churches
- How 20th century liberalism killed Jewish evangelism
- Why becoming a Christian historically meant dying as a Jew
- The forced renunciation oaths imposed on Jewish converts by the church
- Martin Luther's antisemitism vs. Puritan philosemitism
- Why Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn are an unreached people group
- The difference between Jewish missions and messianic congregations
This is part one of two. Next week in part two, we get into Brian's book and the philosophical traditions — Maimonides and Kabbalah — that have walled Jews off from considering Jesus for centuries.
Guest Links:
Chosen People Ministries — https://chosenpeople.com
Chosen People Answers — https://chosenpeopleanswers.com
About Messiah — https://aboutmessiah.com
The Scandal of a Divine Messiah — https://chosenpeopleanswers.com/the-scandal-of-a-divine-messiah/
Support Brian's ministry — https://chosenpeople.com/pray4brian
Books Mentioned:
The Scandal of a Divine Messiah — Brian J. Crawford
The Conflict of the Church and the Synagogue — James Parkes
A Century of Jewish Missions — A.E. Thompson
Christianity and Liberalism — J. Gresham Machen
Future Israel — Barry Horner
Warrant for Genocide — Norman Cohn
🌟 The Will Spencer Podcast was formerly known as "The Renaissance of Men."
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