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Originally Posted by aron
Part of the problem of recreating the conversation between Christians (many who were Jews) and non-Jesus Jews who rejected the resurrected-Christ story is this: the Jewish nation was effaced, practically speaking, a few short decades after Christ's death. So we don't know what was said, and the silence may not be indicative of Christian's lack of preaching.
Second, the Jews were famous for not acknowledging anything they didn't agree with. Josephus, for example, is a famous and widely attested early Jewish witness. But to read the Rabbis, he never existed. Why? He was a traitor to the 'minim'. So he was wiped from the record.
Third, one may in fact see some reaction to the "Jesus as God" assertions in the early rabbinic reports. There is a well-done scholarly work called "Two Powers in Heaven" by Alan Segal which covers this. (and note that there are not "Three Powers in Heaven" as yet - the "Holy Spirit as God" is not yet an issue, apparently).
An interesting point - if the non-Jesus Jews will come to worship at the feet of Jesus' believers, what does that say about Thomas falling down and worshipping at the feet of the resurrected Jesus?
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With the 3 gospels, the issue among the Jews was whether Jesus was the Christ or not. Somewhat late in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus asks his chosen disciples who do men say that I am, then, who do you say that I am. Quite an interesting question to be asking those who were closest to him! Peter gives an answer that Jesus says comes from the Father- that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God. All the gospels in Acts present the man, Jesus as the Christ. The Holy Spirit witnesses to this with signs and wonders. No one there is preaching a Jesus is God message.
Myths have a way of growing, and sensationalism sells news. But in Acts, the message of Jesus the Christ is consistent across the various actors and the time element that goes from the ascension through the sending of Paul the prisoner to Rome. The epistles of Paul confirm the gospel preached in Acts. One, for instance, would not read 1,2 Thessalonians and come anywhere near thinking that the message was that Jesus should be viewed, treated as God, and certainly not that God was triune!
My premise is that a recovery of the church would be a recovery of the Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God message, and that the emphasis in the church would be a Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ atmosphere. I would think that God would honor this with pouring out of the Holy Spirit. WL did not bring about such an assembly, in fact, his “ministry” drew the Christians further into a larger myth. If the heavenly truth is that the church is built on the revelation given to Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, does anyone really think- expect, the Spirit of God to honor the triune myth? The modern Christianity world that we now live in is mainly a pastoral business model that feeds off the myths. The “Recovery” is one of the biggest scams, in that it created a larger myth that is run by the LSM business model, using the catch of the Local Church as its corral. I’m shocked when I read that parents send their kids off to FTT so that they can be salespeople for LSM.
But, the church does need to be recovered back to the simple gospel that was presented clearly in Acts, and reinforced in the epistles of Paul. The triunists seem obsessed with looking under every scripture segment to uncover the missing link that will validate their myth as being what the original message really is. WL was a master at this.