According to Wikipedia, “the Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology”. The author of “Jesus in the Talmud” is the renowned Jewish scholar Dr. Peter Schäfer. His scholarly focus has been to record and examine every single mention of Jesus in the Talmudic writings. Since the Talmud was written several centuries after the life of Jesus Christ, there are countless references to him.
The results, i.e. the sheer amount of hateful and blasphemous statements about Jesus in the Talmud, are astonishing.
Since the Jews had no particular interest in the Christians learning about the unflattering views of their God, and since the Christians could not speak Hebrew (or Aramaic, another language used in the Talmud), they were generally unaware of this. Therefore, they also did not learn that Jesus deserved punishment in hell — and that a similar fate awaited his followers, the Christians.
If they had known better, the Christians would not have regarded the Jews as God’s chosen people, but as antichrists, as it says in their Bible in 1 John 2:22: “Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist — denying the Father and the Son.”
Furthermore, based on Genesis 12, Christians are told to support the nation of Israel so that they will be blessed by God; however, the Bible teaches that God will punish them if they stand with a nation that He considers wicked and ungodly. Accordingly, John 3:36 reads as follows: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
In contrast to Christian belief, according to the Talmud Jesus is anything but God. Instead, he was the result of adultery and the son of Miriam (Mary), who had numerous men with whom she had sexual intercourse, and of Panthera, a Roman soldier. So it was this harlot who gave birth to Jesus. In Egypt, Jesus studied sorcery, paganism, and black magic, which he used for his miracles.
While many Jews may harbor hostility toward the Virgin Mary as they do toward Jesus Christ, Muslims deeply revere her.
The Talmud also describes Jesus as a fool and compares him to the villains of the Old Testament (Ahitophel, Doeg, and Gehazi). It goes on to say: “Bloody and deceitful people do not even live half their days”. As a result, Balaam (Jesus) died at the age of thirty-three or thirty-four.
It is also stated in the Talmudic writings that for forty days before the execution of Jesus took place, a herald went forth and cried, “He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy”.
According to the Talmud, there was no reason to be ashamed, because “we have lawfully executed a blasphemer and idolater. Jesus deserved to die, and he got what he deserved”.
The Talmud claims that Jesus corrupted Judaism and should be burned and doused with boiling excrement as punishment for his crimes.
Special precautions were taken to achieve the goal of punishing Jesus severely, as the Talmud reports: “We even convinced (or rather forced) the Roman governor that this heretic and impostor must be executed — and we are proud of it.”
Jews may believe that this is true, and Christians may believe that these are lies. But no one knows for sure what happened.
A Clash of Morality and Scripture
The conflict extends beyond the figure of Jesus to fundamental morality. The Talmud is cited as containing teachings that directly contradict the moral code of the Old Testament. Examples include:
Permitting a girl under three years old to marry a priest.
Asserting that intercourse with a small child is not considered a sexual act.
Condoning bestiality in certain passages.
Containing passages advocating violence against non-Jews— such as, “the best among the Gentiles deserves to be killed.”
While the Torah itself condemns acts like pedophilia and bestiality, these Talmudic teachings are evidence that rabbinic Judaism is built on a foundation that Christians must consider “vile and barbaric.”
The Talmud and the Bible notwithstanding, a Semitic people committing ruthless genocide against another Semitic people and indiscriminately murdering innocent civilians from babies to great-grandparents seems to be possessed by the devil rather than following a divine calling, if there is such a thing.
Finally:
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This article was first published by the Asian internet magazine Eastern Angle.