Christian apologetics has shifted in the last couple of years, perhaps with Wesley Huff’s interview on the Joe Rogan Experience. Before, apologetics had long been associated with debate culture. The famous Chrisitan-atheist debates that persisted long enough to inspire God’s Not Dead. But then Covid happened and proved that logic, reason, and information do not change policy outcomes. Sheer will does. But the death of debate culture aside, a new style of apologetics has emerged and largely outclassed the old form.
Wesley Huff, Bryce Crawford, and now Joel Webbon are early adopters in a way to using longform podcast conversations as a primary driver of reaching people. Huff went on Rogan and preached the gospel to millions. Bryce Crawford has interviewed a cucked pornstar, Dan Bilzarian, and other controversial figures preached the gospel. And Joel Webbon, in his interviews with Nick Fuentes and now Jake Shields, led to the gospel being discussed and proclaimed to them.
But the secret sauce is not merely having a podcast and sharing the gospel. These figures have audiences, and these audiences are potentially ripe mission fields, especially in comparison to a militant atheist one. Figures who have built audiences and platforms bring their audiences with them, and the word of God will not return void with them.
And now we get to Jake Shields, a famous MMA fighter turned edgelord. He is big on opposing Jews, even if it means embracing third world objections. And a big outcry emerged when the idea of Jesus being a Jew was clearly a stumbling block for Shields. Webbon, in broader context, does well to moot Shields’s objection to Christianity, alluding to the phrases abuse by Zionists who want to draw a continuity between Ancient Israel and Ashkenazi Jews and use the lineage of Christ to argue that Jews today are special.
In the old apologetics, evolution would be a comparable stumbling block. And most Christians would think it wise to prioritize the gospel over it in many scenarios. But the “Jewishness of Jesus” is far more nuanced than evolution, because of broken continuity and the meaning of words changing over centuries. Nevertheless, although less than optimal, Webbon did fine here and strayed not into the weeds. Lobbing such heavy criticism of a conversation with a nonbeliever, as Tom Buck Jon Harris, and several others have, is not edifying in the least.
Additionally, Jake Shields expressed an inclination towards Marcionism, separating the god of the Old and New Testaments, an actual heresy. Webbon did well to respond, improving upon the earlier exchange, citing Sodom and Gomorrah as an understandable example of God’s justice. Shields agreed, as he is a big advocate against child sex abuse.
What stood apart at was Webbon’s gospel presentation where Jake Shields heard the gospel without ambiguity and was invited to church. This is far from the Babylon Bee fellating Elon Musk and making an unfunny joke out of the gospel. Instead, what was shown is that Jake Shields is not far from the kingdom of God.
Joel Webbon with Shields and Bryce Crawford with Bilzarian recognize that struggle sessions over fake sins are not conducive to spreading the gospel. Who knew? Not Big Eva. Nevertheless, the new Christian apologetic is taking storm and we should expect more similar interviews.
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So, no mention of how Joel agreed that Jesus wasn’t Jewish? Wow…how James White of you.
Jesus is NOT jewish.
Firstly, modern talmudic judaism is NOT the same religion as the ancient Israelite religion of Jesus’ time on earth.
The Israelite religion in Jesus’ time was based on the Old Testament of the Bible.
In complete and utter contrast, modern judaism is based on the demonic and satanic talmud, the most evil book ever written.
The jewish talmud says (among many other horrific things) that Jesus is an evil sorcerer and magician who is currently in hell boiling in excrement as punishment for offending the jews.
Also, the jewish talmud says that Gentiles are subhuman animals who exist only to be exploited, abused, and enslaved by the jews.
The jewish talmud also says that it’s fine for jews to rob, assault, rape, and even kill Gentiles.
The jewish talmud also endorses pedophilia.
Modern talmudic is a supremacist hate cult, whose foundational belief is that the jews are entitled to enslave and rule over the Gentiles and harm Gentiles in any way the jews want.
The core of jewish identity is hating Gentiles and exploiting Gentiles, and establishing supremacy over the Gentiles.
After all, that is why the jews rejected Jesus: the jews wanted a leader who would conquer the Gentiles and establish the jews as supreme over all the earth.
Jesus’ Message was the opposite of that: Jesus preached humility and peace, and told the jews that their jewishness doesn’t entitle them to special treatment, and they need to repent and humble themselves before God, and any Gentile who believes in Jesus has equal status to any jew who believes in Jesus.
Jesus took the jews’ “chosen” status away from them, which is why even 2000 years later, the jews still loathe and hate Jesus with the burning heat of 10 million suns.
As described above, the entire foundational belief of talmudic modern judaism is that the jews are the master race, and are entitled to enslave, rape, and kill the Gentiles.
That is the polar opposite of what Jesus stands for: equal salvation for everyone who believes in Jesus.
The talmudic jews are the spiritual descendants of the pharisees, who Jesus denounced as belonging to their father the devil. (John 8:42-47)
Thus, describing Jesus as a “jew” is totally dishonest and blasphemous, because calling Jesus a “jew” FALSELY portrays Jesus as an evil jewish supremacist psychopath who wants to enslave all Gentiles under the jews.
Jesus Christ is the absolute POLAR OPPOSITE of a talmudic modern jew.
Furthermore, even in ancient times, Jesus couldn’t honestly be considered a jew or an Israelite, for the following reasons:
1) Jesus is God. Jesus has existed since before the universe was created. Jesus isn’t a member of any earthly ethnic/racial group.
2) In Jesus’ time, membership in the Israelite ethnic group could only be transmitted through the patrilineal line. In other words, you could only be an Israelite if your father was an Israelite. The mother’s ethnicity was irrelevant. But who is Jesus’ Father? God The Father, who is not a member of any earthly ethnic/racial group. Thus, under the Israelite law, Jesus could not be considered an Israelite, because His Father (God The Father) is not an Israelite. Mary and Joseph were essentially Jesus’ adopted parents during his time on earth. That is why Jesus’ Conception is called “The Immaculate Conception” and not “the Joseph and Mary conception.
3) Jesus Himself indicated that He didn’t consider Himself to be a jew. When Pontius Pilate (the Roman governor) asked Jesus if He was “king of the jews”, Jesus replied “you have said so.” (Matthew 27:11)
Jesus then said that His Kingdom is NOT of this world:
“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
(John 18:36)
Notice that Jesus says that if His Kingdom was of this world, His servants would fight to prevent Him from being handed over to “the Jews.”
If Jesus considered Himself to be a Jew, what he said above would make zero sense.
Only a non-jew would say: “my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.”
By referring to the Jews as “the Jews”, Jesus makes it undeniably clear that He doesn’t consider Himself to be a Jew.
No Jew would refer to his own people as “the Jews.”
If Jesus considered Himself to be a Jew, He would have referred to the Jews as “my people” or “our people”.
By referring to His persecutors as “the Jews”, Jesus makes it clear that He isn’t a part of that group.
As you can see from all the reasons discussed above, calling Jesus a jew is false and blasphemous.
Anyone who refers to Jesus as “a jew” or “jewish” falsely associates Jesus with all of the evils of talmudic judaism, and portrays Jesus as an evil psychopath who endorses all of the evils in the talmud (rape, enslavement, murder of Gentiles, pedophilia, etc).
Thus, it is a grievous blasphemy to call Jesus a “jew.”