Judaism - True or False Religion?

John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."Now I know there is some doubt as to whether the words originated with Jesus, or whether they were intended as commentary by John, with Jesus' discourse ending with verse 15. If the words in vs. 16 were written by John, and the Gospel, as many believe, was written years after Jesus' death (and resurrection), then it arguably reflects development in Christianity as a religion for the Gentiles, not just the Jews. If, however, we believe that Jesus spoke the words in verse 16, we have the problem of them seeming to contradict Matt. 15:24 quoted above.I think it makes more sense to say that Jesus did not speak the words in John 3:16, and that they are a comment added by John (or the writer of John's Gospel, if that was in fact someone else) years later, after Christianity had begun to spread to the Gentiles.This message has been edited by DeclinetoState, 02-27-2006 12:29 PM

The issue that Faith is confronting is one that confronts many Bible translators, especially translators of modern versions, who often get criticized by KJV Only supporters and others who believe only a literal translation of the Hebrew and Greek is justifiable.I think anyone who translates the Bible should not be condemned if their goal is to make it understandable and clear up confusion about difficult passages, especially in either the Old Testament law or in the epistles.

But can't that be said about even a "literal" translation? The simple fact is that no translation or version of the Bible will make everyone happy.Getting back to the original topic, I'm sure there are many passages in the OT of Christian Bibles that Jews dislike; though whether those have any bearing as to the truth or falsity of the Jewish religion is something I can't address.

Isaiah 7:14 (KJV): Isaiah 7:14 (Jewish Translation from the Hebrew) The NIV, ASV, and a few other "Christian" translations of the Bible agree with the KJV and use "virgin"; the RSV, Catholic JB and NJB, and others use "young woman" or something similar.See Forbidden ("Is Isaiah 7:14 a Messianic Prophecy?") for a more detailed discussion.I tend to agree with the "young woman" reading simply because it fits the context of Isaiah better. The purpose of the young woman having the child was to give a message to King Ahaz about how soon God would kill the Kings of Aram and Israel, and how he would later bring destruction upon Judah. (It all seems a bit complicated to me, but I'm not God, so I don't know all the ins and outs of His reasoning.)