The mass conversion of Jews to Christianity will bring about Jesus' second coming - REALLY!

The Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations said, “Catholics should witness to their faith, but not undertake organized efforts to convert Jews.”  The document they issued said, “Catholics should take a different approach to Judaism than to other religions.”

The Vatican commission produced the new document to mark the 50th anniversary of a groundbreaking document on Catholic-Jewish relations, “Nostra Aetate,” in which the church rejected the notion that Jews were responsible for Jesus’ death. The new document describes the Torah as, “… the instruction for a successful life in right relationship with God.” The new document could also be a prelude to Francis visit to Rome’s Great Synagogue on January 17, 2016.

Until reforms in the 1960s, Second Vatican Council, prayers at Catholic Masses on Good Friday, described Jews as “faithless” and called for their conversion. In the past the church was clear on their belief that all Jewish people were guilty for Jesus' death. Many historians and theologians said the prayers and the collective guilt concept contributed to anti-Semitism and the unnecessary persecution of Jews.

In 2008, in response to requests from traditionalist Catholics who reject any theological dialogue with the Jewish religious leaders, Pope Benedict XVI allowed Catholics to return to using the old prayer used in the Tridentine Rite. Benedict tweaked the prayer slightly to refer to “the blindness of that people”, meaning the Jews. Many Jewish organizations still found the prayer offensive and it caused a mini-crisis between Jews and Catholics.

The latest Vatican document appears to be another step toward easing Jewish/Catholic tensions created in 2008 and it comes a week after a group of Orthodox rabbis issued a statement calling Christianity part of a divine plan in which God would have Jews and Christians work together to redeem the world.

The new Vatican document is more in line with the thinking of Pope Francis. Pope Francis has often called for collaboration between religions to obtain justice, peace, conservation and reconciliation. He has also repeatedly stressed that a Christian can never be an anti-Semite, especially because of the Jewish roots of Christianity. Pope Francis has definitely been more compassionate and open than Pope Benedict XVI. He has attempted to move the church further away from entrenched traditions that no longer serve a purpose.

Vatican-Israeli ties were strained again earlier this year when the Vatican signed an agreement recognizing the state of Palestine. The signing of that document damaged the prospects for advancing a peace agreement and slowed international effort to convince the Palestinian Authority to return to direct negotiations with Israel.

I welcome the attempt by my church, the Catholic Church, to improve Christian/Jewish relationships. I vigorously oppose what many in the Evangelical Christian churches are doing to entice vulnerable young Jews to convert to Christianity which is damaging Christian/Jewish relationships.

In some Evangelical Christian churches they do not have Sunday services they meet only on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. I see this as a deliberate attempt to keep young Jews that are showing an interest in Christianity from attending Temple. They never have a cross or an altar in their meeting room. Instead, there is a Holy Ark with a Star of David adorning its velvet cover, and a stage for prayer services in the center of the sanctuary. The leader will wear the vestments of a Jewish Rabbi. I see their efforts as an attempt to make the young Jewish believers think there are no differences, are only slight differences, between Judaism and Christianity, which is not true.

In some Evangelical Christian congregations they greet each other with joyous shouts of “Shabbat Shalom” and “Baruch Hashem”. The meeting room is filled with the beat of a modern Israeli musical. These congregations are purposely designed to appear Jewish, but they are actually fundamentalist Christian churches which use traditional Jewish symbols to lure the most vulnerable of the young Jewish people into their ranks and their marketing ploys are proving to be successful.

These groups estimate they get 8,000 young Jews to cross over to the “Hebrew-Christian” movement each year. These fundamentalist Christians are unyielding in their commitment to convert Jews to their zealous brand of Christianity. There are an estimated 70 million fundamentalist Christians in America. The Southern Baptist Convention passed numerous resolutions encouraging its more than 15-million American members to target the Jewish people.

They can quote scripture to support their belief and there is scripture that can be used to support their belief. There is scripture that would just about support anyone’s belief. That is why one must read scripture with a critical mindset keeping in mind the historical time in which it was written.

I believe the Evangelical Christian goal is a selfish goal they are trying to hasten the coming of end time. Evangelical Christians widely believe that the mass conversion of the Jews will bring about Jesus’ “second coming”. They believe the Jews, in a sense, are holding up the second coming of Jesus.

A few decades ago, there were only a handful of Messianic congregations throughout the United States. But today, several hundred actively attract and recruit Jews who lack a sound Jewish education and support system. Their mission field is largely University Campuses. These young Jews, often away from home for the first time, are buying the manipulative rhetoric and persuasive techniques of the Hebrew-Christian missionary movement.

These Messianic congregations have been quite successful among all the most vulnerable segments of the Jewish community – the very young, the very old, and the former Soviet Union Jews.

There are over 1,000 Christian missions dedicated to converting the Jewish people. It is estimated that there are more than 250,000 Hebrew-Christians in North America and Israel.

The Roman Catholic Church is by far the largest denomination in Christendom. Yet, despite Rome’s past bitter relationship with the Jewish people, today’s Catholic Church is, for the most part, not interested in converting Jews. Mainline or liberal Protestant denominations, Methodist, Episcopalian, Unitarian, etc., are also not interested in converting Jews. The Southern Baptist Convention, the Presbyterian Church in America and the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod has each adopted statements of conviction on the necessity of Jewish evangelism.

It is significant to me that Christianity swept through Europe almost overnight. The same is true for Latin America. Yet, the Jews, despite the unyielding persecution and the forced exile they have endured refuses to convert. This question has perplexed many of the Evangelical Fundamentalist so much that during the mid-1970’s they convened the most significant symposiums ever held in Switzerland and Thailand. They sought to unravel the mystery of why the Christian Church had been so unsuccessful in their efforts to convert the Jews and what new techniques could they employ to finally attract masses of new, unclaimed Jewish souls.

I could have told them Jewish people historically tend to equate Christianity with persecution. Jewish people often feel somewhat uncomfortable just hearing the words “Jesus Christ,” and when they see a Cross or a Church icon, it rarely conjures up warm, affectionate feelings. Jewish people tend to feel alienated by churches and its rituals. I am sure the Vatican’s position during World War II contributes to these feelings. It is my opinion the Vatican was more interested in protecting church property and priest in Germany than they were in protecting the Jews.

To overcome the Jewish people’s anti-Christian mindset the Evangelical Fundamentalist came up with a new strategy. The new sales pitch goes like this: When you’re becoming a believer in Jesus, you are not converting to another religion. On the contrary, you’re becoming a ‘fulfilled Jew’ or a ‘completed Jew.’ After all, Jesus was a Jew and his followers were Jewish; therefore, it stands to reason that believing in Jesus is the most Jewish thing you can do!

They also developed the slick idea of “Messianic synagogues,” that I discussed earlier in this piece, which are designed to look nothing like a church. They are deliberately built, furnished, and decorated to resemble a typical synagogue. They adopt Jewish holidays, for example you can watch on Christian television throughout the world and you will see Messianic congregations holding elaborate and well-publicized Passover Seders.

These groups shrewdly include Christian doctrines into the Messianic Passover Seder like: The matzah has stripes because Jesus had stripes across His back as a result of the scourging that he endured during his trial. The matzah is broken because Jesus was brutally broken on the cross. The matzah is wrapped in a white towel because Jesus was wrapped in a white burial shroud. The middle matzah is hidden because Jesus was hidden away in the tomb following his crucifixion. The matzah is brought back at the end of the meal because Jesus will return in the Second Coming at the End of Days. They claim this is all prophecy that Jesus fulfilled.

I believe God has called Christians to provoke Israel to jealousy—to draw Jewish people to the Messiah through our acts of love and kindness, speaking out against anti-Semitism and by doing so we will introduce the Jewish people to the Messiah. I personally do not seek to make Jewish converts. I prefer to let my life introduce these people to the Messiah. I let my life speak for me, while I pray and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.