Many Christian missionaries make the claim that the Jews see G-d as cruel, and that in contrast, Jesus is merciful.

The first statement is a lie. Certainly, anyone who has read the articles on my site knows that Judaism is very emphatic that Hashem is merciful. (Before emailing me about this, read the articles on my home page.)

The second claim, that Jesus was merciful, is certainly not supported by the words of the Christian bible, as we shall see below.

Let us discuss the two claims in order. According to Judaism, no one can be more merciful than G-d. It is impossible. G-d is the most merciful of anything in the universe that exists, all of which G-d created. According to Judaism, it is heresy to claim that anyone or anything is more merciful than G-d.

What do Christian missionaries mean when they say that Jesus is more merciful? They usually don’t answer this one directly, because missionaries seldom answer any direct questions. The answer appears to be that supposedly “Jesus accepts repentance, and the Jewish G-d does not.”

However, that is also untrue. Hashem most certainly does accept repentance, and sacrifice is not necessary for forgiveness and atonement. (More about that in another article.) Continue reading →