Silent Quote vs. a Jew Hater

Recently, I lost a longtime friend. She had picked up some very strong delusions, almost all of them linked to anti-Semitism and, in the literal sense, Far Right conspiracy theories. When I was too “closed minded” to accept her assertion that Mossad killed Charlie Kirk, she ultimately decided our years of friendship were worth nothing. But as Christ said, ““If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, and even his own life — he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke‬ ‭14‬:‭26‬). So, I consider this a loss worth taking.

But Scripture also tells us “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬). To that end, long time followers of Bible Brain will know that I have a policy: Those who refuse to learn may be used as an opportunity to teach.

Long time followers of Bible Brain may also know that one of my favorite strategies is what I like to call the “silent quote”. That is, you quote a source your opponent trusts without telling them you’re quoting anything at all (i.e. making it sound like your own words). This forces them to unintentionally drop their interpretive biases and simply read the words as they are. There are only two real defences against this strategy:

1. Know the source well enough to catch it before you fall for it.

2. Demonstrate missing or altered context in the quote, or surrounding it in its original source material.

In the screenshot, we see an example of me using this strategy against the aforementioned friend. Having asserted that the Jews are the cause of all the world’s problems (which she later expanded to “all historical problems”), she pointed out that Jews deny Christ, ascribed questionable Talmud quotes to all Jews (they don’t all believe it), and suggested Muslims (who apparently get a free pass for denying Christ) have a better appreciation for Him.

But the really cool thing about the “Jews deny Christ” line is it sets you up almost perfectly for a silent quote. I obviously added the word “well”, making it look like the response it was intended to be, but everything else, I copied and pasted from the YouVersion Bible app. Specifically, I quoted Romans 3:3-4, and Romans 11:2. But upon hearing the Bible, my friend turned around and said the Bible is “pretty clear”. And of course, I agree. It’s so clear that when I quoted it without telling her I was quoting it, she knew what it meant.

Remember how I said there are only two ways around the silent quote? The first is to simply know the sources. She did not. In fact, in literally days worth of debates, I don’t remember her quoting a single Bible verse. Not even out of context, she just didn’t touch the Bible. She never quoted it, and she barely acknowledged whenever I did. And of course, she fell for the trap, so clearly she doesn’t know the source well enough to recognise it.

So what’s the only escape route left? She has to deal with the quotes directly, and show that something changes the context. But this one isn’t available to her either. Expanding our reading, it only gets more and more clear: No matter what the Jews believe, the covenant God made with them is irrevocable. Romans 11 is by far the clearest text to prove this. It doesn’t just say that the covenant is still in place, it very explicitly defines the role faith has in that covenant, how we relate to the Jews as the Church, and how their future fullness is both guaranteed and riches for the Gentiles.

It's worth noting, especially as this is the common straw man, that this does not mean salvation is different for the Jews than for the Gentiles. Everyone is either saved by grace, through faith in Christ, or condemned apart from Him, dying in their sins.

The issue here is covenant. God can remain faithful to covenants made with unbelievers, even if they never believe and He ultimately condemns them for their sins. Look at the flood, for example. God flooded the entire Earth, but He promised never to do it again. If people deny Christ, do they run the risk of a second flood? No, summer and winter, seedtime and harvest, will never cease. It’s the same with the Jews. If some of them were unfaithful, God still has not cut off Israel. They still have their role to play, and, as Romans 11:28-29 says, "Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."

Of course, none of this means we are required to go too far in the other direction. We don't have to treat Jews as some special class of people, above reproach in every way. We don't have to agree with everything the modern state of Israel does, and we certainly don't need to affirm (or even acknowledge) the Talmud. Though of course, I will say if you're going to criticise the Talmud, it's intellectually dishonest not to do your due diligence. But that's a side note. The real note is that we need to avoid all forms of extremism. If you treat the Jews as a special class of people, whether it's excessive reverence, or excessive hatred, you have crossed a Biblical guardrail. And that guardrail is so clear that even antisemites recognise it. At least, when they're not trying to ignore it.

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