You Take Jesus, I'll Take God by Samuel Levine (1980, Paperback)

Levine's book is very short and has a simple message. Its main task is to assist any 'lost' Jews that may be considering 'the other side' i.e. Christianity. The tone of the book is set early on, Levine isn't too concerned about whether he offends the proponents of Christianity. He is quite blunt with regards to some of the points that he makes, however he assures the reader that he is not out to attack Christianity but instead is out to combat the menace of Missionary Christianity (specifically 'Jews for Jesus').

Levine divides his book into three main parts. The first deals with the verses that Christian Missionaries use in an attempt to convert unsuspecting Jews to the 'truth' of the Christian Messiah. The author analyses each pertininent verse adding personal comments and referring to other Jewish scriptural and non-scriptural sources. Some of his comments are speculative at best, for example his treatment of Josephus' writings about Jesus. He believes that the two 'lonely passages' that discuss him were interpolations (as suggested by one of his sources), and hence claims that there is no true evidence of Jesus' great ministry. Other comments he makes are more solid and are backed up by logic and evidence from scripture itself.

The second section is different from the first, in that it is pro-active in dealing with the missionary problem. It prepares the reader with some ammunition in the form of questions, that the missionary may have a few problems answering regarding Christianity. Some points he brings up include the difficulties of the trinity, faith versus works: why do we need the latter at all?, unfulfilled prophecies and the list goes on.

His final section is a collection of letters wherby he has a discussion with an actual Christian Missionary. This is an interesting approach to show the tactics used by missionaries to win converts. It is a lengthy correspondance that becomes heated at times, however it shows how pointless it is to argue with someone that has discarded logic, reason and critical thinking for blind faith.

Overall this book is a useful introduction to the very weak and unsubstantiated arguments offered by Christian Missionaries to convert unprepared Jews. Although most of his arguments are convincing, he sometimes goes to extremes with his constant reminders about early Christianity and its treatment of the Jews. Although the Spanish Inquisition, crusades and the Holocaust are horrible reminders of Christian iniquity towards the Jewish people, I believe it is possible to logically defeat Christian dogma without constantly appealing to past indiscretions. If you are looking for a good starting point into the arguments regarding Christianity, this is it. However, if you are looking for more substance check out some other books such as Aryeh Kaplan's The Real Messiah, The Jesus Puzzle by Earl Doherty and The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke.
I also urge to get the series of books by Gerald Sigal, missionary expert par excellance and whose books I review here on Ebay. HIS BOOKS ARE MORE IN DEPTH AND SCHOLARLY AND FEARED BY MOST CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES TO THE JEWS!