Dr. Ray Pritchard Christian Blog and Commentary

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The Christian and the Pharisee

  • Dr. Ray Pritchard
    Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, an Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 29 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain,… More
  • Updated Oct 14, 2007

I think it is a bit of divine serendipity that I just discovered this interview between R.T. Kendall and Rabbi David Rosen. Kendall served for 25 years as pastor of Westminster Chapel in London, and Rosen is the former chief rabbi of Ireland. Rosen calls himself a Pharisee in the sense of being a righteous Jew who seeks to live in God’s presence and to do God’s will. After much discussion over the true way to heaven, they wrote The Christian and the Pharisee: Two Outspoken Religious Leaders Debate the Road to Heaven. Check out the interview because it provides a nice counterbalance to the Ann Coulter-Donny Deutsch confrontation (see the preceding blog entry). Here are two men who have obviously become friends, speaking across the Jewish-Christian divide, discussing the differences while not compromising what each man deeply believes. If we are going to have inter-religious discussion, this is a good model for how it ought to be done. For Kendall (as for many Christians) you can’t separate such discussions from the evangelistic imperative to seek to win others to Christ. Rosen understands and accepts that reality with patient good humor. As Kendall points out, salvation is a work of God in the heart. So we discuss, we talk, we listen, we pray, we maintain our friendships as best we can, and we leave the final result in the hands of the Lord.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.