Thread: Former Jewish atheist-philosopher from Mexico (wow, that´s long!)

Hello everybody. I was 15 years ago a Jewish atheist philosophy student when, by the grace of God I came to know Him and His precious Word.

Since then, I devote completely to study theology an average of 5-6 hours a day, every day (except sundays) for those last 15 years. For me, theological reflection is the highest end in itself a man can devote his mind to. I was four years in a famous seminary, but I was finally (and politelly) "invited to leave" in view of my stubborn rejection of Dispensationalism, which is for them a true idol.

I´m well known in some Eschatology and other Theological phorums as "bickering", especially when antinomians, arminians, hyper-preterists and dispensationalists appear. I´ve arrived to reformed theology only with the help of good books and above all the leading of the Spirit of Christ, but unfortunatelly I´m unchurched, only for logistical issues, because in the small countryside village I live in, in the center of Mexico, there is no sound church in 150 miles round.

As I told NaphtaliPress, who kindly received me here:

I also take church membership very seriously, but if you saw the bunch of hyper-charismatic, arminian, antinomian, carnal worship, seeker-sensitive, dispensationalist churches there are in my locality, believe me, you would become a lonely christian as I have to be, unfortunately. All of them reunite these six characteristics together!

So for me Christian life has been a real desert, with a very heavy cross on my back. Now I´m looking for a decent Reformed Church in USA to become a "distant member", and I´m even considering the possibility of moving to your country (if I manage to do it legally) and enter into full comunion with all of you.

I also write books (all in Spanish) about Reformed Theology and Apologetics, and I hold constantly debates, buth in person and publicly, as well as through internet with famous atheists in the universities of Mexico and USA.

I also teach the Bible in jails, through a Christian Foundation, which despite having a very poor theology, respects my puritan stance and allows me to teach it.

The Confession of Faith I subscribe mostly is the London Baptist, though I don´t consider the baptism issue as cause for division.

That´s me. I hope that through this community I´ll be able to enter in the comunion of the Saints more and more fully, because my spirit is deeply longhing for it. I have an epistolar relationship with several reformed pastors and theologians in USA, but I would like to take a step further in comunion and Church discipline.

S.D.G.

Ricardo Stern

Dios te bendiga, mi hermano!

Bienvenidos a PB.

I'll bet there are some folks on the Puritan Board who can recommend some churches or direct you to some fellowship there in Mexico.

Welcome to the PB!

So are you Mexican or did you move to Mexico? Just wondering because a Mexican Jewish atheist philosophy student sounds kind of cool. It reminds me of a joke actually, but I'll save it for now.

Welcome brother and God bless you.

Just in case some people here are somewhat bewilder of Jews living in Mexico, let me tell you that there have been Jews or better yet People of Jewish descent living in Mexico since the time of Hernan Cortez (since about 500 yrs ago).


History of the Jews in Mexico - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jews have lived in Mexico since the times of the Inquisition. Today the community numbers over 50,000, concentrated primarily in Mexico City. Other communities are found in the state of Jalisco, mainly in Guadalajara and surrounding cities, and in Monterrey, Veracruz, Culiacan, and Tijuana.

There have been Jews in Mexico since Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztecs, accompanied by several Conversos. Later, there arrived Jews escaping the Inquisition.[1] Some of these Spanish Jews were forced to convert to Catholicism (Converso Jews), but many maintained their Jewish religious practices in secret (for which many were killed in what is known as the Mexican Inquisition). However some Conversos and their progeny maintained the conversions to Christianity and to continue to classify them as Jews one has to accept the racial definition of Jewishness.[2]

Due to the power of the Catholic Church in Mexico, few Jews migrated there during the Spanish Colonial Period. In the 1860s, a large number of German Jews settled in Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian I of Mexico. Beginning in the 1880s many Ashkenazic Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Romania came to Mexico. Another large wave of immigration occurred as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, leading many Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Morocco, and parts of France to flee. Finally, a wave of immigrants fled the increasing Nazi persecutions in Europe during World War II.

Today, there are around 40,000 Jews in Mexico; it is one of just a handful of countries whose Jewish population is projected to grow in the future. [3] There are several sectors in the Jewish community in Mexico, the biggest of which are the Ashkenazi community. The Mizrahi community is mainly Syrian immigrants who attend the Maguén David and Monte Sinai congregations. Mexican Jews refer to the Mizrahim as "judíos árabes" or "Arab Jews". The Sephardic community is primarily made up of descendents of Turkish immigrants, and also very old generations that descend from Spain.

While most Jews in Mexico are concentrated in Mexico City, there are substantial Jewish communities in Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Tijuana. Recently, a small group of Mexican Jewish families has immigrated to Cancún. There is a small group of implanted American Jews who have relocated to the retirement lake towns of Chapala and Ajijic in the state of Jalisco; they meet once a month for religious services and occasionally interact with their Mexican Jewish counterparts in close by Guadalajara.

In 1938 The Central Committee for the Jewish Community of Mexico ('Comité central de la comunidad judía de México') emerged as the umbrella organization for the varying ethnic and religious Jewish communities in Mexico; its analysis and opinion agency is called the Tribuna Israelita.
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Welcome Ricardo!

Welcome to PB! And glory to God for your testimony!

I did not know that Gil; thank you. I knew that there was a tourist in Mexico and while in a restaurant he asked the waiter, "So, do you have any Jews in Mexico?" The waiter, not quite sure what he was being asked, went to the back to ask the chef the question since he knew English a little better. The waiter came back and said, "Si. We has orange jooze, apple jooze, grape jooze"...

Welcome Ricardo!

As you have learned in your journey to the Reformed faith, No es oro todo lo que reluce!

AMR

Welcome!!

Originally Posted by AThornquist

I did not know that Gil

If you ever had Ceviche, Horchata, a Churro, Flour Tortilla's, Rice Pudding, etc. it is not Mexican Food, but Jewish Food you ate, primarily Sephardic.

Also,

Most Spanish last names/surnames are Jewish (Sephardic):


Ala, Abadía, Abanillo, Abarim, Abed, Alcazar, Alcañiz, Alemán, Baltasar, Barba, Barceló, Barcelona, Baro, Barrachina, Barrionuevo, Berenguer, Belluga, Caballero, Cabeza, Cabezudo, Cabra, Cáceres, Cádiz, Caldero, Campo, Canete, Carrillo, Cazorla, Chaves, Chico, Chavariz, Chelva, Chapetel, Colombo, Correa, Dalmau, Darmon, Daroca, David, Dávila, Delgado, Díez, Domenech, Donlope, Dormido, Duarte, Elías, Elisa, Elvira, Enero, Enríquez, Escalera, Escobar, Escribá, Espíritu Santo, Espinosa, Espino, Fabib, Fadol, Fajardo, Farache, Faral, Faras, Farias, Faro, Fernándes, Ferrando, Ferrer, Ferrera, Fierro, Fuertes, Fuster, Gabirol, Galaf, Galiana, Gallego, Gallo, Gálvez, Gaona, Garcés, García, García de Moros, Garro, Gato, Gerona, Gilabert, Gil, Haro, Hasid, Hassan, Hascan, Henríques, Herrero, Herrera, Hervás, Hierro, Hospital, Hoz, Illesas, Iniesta, Ismail, Izquierdo, Jara, Jaime, Jordán, Julia, Kahn, Kayffman, Kesselman, Kohan, Krispin, La Torre, Lacalles, Laparda, Laparra, Lara, Laredo, Lauria, Leo, Lerin, Levi, Leyba, Macanas, Macia, Machado, Marqués, Mayo, Mazana, Mazín, Medina, Meir, Melero, Nadal, Nájara, Narváez, Navarro, Natanel, Negrín, Nieto, Noé, Obadia, Obrador, Olivera, Oliveros, Olivos, Olmos, Orduña, Orella, Orgaz, Ortega, Osorio, Pacheco, Padre, Padresanto, Padron, Palache, Palma, Pardo, Paredes, Preciado, Pujol, Pulgar, Querido, Quersi, Quirós, Rabatoso, Ramírez, Ramos, Ravel, Rebasa, Redó, Reina, Rossel, Rosales, Ros, Saavedra, Sabina, Sagarra, Salami, Salgado, Salom, Sánchez, Sánchez De Toledo, Sánchez De Ocaña, Sastre, Tabora, Talavera, Tamarit, Tarazona, Tejedor, Terrasa, Thomas, Toledo, Úbeda, Ulloa, Urrea, Usua, Usillo, Vaamonde, Valderrama, Valencia, Valera, Valeriola, Valero, Vall, Valls, Vaquero, Y un largo etcétera como zaforteza, Zaragoza, Zarco, Zayat, Zorrila.

Originally Posted by Laudante

I also take church membership very seriously, but if you saw the bunch of hyper-charismatic, arminian, antinomian, carnal worship, seeker-sensitive, dispensationalist churches there are in my locality, believe me, you would become a lonely christian as I have to be, unfortunately. All of them reunite these six characteristics together!

Hola y bienvenido, hermano!

There are lots of churches like that also in the place where I live.

-----Added 7/17/2009 at 02:48:28 EST-----

Originally Posted by SolaGratia

Most Spanish last names/surnames are Jewish (Sephardic):


Ala, Abadía, Abanillo, Abarim, Abed, Alcazar, Alcañiz, Alemán, Baltasar, Barba, Barceló, Barcelona, Baro, Barrachina, Barrionuevo, Berenguer, Belluga, Caballero, Cabeza, Cabezudo, Cabra, Cáceres, Cádiz, Caldero, Campo, Canete, Carrillo, Cazorla, Chaves, Chico, Chavariz, Chelva, Chapetel, Colombo, Correa, Dalmau, Darmon, Daroca, David, Dávila, Delgado, Díez, Domenech, Donlope, Dormido, Duarte, Elías, Elisa, Elvira, Enero, Enríquez, Escalera, Escobar, Escribá, Espíritu Santo, Espinosa, Espino, Fabib, Fadol, Fajardo, Farache, Faral, Faras, Farias, Faro, Fernándes, Ferrando, Ferrer, Ferrera, Fierro, Fuertes, Fuster, Gabirol, Galaf, Galiana, Gallego, Gallo, Gálvez, Gaona, Garcés, García, García de Moros, Garro, Gato, Gerona, Gilabert, Gil, Haro, Hasid, Hassan, Hascan, Henríques, Herrero, Herrera, Hervás, Hierro, Hospital, Hoz, Illesas, Iniesta, Ismail, Izquierdo, Jara, Jaime, Jordán, Julia, Kahn, Kayffman, Kesselman, Kohan, Krispin, La Torre, Lacalles, Laparda, Laparra, Lara, Laredo, Lauria, Leo, Lerin, Levi, Leyba, Macanas, Macia, Machado, Marqués, Mayo, Mazana, Mazín, Medina, Meir, Melero, Nadal, Nájara, Narváez, Navarro, Natanel, Negrín, Nieto, Noé, Obadia, Obrador, Olivera, Oliveros, Olivos, Olmos, Orduña, Orella, Orgaz, Ortega, Osorio, Pacheco, Padre, Padresanto, Padron, Palache, Palma, Pardo, Paredes, Preciado, Pujol, Pulgar, Querido, Quersi, Quirós, Rabatoso, Ramírez, Ramos, Ravel, Rebasa, Redó, Reina, Rossel, Rosales, Ros, Saavedra, Sabina, Sagarra, Salami, Salgado, Salom, Sánchez, Sánchez De Toledo, Sánchez De Ocaña, Sastre, Tabora, Talavera, Tamarit, Tarazona, Tejedor, Terrasa, Thomas, Toledo, Úbeda, Ulloa, Urrea, Usua, Usillo, Vaamonde, Valderrama, Valencia, Valera, Valeriola, Valero, Vall, Valls, Vaquero, Y un largo etcétera como zaforteza, Zaragoza, Zarco, Zayat, Zorrila.

Gil, gracias. Mi apellido es Medina (pero no soy Judio). I didn't know that it was Jewish in origin.

Hola hermano. Bienvenidos al PB.

No Habla Espanol....

Welcome brother!
A long time mexican food fan here! I was born in San Diego Ca, 40 miles from the border...

Welcome, brother!

Ricardo

Welcome to the PB family.

Welcome to the board.

Welcome! With a background like that, I bet you'll bring an interesting perspective to the discussions here.

Bienvenidos mi hermano en el nombre de Jesus! Estoy orando por la voluntad de Dios para tu vida. Dios te bendiga!

Welcome..

I love rice pudding..it's one of my favorites, my grandma used to make an awesome pudding..

sir, and glad to have you aboard!

Welcome aboard, Ricardo!

I'm an American part-Germanic theist-philosopher-student-engineer. :P

Hello! Welcome!

Hi

I'm glad to see you here, and sorry to hear about your plight. May God raise up sound laborers to send into the parts of Mexico not particularly close to the US border.

Is Valle de Bravo as lovely as Ixtapan de la Sal?

Bienvenidos!

Welcome to the PB!

Greetings!

This is a good place to learn reformed theology and grow in grace toward one another.

Wow... I can´t believe in one week I have more Puritan friends than I´ve been able to know in all my life!

Thank you very much for the warm welcome! I´ll be contacting some of you directly in the next days... Dios los bendiga a todos!

Greetings! Nice to meet you

Welcome!

Welcome!!!
I have a good friend who just moved to Mexicali with his family to be a missionary. He's an ordained minister in the PCA.