I want to thank Tim Troutman and the rest of the Called to Communion fellows for allowing me to put up a quick post about my new book: The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity now available on amazon.com.

The book begins with an event in which I encountered a Jewish Rabbi while I was still an Episcopalian priest. This encounter led me to explore Catholicism more deeply. Ultimately, it ended in my conversion to the Catholic Church. The bulk of the book demonstrates how only Catholic Christianity can truly fulfill Old Testament expectations of the Messiah and His Kingdom.

If I could give you one simple reason why should purchase the book, it would be that the appendix includes an extremely helpful list of over three hundred (300!) Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus Christ – this list even includes prophecies from the Deuterocanonical books that Protestants don’t accept (e.g. Wisdom). This is a great resource to have on your bookshelf.

Here’s a short video to give you the gist of the The Crucified Rabbi:

Please visit the book’s profile on amazon.com for more details.

Here’s the Table of Contents:

How I Discovered the Jewish Origins of Catholicism 1

Introduction 11
Does the Pope Wear a Yarmulke? 11
Is Catholicism Anti-Semitic? 13
The Philo-Semitism of Pope John Paul II 16
Rabbi Israel Eugenio Zolli – The Catholic Rabbi 18

1. Jewish Messiah, Catholic Christ 23
What is Messianic Prophecy? 24
The Old Covenant “Proto-Gospel” 25
Specific Messianic Prophecies Fulfilled by Christ 28

2. Jewish Kingdom, Catholic Church 39
Mary as the Queen Mother of Jerusalem 40
The Pope as the King’s Royal Steward 42
Were Jewish Expectations Left Unfulfilled? 45
Messianic Judaism 51
What about the Accusation of Supersessionism? 52

3. Jewish Tevilah, Catholic Baptism 57
John the Baptist and the Tevilah 59
Baptism, the Tevilah of Conversion 61
Is Baptism a Ceremonial Washing? 63
Catholic Baptism as the Tevilah for Original Sin 64

4. Jewish Passover, Catholic Mass 67
The Passover Meal 68
But Why the Mass? 70
What is Manna? 71
The Bread of Life, the Eucharist 73
“Who can listen to it?” 76

5. Jewish Kohenim, Catholic Priests 79
The Firstborn Priesthood before the Law of Moses 80
The Levitical Priesthood in the Law of Moses 82
Christ the High Priest 87
The Order of Melchizedek 88
The Catholic Priesthood of the New Covenant 91
Priestly Celibacy 94
Is the Pope a High Priest? 95

6. Jewish Vestments, Catholic Vestments 99
Cosmic Clothing 101
Old Covenant Vestments 103
New Covenant Vestments 105
Description of Catholic Vestments 107
Catholic Choir Dress 109

7. Jewish Temple, Catholic Cathedral 113
The Garden of Eden as Archetype 114
Temple Cosmology—Creation and Worship 115
Blueprints of the Old Covenant Tabernacle 116
The Tabernacle Becomes the Temple 117
The New Covenant and the End of the Temple 118
Birth of the Catholic Cathedral 119

8. Jewish Synagogue, Catholic Parish 123
Structure of the Synagogue 125
Structure of the Catholic Parish 126

9. Jewish Nazirites, Catholic Monastics 131
The Nazirite Vow 132
Christian Monasticism 133
Liturgy of the Hours and Jewish Prayer 135
Was Jesus a Nazirite? 138

10. Jewish Marriage, Catholic Marriage 141
First Step: Betrothal 143
Second Step: The Marriage Proper 144
The Catholic Marriage as a Sacrament 146
Valid Marriages 147
A Brief Word on Annulments 148

11. Jewish Holy Days, Catholic Holy Days 153
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread 155
Feast of Pentecost 157
New Year’s Day 157
Day of Atonement 158
Feast of Tabernacles 160
Two Additional Holy Days – Purim and Hanukkah 163

12. Jewish Tzaddikim, Catholic Saints 167
The Maccabean Martyrs 168
Heavenly Intercession of the Saints 173
A Hero of the Holocaust—Saint Maximilian Kolbe 174
The Nun of Auschwitz—Saint Teresa Benedicta 175

13. Jewish Afterlife, Catholic Afterlife 179
The Resurrection of the Body 180
Religion of Now or Later? 183
Heaven and Hell, Eden and Gehenna 184
The Harrowing of Hell and the Hope of Heaven 186
Catholic Heaven 189

Epilogue: Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem 193

Appendix: Over 300 Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus Christ 195
Bibliography 203
Index 209

If you want more details, please visit my site: www.crucifiedrabbi.com

Thanks again to my friends at Called to Communion for allowing me to make a shameless plug. Please read the book and please share your thoughts. I hope you enjoy it at least half as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Yours in Christ,

Taylor Marshall