Mark Twain wrote that Adam had a good thing; when he said something great, he knew that nobody had said it before. We in this generation arrived on the scene too late to say very much that has not been said before, and perhaps said a lot better. For that reason I lay no claim to originality in thought or superiority of expression. My consolation is found in the words of Thomas Carlyle who wrote that the merit of originality is sincerity rather than novelty.
Opportunities often come to those who are ill-equipped to embrace them, and two such opportunities came to me. Through God's gracious providence I was invited to bear witness to my faith to a company of Jews, men and women of reputation in their community. In all, I have testified to my faith in the revelation of God and in the messiahship of Jesus some thirty times before Jewish audiences. These were composed of both those who had accepted Jesus and those who did not.
In this volume I am going to share that testimony, including some of the questions they asked, and my answers. I have sought to present a balanced perspective by compressing a great deal of material into a limited space. Every word was spoken, every question asked, and every reply made, but not always in the exact order here given. There were occasions of tension, as there ought to be in such confrontations between honest men, but there never was an untoward incident. The friendship of those who sincerely differed was unabated.
Soon after I began the meetings with Jewish students, I was invited to deliver a series of lectures based on my understanding of the purpose of the letter to the Hebrews. This invitation came chiefly because some of the men in a group of Christians had heard me present a talk on Hebrews at a retreat. Once again I felt the sense of my own inadequacy, but implored divine aid and proceeded with the task.
In each case I felt a door had been opened to me by the Holy Spirit, and that God's grace was sufficient, so that His strength could be manifested by my very weakness. I eagerly pray that those who read these simple messages may experience a little of the thrill that was mine in delivering them. I have preserved them in the same style and format as they were given orally, with the hope that the reader may feel a more personal relationship with the author. I am conscious of the imperfections of the presentations, but, as John Ruskin wrote, by banishing imperfection we may also destroy expression, check exertion, and paralyze vitality.
--Carl Ketcherside