Why Rydelnik's Book Was So Refreshing

A few days ago on my blog, I reviewed Michael Rydelnik’s The Messianic Hope: Is the Hebrew Bible Really Messianic?  See here to read my review.  Rydelnik argues in that book that the Hebrew Bible points directly to the Messiah, and that Jesus Christ was that Messiah.

What I liked most about reading Rydelnik’s book was that Rydelnik was aware of contrary arguments and points-of-view, and he interacted with them in a reasonable manner.  Believe me, you do not always see that within evangelical Christendom!  Within evangelical Christendom, what you may find is bullying or group-think when it comes to the question of whether Jesus fulfilled prophecies in the Hebrew Bible, or simply unawareness that those who hold a contrary point-of-view have actual arguments backing their position up.  Or there are evangelicals who are aware of the problem that Old Testament “prophecy” and New Testament “fulfillment” do not seem to match that well, if at all, yet they believe that their favorite evangelical scholar or argument has closed the book on the subject.  It is refreshing, therefore, to read someone who knows the ins-and-outs of the issue and actually offers arguments.